2014 - The Year in Photos
Flames rise from burning cars at the site of a car bomb in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik, Jan. 2, 2014. A large car bomb killed five people and injured at least 20, a health ministry source told AFP.
A pilot flies on his paramoter above sand dunes during the Liwa 2014 Moreeb Dune Festival in the Liwa desert, 250 kilometers west of the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi, Jan. 2, 2014.
This image taken by expedition doctor Andrew Peacock shows a helicopter from the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long picking up passengers from the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy. Rescue efforts took place after the Russian crew was trapped in ice off Antarctica for more than a week.
The U.S. side of the Niagara Falls is pictured in Ontario, Jan. 8, 2014, during frigid air and the "polar vortex" that affected about 240 million people in the United States and southern Canada.
Children play around a man dressed as Batman at the Favela do Metro slum, area just near the Maracana stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jan. 9, 2014.
A worker is seen inside the Cuncas II tunnel, which will link the canals being built to move water from the Sao Francisco river to four states suffering from drought, mear the city of Mauriti, Ceara state, Brazil, January 28, 2014.
a project that is three years behind schedule and has doubled in cost from the original estimate of $3.4 billion, near the city of Mauriti, Ceara state, Brazil, Jan. 28, 2014.
This picture, released by the UNRWA, shows residents of the Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, lining up to receive food supplies, in Damascus, Syria, Jan. 31, 2014.
A priest speaks to riot police and anti-government protesters at the site of recent clashes in Kyiv, February 12, 2014.
Starling birds are seen as they perform their traditional dance fly before landing to sleep during the sunset near the southern Israeli village of Tidhar, in the northern Israeli Negev desert, February 12, 2014.
A man holds a baby saved from under rubble, who survived what activists say was an airstrike by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Masaken Hanano in Aleppo, February 14, 2014.
A dog is blown by strong winds on the beach in Lyme Regis, southern England, February 14, 2014.
South Koreans hold their North Korean relative's hands on a bus after the Separated Family Reunion Meeting at Diamond Mountain in North Korea, February 25, 2014. The first reunions of North and South Koreans in more than three years were held in North Korea.
This image released by Ellen DeGeneres shows actors front row from left, Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Ellen DeGeneres, Bradley Cooper, Peter Nyong'o Jr., and, second row, from left, Channing Tatum, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong'o and Angelina Jolie as they pose for a "selfie" portrait on a cell phone during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, March 2, 2014.
A model presents a creation of designer Iris van Herpen as part of her Fall/Winter 2014-2015 women's ready-to-wear collection during Paris Fashion Week in France, March 4, 2014.
The car of Caterham-Renault driver Kamui Kobayashi of Japan goes off the track during an accident at the start of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia, March 16, 2014.
Nuns stand at St. Peter's square at the Vatican at the end of the Pope's weekly general audience, April 2, 2014.
Visitors of the Holi Festival of Colors throw special colored powders in the air in Barcelona, Spain, April 6, 2014.
General view during a fire in Valparaiso, 110 km west of Santiago, Chile, April 12, 2014. The fire burned more than 100 houses.
Michael Phelps practices before a 50-meter freestyle preliminary swim at the Arena Grand Prix event in Mesa, Arizona, April 25, 2014. It is Phelps' second competitive event after a nearly two-year retirement.
Babies held by student sumo wrestlers cry beside a referee (center) dressed in a traditional costume during the "Baby-cry Sumo" competition at Sensoji temple in Tokyo, Japan, April 29, 2013.
Smoke rises from a house set on fire, days after part of the ground it was resting on collapsed into Lake Whitney, Texas, June 13, 2014. Building crews set fire to the luxury lake house on a cliff that has been collapsing underneath the structure.
A man is arrested by security as he tries to slip under the dress of actress America Ferrera (third from right) in Cannes, France, May 16, 2014.
Kosovar Bosnian woman Arleta Sahiti is painted by a woman during a presentation of the traditional wedding ceremony of Bosnian women from Zhupa region at the Ethnological Museum in Pristina, July 2, 2014.
A person throws a bucket of mud during the 17th Boryeong mud festival at Daecheon beach in Boryeong, 150 kilometers southwest of Seoul, South Korea, July 18, 2014.
A Palestinian evacuates a wounded man following what police said was an Israeli air strike on a house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, July 20, 2014.
German piano player Stefan Aaron plays an orange piano on a "flying carpet" platform hanging from a helicopter, over the Munich airport, July 23, 2014.
The crash site of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in a field near the village of Grabove in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, July 23, 2014.
An injured man walks after an earthquake hit Ludian county, Yunnan province, August 4, 2014. A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck southwestern China, killing more than 400 people in a remote area of Yunnan province, and causing thousands of buildings, including a school, to collapse, Xinhua News Agency reported.
A child, hugging a cat, rests under a shelter at the earthquake zone in Ludian county, Zhaotong, Yunnan province, China, August 5, 2014.
Visitors run away as waves go past a barrier on the banks of Qiantang River, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, August 13, 2014.
Displaced Yazidis, escaping violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State group, head toward the Syrian border on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate, August 11, 2014.
Workers hang outside the clock face as they clean the Big Ben clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London, August 18, 2014.
A squirrel monkey looks into a photographer's lens at the London Zoo in central London, August 21, 2014.
Leng Yuting, 26, poses underwater for her wedding pictures at a photo studio in Shanghai, China, September 3, 2014.
Kashmiri residents walk through floodwaters in Srinagar, India, September 4, 2014.
Participants climb over a wall at the "Tough Mudder" endurance event series in Arnsberg, Germany, September 6, 2014.
Pro-democracy demonstrators gather for the third night in Hong Kong, on September 30, 2014. The demonstrators have demanded full universal voting rights, after Beijing said it would allow elections for the city's next leader in 2017 but would first approve the candidates -- a decision called a "fake democracy".
A woman reacts while her husband is suspected of dying from the Ebola virus, in the Liberian capital Monrovia, October 4, 2014.
Members of a human tower team form a "castell" during a human tower a competetion in Tarragona, Spain, October 5, 2014.
A resident of Karo district uses a lawnmower to remove ash from his vegetable fields in North Sumatra, Indonesia, on October 9, 2014. The ash came from an eruption of Mount Sinabung volcano.
Models present a creation of Ukrainian fashion designer Aleksey Zalevskiy on the opening day of "Seasons of the fashion - 2014" in Kyiv, October 15, 2014.
Thick smoke and flames from an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition rise in Kobani, Syria, as seen from a hilltop at the Turkey-Syria border, on Oct. 20, 2014.
An woman uses a magnifying glass to read her ballot while voting at home in the village of Gornostaypol, some 80 km north of Kyiv, during Ukraine's parliamentary elections, October 26, 2014.
A man suffering from Ebola virus lies on the floor outside a house in Port Loko Community, situated on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone, October 21, 2014.
This photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows lava that has pushed through a fence marking a property boundary, above the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii, October 28, 2014.
Indian soldiers take part in a demonstration of 'fire breathing' at the start of Operation Hand in Hand - a training exercise between Indian and Chinese troops - at Aundh Military Camp in Pune, November 18, 2014.
A vehicle with a large amount of snow on its top drives after a massive snow fall in Lancaster, New York, USA, November 19, 2014.
A demonstrator sits in front of a street fire during a demonstration in Oakland, California, USA, following the grand jury decision in the Ferguson, Missouri shooting of Michael Brown, November 25, 2014. The grand jury decided not to formally charge a white police officer over the fatal August shooting of an unarmed black teenager.
A monkey waits in fear as its trainer Qi Defang approaches during training for a circus in Suzhou, Anhui province, China, November 29, 2014.
A man holds a girl as she tries to escape after realizing she is to to be married, near the town of Marigat in Baringo County, Kenya, December 7, 2014. As Pokot tradition goes, the future husband arrived to her family home with a group of men to collect the girl. The girl was unaware of the marriage arrangements that her father had made. The family said that if they had told her in advance she might have run away from home.
Nobel Peace Prize laureates Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi pose with their medals during the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony at the City Hall in Oslo, Norway, December 10, 2014.
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, December 15, 2014.
The uncle and cousin of injured student Mohammad Baqair, center, comfort him as he mourns the death of his mother who was a teacher at the school which was attacked by Taliban, in Peshawar, Pakistan, December 16, 2014.