Zahra Lari runs in a scene shot for the Nike Middle East ad campaign filmed in Dubai, UAE, February 10, 2017. An online commercial released by Nike (NKE.N) this week that showed Arab women fencing, boxing and spinning on ice-skates has stirred controversy over its attempt to smash stereotypes about women leading home-bound lives in the conservative region. (Photo by Reuters/Nike)

Even the powerhouse of Europe has its fair share of abandoned properties and empty shop fronts as seen in these pictures of decaying buildings in Germany. Photographer Daniel Barter, 30, from London traveled Berlin and the surrounding countryside to capture buildings in need of work on film. Far from being resplendent in vintage glory, the deserted music venues and crumbling hospitals are a shadow of their former selves. German eagle motifs flake off ceilings and concert halls designed for hundreds have not seen a show for years. Photo: Lung sanatorium. (Photo by Daniel Barter/Caters News)

Most probably wouldnt think of snakes, spiders and lizards as beautiful animals – but these photographs could change some minds. The images show the reptiles seemingly playful sides, from a gleeful looking Budgetts frog, a cheeky leopard sticking out its tongue at the camera and a stack of four colourful iguanas. Contrasted against a white background and shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark 2 and macro lens, photographer Mickael Leger really made sure they could be seen in all their glory. Here: Gecko. (Photo by Mickael Leger/Caters News)

Tinni the dog and Sniffer the fox became quick friends, prompting the pooch's owner Torgeir Berge to start a campaign against the highly controversial fur trade after he noticed "how similar foxes and dogs actually are," calling the fox the "dog of the forest." Berge and his friend Berit Helberg plan to release a book sometime next year chronicling the duo, because "no animals should be living like the animals in the fur industry are living." According to animal advocacy group PETA, many creatures bound for the fur industry are allegedly kept in small, restrictive cages for their entire lives. Berge and Helberg said they plan to donate a portion of the proceeds to help save the Sniffers of the world, and we can totally see why.

Taiwanese and Chinese nationals suspected of telecom fraud are surrounded by China police SWAT team and Cambodia police as they were deported to China at the International Airport of Phnom Penh, June 24, 2016. Scores of Chinese police officers swarmed the tarmac at Phnom Penh International Airport on Friday as 39 suspects arrested for their involvement in an alleged telecom scam were herded onto a chartered plane bound for China – including 25 Taiwanese nationals, whose government unsuccessfully attempted to have them repatriated. (Photo by Samrang Pring/Reuters)

Talbot Lago T26 Grand sport SWB Saoutichik is displayed for auction during the Retromobile show in Paris, Tuesday, February 3, 2015. 60 rusting motors, which include a vintage Ferrari California Spider, a Bugatti and a very rare Maserati, were found gathering dust and hidden under piles of newspapers in garages and outbuildings at a property in France. The cars were collected from the 1950s to the 1970s by entrepreneur Roger Baillon, who dreamt of restoring them to their former glory and displaying them in a museum, but, his plans were dashed as his business struggled, forcing the sale of about 50 vehicles, to be auctioned off on Feb. 6. (Photo by Jacques Brinon/AP Photo)

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.