Even the powerhouse of Europe has its fair share of abandoned properties and empty shop fronts as seen in these pictures of decaying buildings in Germany. Photographer Daniel Barter, 30, from London traveled Berlin and the surrounding countryside to capture buildings in need of work on film. Far from being resplendent in vintage glory, the deserted music venues and crumbling hospitals are a shadow of their former selves. German eagle motifs flake off ceilings and concert halls designed for hundreds have not seen a show for years. Photo: Lung sanatorium. (Photo by Daniel Barter/Caters News)

In this November 18, 2015 photo, 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, center, three-time Japan karate champion in her age group practices in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, north of Tokyo. Mahiro stars in singer Sia's latest music video "Alive", the just-released single from the singer's upcoming album. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

The pictures made by Elizabeth Gadd are so beautiful, tranquil, and mesmerizing, that they wash over your soul in a wave of sadness. The same sadness that you feel when hearing a wonderful piece of music. The same sadness that enters your soul when you worry to death about your loved one, but everything turns out to be just fine. These aren’t just pictures… The pieces of art that Elizabeth, a 21-year-old self-taught photographer makes, are windows into fairytales; portals into other dimensions. Works so surreal, that it makes you wonder if the scenes that you are seeing were actually shot on this planet; that they are not figments of Beth’s imagination. (Photo by Elizabeth Gadd)

This picture taken on June 1, 2019 shows Alex Gao trying to balance a book on his head during an etiquette and manners class in central Shanghai. Against a soundtrack of classical music, children learn social skills, dining manners and deportment in the class, which costs $390 for four hours of practical instruction per student. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

A woman leans against one of the stones of the Stonehenge monument on the summer solstice near Amesbury, Britain on June 21, 2017. The annual festival attracts hundreds of people to the 5000 year old stone circle to mark the longest day in the northern hemisphere. sunrise was at 4.52am and was celebrated by dancing, music, and ritualistic events around the stones. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

While communism, collectivism, worms, dry rot and casual looting failed to destroy the majestic wooden churches of Russia, it may be ordinary neglect that finally does them in. Dwindled now to several hundred remaining examples, these glories of vernacular architecture lie scattered amid the vastness of the world’s largest country. Just over a decade ago, Richard Davies, a British architectural photographer, struck out on a mission to record the fragile and poetic structures. Austerely beautiful and haunting, “Wooden Churches: Traveling in the Russian North” (White Sea Publishing; $132) is the result. Covering thousands of miles, Mr. Davies described how he and the writer Matilda Moreton tracked down the survivors from among the thousands of onion-domed structures built after Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988.

“Osama bin Laden has been killed in an American operation in Pakistan, President Obama announced from the White House on Sunday, calling his death “the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al-Qaida”. In a statement delivered from the East Room, Obama said a small team of U.S. personnel attacked a compound in Pakistan's Abbottabad Valley, where bin Laden had been hiding since late last summer. The U.S. team killed the 54-year-old al-Qaida leader after a firefight and “took custody of his body”, Obama said.” – Nwsource.com

Photo: Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden in an undated photo. October 10, 2001. Afghanistan's ruling Taliban lifted restrictions on Bin Laden, giving him permission to conduct “Jihad”, or holy war, against Afghanistan's enemies. (Photo by Getty Images)

“Born in 1965 at Tokyo, living at Tokyo. Starting shooting since 2008. 2011: 1x Photo Awards Honorable Mention (Street). 2012: Black and White Spider Awards 2nd Place (Portrait), Honorable Mention (Fashion); PX3 Gold Awards (Press); Israel Harvanism Street Contest 1st Place. 2013: Urban Picnic Street Contest Top30 Finalist; PX3 3rd Place (Portrait), Gold (Portrait - Personality), Gold (Press - People/Personality); Photolux + PhotoVogue Photo Contest 1st Place. 2014: Sony World Photography Awards Commended (Smile Category)”. – Tatsuo Suzuki. Photo: “Spring”. (Photo by Tatsuo Suzuki)