2014 - Images of DECEMBER - Dec 16 - Dec. 23

2014-Images of DECEMBERDec. 16 – Dec . 23

December 27, 2014 1

PPS: chieuquetoi , vinhbinh2010

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TOPSHOTSA woman walks pushing a pram between the rubble of destroyed buildings in the besieged rebel bastion of Douma on December 13, 2014. Douma, a rebel bastion northeast of Damascus, has been under government siege for more than a year, with residents facing dwindling food and medical supplies. AFP PHOTO / ABD DOUMANYABD DOUMANY/AFP/Getty Images

Dec. 13 , 2014

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Photographer

Toby Melville

Location

LONDON, United Kingdom

Reuters / Sunday, December 14, 2014

Rolene Strauss of South Africa (C) is

crowned Miss World 2014, as Elizabeth

Safrit of the U.S. (R) and Edina Kulczar of

Hungary (L) who placed third and second

respectively, look on at the ExCel Centre

in east London, December 14, 2014.

REUTERS/Toby MelvilleDecember 27, 2014 3

Dec. 14 , 2014

Foreign tourists walk on a small beach with fallen big trees and damage still visible from the 2004 tsunami in Khao Lak, in Phang Ngaprovince, about 110 km (68 miles) north of the resort island of Phuket, December 14, 2014. Thailand prepares to mark the tenth anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, the deadliest on the record, that killed at least 226,000 people in 13 Asian and African countries. In Thailand, over 5300 people were killed, including several thousand foreign tourists, when the waves swamped six coastal provinces, turning some of the world's most beautiful beaches into mass graves. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj (THAILAND - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY)

Dec. 14 , 2014

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December 27, 2014 4

Eastchester Bay at sunset behind the Manhattan, New York, on December 15, 2014.

December 27, 2014 5

Dec. 15 , 2014

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December 27, 2014 6

Dec . 16 , 2014

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PhotographerKim Kyung HoonLocationBEIJING, ChinaReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014A man walks past the hoarding of a construction site in Beijing, China, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Dec. 16 , 2014

December 27, 2014 7

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PhotographerDavid MdzinarishviliLocationTBILISI, GeorgiaReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014A priest blesses servicemen during a farewell ceremony at the Vaziani military base outside Tbilisi, Georgia, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili

Dec. 16 , 2014

December 27, 2014 8

PhotographerFayaz Aziz

LocationPESHAWAR, Pakistan

Reuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Relatives of a student, who was injured during an

attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School, comfort each other outside

Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan,

December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz

Dec. 16 , 2014

December 27, 2014 9

PhotographerKhuram ParvezLocationPESHAWAR, PakistanReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014A soldier escorts schoolchildren from the Army Public School that is under attack by Taliban gunmen in Peshawar, Pakistan, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Khuram Parvez

Dec. 16 , 2014

December 27, 2014 10

PhotographerKhuram Parvez


Reuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Schoolchildren cross a road as they move

away from a military run school that is under attack by Taliban gunmen in

Peshawar, Pakistan, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Khuram Parvez

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerKhuram ParvezLocationPESHAWAR, PakistanReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014A Pakistani soldier takes up a position above a road near a military run school that is under attack by Taliban gunmen in Peshawar, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Khuram Parvez

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerStringer PakistanLocationPESHAWAR, PakistanReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Men move bodies of students, who were killed during an attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School, in an ambulance outside a hospital in Peshawar, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

Dec. 16 , 2014




Reuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Rescue workers and family members carry the coffin

of a student, who killed during an attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School, in Peshawar,

December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Khuram Parvez

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerFayaz AzizLocationPESHAWAR, PakistanReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Pakistani security forces drive on a road leading to the Army Public School, which is under attack from Taliban gunmen, in Peshawar, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerStringer PakistanLocationPESHAWAR, PakistanReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Policemen (L) and civilians move a soldier, who was injured during an attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School, in an ambulance outside a hospital in Peshawar, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerKhuram ParvezLocationPESHAWAR, PakistanReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Schoolchildren stand outside after being rescued from the Army Public School that in under attack by Taliban gunmen in Peshawar, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Khuram Parvez

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerToby MelvilleLocationLONDON, United KingdomReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Workers cross the MilleniumBridge during the morning rush hour in the City of London in London, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Dec. 16 , 2014




Reuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014A man talks on a phone, with his arm

around a student, outside a military run school that is under attack by Taliban

gunmen in Peshawar, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Khuram Parvez

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerKhuram ParvezLocationPESHAWAR, PakistanReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Men carry the coffin of a student who was killed during an attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School, during a funeral in Peshawar December 16, 2014. REUTERS/KhuramParvez

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerZohra BensemraLocationPESHAWAR, PakistanReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Policemen stand beside empty coffins at the hospital after an attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School in Peshawar December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Dec. 16 , 2014


A Pakistani man comforts a student standing at the bedside of a boy who was injured in a Taliban attack on a school, at a local hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Taliban gunmen stormed a military-run school in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Tuesday, killing more than 100, officials said, in the worst attack to hit the country in over a year.(AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerZohra BensemraLocationPESHAWAR, PakistanReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Women mourn their relative Mohammed Ali Khan, 15, a student who was killed during an attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School, at his house in Peshawar December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerAkhtar Soomro

LocationKARACHI, Pakistan

Reuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014A man lights candles to mourn the

victims from the Army Public School in Peshawar, which was attack by Taliban

gunmen, in Karachi, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerNavesh ChitrakarLocationKathmandu, NepalReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Children watch pigeons take flight at Bashantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/NaveshChitrakar

Dec. 16 , 2014


Hanging ropes are displayed as part of an installation seeking death penalty for rapists on the second anniversary of the deadly gang rape of a student on a bus, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. The case sparked public outrage and helped make womenís safety a common topic of conversation in a country where rape is often viewed as a womanís personal shame to bear. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)

Dec. 16 , 2014


Anti-government demonstrators fall to the ground during clashes with national police officers during a protest calling for the resignation of Haiti's President Michel Martelly in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Haiti's capital has endured a growing number of demonstrations in recent weeks during which protesters have demanded the holding of elections that were expected in 2011 and the resignations of Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe as well as President Michel Martelly. Lamothe resigned over the weekend. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Dec. 16 , 2014


Ava Exelbirt hugs one of the remaining horses at the Masterpiece

Equestrian Center in Davie, Fla., Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Ava lost the horse she rode to poisoned feed on

Monday. There's nothing that can be done to save 18 poisoned horses at a Florida equestrian center, so their young riders are holding "spa days"

to brush their manes and tails, paint their hooves, feed them hay and pet

their noses to keep the animals comfortable in their last days. Four

horses at Masterpiece Equestrian Center have died since October

because of contaminated feed, and the owners of the rest are struggling to accept the approaching deaths of

the others. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Dec. 16 , 2014


An electronic board shows exchange rates for the Dollar, top, and the Euro, bottom, next to a luxury St. Petersburg china's shop in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. The exchange bureau used the double zero to show the 100 ruble threshold that the euro crossed against the ruble on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Dec. 16 , 2014


Morning fog engulfs a village outside Izbasesti, Romania, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Severe fog affected large areas of Romania causing traffic disruptions. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Dec. 16 , 2014


A diver in Santa costume feeds fish as part of upcoming Christmas celebrations at Aquaria KLCC underwater park in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Dec. 16 , 2014


Indians from various tribes argue with police blocking them from entering the Chamber of Deputies where lawmakers are debating the authority to demarcate indigenous lands at Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Brazil's indigenous don't agree with a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to decide their ancestral land's legal borders, in place of the Ministry of Justice with whom negotiations had already started years ago. Brazilians are legally allowed to watch lawmakers' debate, but police at the scene said they didn't allow the indigenous to enter on suspicion that they would interrupt the debate. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerEric GaillardLocationNICE, FranceReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014People stand in the mist as they look at a replica of the casino along the Promenade jetty as part of the Christmas holiday illuminations in Nice December 16, 2014.

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerDavid GrayLocationSYDNEY, AustraliaReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Members of the public stand behind a note that can be seen among floral tributes that have been placed near the cafe where hostages were held for over 16-hours, in central Sydney, Australia, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/David Gray

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerKevork DjansezianLocationLOS ANGELES, United StatesReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Lawyers, law students, legal staff and victims of police brutality participate in a "die-In" during a protest in front of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles, California December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian

Dec. 16 , 2014


PhotographerPOOL NewLocationLondon, United KingdomReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, helps a blindfolded boy, Fynley Gooch, 7, ice a cake as she promotes disability awareness while meeting with children at the newly established 23rd Poplar Beaver Scout Colony in east London December 16, 2014.

Dec. 16 , 2014


Philippine Catholics attend the traditional Misa de Gallo (Dawn Mass) in front of a church in Las Pinas city, south of Manila.


Dec. 16 , 2014

Recording artist Carrie Underwood performs at the American Country Countdown Awards at Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee.


Dec. 16 , 2014

French President Francois Hollande(centre) arrives to visit a school during a trip to the Pas-de-Calais, in Boulogne-sur-Mer.


Dec. 16 , 2014

Construction continues at the White House, a $20m (£13m) villa being built inside Dream City, a new exclusive residential suburb being developed in Erbil, Iraq.


Dec. 16 , 2014

Property managers work to clear drains to minimise flooding at a client's home in Pebble Beach, California, following heavy rains and high winds.


Dec. 16 , 2014

A child looks at a statue of Paddington bear, outside British Prime Minister David Cameron's official residence at 10 Downing Street, in central London, as children and their families arrive for the charity Christmas party.December 27, 2014 42

Dec. 16 , 2014

A man adds a bunch of flowers to a growing floral memorial outside the Lindt cafe in Sydney's Central Business District, where a gunman held customers hostage for 16 hours. The siege ended as the police moved in, resulting in the deaths of three people, including the hostage-taker.A miner pushes a bathtub loaded with coal out of an illegal coal mine near the Bosnian town of Vitez


Dec. 16 , 2014

Photographer

Robert Galbraith

Location

SAN FRANCISCO, United

States

Reuters / Tuesday, December

16, 2014

Waves crash against a sea

wall in San Francisco Bay

beneath the Golden Gate

Bridge in San Francisco,

California December 16,

2014. REUTERS/Robert

Galbraith


Dec. 16 , 2014

A miner pushes a bathtub loaded with coal out of an illegal mine near the Bosnian town of Vitez.


Dec. 16 , 2014

Survivors after being attacked with acid joined candlelight vigils against violence against women

occurs two years anniversary of service a

female student was raped to death on a bus, in New

Delhi, India.


Dec. 16 , 2014

Spanish police solve a woman arrested in Melilla. The Moroccan and Spanish police have arrested seven people in a sweeping ongoing joint efforts to prevent suspected to recruit women to Syria and Iraq in support of the war the Group Islamic State, the Spanish Interior Ministry said.December 27, 2014 47

Dec. 16 , 2014

A plainclothes security officer escorts pupils rescued from an army-run school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, where at least 126 people, mostly children, have been killed in a Taliban assault.


Dec. 16 , 2014

Pupils Mohammad Baqair was the home comfort while mourns death of parents as teachers at a school in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. The Taliban gunmen attacked this school due to the military operations in Pakistan's Northwest, killing more than 100 people, officials said.


Dec. 16 , 2014

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATHWomen mourn their relative Mohammed Ali Khan, 15, a student who was killed during an attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School, at his house in Peshawar December 16, 2014. Taliban gunmen in Pakistan took hundreds of students and teachers hostage on Tuesday in a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar, military officials said. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra (PAKISTAN -Tags: CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)


Dec. 16 , 2014

A policeman stands beside empty coffins at the hospital after an attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School in Peshawar December 16, 2014. At least 132 students and nine staff members were killed on Tuesday after Taliban gunmen broke into a school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar and opened fire, witnesses said, in the bloodiest massacre the country has seen for years. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra(PAKISTAN - Tags: CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST)


Dec. 16 , 2014

A Pakistani girl, who was injured in a Taliban attack in a school, is rushed to a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Taliban gunmen stormed a military-run school in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Tuesday, killing and wounding scores, officials said, in the highest-profile militant attack to hit the troubled region in months.(AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)


Dec. 16 , 2014

Pakistani security forces take positions

following an attack at the Army run school, in Peshawar, Pakistan, 16 December 2014. Pakistani commandos are fighting Taliban militants who have killed at least 126 people and taken hundreds of students and teachers hostage at a military-run school, officials said. 'The operation is under way' in the north-western city of Peshawar, said PervaizKhattak, chief minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. 'Intense gun fighting is taking place inside the school.' The area was cordoned off and helicopters were flying overhead. The death toll may go up as militants have shot many other students in an auditorium at a school, a military statement said. EPA/BILAWAL ARBAB


Dec. 16 , 2014

School children rescued by the security

forces leave following an attack at the Army run school, in Peshawar Pakistan, 16 December 2014. Pakistani commandos are fighting Taliban militants who have killed at least 126 people and taken hundreds of students and teachers hostage at a military-run school, officials said. 'The operation is under way' in the north-western city of Peshawar, said PervaizKhattak, chief minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. 'Intense gun fighting is taking place inside the school.' The area was cordoned off and helicopters were flying overhead. EPA/BILAWAL ARBAB December 27, 2014 54

Dec. 16 , 2014

Troops were mobilised after militants wearing security uniforms entered the Army Public School and began firing on students.

Dec. 16 , 2014


A security guard helps a student after a gun attack at a school in PeshawarThe injured were ferried to hospitals in the city.

Dec. 16 , 2014


A Taliban spokesman said the assault was in response to recent army operations, in which hundreds of militants have died.

Dec. 16 , 2014


The local hospitals were full of distraught parents

Dec. 16 , 2014


Pakistani soldiers move bodies of victims who were killed when Taliban gunmen attacked an Army run school, in Peshawar, Pakistan, 16 December

2014. Pakistani commandos are fighting Taliban militants who have killed at least 126 people and taken hundreds of students and teachers hostage at a military-run school, officials said. 'The operation is under way' in the north-western city of Peshawar, said Pervaiz Khattak, chief minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. 'Intense gun fighting is taking place inside the school.' The area was cordoned off and helicopters were flying overhead. Those killed included 19 teenage students, Khattak said. The death toll may go up as militants have shot many other students in an auditorium at a school, a military statement said. EPA/ARSHAD ARBAB


Dec. 16 , 2014

Pakistani soldiers transport rescued school children from the site of an attack by Taliban gunmen on a school in Peshawar on December 16, 2014. Taliban insurgents killed at least 130 people, most of them children, after storming an army-run school in Pakistan December 16 in one of the country's bloodiest attacks in recent years. AFP PHOTO/ A MAJEEDA Majeed/AFP/Getty Images


Dec. 16 , 2014

A Pakistani man comforts a student standing at the bedside of a boy who was injured in a Taliban attack on a school, at a local hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. Taliban gunmen stormed a military-run school in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Tuesday, killing and wounding scores, officials said, in the worst attack to hit the country in over a year.(AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)


Dec. 16 , 2014

A wounded Pakistani student receives treatment at a hospital following an attack by Taliban gunmen on a school in Peshawar on December 16, 2014. Taliban insurgents killed at least 130 people, most of them children, after storming an army-run school in Pakistan December 16 in one of the country's bloodiest attacks in recent years. AFP PHOTO/ A MAJEEDA Majeed/AFP/Getty Images


Dec. 16 , 2014

Photographer

Bassam Khabieh

Location

DAMASCUS, Syria


A burnt lamp is seen inside a damaged

house in the Duma neighborhood of

Damascus, Syria, December 14, 2014.

REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh


Dec. 16 , 2014

Photographer

Dado Ruvic

Location

VITEZ, Bosnia and

Herzegovina


16, 2014

A miner rests while others dig

inside an illegal coal mine near

the Bosnian town of Vitez

December 15, 2014.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic


Dec. 16 , 2014

Photographer

Baz Ratner

Location

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone

Reuters / Tuesday, December 16,

2014

A Sierra Leonean doctor

practises wearing protective

clothing in the Ebola Training

Academy in Freetown, Sierra

Leone, December 16, 2014.

REUTERS/Baz Ratner


Dec. 16 , 2014

Photographer

Jason Reed

Location

SYDNEY, Australia


16, 2014

Members of the public observe

the thousands of floral tributes

left near the site of the Sydney

cafe siege in Martin Place,

Australia, December 17, 2014.

REUTERS/Jason Reed


Dec. 16 , 2014

Photographer

Lucas Jackson

Location

JALALABAD, Afghanistan

Reuters / Tuesday,

December 16, 2014

U.S. soldiers from the 3rd

Cavalry Regiment cover their

faces as a Blackhawk

helicopter takes off during a

mission for Brigadier General

Christopher Bentley to

inspect an Afghan National

police installation in the

Nangarhar province of

Afghanistan December 16,

2014. REUTERS/Lucas

Jackson


Dec. 16 , 2014

PhotographerBrad LarrisonLocationPennsburg, United StatesReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Police SWAT officers search for Bradley William Stone, 35, an Iraq war veteran suspected of fatally shooting and stabbing six family members in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Brad Larrison


Dec. 16 , 2014

PhotographerSrdjan Zivulovic

Location

Ljubljana, Slovenia


2014

A member of the special police

forces dressed in a Santa Claus suit

waves to staff as he descends from

the roof of a pediatrics clinic in

Ljubljana, Slovenia, December 16,

2014. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic


Dec. 16 , 2014


Dec . 17 , 2014

A couple dances tango in front of St. Peter's Square to celebrate Pope Francis 78th birthday, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. Hundreds of tango dancers from all over the world gathered

just next to St. Peter's Square for a milonga to mark Pope Francis' 78th birthday. (AP

Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Dec. 17 , 2014


The Palestinian youths on a small fishing boat at sunset in Gaza City.December 27, 2014 72

Dec. 17 , 2014

A student who is a Shia Imamia students

organization in protests in Karachi against the attack

of the war on the Taliban to a school operated by the

army in the city of Peshawar on Tuesday,

Pakistan.


Dec. 17 , 2014

The clown-shaped photograph of London's South Bank, UKDecember 27, 2014 74

Dec. 17 , 2014

A white beluga whales Noel old hat

to attract visitors at Hakkeijima Sea

Paradise water in Yokohama, Tokyo, Japan.


Dec. 17 , 2014

A dinosaur specimen hats and gloves, the old man Noel in Jurassic Park is located in the Taiga Royev Ruchey Zoo in the suburbs of the city of Krasnoyarsk in the Siberian region of Russia.


Dec. 17 , 2014

Indian schoolboys offer prayers for victims killed in a Taliban attack on a military-run school in Peshawar, in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. Pakistan is mourning as the nation prepares for mass funerals for more than 141 people, most of them children, a day after seven Taliban gunmen, explosives strapped to their bodies, stormed the army public school. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)


Dec. 17 , 2014

An honor guard waits for the start of the 47th Mercosur Summit in Parana, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)


Dec. 17 , 2014

Members of the European Parliament take part in a vote, Wednesday Dec. 17, 2014, in favor of a resolution on recognition of the statehood of Palestine at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. The European Parliament has stopped short of pushing for outright recognition of a Palestinian state, and instead is urging renewed peace talks. Legislators voted 498 to 88 on Wednesday in favor of a compromise resolution supporting “in principle recognition of Palestinian statehood”, but as part of a two-state solution. (AP Photo/Christian Lutz)


Dec. 17 , 2014

Students watch a live, nationally broadcast speech by Cuba’s President Raul Castro about the country’s restoration of relations with the United States, on a TV at school in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. Castro said profound differences remain between Cuba and the U.S. in areas such as human rights, foreign policy and questions of sovereignty, but that the countries have to learn to live with their differences “in a civilized manner.” (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)


Dec. 17 , 2014

A poster for the movie “The Interview” is carried away by a worker after being pulled from a display case at a Carmike

Cinemas movie theater, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014, in Atlanta. Georgia-based Carmike Cinemas has decided to cancel

its planned showings of “The Interview” in the wake of threats against

theatergoers by the Sony hackers. (AP Photo/David Goldman)


Dec. 17 , 2014

A visitor walks beside “Grotto inside the Horizon”, part of the exhibition “Contact” of

Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, at the Vuitton Foundation in

Paris, Wednesday Dec. 17, 2014. Olafur Eliasson said in

the presentation that “Contact is not a picture, it is

not a representation; it is about your ability to reach out, connect, and perhaps

even put yourself in another person’s place”. (AP

Photo/Francois Mori)


Dec. 17 , 2014

A picture inset shows the House with Christmas decorations lights in the cities of Berlin, Hamburg-

Heimfeld, Moenchengladbach, Olching and Stolberg in Germany.December 27, 2014 83

Dec. 17 , 2014

The soldiers of the people's Liberation Army of China during a training

session in the forecast in freezing temperatures in Heihe city, Northeast China's Heilongjiang provinceDecember 27, 2014 84

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Baz Ratner

Location


Reuters / Wednesday,

December 17, 2014

A grave digger watches as

health workers carry the

body of an Ebola victim for

burial at a cemetery in

Freetown, Sierra Leone,

December 17, 2014.

REUTERS/Baz Ratner


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Kevin Lamarque

Location

WASHINGTON, United States

Reuters / Wednesday, December 17,

2014

Alan and Judy Gross walk through a

parking garage after arriving for a news

conference at a law firm in Washington

December 17, 2014. Cuba released Alan

Gross earlier in the day after five years in

prison. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Zohra Bensemra

Location

PESHAWAR, Pakistan

Reuters / Wednesday, December

17, 2014

A woman prays for Zulfiqar, 45, a

teacher who survived an attack by

Taliban gunmen on the Army

Public School, as he lies on a

hospital bed in Peshawar

December 17, 2014.

REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Brendan McDermid

Location

NEW YORK, United States


December 17, 2014

BlackBerry Chief Executive

John Chen attends the launch

event for the new Blackberry

Classic smartphone in New

York, December 17, 2014.

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Toby Melville

Location

ALDERSHOT, United Kingdom

Reuters / Wednesday, December 17, 2014

British Army soccer team captain Sergeant Keith

Emmerson (R) and his German counterpart,

Bundeswehr captain Alfred Hess (L), stand with

match officials and mascots wearing World War I

uniforms at Aldershot Town FC stadium in

Aldershot in south England, December 17, 2014.

The two teams were playing each other in a

'Game of Truce' soccer match, commemorating

100 years since the famous peaceful interlude to

fighting in World War I...moreDecember 27, 2014 89

Dec. 17 , 2014

Pope Francis blew off the candle on the cake celebrates his 78th birthday when he came to the general audience sessions every week in the square of St. Peter in the Vatican.


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Noor Khamis

Location

NAIROBI, Kenya


17, 2014

Rescuers search for survivors in

the rubble of a collapsed

residential building in Makongeni

estate in Kenya's capital Nairobi

December 17, 2014.

REUTERS/Noor Khamis


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Zohra Bensemra

Location

PESHAWAR, Pakistan

Reuters / Tuesday,

December 16, 2014

A mother mourns her son

Mohammed Ali Khan, 15, a

student who was killed

during an attack by Taliban

gunmen on the Army

Public School, at her house

in Peshawar, Pakistan,

December 16, 2014.

REUTERS/Zohra

Bensemra


Dec. 176, 2014

Pakistan army soldier stands guard at a school attacked by Taliban in Peshawar, Pakistan, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. Pakistan mourned as the nation prepares for mass funerals Wednesday for over 140 people, most of them children, killed in the Taliban massacre in a military-run school in the country’s northwest in the deadliest and most horrific attacks in years, officials said. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Fayaz Aziz

Location

PESHAWAR, Pakistan


17, 2014

Shoes lie in blood on the

auditorium floor at the Army

Public School, which was

attacked by Taliban gunmen, in

Peshawar, Pakistan, December

17, 2014. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Fayaz Aziz

Location

PESHAWAR, Pakistan


17, 2014

People carry the coffin of a male

student who was killed in

Tuesday's attack on the Army


attacked by Taliban gunmen,

during his funeral in Peshawar,

Pakistan, December 17, 2014.

REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Mohsin Raza

Location

LAHORE, Pakistan


17, 2014

People hold funeral prayers for the

victims of the Taliban attack on the

Army Public School in Peshawar,

at the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore,

Pakistan, December 17, 2014.

REUTERS/Mohsin Raza


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Zohra Bensemra

Location

PESHAWAR, Pakistan


December 17, 2014

Books lie in blood on the



attacked by Taliban gunmen,

in Peshawar, December 17,

2014. REUTERS/Zohra

Bensemra


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Zohra Bensemra

Location

PESHAWAR, Pakistan


December 17, 2014

An army soldier stands

inside the Army Public

School, which was attacked

by Taliban gunmen, in

Peshawar, December 17,

2014. REUTERS/Zohra

Bensemra


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Zohra Bensemra

Location

PESHAWAR, Pakistan


December 17, 2014

An army soldier stands in the

Army Public School, which

was attacked by Taliban

gunmen, in Peshawar,

Pakistan, December 17,

2014. REUTERS/Zohra

Bensemra


Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Zohra Bensemra

Location

PESHAWAR, Pakistan


December 17, 2014

Burnt books lie on the floor

at the Army Public School,

which was attacked by

Taliban gunmen, in


2014. REUTERS/Zohra

Bensemra

December 27, 2014 100

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Khuram Parvez

Location

PESHAWAR, Pakistan


December 17, 2014

People light candles in

memory of victims of the

Taliban attack on the Army

Public School, along with

others in a rally in


2014. REUTERS/Khuram

Parvez

December 27, 2014 101

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Ilya Naymushin

Location

KRASNOYARSK, Russia


A man dressed as Father Frost, the

Russian equivalent of Santa Claus, walks

with Knopka, a Cameroon dwarf goat,

through the "Dinosaurs Park", located in the

Taiga area at the Royev Ruchey zoo in the

suburbs of Russia's Siberian city of

Krasnoyarsk, December 16, 2014.

REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin

December 27, 2014 102

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Edgar Su

Location

SINGAPORE, Singapore


December 17, 2014

Storm clouds gather over

Shell's Pulau Bukom oil

refinery in Singapore

December 17, 2014.

REUTERS/Edgar Su

December 27, 2014 103

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Noah Berger

Location

BERKELEY, United States


17, 2014

Kyle McCoy addresses the

Berkeley City Council meeting in

Berkeley, California December 16,

2014. Dozens of people spoke

before the council to condemn

police tactics, including teargas

and non-lethal projectiles, used

against anti-police brutality

demonstrators. McCoy said he

was arrested that night and faces a

felony charge for assault with a

deadly weapon. REUTERS/Noah

Berger

December 27, 2014 104

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Russell Cheyne

Location

EDINBURGH, United Kingdom


17, 2014

Tian Tian, a giant panda eats a

special Christmas panda cake

crafted in the shape of a

Christmas tree in the outdoor

enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo

,Scotland December 17, 2014.

REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

December 27, 2014 105

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Carlos Barria

Location

MIAMI, United States


December 17, 2014

A anti-Castro Cuban exile

reacts after the

announcement of restoring

diplomatic ties between

Cuba and United States, at

an area knows as 'Little

Havana' in downtown

Miami, Florida December

17, 2014.

REUTERS/Carlos Barria

December 27, 2014 106

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Pilar Olivares

Location

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Reuters / Wednesday, December 17,

2014

A bride from the Santa Marta slum is

escorted by a police officer to her group

wedding in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,

December 17, 2014. A total of 16

couples took part in a mass wedding

ceremony organized by the Police

Peacekeeping Unit (UPP) as part of

activities geared towards social

enhancement of the slums.

REUTERS/Pilar Olivares

December 27, 2014 107

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Thomas Mukoya

Location

NAIROBI, Kenya


December 17, 2014

Rescuers search for

survivors in the rubble of a

collapsed residential

building in Makongeni

estate in Nairobi, Kenya,

December 17, 2014.

REUTERS/Thomas

Mukoya

December 27, 2014 108

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Stringer Turkey

Location

ANKARA, Turkey


17, 2014

Security officers (L) scuffle with

students during a protest outside

the Presidential Palace in Ankara,

Turkey, December 17, 2014.

Opposition groups held anti-

government protests in Ankara and

across Turkey on the first

anniversary of the corruption probe

which became public with police

raids on December 17 last year,

and led to the resignation of three

ministers and prompted Erdogan

to purge the state apparatus,

reassigning...more

December 27, 2014 109

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Kim Hong-Ji

Location

SEOUL, South Korea


Cho Hyun-ah (C), also known as Heather Cho, daughter of Korean Air Lines Chairman Cho Yang-ho, arrives at the Seoul Western

District Prosecutor's Office in Seoul December 17, 2014. South Korea's transport ministry said it would report to prosecutors

Heather Cho, a former Korean Air Lines executive who delayed a flight earlier this month because she was unhappy about how she

was served nuts. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

December 27, 2014 110

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Andrew Kelly

Location



December 17, 2014

A signage is seen posted on

the box office window at the

Sunshine Cinema in New York

December 17, 2014. The New

York premiere of "The

Interview", a Sony Pictures

comedy about the

assassination of North Korean

President Kim Jong-Un, has

been canceled.

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

December 27, 2014 111

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Baz Ratner

Location



December 17, 2014

Adama Tarawallie reacts

near her husband Ibrahim,

31, a suspected Ebola

victim, as they wait to be

transported from Devils Hole

North, west of Freetown,

Sierra Leone, December 17,

2014. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

December 27, 2014 112

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Danish Ismail

Location

SRINAGAR, India


17, 2014

A Kashmiri Muslim woman prays

inside a mosque at the shrine of

Sufi saint Sheikh Hamzah

Makhdoomi during a festival in

Srinagar, Indian-Administered

Kashmir December 17, 2014.

Hundreds of Kashmiri Muslims who

believe in Sufism - a mystical form

of Islam - visited the shrine of

Makhdoomi to offer prayers on his

birth anniversary.

REUTERS/Danish Ismail

December 27, 2014 113

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Suhaib Salem

Location

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories


17, 2014

Palestinian members of al-Qassam

Brigades, the armed wing of the

Hamas movement, descend while

being harnessed to zip lines as

smoke engulfs a building during a

military parade marking the 27th

anniversary of Hamas' founding, in

Gaza City December 14, 2014.

REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

December 27, 2014 114

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

MAXIM ZMEYEV

Location

MOSCOW, Russia


December 17, 2014

Gerard Depardieu attends a

ceremony and news conference

to present the watch from the

line 'Proud to be Russian',

promoted by the actor, in

Moscow, December 17, 2014.

REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

December 27, 2014 115

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Michael Dalder

Location

BENEDIKTBEUERN,

Germany


December 17, 2014

A general view from the top

of the 6030 feet high

Wendelstein mountain shows

the Alps and surrounding

mountains on December 17,

2014. REUTERS/Michael

Dalder

December 27, 2014 116

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

MAXIM ZMEYEV

Location

Moscow, Russia


December 17, 2014

Mannequins are seen on

the floor outside a shop in

an underground passage

in Moscow, December 17,

2014. REUTERS/Maxim

Zmeyev

December 27, 2014 117

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Andrew Kelly

Location



December 17, 2014

Ailina Tsarnaev, sister of the

accused Boston Marathon

Bombing brothers, Dzhokhar

and Tamerlan Tsarnaev,

appears in Manhattan Criminal

Court in New York December

17, 2014. Ailina Tsarnaev

faced court on charges of

aggravated harassment for

making a bomb threat against

her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend.

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

December 27, 2014 118

Dec. 17 , 2014

Photographer

Baz Ratner

Location



December 17, 2014

A grave digger sleeps near

the graves of Ebola victims at

a cemetery in Freetown,

Sierra Leone, December 17,

2014. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

December 27, 2014 119

Dec. 17 , 2014

Rebels fighter watching the movements of regime forces through a window, in Aleppo,onDecember 17, 2014. (Photo by KaramAlmasri/NurPhoto

Dec. 17 , 2014

December 27, 2014 120

December 27, 2014 121

Dec . 18 , 2014

People pass a poster calling for the release of the Cuban Five spies, the last of who were released on Wednesday, in Havana, Dec. 18, 2014. For many Cubans, the shift by the U.S. to pursue normalized relations confirmed that Fidel Castro, perhaps by his own design, is slipping further into the past, into history, at a time when his approach to the United States seems to be fading as well. (Meredith Kohut/The New York Times)

Dec. 18 , 2014

December 27, 2014 122

People have left thousands of floral

tributes for hostages Tori Johnson

and Katrina Dawson who died,

along with the gunman, as police

commandos stormed a cafe in

Martin Place in the heart of Sydney early on Tuesday morning.

December 27, 2014 123

Dec. 18 , 2014

A man arrives with flowers in Martin Place in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 18. Tens of thousands paid tribute to the two victims of the Martin Place siege.

December 27, 2014 124

Dec. 18 , 2014

One bride sits while another is made-up while waiting for a community wedding of 16 couples from the Santa Marta favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

December 27, 2014 125

Dec. 18 , 2014

Afghan workers pick saffron flowers in the Ghoriyan District of Herat where about 6,000 people, two-thirds of them women, are employed in saffron farming.

December 27, 2014 126

Dec. 18 , 2014

President Vladimir Putin has insisted Russia's under-fire currency, the rouble, will stabilise, but warned the economic crisis could last two years. Mr Putin insisted the nation's currency reserves were sufficient to keep the economy stable, saying the central bank should not "burn" its $419bn reserves.

December 27, 2014 127

Dec. 18 , 2014

Photographer

MAXIM ZMEYEV

Location

MOSCOW, Russia

Reuters / Thursday,

December 18, 2014

Russian President

Vladimir Putin speaks

during his annual end-of-

year news conference in

Moscow December 18,

2014. REUTERS/Maxim

Zmeyev

December 27, 2014 128

Dec. 18 , 2014

Wardrobe assistant Luisa Compobassi puts the finishing touches to a new wax figure of US actress Jennifer Lawrence dressed as the character Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games film franchise as it is unveiled at Madame Tussauds in central London.

December 27, 2014 129

Dec. 18 , 2014

Members of the Winchester Cathedral Choir skate on the Cathedral's ice rink.

December 27, 2014 130

Dec. 18 , 2014

World leaders welcomed an historic move by the US to end more than 50

years of hostility towards Cuba and restore diplomatic relations, frozen

since the 1960s. US President Barack Obama said the "rigid and outdated policy" of isolating Cuba since then

had clearly failed and that it was time for a new approach. Here a musician is

pictured in Cuba's capital, Havana.

December 27, 2014 131

Dec. 18 , 2014

Riot police suppress the demonstrators protested a new law on security, outside the houses of Parliament in Nairobi, Kenya.

December 27, 2014 132

Dec. 18 , 2014

Christmas lights in the event "Luci d'Artista" (artist's light in Salerno) in Salerno, southern Italy. the theme of the event 2014-2015 is the northern light and Fairy Tales.

December 27, 2014 133

Dec. 18 , 2014

In the photograph published yesterday, Prince Harry of Britain for the kids to see picture taken during a visit to a school for the boys herding by the charity Sentebale in Mokhotlong, Lesotho. Prince Harry to visit Lesotho to inspect the work of his Sentebale charity, providing medical care and education for vulnerable children in Lesotho.December 27, 2014 134

Dec. 18 , 2014

Afghan students learn outdoors in the District of Mohmand Dara District of Eastern province.

December 27, 2014 135

Dec. 18 , 2014

Cleanup workers in protective clothing in search of the asbestos fiber (asbestos) around the train station in the Centre of the city of Roermond, Netherlands. Centre of Roermond suffered from blockade and put in a State of alert after a fire causes asbestos radiate out across the city.

December 27, 2014 136

Dec. 18 , 2014

Jump of the wildebeest at the Mara river.December 27, 2014 137

In the last 10 years, mobile data, smart phones and social networks have forever changed our existence. Although this woman stood at the center of a jam packed train, but the warm glow from her phone tells the strangers around her that she's not really here. She manged to slip away from here, for a short moment, she's a node flickering on the social web, roaming the earth, free as a butterfly. Our existence is no longer stuck to the physical here, we're free to run away, and run we will.

December 27, 2014 138

A man removes a rested water pipe from the exterior of the Sofaer building, one of many decrepit structures from the British colonial era in Yangon, Myanmar, Oct. 23, 2014. These once-elegant outposts of Britainís commercial empire are now wrecks where offices rent for $20 a month. Such buildings are the crux of a battle between preservationists and developers that many see as key to Yangon's future. (Tomas Munita/The New York Times)

December 27, 2014 139

Những thành viên ban hợp ca của Giáo đường Winchester trượt băng bên ngoài nhà thờ, miền Nam nước Anh.December 27, 2014 140

Dec. 18 , 2014

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man lights candles during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Braknear Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Jewish festival of light is an eight-day commemoration of the Jewish uprising in the second century B.C. against the Greek-Syrian kingdom, which had tried to put statues of Greek gods in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

December 27, 2014 141

Dec. 18 , 2014

Philippine Military Academy cadets march during ceremonies on the 79th anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at Camp Aguinaldo military headquarters in suburban Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

December 27, 2014 142

Dec. 18 , 2014

Cuban flags are placed next to an old cash register in state bodega in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. After a half-century of Cold War acrimony, the United States and Cuba abruptly moved on Wednesday to restore diplomatic relations, a historic shift that could revitalize the flow of money and people across the narrow waters that separate the two nations. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

December 27, 2014 143

Dec. 18 , 2014

A protester against the new security law, who managed to get past heavy police cordons preventing demonstrations, shouts into a

megaphone while holding the Kenyan flag outside the Parliament building in Nairobi,

Kenya Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. Kenyan legislators Thursday exchanged blows on

changes to security laws which the government says will help fight terrorism but which critics say are meant to silence dissent by curtailing

civil liberties, with opposition legislators throwing the papers on the floor and

government supporters hitting and tearing the clothes of an opposition senator. (AP

Photo/Ben Curtis)

December 27, 2014 144

Dec. 18 , 2014

A protestor carries a torch and a banner that reads: "No More

Deaths or Beatings on the South Border", during a protest against

the Public Security Law and Spanish policies on immigration in front of the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain,

Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. Spain's lower house of parliament

approved last Thursday the Public Security Law that allows for the summary expulsion of migrants

entering the country's North African enclaves illegally. The

legislation also says organizers of demonstrations outside parliament buildings and key installations that

are deemed to be disturbing the peace can be fined. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

December 27, 2014 145

Dec. 18 , 2014

A girl, eats by the doorway of her home, near the house of Pakistani student NasrullahAbdullah, 17, who was killed in last Tuesday's Taliban attack on a military-run school, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got underway. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

December 27, 2014 146

Dec. 18 , 2014

Relatives and mourners of Pakistani student NasrullahAbdullah, 17, who was killed in Tuesday's Taliban attack on a military-run school, chant prayers while gathering outside his home, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got underway. (AP Photo/MuhammedMuheisen)

December 27, 2014 147

Dec. 18 , 2014

A Pakistani army officer, walks in a corridor riddled with bullet marks, as

a man, right, covers his nose form the smell of the blood, inside the Army Public School attacked last

Tuesday by Taliban gunmen, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec.

18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly

children, at a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of

heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out

as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got

underway. (AP Photo/MuhammedMuheisen)

December 27, 2014 148

Dec. 18 , 2014

A Pakistani man checks the damage inside the room of headmaster Tahira Kazi, 58, who was killed in Tuesday's Taliban attack on a military-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at the military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got underway. (AP Photo/MuhammedMuheisen)

December 27, 2014 149

Dec. 18 , 2014

Photographer

Khuram Parvez

Location

PESHAWAR, Pakistan

Reuters / Thursday,

December 18, 2014

A photograph lies on the

auditorium floor of the Army


attacked by Pakistan Taliban


December 18, 2014.

REUTERS/Khuram Parvez

December 27, 2014 150

Dec. 18, 2014

A Pakistani army officer, stands in front of a wall riddled with bullet marks, inside the Army

Public School attacked last Tuesday by Taliban gunmen, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday,

Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than

140 people, mostly children, at a military-run school in

northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching

devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the

nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got

underway. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

December 27, 2014 151

Dec. 18 , 2014

Damages inside the Army Public School attacked last Tuesday by Taliban gunmen, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got underway. (AP Photo/MuhammedMuheisen)

December 27, 2014 152

Dec. 18 , 2014

A wall riddled with bullet marks, inside the Army Public School attacked last Tuesday by Taliban gunmen, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got underway. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)December 27, 2014 153

Dec. 18 , 2014

A wall riddled with bullet marks, inside the Army Public School attacked last Tuesday by Taliban gunmen, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that

killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-

wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the

victims got underway. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

December 27, 2014 154

Dec. 18 , 2014

A Pakistani woman looks at the damage inside the Army Public School, attacked Tuesday by Taliban gunmen in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at the military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got underway. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

December 27, 2014 155

Dec. 18 , 2014

Pakistani student, Mohammad Baqair, who survived last Tuesday's Taliban attack on a military-run school and was slightly injured, poses for a picture holding a photograph of his mother a victim of the attack, who was a teacher at the school, at his home, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got underway. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

December 27, 2014 156

Dec. 18 , 2014

Pakistani men walk past a shoe and blood inside the Army Public School, attacked Tuesday by

Taliban gunmen in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014.

The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly

children, at the military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a

scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and

young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals

for the victims got underway. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

December 27, 2014 157

Dec. 18 , 2014

A wall riddled with bullet marks and blood stains, inside the Army Public School

attacked last Tuesday by Taliban gunmen, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18,

2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at

a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching

devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and

mass funerals for the victims got underway. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

December 27, 2014 158

Dec. 18 , 2014

Pakistani students, Waqar Ahmad, left, and Uwais Naser, who survived last Tuesday’s Taliban attack on a military-run school, stand at the site, one holding a picture of their headmaster Tahira Kazi, 58, who was killed in the attack, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

December 27, 2014 159

Dec. 18 , 2014

Pakistani Sayed Shah, shows a picture of his son Zulqarnain, 17, a student who was killed in last Tuesday's Taliban attack on a military-run school, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got underway. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

December 27, 2014 160

Dec. 18 , 2014

A picture showing schoolchildren playing is left on a car, inside the Army Public School attacked last Tuesday by Taliban gunmen, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching devastation, pools of blood and young lives snuffed out as the nation mourned and mass funerals for the victims got underway. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

December 27, 2014 161

Dec. 18 , 2014

The Doric columns of the floodlit, 5th Century BC Parthenon Temple on the

Acropolis appear behind strings of Christmas street lights in Athens, on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. This year's

Christmas and New Year's celebrations in financially struggling

Greece are overshadowed by a threatened political crisis, sparked by

the election of the country's new president. The conservative-led

government failed Wednesday to secure enough support for its

nominee, and if the same happens in two more rounds of voting by Dec.

29, early national elections will have to be called _ just as the country is

crawling out of a punishing six-year recession. (AP Photo/Thanassis

Stavrakis)

December 27, 2014 162

Dec. 18 , 2014

An Indian child dressed as Hindu goddess Parvati to seek alms reacts to camera on the banks of the River Ganges in Allahabad, India,Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. Allahabad, on the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswathi, is one of Hinduism's important centers. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

December 27, 2014 163

Dec. 18 , 2014

Buddhist monk take pictures at a court house as they await to see New Zealand citizen Philip Blackwood after a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. Blackwood, general manager of the V Gastro Bar, and two Myanmar business partners have pleaded innocent to charges they insulted religion by posting an advertisement with an image of a pink Buddha wearing headphones. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)December 27, 2014 164

Dec. 18 , 2014

The shadow of a pedestrian falls on the floor of the train station in Tokyo, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)December 27, 2014 165

Dec. 18 , 2014

Photographer

Fayaz Aziz

Location

PESHAWAR, Pakistan

Reuters / Thursday, December

18, 2014

A policeman collects blood

samples as evidence on the



attacked by Pakistan Taliban


December 18, 2014.

REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz

December 27, 2014 166

Dec. 18 , 2014

December 27, 2014 167

AFRICA’S FIRST CITY

PERMITTED USE: This image may be downloaded or is otherwise provided at no charge for one-time use for coverage or promotion of National Geographic magazine dated January 2015 and exclusively in conjunction thereof. No copying, distribution or archiving permitted. Sublicensing, sale or resale is prohibited.REQUIRED CREDIT AND CAPTION: All image uses must bear the copyright notice and be properly credited to the relevant photographer, as shown in this metadata, and must be accompanied by a caption, which makes reference to NGM. Any uses in which the image appears without proper copyright notice, photographer credit and a caption referencing NGM are subject to paid licensing.Mandatory usage requirements: (Please note: you may select 5 branded images for online use and 3 images for print/unbranded)1. Include mandatory photo credit with each image: © Robin Hammond/National Geographic2. Show the December cover of National Geographic somewhere in the post (credit: National Geographic) unless using only one image3. Provide a prominent link to: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/lagos/hammond-photographyat the top of your piece, ahead of the photos 4. Mention that the images are from "the January issue of National Geographic magazine” Photograph by Robin HammondThousands live and work in the sawmill district on mainland Lagos, a patchwork of workshops and shanties that twice in recent years has been devastated by fires. The towers where Nigeria’s wealth is made loom across Lagos Lagoon behind the Third Mainland Bridge.

December 27, 2014 168

Photographer

Baz Ratner

Location

Koidu, Sierra Leone

Reuters / Thursday,

December 18, 2014

Bystanders stand

around the body of a

suspected Ebola victim

lying in a street in the

town of Koidu, Kono

district in Eastern

Sierra Leone,

December 18, 2014.

REUTERS/Baz Ratner

December 27, 2014 169

Dec. 18 , 2014

Photographer

Ivan Alvarado

Location

SANTIAGO, Chile

Reuters / Thursday,

December 18, 2014

A student is detained

during a demonstration

near the Ministry of

Education at Santiago,

Chile, December 18,

2014. REUTERS/Ivan

Alvarado

December 27, 2014 170

Dec. 18 , 2014

Photographer

Handout .

Location

Plum Island, United States

Reuters / Thursday, December

18, 2014

Coast Guard members conduct

flare training on Plum Island,

Massachussetts, December 15,

2014. REUTERS/U.S. Coast

Guard/Petty Officer 3rd Class

MyeongHi Clegg

December 27, 2014 171

Dec. 18 , 2014

Photographer

Handout .

Location

Havana, Cuba

Reuters / Thursday,

December 18, 2014

Cuba's President Raul

Castro talks with Gerardo

Hernandez (L), Ramon

Labanino (2nd L) and

Antonio Guerrero (2nd R) in

Havana, December 17,

2014. REUTERS/Estudios

Revolucion

December 27, 2014 172

Dec. 18 , 2014

Photographer

Maxim Shemetov

Location

DONETSK, Ukraine

Reuters / Thursday,

December 18, 2014

Pro-Russian rebels adjust

the radio as they prepare to

listen to Russian President

Vladimir Putin's annual end-

of-year news conference

broadcast in Donetsk,

December 18, 2014.

REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

December 27, 2014 173

Dec. 18 , 2014

Photographer

Jason Reed

Location

SYDNEY, Australia

Reuters / Thursday, December 18, 2014

Women in angel costumes marching

around the site of the Sydney cafe siege

line up to receive an embrace from a man

giving out 'free hugs' to those mourning

the victims of the incident in Sydney's

Martin Place, Australia, December 18,

2014. REUTERS/Jason Reed

December 27, 2014 174

Dec. 18 , 2014

Photographer

Ammar Awad

Location

BETHLEHEM, Palestinian

Territories

Reuters / Thursday, December 18,

2014

People light candles in small

caves near the Mar Saba

Monastery in the Judean desert,

east of the Palestinian West Bank

city of Bethlehem, December 18,

2014. The Greek Orthodox

monastery, which was built in the

fifth century AD, currently houses

some 20 monks and has been

occupied almost continuously

since it was founded, which,

according to the Web site of

Israel's tourism ministry, makes it

one of the oldest inhabited

monasteries...more

December 27, 2014 175

Dec. 18 , 2014

PhotographerChina Stringer NetworkLocationSHENYANG, ChinaReuters / Thursday, December 18, 2014A man, whose surname is He, cuddles the body of his dead wife during a sub-zero evening in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China, December 17, 2014. The man sat by the roadside while holding his wife's body for almost two hours till his son came and persuaded him to bring the body home, according to local media. The wife had just bought medicine from a pharmacy when she collapsed in a street and died of heart failure. REUTERS/Stringer

December 27, 2014 176

Dec. 18 , 2014

Thai women wade through floodwaters after heavy rains

triggered flash floods in Narathiwat, Thailand, on Dec.

18

December 27, 2014 177

Dec. 18 , 2014

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Dec. 19 , 2014

A spectator watching international cricket match between Pakistan and New Zealand teams in International Cricket Stadium Zayed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.December 27, 2014 179

Dec. 19 , 2014

People who clean the glass door dressed horses and goats working outside a hotel in Tokyo. In handing the task last year of "Zodiac", the five Horse coming through turn map wipe window for Five upcoming Smell.December 27, 2014 180

Dec. 19 , 2014

Israeli border police detained a Palestinian protesters following prayers for the Minister Ziad Abu Ain of Palestinians, who are down right after a rally on November 10 in the village of Turmus Aya in the West Bank, when it clashed with the army near the village outside the city of Ramallah.

December 27, 2014 181

Dec. 19 , 2014

A photo taken from

the roof of the

tower at al-Hamra

Kuwait City show

at sunset. This

tower is the tallest

skyscraper in

Kuwait and one of

the 10 highest

Tower in the world.

December 27, 2014 182

Dec. 19 , 2014

Proponents of the movement of cleric Fetullah Gulen gathered

outside the Justice Palace in Istanbul. A Turkish Court has

ordered the arrest of the Director of a television station and three

others await trial on Friday for allegedly belonging to a terrorist

group, in which the President publicly defended Tayyip Erdogan

was a measure in response to "the dirty work" of his enemies.

December 27, 2014 183

Dec. 19 , 2014

Christmas tree is lit in

the ancient city of Kaunas, Lithuania.

December 27, 2014 184

Dec. 19 , 2014

Teachers and students get into the Lotus-shaped marks 15th anniversary Special Administrative Region Macau was returned to China, in a primary school in the city of Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province in East China.

December 27, 2014 185

Dec. 19 , 2014

Gamalama mountain spewing ashes in Ternate in the Maluku islands. Indonesia temporarily shut a domestic airport after the volcano in the East of the country exploded, spewing ash and smoke flow into hundreds of meters.

December 27, 2014 186

Dec. 19 , 2014

A man portraying Santa Claus moves between cars while greeting passengers during a Polar Express holiday train ride to the "North Pole" on the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad, Friday, Dec. 19, 2014, in Portland, Maine. The Polar Express is the largest annual fundraiser for the railroad's museum. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Dec. 19 , 2014

December 27, 2014 187

December 27, 2014 188

Behind the wheel in Kabul


December 27, 2014 189

The streets of Kabul, one of the world’s fastest growing cities, are increasingly blocked by cars and buses.There are few road signs and many potholes and only about a quarter of Afghanistan’s useable roadway is paved.Still, Afghans are flocking to the city’s driving schools to get their licence.

At a driving school on a busy street of Kabul, the walls are covered with photos of traffic signs and engine parts as the instructor teaches his students the basics of car mechanics.In the city’s private driving schools, students pay a $60 fee for a 45-day course, which includes oral and practical driving tests at the country’s Traffic Department.

Some female students, including 21-year-old Kanaz pictured above during a driving lesson, complain of unwanted gazes and physical harassment on the cramped, crowded minibuses that are often the only method of urban public transport.Of the seven female drivers at the training course, two said that while they would get their driving licenses, they never planned to drive because they believe the mainly conservative society was not yet ready to accept female drivers.

Kabul, Afghanistan Mohammad Ismail



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December 27, 2014 200

Chechen fighters in Ukraine


December 27, 2014 201

December 27, 2014 202

Chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest), dozens of armed men in camouflage uniforms from Russia's republic of Chechnya train in snow in a camp in the rebel-held east Ukraine.They say their "Death" unit fighting Ukrainian forces has 300 people, mostly former state security troops in the mainly-Muslim region where Moscow waged two wars against Islamic insurgents.

Seasoned Chechen fighters, whose combat experience often dates back to the 1994-96 and 1999-2000 wars, fight on both sides in east Ukraine, adding to the complexity of a conflict in which the West says Russian troops are involved.

"This is volunteer battalion Death," deputy commander of the group who only gave his nickname "Stinger", pictured above, said in a former tourist camp the unit turned into their base outside of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in east Ukraine."We have battlefield experience from 10 to 20 years starting from 1995," said the man, in his forties, a pistol fixed to his thigh.He had a little Chechen flag in green, white and red stitched to his cap and speaks Russian with a strong Caucasus accent.

Russia sides with the rebels in east Ukraine but denies sending serving troops to reinforce them. Some fighters on the ground admit to being former Russian servicemen, or "on leave". Moscow has said any Russians fighting there are volunteers.In Ukraine, Stinger's men are sworn enemies with another group of Chechens who fight on the opposite side of the conflict and support the Kiev government troops.Some of them have Western passports after fleeing Russia following the two wars. They say Moscow is theirs and Kiev's joint enemy and that Chechnya is occupied by Russia.

Some of those in the "Death" unit said they had initially fought against Russia in Chechnya but later switched sides and were amnestied by a former Kremlin-allied head of the region, Ramzan's father, Akhmet Kadyrov."Now we are (former) soldiers and officers of the Russian army, of Russian special forces, mostly veterans of war campaigns," Stinger said.

Donetsk Region, Ukraine Maxim Shemetov




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December 27, 2014 206

A shopping center with Christmas decoration lights in Berlin, Germany.December 27, 2014 207

Dec. 19 , 2014

Three of the four annual new student cheetah born in Zoo Prague, Czech Republic.

December 27, 2014 208

Dec. 19 , 2014

Javier Yanez stood on the balcony to hang the American flag and the flag of Cuba in Havana in Cuba. After Wednesday's sudden declaration of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, many people of Cuba expressed the hope that this means that they will reach out more with the jobs and the economic rise of their difficulties.

December 27, 2014 209

Dec. 19 , 2014

A little old man hats selling Indian Noel and mask a

break at an intersection in the city of Bangalore, India

December 27, 2014 210

Dec. 19 , 2014

A Pakistani lawmakers placed flowers at memorials in Islamabad for the pupils and the teacher were the war on Taliban killed in a school operated by the army in the city of Peshawar on Tuesday.

December 27, 2014 211

Dec. 19 , 2014

Photographer

Issei Kato

Location

Tokyo, Japan

Reuters / Friday, December 19, 2014

Window cleaners, dressed in horse (L)

and sheep costumes featuring animal

signs from the Chinese zodiac calendar,

work during an event promoting the year-

end and new year at a hotel in the

business district of Tokyo December 19,

2014. The year of 2014 is the year of the

horse and 2015 is the year of the sheep

according to the Chinese zodiac

calendar. REUTERS/Issei Kato

December 27, 2014 212

Dec. 19 , 2014

Photographer

Lucas Jackson

Location

JALALABAD, Afghanistan

Reuters / Friday, December

19, 2014

The rising sun lights smoke

in the air as a man crosses

the street near Forward

Operating Base Fenty in

the Nangarhar province of

Afghanistan December 19,

2014. REUTERS/Lucas

Jackson

December 27, 2014 213

Dec. 19 , 2014

Photographer

Stringer .

Location

Havana, Cuba

Reuters / Thursday,

December 18, 2014

Samples of products for

sale are seen in a

subsidized store, or

"bodega" where Cubans

can buy basic products

with a ration book they

receive annually from the

government, in Havana

December 18, 2014.

REUTERS/Stringer

December 27, 2014 214

Dec. 19 , 2014

Photographer

Antara Photo Agency

Location

BANJARNEGARA, Indonesia

Reuters / Friday, December 19,

2014

Soldiers and rescue team

members find the dead bodies of a

mother and her child after a

landslide at Sampang village in

Banjarnegara, Indonesia,

December 19, 2014.

REUTERS/Idhad Zakaria/Antara

Foto

December 27, 2014 215

Dec. 19 , 2014

Photographer

Damir Sagolj

Location

Khao Lak, Thailand

Reuters / Friday, December 19,

2014

Buddhist monks look at the Thai

navy police boat which was swept

over a mile inland during the 2004

Indian Ocean Tsunami as they visit

a memorial in Khao Lak, in

Thailand's Phang Nga province,

north of the resort island of

Phuket, December 14, 2014.

REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

December 27, 2014 216

Dec. 19 , 2014

PhotographerSurapan Boonthamon

LocationNarathiwat, Thailand

Reuters / Friday, December 19, 2014Locals watch from the beach as waves hit an Indonesian

tanker that ran aground near Narathiwat in southern Thailand December 19, 2014. REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom

December 27, 2014 217

Dec. 19 , 2014

Gene Desrosiers, dressed as Santa Claus, rides his scooter down SconticutNeck Rd., Friday, Dec. 19, 2014, in Fairhaven, Mass. (AP Photo/Standard Times, Peter Pereira)

Dec. 19 , 2014

December 27, 2014 218

In this Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014 photo, a worker dressed as a Santa

Claus descends on the cable to deliver gifts to tourists in the cable

car ahead of Christmas Day celebrations at a scenic zone in

Pingjiang county in south China's Hunan province. (AP Photo) CHINA

OUT

Dec. 20 , 2014

December 27, 2014 219

December 27, 2014 220

Dec . 21 , 2014

PhotographerCarlo AllegriLocationNew York, United StatesReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014Donna Salvaggio (L) and a woman who gave her name as Reverend Jordan hug at a makeshift memorial at the site where two police officers were shot in the head in the Brooklyn borough of New York, December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 221

PhotographerLucas JacksonLocationGARDEZ, AfghanistanReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A U.S. soldier from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment waits for a CH-47 Chinook helicopter from the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade to land after an advising mission at the Afghan National Army headquarters for the 203rd Corps in the Paktia province of Afghanistan December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 222

PhotographerBaz Ratner

LocationFREETOWN, Sierra Leone


The body of a suspected Ebola victim awaits burial in

a grave at a cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone,

December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 223

PhotographerAntara Photo AgencyLocationAMBON, IndonesiaReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014Two foreign flagged fishing boats registered in Papua New Guinea are destroyed by the Indonesian Navy after they were seized earlier for supposedly illegal fishing off the coast of Ambon, Maluku December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Antara Foto/IzaacMulyawan

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 224

PhotographerAnis MiliLocationTunis, TunisiaReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014Supporters of the NidaaTounes (Call for Tunisia) secular party movement wave the national flag and shout slogans amidst lighted flares outside Nidaa Tounes in Tunis December 21, 2014. Tunisian presidential candidate BejiCaid Essebsi claimed victory in a run-off election, which is seen as the final step to full democracy nearly four years after an uprising ousted autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. REUTERS/Anis Mili

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 225

PhotographerCarlo AllegriLocationNew York, United StatesReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014Civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton holds up his phone as he plays what he calls a threatening voicemail message he says he received following the fatal shooting of two police officers, in the Brooklyn borough of New York December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 226

PhotographerStringer .LocationGUATEMALA, MexicoReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014Guatemalan firefighter Hector Chacon, wearing a Santa Claus outfit, rappels down the Belize bridge to give toys to children living under the bridge, in Guatemala City, December 21, 2014. Chacon has arranged for firefighters to dress as Santa Claus and give out toys during Christmas to children living in the poor neighbourhood under the bridge for the past 17 years. REUTERS/Josue Decavele

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 227

PhotographerStringer .LocationSINJAR, IraqReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014People from the minority Yazidi sect pass a destroyed military vehicle belonging to Islamic State militant at Mount Sinjar, in the town of Sinjar, Iraq, December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Ari Jalal

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 228

PhotographerWilliam HongLocationCHONGFU, ChinaReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A boy rides his bicycle over the fur of raccoon dogs at a fur market in Chongfu township, Zhejiang province, December 20, 2014. Chongfutownship, which houses over 100,000 residents in Eastern China's Zhejiang province, is known as the biggest fur design, research, production and export centre in China. REUTERS/William Hong

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 229

PhotographerStringer .Location

DAMASCUS, SyriaReuters / Sunday, December 21,

2014Injured children wait in a field

hospital after what activists said was was an air strike by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad

in the Duma neighbourhood of Damascus, Syria, December 21,

2014. REUTERS/Badra Mamet

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 230

PhotographerChina Stringer Network

LocationSHANGHAI, China


Dog Xiaoniu dressed in clothes walks across a street with its

owner (not pictured) in Shanghai, China, December 19, 2014. According to local media, Xiaoniu accompanies its owner

to the food market everyday and is able to walk with its hind

legs for up to about an hour. REUTERS/Stringer

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 231

PhotographerJon NazcaLocationARCOS DE LA FRONTERA, SpainReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A man dressed as King Herod yawns next to his harem as they take part in a re-enactment of the nativity scene, in Arcos de la Frontera, near Cadiz, Spain, late December 20, 2014. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 232

PhotographerRadu SighetiLocationBUCHAREST, RomaniaReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A woman poses inside a hole in a large Romanian flag during the 25th anniversary of the country's 1989 revolution in central Bucharest December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Radu Sigheti

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 233

PhotographerMohamed Azakir

LocationBEIRUT, Lebanon

Reuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014Relatives react upon the arrival of the bodies of Lebanese victims of the Air Algerie flight AH5017 crash, at Beirut

international airport December 21, 2014. The Air Algerie flight crashed in July en

route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers with 110 passengers on board,

an Algerian aviation official said. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 234

PhotographerBaz RatnerLocationFREETOWN, Sierra LeoneReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A member of the clergy reads from the Bible to Ebola Patients in the recovery wing of the Hastings Ebola treatment centre in a neighbourhoodin Freetown, Sierra Leone, December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 235

PhotographerIbraheem Abu Mustafa

LocationRAFAH, Palestinian

TerritoriesReuters / Sunday,

December 21, 2014A Palestinian man, hoping to cross into Egypt, stands behind a fence as he waits

at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the

southern Gaza Strip December 21, 2014.

REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 236

PhotographerErik de CastroLocationMANILA, PhilippinesReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014Female members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) hold their service pistols that are covered with tape during the sealing of the muzzles of firearms at the National Capital Region Police Office in Taguig, Metro Manila, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 237

PhotographerMohsin RazaLocationLAHORE, PakistanReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014Pakistani Christians take part in a service to pray for victims of the attack by Taliban gunmen on the Army Public School in Peshawar, at the Cathedral Church in Lahore, Pakistan, December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 238

PhotographerEric GaillardLocationMONACO, MonacoReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A swimmer is seen before the traditional Christmas season swim in Monaco December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 239

December 27, 2014 240

Dec. 22 , 2014

US President Barack Obama has strongly condemned the shooting dead of two New

York City police officers on Saturday by a man who later killed himself. The officers were

killed while sitting in their squad car in Brooklyn. New York's police chief said they

were "targeted for their uniform". Here people gather around a memorial to them.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 241

Toy animals are removed from the entrance of the Korporaal van

Oudheusden barracks, south of the city of Hilversum in the Netherlands,

where the bodies of victims of downed Malaysian Airlines flight

MH17 are being identified. A selection of the weather-damaged

tributes will be cleaned and then stored.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 242

Standing 85m (279ft) tall and featuring more than 3m light bulbs, the world's largest floating Christmas tree sits in the harbour of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 243

Visitors look on as an elephant and calf cross a road inside Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park. According to park officials, Hwange is home to

more than 53,000 elephants.Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 244

A stage artist from India's National School of Drama performs in William Shakespeare's Macbeth, directed by

Ratan Thiyam, during the North-Eastern Theatre Festival in Bangalore.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 245

Druids gather for a winter solstice ritual marking the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere on Beacon Hill near Loughborough, England.Freestyle skier Mac Bohonnon competes in Beijing, China

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 246

Mac Bohonnon of the US competes in the FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup team aerials event in Beijing, China.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 247

Fire-fighters extinguish a blaze on a fairground ride at the AlexanderplatzChristmas Market in Berlin, Germany. According to the city's fire department, nobody was injured.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 248

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel (left) Gets the activists throw chips and sprays the mayonnaise in a protest against the Government of the feminist group LilithS (formerly a branch in Belgium of the Femen group) in a press conference at the Cercle de Wallonie in Namur.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 249

An Afghan staff member who worked in a confectionery factory in Ghazni.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 250

Farmers confront riot police at the Letpadaung copper mine in northwestern Myanmar. A woman was shot and killed during the Suppression of the protesters at the copper mine was China backed the controversial, in the words of activists and an opposition legislator.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 251

The ticket seller of Raquel Carrasco (middle) holding the plate with the winning number in the lottery of Christmas "El Gordo" of Spain while employees open champagne in La Eliana near the city of Valencia. The total value of 2.4 billion euros in prizes is divided into thousands of cash prizes for the hundreds who have the numbers to win.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 252

A chicken stone waited until his next fight in Havana, Cub

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 253

The Sun emits the flare light, taken back to wet plaster through the telescope of the NASA on December 19, 2014.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 254

Decorative lights stuck on the tree to celebrate Christmas and the new year coming in the garden Than in Gapyeong, South Korea.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 255

A sea lion balancing with a Christmas tree on the nose during a demonstration at a water park in Tokyo, Japan.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 256

A couple stand beside Puente La Reina bridge, at Saint James pilgrim way, which crosses the Arga River surrounded by fog, in Puente la Reina northern Spain, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 257

Chinese guard of honor members are reflected on the floor as they

rehearse for a welcome ceremony for visiting Thailand's

Prayuth Chan-ocha Prime Minister at the Great Hall of the

People in Beijing, China Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Andy

Wong)

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 258

Portraits of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, with the words in Spanish "Chavez our best friend" hangs alongside images of Cuban Five, center, and Cuba's President Raul Castro, right, in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. After the announcement that the U.S. and Cuba would resume diplomatic relations for the first time since 1961, President Raul Castro said he still wants an end to the trade embargo that has choked off commerce to the island. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 259

Orangutan in the cage at the Zoo in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 260

The orangutan named Sandra looks through a window at a journalist inside her enclosure at Buenos Aires' Zoo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. An Argentine court has ruled that Sandra, who has spent 20 years at the zoo, should be recognized as a person with a right to freedom. The ruling would free Sandra from captivity and have her transferred to a sanctuary in Brazil after a court recognized the primate as a "non-human person" which has some basic human rights. (AP Photo/NatachaPisarenko)

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 261

Elderly Pakistani Mina Hussein, wrapping herself with a shawl to shield from the cold, sits on the ground waiting for food donations at a distribution center in a shrine in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 262

Indian school childern perform Surya Namaskar or sun salutation

during "Yogathon 2014", as part of countrywide challenge of

performing 108 rounds of sun salutation at a school in Chennai, India, Monday, Dec.22, 2014. The United Nations General Assembly

has adopted an India-led resolution declaring June 21 as ìInternational

Day of Yogaî. (AP Photo/ArunSankar K.)

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 263

The motorcade carrying President Barack Obama travels through the rain enroute to Marine Corps Base Hawaii where the President is going to the gym, Monday, Dec. 22, 2014, in Kailua, Hawaii during the Obama family vacation. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 264

Farmers confront an earth-mover, owned by the Chines mining company, from moving forward as riot police gather at Letpadaungcopper-mine, Monywa in northwestern Myanmar Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. A woman was fatally shot Monday during a crackdown on protesters at the controversial Chinese-backed copper mine, activists and an opposition lawmaker said. Khin San Hlaing, a lawmaker from the National League for Democracy party, said the confrontation at the Letpadaung copper-mine project, a joint venture between a Myanmar military-controlled holding company and China's Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd., occurred as police and Chinese workers erected a fence on land that the villagers claimed as theirs. (AP Photo)

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 265

A picture made available on 22 December 2014 shows South Korea's Bukhan San

Mountain Rescue Police caption Kim Chang-Gon, wearing a Santa Claus costume, while rock-climbing during an event marking the Christmas holiday season on Buckhan mountain near Seoul, South Korea, 21 December 2014. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUNDec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 266


GLASGOW, United KingdomReuters / Monday, December

22, 2014Rescue services personnel

walk past a refuse truck that crashed into pedestrians in George Square, Glasgow, in

Scotland December 22, 2014.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 267

PhotographerBassam KhabiehLocationDAMASCUS, SyriaReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014Rebel fighters from the Free Syrian Army's Al Rahman legion move along a trench in Jobar, a suburb of Damascus December 22, 2014.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 268

PhotographerMark MakelaLocationPhiladelphia, United StatesReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014Using his walking staff as a makeshift hockey stick, Michael Grant, 28, "Philly Jesus," skates at Rothman Ice Rink in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania December 14, 2014. Nearly everyday for the last 8 months, Grant has dressed as Jesus Christ, and walked the streets of Philadelphia to share the Christian gospel by example. He quickly acquired the nickname of "Philly Jesus," which he has gone by ever since.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 269

PhotographerFayaz AzizLocationPESHAWAR, PakistanReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014Grandmother (R) and mother of Muhammad Ali Khan, a student who was killed during an attack by Taliban gunmen on Army Public School, react during a visit by Imran Khan (L), chairman of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) political party, at the school in Peshawar December 22, 2014. REUTERS Fayaz Aziz

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 270

PhotographerIbraheem Abu Mustafa

LocationRAFAH, Palestinian TerritoriesReuters / Monday, December

22, 2014A Palestinian boy, hoping to

cross into Egypt with his family, looks out a car window

as he waits at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and

the southern Gaza Strip December 22, 2014.

REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 271

PhotographerTony Gentile

LocationROME, Italy

Reuters / Monday, December 22, 2014Italian collector Domenico Agostinelli

works in his museum in Dragona, near Rome, Italy, November 4, 2014.

Agostinelli, 74, has a passion that has led him over the past 60 years to pick

up and collect things of all types, from antique art to everyday objects of the

past and present. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 272

Russian currency dropped to 100 rubles to one euro,

more then 25 per cent per a day. The continued drop in

the price of crude oil and Western sanctions against

Russia over the Ukraine crisis are being blamed for

plunging the rouble to a record low against dollar

and euro. (Photo by ValyaEgorshin/NurPhoto)

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 273


IDLIB, SyriaReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Rebel fighters walk around al-Hamidiyeh base, one of two military

posts they took control of from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-

Assad in the northwestern province of Idlib, December 15, 2014.

REUTERS/Stringer

Dec. 16-22 , 2014

The Syrian front

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 274


IDLIB, SyriaReuters / Tuesday, December 16,

2014Rebel fighters walk around al-

Hamidiyeh base, one of two military posts they took control

of from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the

northwestern province of Idlib, December 15, 2014.

REUTERS/Stringer

Dec. 16 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 275


IDLIB, SyriaReuters / Tuesday, December

16, 2014Rebel fighters walk around al-

Hamidiyeh base, one of two military posts they took control

of from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the

northwestern province of Idlib, December 15, 2014.

REUTERS/Stringer

Dec. 16 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 276

PhotographerStringer .LocationALEPPO, SyriaReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Rebel fighters rest near the frontline during their fight against forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the al-Malah area, in Aleppo's countryside, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Sultan Kitaz

Dec. 16 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 277

PhotographerStringer .LocationIDLIB, SyriaReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Rebel fighters stand near tanks inside al-Hamidiyeh base, one of two military posts they took control of from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the northwestern province of Idlib, December 15, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

Dec. 16 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 278

PhotographerStringer .LocationALEPPO, SyriaReuters / Tuesday, December 16, 2014Rebel fighters rest near the frontline during their fight against forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the al-Malah area, in Aleppo's countryside, December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Sultan Kitaz

Dec. 16 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 279

PhotographerKhalil AshawiLocationIDLIB, SyriaReuters / Saturday, December 20, 2014Ahrar al-Sham Islamic fighters rest near a checkpoint beside al-Hamidiyeh base, one of two military posts they took control of from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the southern Idlib countryside, December 19, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Dec. 20 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 280

PhotographerKhalil AshawiLocationIDLIB, SyriaReuters / Saturday, December 20, 2014Ahrar al-Sham Islamic fighters carry a fellow fighter who was killed in airstrikes around al-Hamidiyeh base, one of two military posts they took control of from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the southern Idlib countryside, December 19, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Dec. 20 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 281

PhotographerKhalil Ashawi

LocationIDLIB, Syria

Reuters / Saturday, December 20, 2014

Ahrar al-Sham Islamic fighters run for cover after a fellow

fighter was injured from airstrikes around al-Hamidiyehbase, one of two military posts

they took control of from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar

al-Assad in the southern Idlibcountryside, December 19, 2014.

REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Dec. 20 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 282

PhotographerStringer .LocationQAMISHLI, SyriaReuters / Saturday, December 20, 2014A Kurdish People's Protection Units fighter hugs a fellow fighter in a YPG military base east of Qamishli, before heading to Jazaa and Tal Kojar frontlines, December 19, 2014. REUTERS/Massoud Mohammed

Dec. 20 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 283

PhotographerSultan KitazLocationALEPPO, SyriaReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A rebel fighter fires a weapon towards forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Ramouseh, an area located beside Aleppo Artillery school, December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Sultan Kitaz

Dec. 21 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 284

PhotographerSultan Kitaz

LocationALEPPO, Syria


A rebel fighter rests after clashes with forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-

Assad in Ramouseh, an area located beside Aleppo

Artillery school, December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Sultan

Kitaz

Dec. 21 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 285

PhotographerSultan Kitaz

LocationALEPPO, Syria


A rebel fighter fires his weapon towards forces loyal to Syria's

President Bashar al-Assad in Ramouseh, an area located

beside Aleppo Artillery school, December 21, 2014.

REUTERS/Sultan Kitaz

Dec. 21 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 286

PhotographerKhalil AshawiLocationIDLIB, SyriaReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A man carries a weapons box left behind by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at the Azaalana checkpoint, after rebels took control of two military posts from the forces, in the southern Idlibcountryside, December 20, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Dec. 21 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 287

PhotographerKhalil AshawiLocationIDLIB, SyriaReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A man carries a weapons box left behind by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at the Azaalana checkpoint, after rebels took control of two military posts from the forces, in the southern Idlib countryside December 20, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Dec. 21 , 2014

December 27, 2014 288

The Syrian front

PhotographerBassam Khabieh

LocationDAMASCUS, Syria

Reuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A boy looks at damage of a collapsed building after what activists said was

was an air strike by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the Duma neighborhood of Damascus, December

21, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Dec. 21 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 289

PhotographerSultan KitazLocationALEPPO, SyriaReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A rebel fighter carries his weapon after clashes with forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Ramouseh, an area located beside Aleppo Artillery school, December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Sultan Kitaz

Dec. 21 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 290

PhotographerKhalil AshawiLocationIDLIB, SyriaReuters / Sunday, December 21, 2014A boy carries a mortar shell left behind by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at the Azaalana checkpoint, after rebels took control of two military posts from the forces, in the southern Idlib countryside, December 20, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Dec. 21 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 291

PhotographerBassam KhabiehLocationDAMASCUS, SyriaReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014A general view shows damaged buildings along a deserted street in the rebel-held area of Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Dec. 22 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 292



Reuters / Monday, December 22, 2014

A rebel fighter from the Free Syrian Army's Al Rahman

legion smokes a cigarette as he stands with his weapon inside a damaged room in

Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, December 22, 2014.

REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Dec. 22 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 293

PhotographerBassam KhabiehLocationDAMASCUS, SyriaReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014A framed portrait hangs off a wall inside a damaged house in Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Dec. 22 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 294

PhotographerBassam KhabiehLocationDAMASCUS, SyriaReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014A rebel fighter from the Free Syrian Army's Al Rahman legion takes up position behind sandbags in Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Dec. 22 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 295

PhotographerBassam KhabiehLocationDAMASCUS, SyriaReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014A general view shows a damaged building in the rebel-held area of Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Dec. 22 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 296

PhotographerBassam KhabiehLocationDAMASCUS, SyriaReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014A general view shows damaged buildings and roads in Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Dec. 22 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 297



Reuters / Monday, December 22, 2014A general view shows damaged buildings in Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, December 22,

2014. The city of Damascus is seen in the background. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Dec. 22 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 298




A man walks past a dead body, whom according to rebel fighters, is a soldier

loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Jobar, a suburb of

Damascus, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Dec. 22 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 299

PhotographerBassam KhabiehLocationDAMASCUS, SyriaReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014A rebel fighter carrying his weapon rides a bicycle along a street in Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Dec. 16-22 , 2014

The Syrian front

December 27, 2014 300

PhotographerLuke MacGregor

LocationLondon, United Kingdom


Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral sing Christmas

carols during a photocall inside the Cathedral in central

London December 22, 2014.

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 301

PhotographerAlessandro BianchiLocationVatican, Vatican CityReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014Pope Francis is pictured on mobile phones as he arrives to lead a special audience for Vatican employees and their families at the Paul VI's hall at the Vatican December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 302

PhotographerAmmar AwadLocationJERUSALEM, IsraelReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy lights a candle on the seventh night of the holiday of Hanukkah in Jerusalem's Mea Shearimneighbourhood December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 303

PhotographerCarlo AllegriLocationNew York, United StatesReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014New York Mayor Bill de Blasio attends a news conference about the two NYPD police officers who were fatally shot in the Brooklyn borough of New York, December 22, 2014 . REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 304

PhotographerAhmad MasoodLocationNEW DELHI, IndiaReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014A man walks out of his house in an alley on a cold and foggy morning in New Delhi, India, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 305

PhotographerChina Daily China Daily Information Corp - CDIC

LocationFUYANG, China

Reuters / Monday, December 22, 2014Zhang Junlin, a 62-year-old retired prison guard, stands inside his homemade submarine named

"Shenlong-3" at a factory in Fuyang, Anhui province, China, December 20, 2014. REUTERS/China Daily

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 306

PhotographerIbraheem Abu MustafaLocationRAFAH, Palestinian TerritoriesReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014A Palestinian woman, hoping to cross into Egypt, stands behind a fence as she waits at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 307

PhotographerSheng LiLocationHARBIN, ChinaReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014People visit newly-built ice sculptures illuminated by coloured lights during a trial operation of the 16th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 308

Photographer

Goran TomasevicLocationILEMI TRIANGLE, KenyaReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014A Turkana man carries a rifle as he herds goats inside the Turkana region of the Ilemi Triangle, northwest Kenya December 21, 2014. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 309

PhotographerCarlo Allegri

LocationNew York, United States


A man prays on his knees at a makeshift memorial at the site where two police officers were

fatally shot in the Brooklyn borough of New York December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 310

PhotographerAmmar AwadLocationJERUSALEM, IsraelReuters / Monday, December 22, 2014An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man lights a candle on the seventh night of the holiday of Hanukkah in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhoodDecember 22, 2014. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Dec. 22 , 2014

December 27, 2014 311

December 27, 2014 312

Dec. 23 , 2014

PhotographerStringer .LocationSNOUN, IraqReuters / Tuesday, December 23, 2014Female fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) stand near the border between Syria and Iraq, close to the Iraqi town of Snoun December 22, 2014. Kurdish and Yazidi fighters battled to take the Sinjar back from Islamic State after breaking a months-long siege of the mountain above it. Seizing the town would restore the majority of territory Iraq's Kurds lost in Islamic State's surprise offensive in August....more

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 313

PhotographerLaszlo BaloghLocationMARKUSHEGY, HungaryReuters / Tuesday, December 23, 2014Miners leave from the mine with elevator during their last working day at Hungary's last hard coal deep-cast mine at Markushegy on December 23, 2014. The underground mine, west of the capital city Budapest, has to stop producing coal at the end of this year in line with a European Union effort to shut down uncompetitive hard coal mines. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 314

PhotographerCarlo AllegriLocationNew York, United StatesReuters / Tuesday, December 23, 2014A commuter walks though steam in Manhattan, New York, December 23, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 315

PhotographerHannibal HanschkeLocationBerlin, GermanyReuters / Tuesday, December 23, 2014People attend the 'Weihnachtssingen' a candle-lit carol concert with 27,500 fans of the second-division club FC Union Berlin at the AlteFoersterei stadium in Berlin December 23, 2014. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 316

PhotographerCarlo Allegri

LocationNew York, United States


A police officer stands in front of a banner reading

"All Lives Matter", hung from a building across the

street from a makeshift memorial at the site where

two police officers were fatally shot in the Brooklyn

borough of New York, December 22, 2014.

REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 317

PhotographerAntonio Bronic

LocationZagreb, Croatia


A participant holds up a sky lantern to be released during

the "Kapulica & Lanterns" event in Zagreb, Croatia, December 22,

2014. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 318

PhotographerIbraheem Abu MustafaLocationRAFAH, Palestinian TerritoriesReuters / Tuesday, December 23, 2014A woman cries as she asks for a permit to cross into Egypt at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip December 23, 2014. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 319

PhotographerBeawiharta BeawihartaLocationJAKARTA, IndonesiaReuters / Tuesday, December 23, 2014Children try to walk through a flooded street at Kampung Melayu residential area in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 23, 2014. REUTERS/Beawiharta

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 320

PhotographerKhaled Abdullah Ali Al Mahdi

LocationSanaa, Yemen


People gather at the site of a bomb explosion in Sanaa, Yemen,

December 23, 2014. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 321


DAMASCUS, SyriaReuters / Tuesday, December

23, 2014An injured girl waits for

treatment in a field hospital after what activists said was an

air strike by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-

Assad in the Duma neighbourhood of Damascus,

Syria, December 23, 2014. REUTERS/ Mohmad Badra

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 322

PhotographerEddie KeoghLocationLondon, United KingdomReuters / Tuesday, December 23, 2014A man dressed as Father Christmas appears to levitate by using a specially-designed prop and costume as he waves to people in Trafalgar Square in central London December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 323

Photographer

Tami Chappell

Location

ATLANTA, United States


2014

General Manager Brandon Delaney

looks up at the marquee sign after

the announcement that the Plaza

Theatre would be showing the movie

"The Interview" beginning Christmas

Day in Atlanta, Georgia December 23,

2014. REUTERS/Tami Chappell

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 324

Pakistani boys enjoy jumping on a trampoline, at a makeshift entertainment park set up in a Christian neighborhood for Christmas holiday, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. (AP Photo/MuhammedMuheisen)

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 325

A Pakistani Christian boy decorates a tree in preparation for the upcoming Christmas holiday in Islamabad’s slums, Pakistan, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 326

A street decorated with New Year and Christmas illumination in the center of Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 327

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish family light candles during the last day of Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in the city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. The Jewish festival of light is an eight-day commemoration of the Jewish uprising in the second century B.C. against the Greek-Syrian kingdom, which had tried to put statues of Greek gods in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/OdedBalilty)

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 328

Children from Dofteana, northern Romania, some

wearing bear furs, walk while performing a holiday season ritual in Bucharest, Romania,

Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. In pre-Christian rural traditions, dancers wearing colored costumes or animal furs,

touring house to house in villages singing and dancing to

ward off evil. In recent years following the economic

downturn in Romania, a European Union member since 2007, the tradition has moved

to Romania’s cities where dancers travel to perform the

ritual for money during the Christmas and New Year’s period. (AP Photo/Vadim

Ghirda)

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 329

A bottle floats on reflection of a bridge on the Sava river, in Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. Unusually warm weather for this time of the year is predicted for upcoming days in Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 330

A street entertainer holds her cell phone in a pavilion during a minute of rest in downtown Moscow decorated for the New Year and Christmas, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 331

A dolphin carries gift package to give his coach in a special performances on the occasion of Christmas Special at Shinagawa Aqua Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 332

The victim's coffin Tori Johnson killed in service holding hostages at a cafe in Sydney were given hearse after the funeral in Sydney, Australia. Ms. Johnson was hailed as a hero after trying so enraged taking weapons from the gunmen.

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 333

A protester at times co. with the police before the Ukrainian Parliament in Kiev. Ukrainian lawmakers to vote with the overwhelming proportion of abolition of the non-aligned status of Ukraine, paving the way for the accession to NATO.

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 334

What They Said: Test Your Memory of 2014's Quotable Moments – NBC News

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 335

A passenger boards a new subway train in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 23,

2014. The new train can transport 1.232 passengers. (AP Photo/Luca

Bruno)

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 336

Guns and gloves of India’s Air Force soldiers lie on a road during rehearsals for the upcoming Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. India marks Republic Day on Jan. 26 with military parades across the country. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 337

Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds fly on the Poyang Lake, China, having made their way to take shelter from the cold winter.

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 338

The sanctuary of the Basilica of the Fallen Lord of Montserrate is illuminated with Christmas lights in Bogota, Colombia.

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 339

Japanese Emperor Akihito waves to well-wishers alongside Empress Michiko and flanked by Crown Prince Naruhito, left, and Prince Akishino, right, during celebrations for his birthday at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 340

A man wrapped up in a quilt sits outside a temporary shelter for homeless people on a cold winter morning in New Delhi, India.

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 341

Floral tributes are placed near to the spot where six people were killed by an out-of-control bin lorry in Glasgow city centre. The bin lorry crashed in George Square after careering up Queen Street at about 14:30 on Monday.

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 342

Ten bikers set a new Guinness World Record by riding simultaneously around the inside of the Globe of Speed in Dortmund, Germany.

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 343

Germany's Felix Neureuther, centre, takes a fall on the podium after winning the men's slalom at the Alpine Skiing World Cup in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy. Fellow German Fritz Dopfer, left, came second and Sweden's Jens Byggmark finished third.

Dec. 23 , 2014

December 27, 2014 344

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Moscow's Kremlin. Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon can be seen on the right.

Dec. 23 , 2014

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News & Politics

2014 - Images of DECEMBER - Dec 16 - Dec. 23