British singer-songwriter Rita Ora early May 2024 makes an eye-catching face as she promotes “The Masked Singer”, where she’s a judge. (Photo by Rita Ora/Instagram)

Travel photographer Amos Chapple recently crossed into Turkmenistan on a three-day transit visa and was able to photograph many of the sights and monuments in Ashgabat, the capital and largest city. Turkmenistan is a single-party country, a former Soviet state, run by a president at the center of a cult of personality.

Photo: A young couple leave the Alem Entertainment Center in Ashgabat. The current president has a history of breaking obscure records. In 2012 the wheel atop this complex was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest enclosed Ferris wheel. The structure was built at a cost of $90m. (Photo by Amos Chapple via The Atlantic)

Migrants ride on top of a northern bound train toward the US-Mexico border in Juchitan, southern Mexico, Monday, April 29, 2013. Migrants crossing Mexico to get to the U.S. have increasingly become targets of criminal gangs who kidnap them to obtain ransom money. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

This picture taken on May 24, 2019 shows Mariam the dugong as she is cared for by park officials and veterinarians from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre on Libong island, Trang province in southern Thailand. An orphaned baby dugong rescued off a beach in Krabi province is Thailand's newest star, capturing the hearts of millions on social media and igniting an awarness for ocean conservation as authorities hand-raise the young mammal. (Photo by Sirachai Sirachai Arunrugstichai/AFP Photo)

Tuvalu Beneath the Rising Tide by Sean Gallagher, Tuvalu. Changing environments prize: Fallen trees lie on a beach as the waves from the Funafuti lagoon in Tuvalu lap around them. Land erosion has always been a problem for the South Pacific country but problems are intensifying as sea levels rise. Rising seas are on the verge of completely submerging the tiny archipelago’s islands. (Photo by Sean Gallagher/CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2019)

Belarussian rhythmic gymnast Melitina Staniouta takes a selfie as she has her make-up done in Minsk, May 29, 2016. Photos show her training and competing, as well as trying on her official Olympic uniform and getting ready for a photo shoot. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Norma Galicia aka “Pirulina” takes part in a demonstration during the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, in Guatemala City on November 25, 2013. So far this year, 696 women have died due to violent events in Guatemala. (Photo by Johan Ordonez/AFP Photo)

A woman looks out from her stall selling traditional garments and textiles at a market in Ashgabat February 8, 2012. (Photo by Aman Mehinli/Reuters)