A Palestinian child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip receives treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, December 19, 2024. (Photo by Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo)




Wounded passengers of the Azerbaijani Airline's plane crashed near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, are transported from a medical plane at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport outside Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, December 26, 2024. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)




A couple takes a selfie at a Christmas light tunnel during the 2024 New Taipei Christmasland on Christmas eve in New Taipei City on December 24, 2024. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng/AFP Photo)




A person's face is daubed with blue paint as they take part in the winter Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge, England, Saturday, December 21, 2024. (Photo by Anthony Upton/AP Photo)




Mourners place candles on the beach at the Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park in the southern Thai province of Phang Nga on December 26, 2024. Emotional ceremonies began across Asia on December 26 to remember the 220,000 people who died two decades ago when a tsunami devastated coastal areas around the Indian Ocean, in one of the worst natural disasters in human history. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP Photo)




Participants of the 86th edition of the annual Christmas swimming “Coupe de Noel” are sprayed with water before jumping into Lake Geneva, in Geneva, Switzerland, 21 December 2024. More than 4400 men and women swam the 100 meters at the traditional Christmas swimming in Geneva where the water temperature was 7.7 degrees Celsius. (Photo by Martial Trezzini/EPA/EFE)




A woman participates in a ritual to welcome the summer solstice, in La Paz, Bolivia, 21 December 2024. Ancestral rituals, music and native dances, as well as offerings to the Andean deities to ask for rain and abundance were part of the festivities held to celebrate the change of the agricultural cycle from the southern summer solstice. (Photo by Gabriel Marquez/EPA/EFE)




A migrant stands in front of canoes moored in the port of La Restinga, El Pinar municipality, El Hierro island, Canary Islands, Spain, 27 December 2024. More than 200 people travelling aboard several canoes were rescued early on 27 December by Spain's Maritime Rescue vessels off El Hierro island. (Photo by Gelmert Finol/EPA)




A model of the film character E.T. is seen as hundreds of BMX cyclists dressed in festive themed outfits take part in an annual charity ride called “Santa Cruise” to raise funds for Evelina Children's Hospital Heart Organisation, in London, Britain, on December 14, 2024. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)




Multicolored lantern installations are illuminated during the 2025 Beijing Megalights Wonderland at Wenyuhe Park on December 28, 2024 in Beijing, China. A fabulous lantern show called “Beijing Thousand Lantern Night”, kicks off on December 28 and lasts till March 2025, showcasing over a thousand sets of colorful Zigong lanterns, using the shimmering lights to display the excellent traditional Chinese culture, allowing the visitors to immerse themselves in the joyful atmosphere. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)




Participants dance as they parade during Calabar Carnival in Calabar on December 28, 2024. Calabar Carnival is an annual carnival held in Cross River State, Nigeria: it is celebrated every December to mark Christmas celebration yearly. The quality of the festival has grown over the years making it Nigeria's biggest carnival and an internationally recognized festival. (Photo by Olympia de Maismont/AFP Photo)




This photograph shows French street artist James Colomina's Santa Claus work, depicting a Santa Claus lying on the ground, his head and torso crushed by a huge white gift box adorned with a red ribbon on the Place de la Republique in Paris, on December 19, 2024. (Photo by Julien de Rosa/AFP Photo)




Cardinal Baldassare Reina opens the Holy Door of Rome's St. John in Lateran Basilica as part of the celebrations for the 2025 Jubilee of the Catholic Church on December 29, 2024. (Photo by IPA/Backgrid USA)




Participants dance as they parade during the Calabar Carnival in Calabar on December 28, 2024. Calabar Carnival is an annual carnival held in Cross River State, Nigeria: it is celebrated every December to mark Christmas celebration yearly. The quality of the festival has grown over the years making it Nigeria's biggest carnival and an internationally recognized festival. (Photo by Olympia de Maismont/AFP Photo)




A YPJ fighter sharpens her weapon skills in a remote training camp on December 25, 2024 in Al-Hasakah, Syria. Kurdish female fighters are expanding their ranks on the frontlines and elsewhere in the fight against Islamic State and Turkish back militants in northeastern Syria. YPJ and YPG fighters receive intensive weapon and ideology training for several weeks before they start their posting. (Photo by Elke Scholiers/Getty Images)




Members of the artillery unit of the special rifle battalion of Zaporizhzhia region police fire a small multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) toward Russian troops in a front line, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on December 25, 2024. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)




Pub-goers drink outside “The Churchill Arms”, which is decorated for Christmas, in London, Britain on December 17, 2024. (Photo by Mina Kim/Reuters)




A man sits in the backyard of a house, in the aftermath of Cyclone Chido, in Pamandzi, Mayotte, France, on December 17, 2024. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)