An air tanker drops fire retardant on flames as firefighters continue to battle against the Detwiler fire in Mariposa, California on July 19, 2017. The Detwiler fire is currently at 7 percent containment and has burned more than 45,000 acres and destroyed eight structures. (Photo by Josh Edelson/AFP Photo)

Models sit backstage during Dakar Fashion Week in the Senegalese capital, Friday June 30, 2017. The continent's fashion scene has grown steadily over the past two decades with Sub-Saharan Africa's apparel and footwear market now worth $31 billion, according to data by Euromonitor. (Photo by Finbarr O'Reilly/AP Photo)

Meerkats are weighed and measured during the ZSL London Zoo 's annual weigh-in on August 22, 2012 in London, England. The height and mass of every animal in the zoo, of which there are over 16,000, needs to be recorded. The measurements are collated in the Zoological Information Management System, from which zoologists can use the data to compare information on thousands of endangered species. (Photo by Oli Scarff)

Two women look at the Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption from the distance in Los Llanos de Ariadne in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain, late 05 October 2021 (issued 06 October 2021). The main cone of the La Palma volcano suffered a partial collapse of its structure 03 October, while effusive activity has increased after 15 days of its beginning. According to experts the volcano is far from ending its volcanic activity. (Photo by Miguel Calero/EPA/EFE)

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)

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.

A moon bear rests in a pool inside an enclosure at the Vietnam bear rescue centre, in Tam Dao national park, Vinh Phuc, Vietnam, 09 July 2019. The center is operated by international organization Animals Asia. There are currently 184 bears living at the the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre. It is estimated that there are less than a few hundred bears left in the wild in Vietnam. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development, around 600 bears are still being kept on farms. In Vietnam, Animals Asia has rescued a total of 209 sun bears and moon bears. (Photo by Minh Hoang/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

“The ONE Campaign is a international, nonpartisan, non-profit organization which aims to increase government funding for and effectiveness of international aid programs. ONE was originally founded by a coalition of 11 non-profit humanitarian and advocacy organizations — including DATA, World Vision, Oxfam America, and Bread for the World — with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2007, ONE announced that it would be merging with DATA. Currently, ONE is campaigning for resources to help developing countries adapt to climate change. During the 2008 U.S. presidential election the organization launched a campaign, called ONE Vote '08, which was co-chaired by former U.S. Senate majority leaders Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Bill Frist (R-TN). The campaign is named after the U2 song “One” which was a top ten hit single on the critically acclaimed 1991 Achtung Baby album”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and now philanthropist, poses with One.org charity volunteers at Pariser Platz square during a brief stop at Brandenburg Gate on April 6, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. Gates is in Berlin to meet with German government officials, including Chancellor Angela Merkel and Development Minister Dirk Niebel, to discuss aid for developing countries and promote his One.org charity initiative, which is part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)