An Afghan girl harvests Cotton buds at a field on the outskirts of Balkh province, Afghanistan, November 15, 2014. (Photo by Sayed Mustafa/EPA)

A Somali Armed Forces member carries her ammunition during fighting between the military and police backed by intelligence forces in the Dayniile district of Mogadishu, Somalia September 16, 2017. (Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters)

Only the most intrepid urban explorers cross the tattered ruins of the old Iron Curtain to endure the excessive bureaucracy, military paranoia and freezing winds of the East to hunt for the ghosts of an empire. Rebecca Litchfield is one who couldn’t resist the haunting allure of the ruins of the Soviet Union.

Fish are thrown onto a truck during a winter fishing festival held on the frozen Wulungu Lake in Fuhai county, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, January 18, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

A Nepalese boy gets ready to perform a stick dance during a rally held to pay tribute to the victims of an earthquake, in Bhaktapur, Nepal, Wednesday, September 2, 2015. Two powerful earthquakes in April and May devastated the Himalayan nation killing more than 8,800 people. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

In this July 20, 2019 photo, children play during a sports event organized by members of the Caracas FC soccer club, in Catia, one of the poorest slums in Caracas, Venezuela. When the Caracas Football Club plays, its supporters leave their ideological preferences and socioeconomic differences behind, joining together to support and take care of each other inside and outside the stadium. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)

Residents wade through flood waters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Beaumont Place, Houston, Texas on August 28, 2017. Houston was still largely paralyzed Monday, and there was no relief in sight from the storm that spun into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane, then parked itself over the Gulf Coast. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Reuters)

A woman wears a face mask on her chin and walks past a cake depicting the coronavirus on display at the annual cake show organized as part of new year celebrations in Bengaluru, India, Tuesday, December 29, 2020. India's confirmed coronavirus cases have crossed 10 million with new infections dipping to their lowest levels in three months, as the country prepares for a massive COVID-19 vaccination in the new year. (Photo by Aijaz Rahi/AP Photo)