2014 - The Year in Photos

Flames rise from burning cars at the site of a car bomb that targeted Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik, Jan. 2, 2014. A large car bomb killed five people and wounded 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 of www.footloosefotography.com on Jan. 2, 2014 shows a helicopter from the nearby Chinese icebreaker Xue Long picking up the first batch of passengers from the stranded Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy as rescue operations take place after over a week of being trapped in the ice off Antarctica.

The U.S. side of the Niagara Falls is pictured in Ontario, Jan. 8, 2014. The frigid air and "polar vortex" that affected about 240 million people in the United States and southern Canada will depart during the second half of the week, and a far-reaching January thaw will begin, according to AccuWeather.com.

Children play around a man disguised 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 that will link the canals being built to divert water from the Sao Francisco river for use in four drought-plagued states, 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 besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, queuing to receive food supplies, in Damascus, Syria, Jan. 31, 2014.

A priest speaks through a megaphone to riot police and anti-government protesters at the site of recent clashes in Kyiv, Feb. 12, 2014.

A flock of migrating starlings is 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, Feb. 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, Feb. 14, 2014.

A Coton de Tulear dog is blown by strong winds on the beach in Lyme Regis, southern England, Feb. 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, Feb. 25, 2014. The first reunions of North and South Koreans in more than three years have been 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, Mar. 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, France, March 4, 2014.

The car of Caterham-Renault driver Kamui Kobayashi of Japan veers 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 consumed more than 100 houses.

Michael Phelps warms up prior to a 50-meter freestyle preliminary heat at the Arena Grand Prix swim 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 (C) clad in a traditional costume during the "Baby-cry Sumo" competition at Sensoji temple in Tokyo, Japan, April 29, 2013.

Smoke rises from a house deliberately 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 left dangling about 75 feet (23 meters) on a decaying cliff that has been giving way underneath the structure.

A man is arrested by security as he tries to slip under the dress of actress America Ferrera (3rd R) in Cannes, France, May 16, 2014.

Kosovar Bosnian woman Arleta Sahiti 's 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 reveler 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 pianist Stefan Aaron plays an orange piano on a "flying carpet" platform suspended from a helicopter, over the Munich airport, July 23, 2014.

The crash site of the downed 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, Aug. 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, cuddling a cat, rests under a shelter at the earthquake zone in Ludian county, Zhaotong, Yunnan province, China, Aug. 5, 2014.

Visitors run away as waves caused by a tidal bore surge past a barrier on the banks of Qiantang River, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, Aug. 13, 2014.

Displaced Yazidis, fleeing 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, Aug. 11, 2014.

Workers hang outside the clock face as they clean the Big Ben clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London, Aug. 18, 2014.

A squirrel monkey peers into a photographer's lens during a photocall at London Zoo in central London, Aug. 21, 2014.

 Leng Yuting, 26, posing underwater for her wedding pictures at a photo studio in Shanghai, China, Sep. 3, 2014, ahead of her wedding next year.

Kashmiri residents wade through floodwaters in Srinagar, India, Sept. 4, 2014.

Participants climb over a wall at the "Tough Mudder" endurance event series in Arnsberg, Germany, Sept. 6, 2014.

ተሳተፍቲ ቱር ዲ ፍራንስ ኣብዚ ቐረባ ግዜ ንዝካየድ ቅድድም ኣብ ምድላው

A woman reacts after her husband is suspected of dying from the Ebola virus, in the Liberian capital Monrovia, Oct. 4, 2014.

Members of the "Colla Vella Xiquets de Valls" human tower team form a "castell" during the XXV human towers, or castells, competetion in Tarragona, Spain, Oct. 5, 2014.

A resident of Karo district uses a lawnmower to remove ash from his vegetable fields in North Sumatra, Oct. 9, 2014, after 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, Oct. 15, 2014.

Thick smoke and flames from an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition rise in Kobani, Syria, as seen from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Oct. 20, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters.

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, Oct. 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, Oct. 21, 2014.

یونیورسٹی ٹاؤن ہی میں ہمیں ایک مشہور کافی شاپ میں کچھ وقت گزارنے کا اتفاق ہوا جو ایک نہر کے کنارے واقع تھی۔ بتایا گیا کہ یہ کافی شاپ بین الاقوامی انعام یافتہ ہے

Indian soldiers take part in a demonstration of 'fire breathing' at the start of Operation Hand in Hand - a joint training exercise between Indian and Chinese troops - at Aundh Military Camp in Pune, Nov. 18, 2014.

A vehicle, with a large chunk of snow on its top, drives along Route 20 after a massive snow fall in Lancaster, New York, Nov. 19, 2014.

Australian Aboriginal hunter Roy Gaykamangu of the Yolngu people carries a crocodile he has just shot dead along the edge of a billabong near the 'out station' of Yathalamarra, located on the outksirts of the community of Ramingining in East Arnhem Land, Nov. 22, 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, Nov. 25, 2014. The grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer over the fatal August shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

A monkey cowers as its trainer Qi Defang approaches during training for a circus in Suzhou, Anhui province, China, Nov. 29, 2014.

A man holds a girl as she tries to escape when she realized she is to to be married, about 80 km (50 miles) from the town of Marigat in Baringo County, Kenya, Dec. 7, 2014. As Pokot tradition dictates, 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, Dec. 10, 2014.

A hostage runs to armed tactical response police officers for safety after she escaped from a cafe under siege at Martin Place in the central business district of Sydney, Australia, Dec. 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, Dec. 16, 2014.