Military helicopters fly in formation above a billboard with a picture of China's late Chairman Mao Zedong during a training session for the upcoming parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, on the outskirts of Beijing, July 2, 2015. Troops from Russia and Mongolia will march together with Chinese forces in a parade in Beijing in September to commemorate the end of World War Two, the government and state media said on Thursday, confirming the first two foreign participants. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

“The Ainu (アイヌ?), also called Aynu, Aino (アイノ), and in historical texts Ezo (蝦夷), are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. Most of those who identify themselves as Ainu still live in this same region, though the exact number of living Ainu is unknown. This is due to ethnic issues in Japan resulting in those with Ainu backgrounds hiding their identities and confusion over mixed heritages. In Japan, because of intermarriage over many years with Japanese, the concept of a 'pure Ainu' ethnic group is no longer feasible. Official estimates of the population are of around 25,000, while the unofficial number is upwards of 200,000 people”. – Wkipedia

Photo: A captive bear drinking from a large bottle held by an Ainu tribeswoman. (Photo by Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1955

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.

These adorable cats – which are twins – showcase their contrasting blue and green eyes. The cats have a condition called heterochromia iridis, which causes each eye to vary in color. (Photo by @sis.twins/Caters News Agency)

A handout photo made available by Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) shows veterinarian wearing protective masks and suit, conducting anesthesia procedure on Nenuah, a nine year old Bornean Orangutan before being transported and released to the Bukit Batikap protection forest, at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, 15 February 2021. BOSF and the national nature conservation agency (BKSDA) released 10 orangutans back to the wild in Bukit Batikap Protection Forest in Central Kalimantan and the Kehje Sewen Forest in East Kalimantan amid the pandemic according to BOSF. (Photo by BOSF Handout/EPA/EFE)

Eight year-old Maya Mohammad Ali Merhi walks using prosthetic legs made by her father from tin cans in a camp for displaced people, in the northern Syrian province of Idlib on June 20, 2018. Maya and her father were both born without lower limbs. Unable to afford real prosthetic limbs, her father made her a pair out of tin cans filled with cotton and scrap pieces of cloth. Maya's family had to leave their home in the Aleppo province to flee battles. (Photo by Aaref Watad/AFP Photo)

In this August 24, 2018 photo, Changlair Aristide pauses for a portrait, wearing his protective clothing, including an old U.N. peacekeeper's jacket he found in the trash, before scavenging the Truitier landfill in the Cite Soleil slum of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Before 2004, Aristide recalled having enough money to splurge on shoes, T-shirts and pants, but this year he could not buy his kids anything new for the school year. “Life is like that, up and down”, Aristide said. “They'll go to school anyway, even if I have to sell my pig. I love them”. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)

Since her stint in the 2019 Love Island villa, where she made the nation laugh, Irish television personality Maura Higgins has been working as a brand ambassador for Ann Summers. And the 31-year-old has really set pulses racing in her latest edit with the saucy lingerie brand. Available online and in stores from today, December 1, 2021, Maura has looks absolutely stunning in the new Ann Summers Christmas campaign which includes bodysuits and basques, two-piece sets, bras, and thongs in festive hues for the Christmas season. (Photo by Ann Summers/The Mega Agency)