Best photographs from around the world of 2014

February 2, 2014: (File) Fatima, 13, weeps as she kisses her injured father, Ahmad al-Messmar, 40, who was wounded when a deadly car bomb blew up near a gas station, in the predominately Shiite town of Hermel, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Syrian border in northeast Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014. A shadowy Lebanese Sunni extremist group claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing in Hermel, a stronghold of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, that killed several people in the latest attack linked to the war in neighboring Syria. (Source: AP)

February 18, 2014: (File) An anti-government protester is engulfed in flames during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014. (Source: AP)

March 25, 2014: (File) U.S. first lady Michelle Obama practices tai chi with students at Chengdu No.7 High School in Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan province Tuesday, March 25, 2014. (Source: AP)

April 2, 2014: (File) Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry stands with his prosthetic hand over his heart, wearing his Medal of Honor during the "Pledge of Allegiance" at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. on Wednesday, April 2, 2014, during a ceremony to honor him and other recipients of the Medal of Honor from Washington state. Petry lost his hand in 2008 when an enemy grenade he was throwing away from fellow soldiers detonated while in combat in Afghanistan. (Source: AP)

April 6, 2014: (File) Visitors of the Holi Festival of Colours throw special colored powders in the air in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, April 6, 2014. The festival is fashioned after the Hindu spring festival Holi, which is mainly celebrated in the north and east of India. (Source: AP)

May 15, 2014: (File) A Palestinian man shouts for help moments after Palestinian teen, Mohammad Abu Daher, on the ground, was shot to death by Israeli troops near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, May 15, 2014. Medical officials say Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinian teens in a West Bank clash that erupted after Palestinians marked the anniversary of their uprooting in the war over Israel's 1948 creation. (Source: AP)

June 5, 2014: (File) Former first lady Nancy Reagan visits the grave site of her husband, President Ronald Reagan, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Simi Valley, Calif. (Source: AP)

July 29, 2014: (File) Smoke and fire from the explosion of an Israeli strike rise over Gaza City, Tuesday, July 29, 2014. Israel escalated its military campaign against Hamas striking symbols of the group's control in Gaza and firing tank shells that shut down the strip's only power plant in the heaviest bombardment in the fighting so far. (Source: AP)

Aug. 19, 2014: (File) This undated image shows a frame from a video released by Islamic State militants Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, that purports to show the killing of journalist James Foley by the militant group. Foley, from Rochester, N.H., went missing in 2012 in northern Syria while on assignment for Agence France-Press and the Boston-based media company GlobalPost. (Source: AP)

Aug. 24, 2014: (File) Zoe Mahan, center, pushes the trophy as her mother Kandi Mahan, left, grabs her while they pose with Hunter Mahan, husband, father and winner of The Barclays golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014, in Paramus, N.J. (Source: AP)

Sept. 30, 2014: (File) Nine-year-old Nowa Paye is taken to an ambulance after showing signs of the Ebola infection in the village of Freeman Reserve, about 30 miles north of Monrovia, Liberia,Tuesday Sept. 30, 2014. (Source: AP)

Oct. 2, 2014: (File) In this Thursday Oct. 2, 2014 photo, Mercy Kennedy, 9, cries as community activists approach her outside her home on 72nd SKD Boulevard in Monrovia, Liberia, a day after her mother was taken away by an ambulance to an Ebola ward. Neighbors wailed upon learning that Mercy's mother had died; she was among the cluster of cases that includes Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man who dies from the disease in Texas. Little Mercy walked around in a daze in a torn nightgown and flip-flops, pulling up the fabric to wipe her tears as a group of workers from the neighborhood task force followed the sound of wailing through the thick grove of banana trees and corn plants. (Source: AP)

Oct. 5, 2014: (File) Members of the Castellers Joves Xiquets de Valls try to complete their human tower during the 25th Human Tower Competition in Tarragona, Spain, on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014. The tradition of building human towers, or castells, dates back to the 18th century and takes place during festivals in Catalonia, where colles, or teams, compete to build the tallest and most complicated towers. The structure of the castells varies depending on their complexity. A castell is considered completely successful when it is loaded and unloaded without falling apart. The highest castell in history was a 10 floor structure with 3 people in each floor. In 2010 castells were declared by UNESCO one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. (Source: AP)

Oct. 20, 2014: (File) Thick smoke and flames from an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition rise in Kobani, Syria, as seen from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Monday, Oct. 20, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (Source: AP)

Oct. 21, 2014: (File) Malala Yousafzai holds up her Liberty Medal during a ceremony at the National Constitution Center, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014, in Philadelphia. The honor is given annually to an individual who displays courage and conviction while striving to secure liberty for people worldwide. (Source: AP)

Nov. 25, 2014: (File) In this Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014 photo provided by Johnny Nguyen, Portland police Sgt. Bret Barnum, left, and Devonte Hart, 12, hug at a rally in Portland, Ore., where people had gathered in support of the protests in Ferguson, Mo. (Source: AP)

November 30, 2014: (File) An image of 18-year-old Michael Brown is seen on the tie of his father Michael Brown Sr. as he attends Sunday service under a makeshift tent next to the destroyed Flood Christian Church in Ferguson, Missouri November 30, 2014. (Source: Reuters)

December 3, 2014: (File) Australian cricketer Sean Abbott walks with the funeral procession for Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes in Macksville, December 3, 2014. Abbott was the bowler who delivered the ball which struck Hughes during a first class cricket match on Nov. 25. The funeral of Hughes began to the strains of a song entitled "Forever Young" in his home town as a nation united to celebrate the life of a sportsman cut down in his prime. Eight days after Hughes was struck by a ball in the back of the head and six after he died of the catastrophic injuries that resulted, his family, friends and a host of cricketing greats gathered at Macksville High School to bid farewell to him. (Source: Reuters)

Dec. 3, 2014: (File) Macksville : Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke pays his respect to Phillip Hughes at his coffin during his funeral in Macksville, Australia, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. Hughes died last Thursday, two days after he was hit in the head during a domestic cricket match. (Source: AP)

December 3, 2014: (File) Australian cricket team captain Michael Clarke pauses as he speaks in front of he Baggy Green and other state representative caps belonging to Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes during his funeral service in the town of Macksville, located north of Sydney December 3, 2014. The funeral of Australian test cricketer Phillip Hughes began to the strains of a song entitled "Forever Young" in his home town on Wednesday as a nation united to celebrate the life of a sportsman cut down in his prime. Eight days after Hughes was struck by a ball in the back of the head and six after he died of the catastrophic injuries that resulted, his family, friends and a host of cricketing greats gathered at Macksville High School to bid farewell to him. (Source: Reuters)

December 3, 2014: (File) The Baggy Green and other state representative caps belonging to Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes hang near his casket before the start of his funeral service in the town of Macksville, located north of Sydney, December 3, 2014. The funeral of Australian test cricketer Phillip Hughes began to the strains of a song entitled "Forever Young" in his home town on Wednesday as a nation united to celebrate the life of a sportsman cut down in his prime. Eight days after Hughes was struck by a ball in the back of the head and six after he died of the catastrophic injuries that resulted, his family, friends and a host of cricketing greats gathered at Macksville High School to bid farewell to him. (Source: Reuters)