Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) plotters at work at Coastal Artillery Headquarters in Dover, December 1942. The Auxiliary Territorial Service was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 February 1949, when it was merged into the Women's Royal Army Corps. The ATS had its roots in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), which was formed in 1917 as a voluntary service. During the First World War its members served in a number of jobs including clerks, cooks, telephonists and waitresses. The WAAC was disbanded after four years in 1921. (Photo by Ted Dearberg/IWM/PA Wire)

In this March 13, 2015 photo, Yohan, 4, from left, Cristian, 7, and Angelo, 6, playfully toss coca leaves into the air, singing: “I have a lot of money, look at all the money I have”, in La Mar, province of Ayacucho, Peru. Hauling cocaine out of the remote valley is about the only way to earn decent cash in this region where a farmhand earns less than $10 a day. Beyond extinguishing young lives, the practice has packed Peru's highland prisons with cocaine backpackers while their bosses evade incarceration. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

From Britain to China to Mali, new maps showing travel times to the nearest urban centre reveal huge differences between countries. Using Open Street Map and Google, a University of Oxford team have created a visual breakdown that suggests major inequalities when it comes to commuting. Here: China. The dataset used for China was unique as it relied solely on Open Street Map, due to restrictions on accessing Google data. The population is densely concentrated in the east and accessibility is increased, whereas rural provinces in the west remain remote. (Photo by Daniel Weiss/Jennifer Rozier/Malaria Atlas Project/University of Oxford)

Commended. In late May, about a quarter of a million snow geese arrive from North America to nest on Wrangel Island, in northeastern Russia. They form the world's largest breeding colony of snow geese. Photographer Sergey Gorshkov spent two months on the remote island photographing the unfolding dramas. Arctic foxes take advantage of the abundance of eggs, caching surplus eggs for leaner times. But a goose (here the gander) is easily a match for a fox, which must rely on speed and guile to steal eggs. “The battles were fairly equal”, notes Sergey, “and I only saw a fox succeed in grabbing an egg on a couple of occasions, despite many attempts”. Surprisingly, “the geese lacked any sense of community spirit”, he adds, “and never reacted when a fox harassed a neighboring pair nesting close by”. (Photo by Sergey Gorshkov/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer)

French army deminers secure a helicopter in a hangar at the Gao airport, on February 9, 2013. Two Malian soldiers and four civilians have already been killed by landmines, and French troops are still fighting off what Paris called “residual jihadists” in reclaimed territory. (Photo by Pascal Guyot/AFP Photo via The Atlantic)

Chingele, a herder, wears a traditional Mongol costume to greet a neighbor for the New Year. Chingele was among a group of herders who went to Beijing to protest eviction from grazing lands to make room for an army training camp. (Photo by Gilles Sabrie/The Washington Post)

Labourers use a crane to lift the hand of a giant bronze statue of former King Rama I at Ratchapakdi Park in Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, Thailand, August 4, 2015. The park is being constructed by the Thai army to honor past Thai monarchs and is situated on an army compound near the Klai Kangwon Palace. The project is estimated to cost about 700 million baht ($20,000,000), according to local media. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Robert The Bruce's army from The Clanranald Trust during a rehearsal for the Battle of Bannockburn re-enactment performance which will be staged at the Bannockburn Live Event in Bannockburn, the 700th anniversary of the battle, on June 27, 2014. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)