Photos of the week
A crow flies over the standing stones at the Castlerigg Stone circle in Keswick, England during the evening of the Winter Solstice, Dec. 21, 2014.
The circle dates back over 4,000 years to neolithic times and is a popular meeting place for people from all over Britain who come to celebrate both the winter and summer solstices with the beautiful Cumbrian fells as a backdrop.
Australia
Fresh festive seafood supplies are prepared at the Sydney (Australia) Fish Market, Dec. 23, 2014.
The Sydney Fish Market experience its busiest trade over the Christmas week including the 36 hour marathon from 5:00 am on the 23rd December until 5:00 pm Christmas Eve.
Australia
The order of service for Tori Johnson's funeral is seen prior to the funeral of Tori Johnson at St. Stephen's Uniting Church in Sydney, Australia, Dec. 23, 2014.
Friends and family gathered at the funeral of Lindt Cafe manager, 34-year-old Tori Johnson who was killed in last weeks hostage siege in Martin Place. A memorial was also that day for the second victim, Katrina Dawson.
France
People skate on the skating rink set up under the glass-roofed central hall of the Grand Palais in Paris, France, Dec. 23, 2014.
Florida
Cortez Carter #49 dumps Gatorade on head coach Doc Holliday of the Marshall Thundering Herd during the fourth quarter of the game against the Northern Illinois Huskies at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla., Dec. 23, 2014.
South Korea
A three-month-old female lion named Dominjoon and a three-month-old female tiger named Jangbori play with Christmas trees at the Everland amusement park in Yongin, South Korea, Dec. 23, 2014.
Tigers and lions dressed in Santa Claus costumes entertained visitors at the Everland, South Korea's largest amusement park.
Thailand
An elephant dressed in a Santa Claus costume performs for students ahead of the Christmas festival at a school in Ayutthaya province, Thailand, Dec. 24, 2014.
The event was held as part of a campaign to promote Christmas in Thailand.
Italy
People dressed as Santa Claus ride their gondolas in the Venice lagoon, Dec. 20, 2014.
Pakistan
A Pakistani Sufi stands on a foggy street in Lahore, Pakistan, Dec. 24, 2014.
The ongoing spell of dense fog and freezing weather has continued to disturb the scheduled arrival and departure of flights and trains in Pakistan's Punjab province.
Great Britain
People hold up their money as they try to buy meat from butchers at the annual Christmas Eve auction at Smithfield Market in central London, Dec. 24, 2014.
India
An Indian tribal villager stands with a bow and arrow as homes burn in the village of Tenganala in Sonitpur District, some 250kms east of Guwahati, India, after Adivasi tribal people were killed by militants, Dec. 24, 2014.
Violence in the restive Indian state of Assam has killed 68 people including 12 children, authorities said, as separatist rebels dramatically intensified a long-running campaign in the tea-growing area.
Heavily armed militants launched a series of coordinated attacks in rural Assam late on December 22, pulling villagers from their homes and shooting them at point-blank range, witnesses said.
Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers stand close to the front line in the eastern Ukrainian city of Debaltseve, Donetsk region, Dec. 24, 2014.
A new round of talks aimed at ending a protracted Moscow-backed separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine got underway in the Belarussian capital Minsk, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
Great Britain
A commuter rushes to a train at Waterloo Station in London, England, Dec. 24, 2014.
Although London buses run 24 hours a day throughout the festive period, trains finish running at around 9:00 pm on Christmas Eve throughout the country.
Travelers may face delays and cancellations due to engineering work on some of the country's main lines over Christmas. Network Rail reports upgrades are part of a record-breaking £200m investment program that will begin after the last train runs on Christmas Eve.
Hawaii
President Barack Obama and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razzak play golf at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Dec. 24, 2014.
China
Xu Zhiyun posing with a mini car he assembled in his community in Shanghai, China, Dec. 24, 2014.
60-year-old Xu Zhiyun spent two years making the car which measures only 60cm long, 35cm wide. 40cm high, travels at 20 km per hour and cost 1,500 yuan, local media reported.
Great Britain
The hounds of the Heythrop Hunt arrive to greet hunt supporters gathering in town square in Chipping Norton Oxfordshire, England, Dec. 26, 2014.
Although it its more than 10 years since the Hunting Act was passed by parliament, thousands of people across England and Wales are expected to show their support for hunting on the biggest day of the hunting calendar - the Boxing Day meet. Boxing Day meets have traditionally drawn huge crowds, both mounted and on foot, to enjoy the atmosphere and it seems the pubic appetite has not dwindled since the ban.
Russia
A woman walks along a street during a heavy snowfall in Moscow, Dec. 25, 2014.
The temperatures in Moscow reached -8 C (18 F).
Thailand
Buddhist monks look at the Thai navy police boat which was swept almost 2 kilometers inland during the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami as they visit a memorial in Khao Lak, in Thailand's Phang Nga province.
On the day of tsunami, Thai navy boat 813 was on patrol about one nautical mile offshore serving as a guard to members of royal family staying at one of the resorts nearby.
Thailand prepares to mark the tenth anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, the deadliest on the record, that killed 230,000 people in 13 Asian and African countries. In Thailand, over 5,300 people were killed, including several thousand foreign tourists, when the waves swamped six coastal provinces, turning some of the world's most beautiful beaches into mass graves.
(Photo released as part of a package on the tenth anniversary of the tsunami.)
Afganistan
A U.S. soldier from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment shields himself from the rotor wash of a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter after being dropped off for a mission with the Afghan police near Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Dec. 20, 2014.
New York
Police officers salute as vehicles containing the bodies of two New York Police officers who were fatally shot drives by in the Brooklyn, New York, Dec. 20, 2014.
NYPD officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot and killed as they sat in a squad car in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. The suspect in the shooting then shot and killed himself.
New York
New York City Police officers embrace as they visit a makeshift memorial at the site where two of their fellow police officers were fatally shot in Brooklyn, New York, Dec. 23, 2014.
Gaza Strip
A Palestinian man, hoping to cross into Egypt, stands behind a fence as he waits at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Dec. 21, 2014.
Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing on Sunday allowing Palestinians from Gaza Strip to travel in and out for the first time since the passage was closed on October 25, after Islamist militants in Egypt's adjacent Sinai region killed 33 members of the security forces.
Indonesia
Children try to walk through a flooded street in the Kampung Melayu residential area of Jakarta, Indonesia, Dec. 23, 2014.
Torrential rains that have continued in Indonesia in recent days and have widened the number of flooded areas in Jakarta and Bandung, a local newspaper said on Tuesday.
Colombia
A Spanish recortador jumps over a bull during a show in Cali, Colombia, Dec. 21, 2014.
Vatican CIty
Pope Francis is pictured by mobile phones as he arrives to lead a special audience for Vatican employees and their families at Paul VI's hall at the Vatican, Dec. 22, 2014.
Pennsylvania
Using his walking staff as a makeshift hockey stick, Michael Grant, 28, "Philly Jesus," skates at Rothman Ice Rink in Philadelphia, Penn., Dec. 14, 2014.
Nearly every day for the last eight months, Grant has dressed as Jesus Christ, and walked the streets of Philadelphia to share the Christian gospel by example. He quickly acquired the nickname of "Philly Jesus," which he has gone by ever since.
(Part of a package released on Dec. 22, 2014)
New York
U.S. Representative Michael Grimm of New York reacts during a news conference after pleading guilty federal court, New York, Dec. 23, 2014.
Grimm said he would not resign from Congress following his guilty plea on a federal felony tax charge. "As long as I'm able to serve, I'm going to," said Grimm, who noted he easily won a third term in November despite a 20-count federal indictment unveiled in April.
Grimm, a Republican, pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court to aiding the preparation of a false tax return in connection with a health food restaurant, Healthalicious, that he co-owned before his political career.
Ukraine
Vladimir Skorobagach, deputy of the Kharliv city council, reacts after being thrown into a garbage container by activists during a protest for the resignation of the Kharkiv's mayor Gennady Kernes in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Dec. 24, 2014.
India
A young Buddhist monk runs to fetch butter tea to be served to attendees of the Jangchup Lamrim teachings conducted by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the Gaden Jangtse Thoesam Norling Monastery in Mundgod, India, Dec. 25, 2014.
North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has a photo session with participants in the second meeting of KPA logistic personnel in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, North Korea, Dec. 25, 2014.
Russia
A boy slides from the top of a heap of snow in Red Square, Moscow, with St. Basil's Cathedral in the background, Dec. 25, 2014.
France
Daylight filters through the glass inside the Confluences Musee, located on the southern tip of the peninsula where the Rhone and Saone rivers join in Lyon, France, Dec. 23, 2014.
The museum, which opened December 20, includes collections of natural science, anthropology and Earth Sciences from the Guimet Natural History Museum. Austrian architects Coop Himmelb(l)au designed the museum.
Indinesia
Abdullah, 58, a fisherman, prays on the beach in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Dec. 26, 2014, 10 years after a tsunami killed 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean.
Thailand
Survivors, local residents and visitors release paper lanterns during a ceremony for victims of 2004 tsunami in Ban Nam Khem, Thailand, a southern fishing village destroyed by the wave, Dec. 26, 2014.
Survivors of Asia's 2004 tsunami and relatives of its 230,000 victims gather along shorelines of the Indian Ocean on Friday for prayers and memorial services to mark the 10th anniversary of a disaster that still leaves an indelible mark on the region. In Thailand, where 5,395 people were killed, among them about 2,000 foreign tourists, commemoration ceremonies will be held in Ban Nam Khem.