Year in photos from Europe and Africa

Europe in 2015 witnessed the greatest movement of people since World War II, as desperate refugees fleeing Middle East violence arrived by the hundreds of thousands on its shores. The continent also suffered extremist attacks that exposed the vulnerability of its civilians and challenged its way of life. Africa suffered devastating attacks as well but also welcomed Pope Francis with joy.

As the tumultuous year draws to a close, The Associated Press is looking back on 12 months of upheaval in Europe and Africa by presenting the most memorable images by AP photographers. These stories highlight how interconnected the world has become, with Europe facing grave challenges stemming in large part from unrest in the Middle East.

Deadly attacks on Paris touched a global nerve — in January with the slaughter at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, and in November with coordinated attacks in Paris that claimed 130 lives and wounded hundreds. But there were major extremist attacks elsewhere as well — in Nigeria, Tunisia, Turkey and other countries.

Memorable —and often painful — images came from other tragedies, including a plane crash in the French Alps, a deadly fire in a Romanian nightclub and a political assassination in Moscow.

The migration crisis produced some of the most iconic images of the year along the hazardous journey toward northern Europe. Some refugees exulted in their survival, raising their arms in joy and relief when their flimsy rafts made landfall in Europe. Others drowned in the sea, including 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, whose lifeless body was photographed after washing up on a Turkish beach and galvanized the world's horror at the unfolding crisis.

These photographs show a Europe that is both less isolated and more vulnerable, its borders elastic, its control mechanisms threatened, its capitals both defiant and fearful.

This gallery was curated by Regional Photo Editor Europe & Africa Tony Hicks in London.

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Revellers photograph fireworks over the Arc de Triomphe as they celebrate the New Year on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

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 Photo/Darko Bandic)

Migrant whose boat stalled at see while crossing from Turkey to Greece swim to approach a shore of the island of Lesbos, Greece, on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015. A boat with 46 migrants or refugees has sunk Sunday in Greece and the coast guard says it is searching for 26 missing off the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A paramilitary police officer investigates the scene before carrying the lifeless body of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi from the sea shore, near the beach resort of Bodrum, Turkey, early Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. A number of migrants are known to have died and some are still reported missing, after boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized. (AP Photo/Nilufer Demir, DHA)

German federal police officers guide a group of migrants on their way after crossing the border between Austria and Germany in Wegscheid near Passau, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Migrants sit on the deck of the Belgian Navy vessel Godetia after they were saved at sea during a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coasts, Wednesday, June 24, 2015. Hundreds of migrants were rescued by the Godetia, which is part of a EU Navy vessels fleet taking part in the Triton migrants rescue operation. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A Syrian refugee praises god as he arrive with others from Turkey on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos, on a fishing boat, Sunday Sept. 27, 2015. More than 260,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in Greece so far this year, most reaching the country's eastern islands on flimsy rafts or boats from the nearby Turkish coast.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

In this aerial photo, a column of migrants moves through fields after crossing from Croatia, in Rigonce, Slovenia, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015. Thousands of people are trying to reach central and northern Europe via the Balkans, but often have to wait for days in mud and rain at the Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian borders. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In this photo made on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015, migrants prepare to spend a night in the open air, near a tree whose branches were cut for firewood, in Sentilj, Slovenia, near the border with Austria. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Migrants on a dinghy arrives at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, after crossing from Turkey, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015. Greece has become the main gateway to Europe for tens of thousands of refugees and economic migrants, mainly Syrians fleeing war, as fighting in Libya has made the alternative route from north Africa to Italy increasingly dangerous. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Paramedics and doctors care for a baby girl after a boat with refugees and migrants sunk while was crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Afghan migrants disembark safely from their frail boat in bad weather on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015. Greece's government says it is preparing a rent-assistance program to cope with a growing number of refugees, who face the oncoming winter and mounting resistance in Europe. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

The lifeless body of an elderly unidentified man is seen on the beach after washing up on the shoreline at the village of Skala, on the Greek island of Lesbos, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. Authorities recovered more bodies on Lesbos and the Greek island of Samos Sunday as thousands continue to cross from the nearby coast of Turkey despite worsening weather. Greece is pressing the European Union for additional support for their massive daily search and rescue operations. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Refugees and migrants are covered with thermal blankets after their arrival on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the Skala Sykaminias village on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, Friday, Oct. 23, 2015. The International Office for Migration says Greece over the last week experienced the largest single weekly influx of migrants and refugees this year, at an average of some 9,600 per day. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

A Syrian migrant boy still wearing a swimming ring stands on the beach upon his arrival with other migrants by a dinghy at the southeastern Greek island of Kos, Greece, early Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Migrants and refugees board a train by climbing through the windows as they try to avoid a police barrier at the station in Tovarnik, Croatia, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

Migrants arrive during heavy rain at the Hungarian-Austrian border in Nickelsdorf, Austria, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015, where they came from Budapest as Austria in the early-morning hours said it and Germany would let them in. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Syrian refugees walk into Turkey after breaking the border fence and crossing from Syria in Akcakale, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, Sunday, June 14, 2015. The mass displacement of Syrians across the border into Turkey comes as Kurdish fighters and Islamic extremists clashed in nearby city of Tal Abyad. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

A boy with a flower sits on the shoulders of a man as a group of refugees and supporters face Slovenian police blocking the entrance to Slovenia at the border crossing in the Croatian village of Harmica, Friday, Sept. 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

In this Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015, photo, Diana Sofia Meliton, 2 years old, sits outside together with belongings after her and her family got evicted by the police and watches a housing right activist re-opening her apartment for them to live in Madrid, Spain. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Pope Francis waves to local residents as he drives to St. Joseph The Worker Catholic Church in the Kangemi slum of Nairobi, Kenya Friday, Nov. 27, 2015. Pope Francis is in Kenya on his first-ever trip to Africa, a six-day pilgrimage that will also take him to Uganda and the Central African Republic. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Britain's Prince George gets up on tip-toes to peek into the pram of his sister Princess Charlotte flanked by his parents Prince William and Kate the Duchess of Cambridge as they leave after Charlotte's Christening at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, England, Sunday, July 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Jean Claude Niyonzima, a suspected member of the ruling party's Imbonerakure youth militia, pleads with soldiers to protect him from a mob of demonstrators after he came out of a sewer in the Cibitoke district of Bujumbura, Burundi, Thursday, May 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

People follow the coffin of Boris Nemtsov during a farewell ceremony at the Sakharov center in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 3, 2015. Mourners are lining up outside a Moscow human rights center for the funeral of murdered Nemtsov. a charismatic Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, who was gunned down on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 near the Kremlin. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

People watch as El Tajo y La Reina fighting bulls and revelers run during the running of the bulls, at the San Fermin festival, in Pamplona, Spain, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. Revelers from around the world arrive to Pamplona every year to take part in some of the eight days of the running of the bulls. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Women in the crowd cover their faces to protect against the smell as authorities display the bodies of the alleged attackers before about 2,000 people in a large open area in central Garissa, Kenya Saturday, April 4, 2015. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Ami and Ashbu, both three-years-old, walk arm in arm in the Zafaye refugee camp, some 15 kms (10 miles) from downtown N'djamena, Chad, Wednesday March 11, 2015. Both from the PK5 district of Bangui, have been living in the camp for over a year with over 5000 other refugees of Chadian descent who fled the fighting in Central African Republic. Chad is also hosting thousands of refugees fleeing the current Boko Haram fighting in Nigeria. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

German chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with U.S. president Barack Obama at Schloss Elmau hotel near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany, Monday June 8, 2015 during the G-7 summit. (Michaek Kappeler/Pool Photo via AP)

Activists of the international campaigning and advocacy organisation ONE install illuminated balloons with portraits of the G7 heads of state in front of the Frauenkirche cathedral (Church of Our Lady) prior the G7 Finance Ministers meeting in Dresden, eastern Germany, Wednesday, May 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Spectators watch as a model displays a creation by Russian designer Slava Zaitsev during Fashion Week, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

In this Wednesday, May 13, 2015 photo, a street vendor collects his clothes outside the shutters of a shop in central Athens. Greece, which is in the midst of protracted bailout talks with creditors, is now officially in recession again according to data released Wednesday, less than a year after it emerged from a six-year depression. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A pensioner leans against the main gate of the national bank of Greece as he waits to withdraw a maximum of 120 euros ($134) for the week in Athens in central Athens, Tuesday, July 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

In this photo taken on Friday, Feb. 6, 2015, top model Chantelle Brown-Young, known as Winnie Harlow, gets her make up applied before displaying a Spring/Summer design by Desigual at Madrid's Fashion Week in Madrid, Spain. Madrid Fashion Week has celebrated its 30th anniversary with presentations from 44 designers and brands by models on catwalks in Spain's premier fashion showcase. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

A homeless person sleeps back dropped by wallpaper of New York city on the windows of a casino near the main railway station during a police raid in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, July 21, 2015. Police in Romania have searched the capital's sewers in an anti-drug raid and detained dozens of people, mostly homeless, including the suspected ringleader, for questioning on suspicion of trafficking. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this photo dated Saturday, May 9, 2015, local residents carry portraits of their ancestors, participants in World War Two as they celebrate the 70th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis in World War II in St. Petersburg, Russia. About 100,000 people walked in central streets in a march named 'Immortal Regiment' while carrying portraits of their relatives who fought in World War Two. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

A demonstrators kicks a teargas canister as clashes broke out with Italian Policemen during a protest against the Expo 2015 fair in Milan, Italy, Friday, May 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

An activist stands on the table of the podium throwing paper at ECB President Mario Draghi, left, as Christine Graeff, Director General of Communications, looks on during a press conference of the European Central Bank, ECB, in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, April 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Bodies are covered on a Tunisian beach, in Sousse, Friday June 26, 2015. A man unfurled an umbrella and pulled out a Kalashnikov, opening fire on European sunbathers in an attack that killed at least 28 people at the beach resort in one of three deadly attacks from Europe to the Middle East that followed a call to violence by Islamic State extremists. (Jawhara FM via AP)

In this Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015, photo, models display creations by designer Anya Hindmarch during the Autumn/Winter 2015 show at London Fashion Week in London. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A man cries over the body of a victim at the site of an explosion in the capital Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015. Two bomb explosions targeting a peace rally killed dozens of people and injured scores of others near Ankara's main train station as people were gathering for the rally, organized by the country's public sector workers' trade union and other civic society groups. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

In this Sunday, March 1, 2015, photo, an elderly woman walks across a destroyed bridge, which has collapsed over the road to the airport, the scene of heavy fighting, in Donetsk, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Police officers give a person medical aid after a grenade blast during clashes between protesters and police following a vote to give greater powers to the east, outside the Parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 31, 2015. The Ukrainian parliament has given preliminary approval to a controversial constitutional amendment that would provide greater powers to separatist regions in the east. Hundreds of people gathered in front of the parliament to protest the amendment. (AP Photo/Vladimir Donsov)

A person walk near the remains of a man lying near a bus stop that was damaged in shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015. At least three civilians were killed in shelling Tuesday in eastern Ukraine as fighting continued between government and rebel forces in the separatist-held city of Donetsk. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

People cool down in a fountain beside Manzanares river in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, June 30, 2015. Weather stations across Spain are warning people to take extra precautions as a heat wave engulfs much of the country, increasing the risk of wildfires. The country's meteorological agency says a mass of hot air originating in Africa is moving northwards, bringing temperatures reaching 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

A rescue worker is lifted into an helicopter at the crash site near Seyne-les-Alpes, France, Thursday, March 26, 2015. The co-pilot of a Germanwings jet barricaded himself in the cockpit and rammed the plane full speed into the French Alps, ignoring the captain's frantic pounding on the cockpit door and the screams of terror from passengers. In a split second, he killed all 150 people aboard the plane. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

A woman has taped her mouth displaying the word Freedom on the tape as she gathers with several thousand people in solidarity with victims of two terrorist attacks in Paris, one at the office of weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo and another at a kosher market, in front of the Brandenburg Gate near the French embassy in Berlin, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Victims of a shooting attack lie on the pavement outside La Belle Equipe restaurant in Paris Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. (Anne Sophie Chaisemartin via AP)

A man carries two children after panic broke out among mourners who payed their respect at the attack sites at restaurant Le Petit Cambodge (Little Cambodia) and the Carillon Hotel in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

A policeman stands guard as Muslims take part in Eid al-Fitr prayers at a mosque in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, July 17, 2015. Millions of Muslims across the world are celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

Police forces operate in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. Police say two suspects in last week's Paris attacks, a man and a woman, have been killed in a police operation north of the capital. Two police officers have been injured in the standoff. Police have said the operation is targeting the suspected mastermind of last week's attacks, believed to be holed up in an apartment in Saint-Denis with several other heavily armed suspects. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

A victim of a terrorist attack lies dead outside the Bataclan theater in Paris, Nov. 13, 2015. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks on a stadium, a concert hall and Paris cafes that left more than 120 people dead and over 350 wounded. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

People gather to pay respect for the victims of a terror attack against satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A message that reads: "In the name of what?" and a rose is placed through a bullet hole in a window at the restaurant on Rue de Charonne, Paris, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015, where attacks took place on Friday. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks on a stadium, a concert hall and Paris cafes that left more than 120 people dead and over 350 wounded. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

A woman rests on a train that was stopped in Bicske, Hungary, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Over 150,000 migrants have reached Hungary this year, most coming through the southern border with Serbia. Many apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Macedonian riot police officers clash with migrants near the border train station of Idomeni, northern Greece, as they wait to be allowed by the Macedonian police to cross the border from Greece to Macedonia, Friday, Aug. 21, 2015. Macedonian special police forces have fired stun grenades to disperse thousands of migrants stuck on a no-man's land with Greece, a day after Macedonia declared a state of emergency on its borders to deal with a massive influx of migrants heading north to Europe. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A sailor of the Belgian Navy Vessel Godetia helps a migrant board the ship during a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coasts, Tuesday, June 23, 2015. Hundreds of migrants were rescued on Tuesday by the Godetia, which is among a EU Navy vessels fleet taking part in the Triton migrants rescue operations. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A spot of sunlight breaks through the clouds and shines on a vessel on the sea during the partial phase of a solar eclipse before totality as seen from a hill beside a hotel on the edge of the city overlooking Torshavn, the capital of the Faeroe Islands, Friday, March 20, 2015. A blanket of clouds in the Faeroe Islands blocked thousands of people there from experiencing the full effect of the total eclipse. The clouds then cleared after totality. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A woman face is lit by candles placed outside the Colectiv nightclub as she peers from behind the metal gate leading to the club in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, Nov. 2, 2015. The owners of the Colectiv nightclub were questioned by prosecutors Monday in connection with a fire that engulfed a nightclub Friday night, causing a stampede to a single exit door of the basement club and leaving tens of people dead and many more injured. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

People watch from their roof-top apartment as some thousands of people gather at Republique square in Paris, France, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015. Thousands of people began filling France's iconic Republique plaza, and world leaders converged on Paris in a rally of defiance and sorrow on Sunday to honor the 17 victims of three days of bloodshed that left France on alert for more violence. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, center, falls after addressing supporters upon his return from an African Union meeting in Ethiopia, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015. Mugabe, 90, was elected chairman of the African Union and is set to celebrate his 91st birthday on Feb. 21. (AP Photo)

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Sports

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In this Jan. 3, 2015 photo, Norway's Anders Jacobsen soars during the trial jump at the third stage of the four hills ski jumping tournament in Innsbruck, Austria. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

In this Jan. 18, 2015 photo, AC Milan's Mbaye Niang, left, challenges for the ball with Atalanta's Giuseppe Biava during a Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Atalanta, at the San Siro stadium in Milan. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

In this Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015 photo, a musher competes with his dog-sled during the Trans-Thuringia race, one of the biggest dog-sled races with purebred dogs in central Europe, in the Thuringian Forest near Fehrenbach, central Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. Around 500 sled dogs and their mushers covered a distance of nearly 280 kilometers in seven runs. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

In this Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015 photo, Blackburn's Rudy Gestede, left, in action against Stoke's goalkeeper Jack Butland during the English FA Cup fifth round soccer match between Blackburn and Stoke at Ewood Park Stadium, Blackburn, England. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

In this Feb. 15, 2015 photo, eventual winner Fox Kieren rides Berrahri, far left, as he competes during the GP Christoffel Bau Trophy on the frozen Lake St. Moritz on the second weekend of the White Turf races in St. Moritz, Switzerland. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)

In this Feb. 20, 2015 photo, Adrien Theaux, of France, is airborne during a men's World Cup downhill training session, in Saalbach Hinterglemm, Austria. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta, file)

In this Feb. 22, 2015 photo, taken with slow shutter speed Norway's Rune Velta jumps during the Mixed Team Ski Jumping competition at the Nordic Skiing World Championships in Falun, Sweden, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

In this Sunday, March 15, 2015 photo, Chadian jockeys race to the finish line during an afternoon of races at the hippodrome in N'djamena, Chad. Horse races take place every Sunday, bringing hundreds of spectators willing to brave the excruciating heat to watch their favorite sport.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

In this May 1, 2015 photo, bull reacts after a bullfighter nailed a "banderilla" on his back during a bullfight at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, Spain. Bullfighting is a traditional spectacle in Spain and the season runs from March to October. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

In this June 5, 2015 photo, Serbia's Novak Djokovic stretches to return the ball to Britain's Andy Murray, right, during their semifinal match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

In this Saturday June 6, 2015 photo, Serena Williams of the U.S. casts a shadow on the clay as she drops her racket and celebrates winning the final of the French Open tennis tournament against Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in three sets, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, at the Roland Garros stadium, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

In this June 6, 2015 file photo Barcelona's Lionel Messi kisses the trophy after his team won 3-1 in the Champions League final soccer match between Juventus Turin and FC Barcelona at the Olympic stadium in Berlin. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

In this June 7, 2015 photo, Britain's Sir Bradley Wiggins rides on his way to breaking the UCI Hour Record at the Olympic Velodrome in Lee Valley Velopark, London. Former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins broke cycling's prestigious hour record, covering 54.526 kilometers (33.88 miles) in 60 minutes. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

In this July 12, 2015 photo, Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates winning the men's singles final against Roger Federer of Switzerland at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. Djokovic won the match 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

In this Tuesday, July 14, 2015 photo, a man performs a BMX bike stunt as the pack with Britain's Christopher Froome, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, passes during the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 167 kilometers (103.8 miles) with start in Tarbes and finish in La Pierre-Saint-Martin, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

In this July 14, 2015 photo Tiberiu Dolniceanu, of Romania, left, and Daryl Homer, of the United States, right, in action during their semifinal match at sabre competition at the fencing World championships in Moscow, Russia. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

In this Wednesday, July 15, 2015 photo, United States' Jordan Spieth plays from the rough on hole 16 during a practice round at the British Open Golf Championship at the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

In this Thursday, July 16, 2015 photo ten-year-old Amohela Mokoena, plays a putt during a golf game at a park in Katlehong township, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. At first the township children only watched as their retired neighbour and former golf caddie, Wynand Morudu, hit a ball up and down the open field then soon they joined in, forming an amateur golf training school in the working class South African township. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

In this Thursday, July 23, 2015 file photo clients watch from the terrace of a restaurant as the pack with Britain's Chris Froome, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, passes during the eighteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 186.5 kilometers (115.9 miles) with start in Gap and finish in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, France. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

In this Aug. 1, 2015 photo a competitor dives during international waterfall jumping competition in the old town of Jajce, 250 kms west of Sarajevo, Bosnia. Total of 25 competitors took part in this jumps from waterfall 20 meters high.(AP Photo/Amel Emric)

In this Aug. 3, 2015 photo Artem Silchenko of Russia competes during the men's 27 meter high dive competition at the Swimming World Championships in Kazan, Russia. (AP Photo/Denis Tyrin)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015 photo, FIFA president Sepp Blatter is photographed while banknotes thrown by British comedian Simon Brodkin hurtle through the air during a press conference following the extraordinary FIFA Executive Committee at the headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. (Ennio Leanza/Keystone via AP)

In this Oct. 2, 2015 photo, rugby fans are silhouetted as they play rugby on the beach at Porthcawl, a seaside town near Cardiff in Wales. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

In this Oct. 9, 2015 photo, New Zealand players perform the haka before their Rugby World Cup Pool C match between New Zealand and Tonga at St James' Park, Newcastle, England. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

In this Oct. 9, 2015 photo, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the second free practice session at the 'Sochi Autodrom' Formula One track , in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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Text from the AP news story, AP PHOTOS: Top pictures in 2015 from Europe and Africa. 

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