An American flag is visible in the windows of the cupola aboard the International Space Station. Thanks to a bill passed by Texas legislators in 1997 that put in place technical voting procedure for astronauts – nearly all of whom live in Texas – they have the ability to vote from space through specially designed absentee ballots. To preserve the integrity of the secret vote, the ballot is encrypted and only accessible by the astronaut and the county clerk responsible for casting the ballot. (Photo by NASA)
A child runs towards Mohamed Maarouf, 28, as he walks with a sack of gifts while dressed in Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) costume in a slum near the centre of Iraq's southern city of Basra on December 24, 2021. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)
Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government fire a shell at Islamic State fighters' positions in Sirte, Libya August 15, 2016. (Photo by Ismail Zitouny/Reuters)
Men are held by Iraqi national security agents, to be interrogated at a checkpoint, as oil fields burn in Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq, Saturday, November 5, 2016. Islamic State fighters launch counterattacks in the thin strip of territory Iraqi special forces have recaptured in eastern Mosul, highlighting the challenges ahead as the battle moves into more densely populated neighborhoods where coalition air power must be used more selectively. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)
A woman walks past graffiti in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Graffiti artists have been trying to re-engage disillusioned youth in a debate about the country's latest wave of political turmoil. (Photo by Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)
in Qayyarah, about 31 miles (50 km) south of Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, October 23, 2016.in Qayyarah, some 50 kilometers south of Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016. Islamic State fighters torched a sulfur plant south of Mosul, sending a cloud of toxic fumes into the air that mingled with oil wells the militants had lit on fire to create a smoke screen. (Photo by Marko Drobnjakovic/AP Photo)
A jockey takes part in a traditional cattle race or “Pacu Jawi”, to mark the end of the rice harvest in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, Indonesia, August 13, 2016 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Hafiz Mubarak A./Reuters/Antara Foto)