Syrian refugee girl Nur El-Huda, 9, shows a drawing of her home in Syria, in her classroom in Yayladagi refugee camp in Hatay province near the Turkish-Syrian border, Turkey, December 16, 2015. Syria's conflict has left hundreds of thousands dead, pushed millions more into exile, and had a profound effect on children who lost their homes or got caught up in the bloodletting. The drawings of young refugees living in Turkey show their memories of home and hopes for its future. The pictures also point to the mental scars borne by 2.3 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey, more than half of them children. (Photo by Umit Bektas/Reuters)

Shoppers wrestle over a television as they compete to purchase retail items on “Black Friday” at an Asda superstore in Wembley, north London November 28, 2014. Britain's high streets, malls and online sites were awash with discounts on Friday as more retailers than ever embraced U.S.-style “Black Friday” promotions, seeking to kickstart trading in the key Christmas period. In the United States the Friday following the Thanksgiving Day holiday is called Black Friday because spending usually surges and indicates the point at which American retailers begin to turn a profit for the year, or go “into the black”. (Photo by Luke MacGregor/Reuters)

From house breaking in Johannesburg to hippos on the loose in Tbilisi to rioters attacking a policewoman in Burundi, Reuters photographers tell the story behind some of the most iconic pictures of the year. Here: Protesters drag a female police officer accused of shooting a protester in the Buterere neighbourhood of Bujumbura, Burundi, May 12, 2015. Goran Tomasevic: Protesters started throwing stones at a group of police, who then started to run away. The policewoman in the photo, Medikintos Inabeza, 33, got left behind and then some protesters started to push her, saying that she had shot a female protestor in the stomach with an AK47 rifle. I didn't see anything of that. There were 5 or 10 protesters pushing the policewoman at first, then others came and joined in. Up to 20 or 30 protesters were surrounding her at one point. The protesters kicked and beat her very badly; I also saw a couple of knives. I thought they were going to kill her... (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

These may look like alien creatures from another planet, but the odd organisms are, in fact, colorful, microscopic life forms found in our forests. The bizarre slime molds, known as mycetozoa or fungus animals, were captured by geologist Valeriya Zvereva. She spent months documenting the common life forms that are found beneath our feet – but are rarely seen. Incredibly, the organisms can move and hunt for other microscopic life forms on which to feed. Zvereva, who is from Moscow, used a special macro lens to capture the vibrant and up-close shots, which show off the organisms’ unlikely beauty. (Photo by Valeriya Zvereva/Caters News)

With "Art Eggcident," Dutch artist Henk Hofstra demonstrates what it would look like if God threw giant eggs down at us. The eight large, sunny side up eggs measure almost 100 feet wide in diameter. The installation took place in Leeuwarden, a city in the north of the Netherlands.
"I hope it becomes a meeting place with room for art," says Henk. "Art that is different than a framed picture on the wall or a boring bronze sculpture. Art that shows us a different look, surprises us, or makes us angry or happy. Art that allows photographers to grab their cameras and arouses journalists. Art that evokes emotion, or provokes wild laughter."

Damai, 3 years old Bornean orang utan plays courtyard at Surabaya Zoo as he prepares to be released into the wild on May 19, 2014 in Surabaya, Indonesia. The two baby orangutans, brothers, were found in Kutai National Park in a critical condition having been abandoned by their mother on May 14, 2014. The Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP) have since been nursing the animals back to health, treating them for malnourishment and 16 wounds predominantly to the feet and hands. (Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images)

To most of us, hand-feeding crocodiles might sound like a one-way ticket to a watery grave. But for Jose Eduardo Chaves Salas, 32, coming within inches of the fearsome creatures’ razor-sharp teeth is all in a day’s work. He runs Jose's Crocodile River Tour on the Tarcoles River in Costa Rica, where tourists can watch him feed crocs up to 17 feet long. Photo: A tour guide shows a thumbs up as he sits on top of a crocodile on the Tarcoles river in Tarcoles, Costa Rica. (Photo and caption by Barcroft Media)

The Haʻikū Stairs, also known as the Stairway to Heaven or Haʻikū Ladder, is a steep hiking trail on the island of Oʻahu. The trail began as a wooden ladder spiked to the cliff on the south side of the Haʻikū Valley. It was installed in 1942 to enable antenna cables to be strung from one side of the cliffs above Haʻikū Valley to the other. A building to provide a continuous communication link between Wahiawā and Haʻikū Valley Naval Radio Station was constructed at the peak of Puʻukeahiakahoe, elevation about 2,800 feet (850 m). The antennae transmitted very low frequency radio signals from a 200,000-watt Alexanderson alternator in the center of Haʻikū valley. The signals could reach US Navy submarines as far away as Tokyo Bay while the submarines were submerged.