A look at the best news photos from around the world.
December 15, 2014
![Rabbis install a giant Hanukkah Menorah for the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights in front of a Christmas tree at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.](https://gdb.voanews.com/b9e41347-47a5-42ce-8599-d1405df13f6d_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
1
Rabbis install a giant Hanukkah Menorah for the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights in front of a Christmas tree at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.
![A hostage runs to police officers for safety after she escaped from a cafe under siege at Martin Place in the central business district of Sydney, Australia.](https://gdb.voanews.com/f49b8085-0164-446c-8191-d5cc1e5d9387_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
2
A hostage runs to police officers for safety after she escaped from a cafe under siege at Martin Place in the central business district of Sydney, Australia.
![A member of the special forces police installs equipment on a van in Ghent, Belgium. Four armed men have entered an apartment, and police have blocked off a wide perimeter around the area. Police said that three hours after the men entered the apartment it was still unclear whether they had taken any hostages.](https://gdb.voanews.com/286c3e3e-a252-48cb-815a-31f479225ee5_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
3
A member of the special forces police installs equipment on a van in Ghent, Belgium. Four armed men have entered an apartment, and police have blocked off a wide perimeter around the area. Police said that three hours after the men entered the apartment it was still unclear whether they had taken any hostages.
![Smoke billows from a place for storing weapons, allegedly belonging to rebel fighters, during an operation by Syrian regime forces to take control of the Al-Maleh farms, north of Aleppo, Syria.](https://gdb.voanews.com/39bcd7ad-fb2c-4f3e-9830-8ba9cbedd3c8_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
4
Smoke billows from a place for storing weapons, allegedly belonging to rebel fighters, during an operation by Syrian regime forces to take control of the Al-Maleh farms, north of Aleppo, Syria.