Michiko Ohashi (C), wearing a costume decorated with snacks, performs with other members of pop group Pottya at a fan meeting celebrating her birthday in Tokyo, Japan, October 16, 2016. Competition is cutthroat among Japan's thousands of pop idol wannabes, but a unique concept is winning fame for a band of “chubby” girls deploying their cheeky cuteness to combat prejudices against obesity. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

A Colombian air force helicopter retrieves the bodies of victims from the wreckage of a plane that crashed into the Colombian jungle with Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense onboard near Medellin, Colombia, November 29, 2016. The chartered plane was carrying a Brazilian soccer team to the biggest match of its history when it crashed into a Colombian hillside and broke into pieces, killing 75 people and leaving six survivors, Colombian officials said Tuesday. (Photo by Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters)

Performers dressed as Ded Moroz, the equivalent of Santa Claus, and his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden) take on shoe covers as they visit the Republican Scientific and Practical Centre of Pediatric Surgery in Minsk, Belarus, December 28, 2016. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

A woman poses on the flooded St. Mark's square during an acqua-alta (high-water) alert in Venice, on November 19, 2013. (Photo by Andrea Pattaro/AFP Photo)

P.S. All pictures, as usual, 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).

The Mayon volcano continues to erupt as the sun sets behind Legazpi city, Thursday, January 25, 2018 in Albay province, roughly 340 kilometers, (200 miles) southeast of Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP Photo)

More than 700 underwater images were submitted for the 2012 Annual Underwater Photography Contest, hosted by the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. This year, for the first time, the University of Miami set up a “Fan Favorite” category for its underwater photo competition. Internet users could vote for their favorite among five pictures. Todd Aki's photo of a jellyfish took the prize, snaring 599 of the 1,221 votes cast. (Photo by Todd Aki)

Hao Han (8), Shaolin kung fu student and child actor. Shaolin Monastery, Henan. (Photo by Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer)

In this December 18, 2013 photo released by Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, 32 men dressed as Santa Claus ride the 150-foot tall SkyScreamer tower swing ride at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif. (Photo by Jason Quintos/AP Photo/Six Flags Discovery Kingdom)