Tony North; First place, Breathing Spaces; Overall Winner; Blue Tajinaste, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. “Echium thyrsiflorum is endemic to the mountains of La Palma island – from high up, there was a magnificent view of both the caldera below, and the stars above. The Unesco La Palma biosphere reserve encompasses the entire island, with the Caldera de Taburiente containing mountains with a highest peak of 2,426 metres – the Roque de los Muchachos”. (Photo by Tony North/IGPOTY)

Mail truck tries to climb tree. Comm. Ave. Boston, 1927. (Photo by Leslie Jones) P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews)

Few people haven’t heard about the ancient city of Persepolis, which lies at the foot of the Mountain of Mercy (Kuh-I-Rahmat). In ancient times, Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Regretfully, it was burned by the Greeks in 330 BC after they looted the immense treasure of this city. It is said that Greeks needed 5,000 camels and 20,000 mules to carry all the treasures from Persepolis. The only thing of Persepolis that has survived the wear of time is the ginormous stone terrace 530 by 330 meters adorned by elaborate stone sculptures. It is amazing how intricately detailed some of the sculptures are, despite the fact that they were created many centuries ago.

Sony is marketing the remake of the Stephen King horror movie Carrie with with “Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise”, a prank video set in a New York cafe. Viral marketing firm ThinkModo shot the film over two days in ‘sNice cafe on 8th Ave, New York, with actors posing as customers. As people wandered in off the street for their coffee, stuntman Travis Gravis spilled coffee on a laptop belonging to actress Andrea Morales.

“The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukrainian SSR, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere, which spread over much of Western USSR and Europe. It is widely considered to have been the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, and is one of only two classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale (the other being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster)”. – Wikipedia (Photos by Alexandr Strannik, August 1986; Source: LiveJournal)

“Jallikattu is a bull taming sport played in Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations on Mattu Pongal day. Annually, jallikattu is held from January to July, played first in world-famous Palamedu, near Madurai on January 15 followed by “Alanganallur-jallikattu” in Alanganallur, near Madurai on 16 January. There is a specific breed of cattle bred for this purpose known as Jellicut and from the place of a big breeder Pulikulam”. – Wikipedia. Photo: Bull tamers try to control a bull during the bull-taming sport called Jallikattu, in Palamedu, about 575 kilometers (359 miles) south of Chennai, India, Tuesday, January 15, 2013. (Photo by Arun Sankar K./AP Photo)

A military guard observes from a watch tower at the Combinado del Este prison during a media tour in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 9, 2013. Cuban authorities led foreign journalists through the maximum security prison, the largest in the Caribbean country that houses 3,000 prisoners. Cuba says they have 200 prisons across the country, including five that are maximum security. (Photo by Franklin Reyes/AP Photo)

“Window of Autumn” by Hasan Baglar taken in Nicosia, Cyprus, which has come first in the All About Plants Section for the RHS Photographic Competition 2019. (Photo by Hasan Baglar/RHS/PA Wire Press Association)