AP PHOTOS: Editor's picks from Mideast, Afghanistan-Pakistan

In this Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015 file photo, a Lebanese couple take selfie in front men and women wearing Santa Claus costumes during a parade for Christmas, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon.  

The evolution of Santa Claus

Santa through the years: medieval fresco depicting St Nicholas, the inspiration for today's Santa Claus. A medieval fresco depicting St. Nicholas from the Boyana Church, near Sofia, Bulgaria.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

Kyle Blessing, of Chesapeake, Va., hugs his fiancee, Petty Officer 2nd Class Sophie Mulkey, as Petty Officer 2nd Class Dan Ravo, of Norfolk, Va., kisses his girlfriend, Kelly Rancier, alongside the guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul after returning to Norfolk Naval Station after an eight-month deployment.  

AP PHOTOS: Editor's pick from Mideast, Afghanistan-Pakistan

In this Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015 photo, the gold mask of King Tutankhamun is displayed in its glass case, in the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square, in Cairo. Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty says the famed golden burial mask has been fixed, over a year after the beard was accidentally knocked off and hastily glued back with epoxy. A German-Egyptian team began the restoration work in October.  

AP PHOTOS: Top pictures in 2015 from Europe and Africa

In this Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015 photo, a child is helped cross from Serbia to Hungary through the barbed wire fence near Roszke, southern Hungary. Round the clock, thousands of refugees cross daily along the approximately 110-mile (175-kilometer) border with non-EU member Serbia to the south.  

AP PHOTOS: Horses make wild patients at Israeli hospital

At Israel's main equine hospital, the animals can be wild patients, creating some unique challenges for the veterinarians treating them.

"They are not good patients," said Dr. Gal Kelmer, who heads the large animal department at Hebrew University's Koret School of Veterinary Medicine. "I get a lot of satisfaction when things work."

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

The skyline of downtown Pittsburgh, Pa., is reflected in the Allegheny River as it is silhouetted by the rising sun on a foggy morning on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015.  

AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from the Middle East for 2015

In this Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015 file photo, Lebanese activists hold up a makeshift shield as they are sprayed by riot police using water cannons during a protest against the ongoing trash crisis, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanese riot police fired several rounds of tear gas and water cannons for the second consecutive day in downtown Beirut Sunday as they battled protesters with batons and stones _ a marked escalation of mass demonstrations against an ongoing trash crisis.  

AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from Latin America for 2015

In this Sept. 17, 2015, file photo, a worker prepares to fit a wooden arm onto a Christ statue during preparations of the altar where Pope Francis will celebrate Mass in the Plaza of the Revolution, in Havana, Cuba. When Francis arrives in Havana on Sept. 19, he'll find his church ministering to more Cubans than at any time since the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.

AP PHOTOS: Sports selections from Latin America for 2015

In this Nov. 12, 2015, file photo, Colombia's James Rodriguez kicks Chile's Matias Fernandez as he tries to play the ball during a 2018 World Cup qualifying soccer match in Santiago, Chile, Thursday.   

AP PHOTOS: Program fights student hunger in Peru's Amazon

Hunger haunts the jungle home of the Ashaninka.

Incursions and assaults by loggers, miners, colonists and Shining Path rebels have reduced the lands of the Ashaninka people in the Peruvian Amazon, leaving many of the 97,000 members of the group malnourished.

The problem may be worst among children.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

A Palestinian man inspects the house of Raeb Ahmed Muhammad Alivi which was demolished by the Israeli army, in the West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015. The military says Alivi led a five-member Hamas cell that shot and killed U.S. citizen Eitam Henkin and his wife, Naama, as they drove in the northern West Bank on Oct. 1. He was arrested days after the attack.  

Flood waters swirl in south India even as rain eases

Tens of thousands of people were crowding into government-run relief camps in southern India's Tamil Nadu state on Friday, as floods continued to swirl despite a respite from days of relentless rains.

By late morning, state capital Chennai had seen little or no rain for almost 24 hours. The government has set up 97 relief camps, which are currently providing food and shelter to an estimated 62,000 people. But local residents were still complaining bitterly that their homes remained inundated and help from the government was either very slow or entirely absent.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, of France, watches a basket by the Los Angeles Clippers during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015, in Los Angeles. The Jazz won 102-91.  

Shooting at Planned Parenthood in Colorado

Hostages are escorted to safety outside a Planned Parenthood facility where a gunman had opened fire on November 27, 2015 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Television and the Kennedy presidency

April 3, 1960: Sen. John F. Kennedy, Democratic presidential nominee, sits next to a playback of his televised appearance in Milwaukee, Wis. for the Wisconsin presidential primary two days later.

The life and death of John F. Kennedy

Following are photos of the life and death of President John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, who was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

An Afghan boy tries to warm up next to a bonfire at night in Moria village on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015. European leaders pressed ahead with efforts to discourage people from heading to Europe to find work and kept seeking ways to send back home thousands who don't qualify for asylum.   

18 dead, hostages freed in Mali hotel attack

Mali trooper assist a hostage, centre, to leave the scene, from the Radisson Blu hotel to safety after gunmen attacked the hotel in Bamako, Mali, Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. Islamic extremists armed with guns and throwing grenades stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital Friday morning, killing at least three people and initially taking numerous hostages, authorities said.

2015 Los Angeles Auto Show

The new Hyundai Elantra is presented at the 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show on November 18, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. The LA ATuto Show was founded in 1907 and is the first major North American auto show of the season each year.

David Beckham

David Beckham seen in West Hollywood on April 29, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.

People's Sexiest Men Alive

David Beckham was named People's Sexiest Man Alive for 2015.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

Spectators embrace each other as they stand on the playing field of the Stade de France stadium at the end of a friendly soccer match between France and Germany in Saint Denis, outside Paris, Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. Hundreds made their way to the pitch after explosions were heard nearby. Multiple fatal attacks throughout the city have prompted President Francois Hollande to announce he was closing the country's borders and declaring a state of emergency.   

2015 Guinness World Records

World's softtest girl: World's softtest girl Liu Teng who refresh the Guinness World Records is recording a TV show on 03 February, 2015 in Beijing, China

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

Thousands hold up the glowing displays of their mobile phones during a demonstration initiated by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party against what they call the uncontrolled immigration and asylum abuse in Erfurt, central Germany, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015.   

AP Photos: Romania's Orthodox Church is target of protests

Protesters calling for an end to widespread corruption and better governance this week have turned their anger to the powerful and rich Romanian Orthodox Church in the wake of a nightclub fire which left more than 30 dead.

Public discontent with the church is at an all-time high after it failed to address an outpouring of national grief. Pressure is mounting for its financial privileges to be reviewed.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

A Brazilian Bororo Indian is seen in front of the moon at the World Indigenous Games in Palmas, Brazil on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. Nearly 2,000 native peoples from around the world participated in the first World Indigenous Games, a kaleidoscopic celebration of first peoples from around the globe.   

AP PHOTOS: Cuba's trains offer fine-grained look at country

From east to the west, trains offer a fine-grained, slow-moving view of Cuba that few foreigners ever see.

Goats graze alongside tracks in the countryside, forcing trains to brake to avoid hitting them. Old American sedans line up at a crossing while locomotives pass. Horse-drawn carts cross the rails after a train has gone by.

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

A box containing a seized stuffed tiger head sits yet to be unpacked inside a warehouse at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wildlife Property Repository in Commerce City, Colo., on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015. There are an estimated 3,200 tigers left in the wild.   

AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from Asia

In this Oct. 17, 2015 photo, a supporter displays a picture of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi stuck in her headband during a campaign rally of the National League for Democracy party in Thandwe, western Rakhine state, Myanmar. Suu Kyi on Friday shifted her election campaign to the region that presents the most formidable challenge - the Rakhine state, which has been a hotbed of sectarian conflict between Rohingya Muslims and hard-line Buddhists.

AP PHOTOS: Egyptian women candidates work the campaign trail

In this Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015 photo, Asmaa Ahmed Abdel Hakeem, an independent candidate, waves from a vehicle as she campaigns in her neighborhood in Giza, Egypt, ahead of Egyptian parliamentary elections. The 40 year-old woman is a manager of a family-owned school. It's her first time to run in elections, and says her family has been supportive of the move. 

Hungary shuts Croatian border to migrant flow

A migrant child smiles as she follows her mother down the path that leads to the Serbian-Croatian border crossing, at the village of Berkasovo, near Sid, Serbia, on Thursday, Oct.15, 2015. The migrants and refugees are struggling with the autumn rain and the cold as EU leaders are discussing in Brussels how to deal with the crisis.  

AP PHOTOS: Objects left on the beach by migrants on Lesbos

In this Monday, Oct. 5, 2015 photo, a children's toy is portrayed on a beach next to the town of Molyvos, on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. The migrants arrive by the hundreds on the beaches of the Greek island of Lesbos. And in their eagerness to move on, they leave behind belongings they carried with them.   

AP PHOTOS: A selection of pictures from the past week

Syrian army personnel load howitzers near the village of Morek, Syria on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015. The Syrian army has launched an offensive against rebels earlier in the week in central and northwestern Syria aided by Russian airstrikes.  

Image of Asia: Practicing evasive maneuvers in Philippines

In this photo by Bullit Marquez, a roped cow tries to break free in front of a Philippine marine who tries to avoid it while taking up his position during a live-fire exercise near the coast northwest of Manila. Hundreds of cattle live on the sprawling naval facility at San Antonio township in Zambales province, and the marines and amphibious-assault vehicles had to maneuver through the herd during the exercise. More than 600 U.S. and Philippine marines took part in the annual exercise that concluded Friday and was aimed at increasing the armed forces' capabilities in bilateral maritime operations. The facility faces Scarborough Shoal, one of the contested areas in the South China Sea that is also claimed by China. (AP)

AP Photos: Portraits of refugees along Europe migrant trail

In this photo taken on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, Syrian refugee Mahmoud Naoura, 30, who came from Aleppo, Syria, poses for a picture while holding his daughter Huda, 5, who was injured in 2012 by a government bombing on their home which made her lose her sight, shortly after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. Naoura said “I just want to cure my daughter. Huda will see again, inshallah, and when she will open her eyes I want her to see a safe environment around.”   

John Lennon (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980)

John Lennon with his mother, Julia at Ardmore, Rockferry, Cheshire      

10 Things to See: A week of top AP photos

Waseem Akram takes a break while working at coal depot in Karachi, Pakistan on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015.   

AP PHOTOS: Memorable Nobel Peace Prize winners of the past

In this Sept. 26, 1944, file photo, Staff Aide Jane Steward, an American Red Cross worker, lights a cigarette for a wounded French gendarme at a U.S. evacuation hospital in Brittany. In 1944, the Red Cross was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the second time, having also won it in 1917. It then claimed the award for what still is a record third time in 1963.

World Beard And Mustache Championships

A contestant of the World Beard And Mustache Championships poses for a picture during the opening ceremony of the Championships 2015 on October 3, 2015 in Leogang, Austria. Over 300 contestants in teams from across the globe have come to compete in sixteen different categories in three groups: mustache, partial beard and full beard. The event takes place every few years at different locations worldwide.  

10 Things to See: A week of top AP photos

Muslims offer prayers at the Jama Masjid during Eid al-Adha in New Delhi, India on Friday, Sept. 25, 2015. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, by sacrificing animals to commemorate the prophet Ibrahim's faith in being willing to sacrifice his son. 

Most Dangerous Celeb Searches

Intel Security announced Tuesday that musicians topped its ninth annual list of the most dangerous

celebrities online. Searches for certain famous names are most likely to land users on websites that

carry viruses or malware. The company used its own site ratings to compile the celebrity list.

Supermoon lunar eclipse as seen around the world

A swollen "supermoon" bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse is seen in Trébons sur la Grasse early on September 28, 2015. For the first time in decades, the double spectacle of a swollen "supermoon" bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse can be seen. The celestial show, visible from the Americas, Europe, Africa, west Asia and the east Pacific, will be the result of the Sun, Earth and a larger-than-life, extra-bright Moon lining up for just over an hour.

Supermoon

A perigee moon, also known as a super moon, rises above the Orthodox Church in the town of Novogrudok, 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of the capital Minsk, Belarus, on Aug. 29, 2015.

AP PHOTOS: Catalans fly the flag in campaign on independence

In this Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015 photo, an "estelada" or pro independence flag hangs on a building as people look at human towers or "Castellers" in San Jaime square in Barcelona, Spain. Catalans vote Sunday in regional parliamentary elections that the breakaway camp hopes will give them a mandate to put their region on a path toward independence _ a goal the Madrid central government says would be illegal. 

10 Things to See: A week of top AP photos

Pablo Dona, of Miami pauses while paddleboarding as sheets of rain fall in front of him off the shores of Bal Harbour, Fla., on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015.   

AP PHOTOS: Adoring crowds greet pope in nation's capital

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama greet Pope Francis upon his arrival for state arrival ceremony, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington.    

Hajj

Muslim pilgrims pray on a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015. Mount Arafat, marked by a white pillar, is where Islam's Prophet Muhammad is believed to have delivered his last sermon to tens of thousands of followers some 1,400 years ago, calling on Muslims to unite.

AP PHOTOS: Glimpse of life in Tibet under China's rule

In this Friday, Sept. 18, 2015 photo, a Tibetan family walks across Jokhang Square in the center of Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China. Chinese officials have taken foreign journalists on a visit to the region, normally off-limits to them, weeks after Communist Party officials commemorated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region.