This photograph taken on December 4, 2024 shows the “Anooki” created by Moetu Batlle et David Passegand displayed in the Parc de la Tete d'Or during the preview of the annual edition of the Festival of Lights (Fete des Lumieres) in Lyon, central-eastern France. The Festival of Lights (Fete des Lumieres) is marked each year on December 8, since 1852, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, after the city was spared by the plague of 1643. (Photo by Alex Martin/AFP Photo)




A playground is flooded after Storm Darragh hit the country, in Hereford, Britain, on December 8, 2024. (Photo by Temilade Adelaja/Reuters)




PETA activists interrupt the convoy of Pope Francis, ahead of Immaculate Conception celebration prayer, to stage a protest against bullfighting in Rome, Italy, on December 8, 2024. (Photo by Matteo Minnella/PETA/Handout via Reuters)




Rebel fighters stand next to the burning gravesite of Syria's late president Hafez al-Assad at his mausoleum in the family's ancestral village of Qardaha in the western Latakia province on December 11, 2024, after it was stormed by opposition factions. The father and predecessor of Syria's ousted president Bashar al-Assad died in 2000. (Photo by Aaref Watad/AFP Photo)




People gather to celebrate the fall of the Syrian government, in Manbij, Syria, Sunday, December 8, 2024. (Photo by Ugur Yildirim/Dia Photo via AP Photo)




Skiers and snowboarders dressed as Santa Claus prepare to take part in the Sunday Santa ski run at the Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine, USA, 08 December 2024. More than 300 skiers dressed in Santa-themed costumes skied down the mountain to raise money for the “River Fund”, scholarships for students in western Maine. (Photo by CJ Gunther/EPA/EFE)




A woman shouts as Syrians celebrate in the central city of Homs on December 8, 2024, after rebel forces entered Syria's third city overnight. Islamist-led rebels declared that they have taken Damascus in a lightning offensive on December 8, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. (Photo by Muhammad Haj Kadour/AFP Photo)




A giant devil figure is displayed during the annual celebration of the “Burning of the Devil”, a festivity associated with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception that honours the city's patron saint and marks the start of the Christmas season, at Colonia Arrivillaga in Guatemala City, Guatemala on December 7, 2024. (Photo by Cristina Chiquin/Reuters)




A militant poses for a picture after anti-government fighters seized Syrian army military equipment and vehicles that were abandoned on the highway to Damascus, as they reach the town of Suran north of Syria's Hama city on December 3, 2024. Islamist-led rebels advanced on Syria's fourth-largest city Hama on December 3, buoyed by their lightning capture of swathes of the north in an offensive that ended four years of relative calm. (Photo by Omar Haj Kadour/AFP Photo)




English actor Jude Law has some fun at the closing ceremony of Tokyo Comic Con in Japan on December 8, 2024. (Photo by Masatoshi Okauchi/Rex Features/Shutterstock)




View of a light show rehearsal on the facade of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, which was ravaged by a fire in 2019, before the reopening ceremonies in Paris, France, on December 6, 2024. (Photo by Kevin Coombs/Reuters)




A pedestrian walks past metal tank barriers, also known as Czech hedgehog, in the Saltivka district that was heavily damaged during Russian attacks in 2022, in Kharkiv, on December 5, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Roman Pilipey/AFP Photo)




Thousands taking part in a rally with placards chant slogans near the National Assembly Building to protest against South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol, as local prosecution investigates Yoon under treason charges, in Seoul, South Korea, on December 8, 2024. The president of the East Asian country, who survived an impeachment voting on December 07, has been facing increasing criticism and anger from the public, following his attempt to impose a martial law on December 3. (Photo by Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via Getty Images)




Actors performing as the seven dwarfs in the Christmas pantomime “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, prepare their costumes and makeup backstage as they prepare to perform at St Helens Theatre Royal, in St Helens, north west England, on December 5, 2024. Built by architect Frank Matcham in the 19th Century the Theatre Royal is the principal theatre in St Helens with 700 seats over two tiers. The production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is set to run until January 12, 2025. (Photo by Oli Scarff/AFP Photo)




A truck pulls the head of the toppled statue of late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad through the streets of the captured central-west city of Hama on December 6, 2024. In little over a week, the offensive by rebel forces has seen Syria's second city Aleppo and strategically located Hama fall from President Bashar al-Assad's control for the first time since the civil war began in 2011. (Photo by Muhammad Haj Kadour/AFP Photo)




A man waves a burning broom next to people during “Los Escobazos” Festival on December 07, 2024 in Jarandilla de la Vera, Spain. Although the origin of “Los Escobazos” is unknown it is believed that goat shepherds used to walk down at night from Gredos mountains to the village lighting their way with broom torches to celebrate the Virgin's Immaculate Conception Day (December 8th). Is a festival of national tourist interest celebrated every year on December 7th extending into the early hours of December 8th: people make bonfires in the streets and start a battle with burning “Escobones” (brooms) followed by the procession of the “Estandarte” (Banner) of the Immaculate Conception. (Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)




Scottish Ballet dancer Javier Andreu as The Rat King poses on a carousel during a photo call for The Nutcracker in Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain on December 10, 2024. (Photo by Lesley Martin/Reuters)




People look at Christmas decorations in front of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria, on December 1, 2024. (Photo by Spasiyana Sergieva/Reuters)




A panda mascot poses for photographs in front of the panda sculptures displayed at the Hong Kong International Airport during the welcome ceremony of the panda-themed exhibition “Panda Go!” in Hong Kong, Monday, December 2, 2024. (Photo by Chan Long Hei/AP Photo)