A model walks down the runway at the 13th China International Young Fashion Designers Contest during China Fashion Week on March 25, 2005 in Beijing, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A period of relative stability has put the Iranian capital No1 on the list of world cities that have achieved biggest improvements in liveability over the past five years, as calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The “most improved” top 10 contains some unexpected names. So, eg, the fourth place: Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Latest ranking: 128; Ranking five years ago: 131; Five-year index movement: 3.8%. Here: A supporter of Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara campaigns in a market in the city’s Koumassi quarter. (Photo by Sia Kambou/AFP Photo)

Faithful wearing face mask pray during the Arafah prayer ceremony ahead of Eid al-Adha, at the Tehran university’s mosque in Tehran, Iran, 30 July 2020. Iran will not hold the Eid al-Adha prayers and ceremonies over the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in the country. (Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/EFE)

May Matthews (left) and Romy Clark from Bonhams Edinburgh carry a carved wooden model of an Atlantic Salmon by Rogers Brookes (estimate £1,500-2,000) during a photo call for the upcoming Home and Interiors sale, and Sporting and Wildlife sale, at Bonhams, Edinburgh, on September 16, 2020. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)

A girl, named Tata and aged 8, wears a Red Army uniform-styled dress during the celebrations of Victory Day, which marks the 78th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow, Russia on May 9, 2023. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator sticks her tongue out as she is escorted to a police vehicle outside a building housing the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco, Monday, June 3, 2024. Police arrested Palestinian supporters Monday who occupied the lobby of the building. (Photo by Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)

A contestant lies in a chili covered pool eating Chillies during a chili eating contest on July 8, 2018 in Ningxiang, Hunan Province of China. Citizen Tang Shuaihui ate 50 Chillies in one minute winning the contest. (Photo by VCG/Getty Images)

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)