AP Top Photos of the Month December 2024

This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images from around the world made or published by The Associated Press in December 2024.

Hilala Meryeh, a 64-year-old Palestinian mother of four, weeps after finding her son's body in the identification room at the Al-Mojtahed Hospital morgue in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 11, 2024. Many went to the morgues, hoping to identify loved ones who were either killed or imprisoned under President Bashar Assad's government, which collapsed days before. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The setting sun casts a warm glow through the windows as Syrians walk through the infamous Saydnaya military prison on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Dec. 18, 2024. More than a week after rebels overthrew Bashar al-Assad's regime, Syrians continued to visit the prison, known as the "human slaughterhouse." (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Yurii, a military chaplain, holds a church service for an infantry unit near the frontline town of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Christmas day, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ivanna warms her dog outside after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Firefighters battle the Franklin Fire in Malibu, California, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Luigi Mangione, suspected in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is escorted by police in New York, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

President-elect Donald Trump, left, his pick for the planned Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk, enter, and Vice President-elect JD Vance watch the NCAA college football game between Army and Navy from behind a glass barrier at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A Kenyan police officer patrols as part of a UN-backed multinational force in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

A child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip is treated at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Blood runs down the face of a security officer after he was shot by armed gangs who attacked people at the reopening ceremony at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Dec. 24, 2024. Two journalists and a police officer were killed. (AP Photo/Jean Feguens Regala)

A man holds up nooses found in the Saydnaya military prison north of Damascus, Syria, Dec. 9, 2024, days after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Opposition fighters celebrate after the Syrian government collapsed in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Protesters hold a candlelight vigil to protest South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

The Christmas market stands empty two nights after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, early Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Georges Elia decorates a Christmas tree inside St. George Melkite Catholic Church, destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Dardghaya, Lebanon, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People bathe in a hot water pool fed by a subterranean hydrothermal spring, which was exposed by a drilling project near Mount Bental in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A girl walks in the Kaweni neighborhood on the outskirts of Mamoudzou after Cyclone Chido tore across the French island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)

St. Paul's choir, which includes girls for the first time in its 900-year history, rehearses for the Christmas services in London, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Dancers perform during a Christmas ballet in Nairobi, Kenya, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A pilgrim crawls to the Lo Vazquez Sanctuary, celebrating the feast day of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, in Valparaiso, Chile, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Actor Ralph Fiennes poses for a portrait to promote the film "The Return" in New York, Dec. 4, 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Workers install a sculpture by artist Osmany Betancourt for the 15th Havana Biennial in Havana, Cuba, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Ley)

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida, left, Mitsubishi Motors CEO Takao Kato, center, and Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe walk off stage after giving a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Radio City Rockettes dance at the Parade of Wooden Soldiers during the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Indian army soldiers perform the Kalari Payattu, a traditional exercise in Kolkata, India, Dec. 16, 2024, on Victory Day, which marks India's victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war to liberate Bangladesh. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

A butcher throws a turkey to a buyer during the Christmas Meat Auction at Smithfield Market in London, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Cinthia Falcon, dressed as Santa Claus, pushes a cart filled with gifts for children at a Christmas event organized by the "Los Chicos de la Via" soup kitchen in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Supporters of former President John Dramani Mahama celebrate his election victory as the opposition candidate in Accra, Ghana, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Pakistan's Saim Ayub plays a shot during the second T20 International cricket match between South Africa and Pakistan in Centurion, South Africa, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

A great blue heron flies over the Everglades National Park in Florida, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Rihanna poses for photographers at The Fashion Awards in London, Dec. 2, 2024. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

A spectator wearing a hat decorated with lottery tickets waits for the start of the Christmas lottery draw, known as El Gordo, or The Fat One, at Madrid's Teatro Real, Spain, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

South Korea’s Young An Se plays Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in a women's singles badminton match at the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Austria’s Markus Mueller soars through the air during his qualification jump at the first stage of the 73rd Four Hills ski jumping tournament in Oberstdorf, Germany, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Children reach out for soap bubbles during a celebration of St. Nicholas Day in Izium, Ukraine, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

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Lead photo:  An opposition fighter steps on a broken bust of late Syrian President Hafez Assad in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

This collection was curated by Photo Editor Anne-Marie Belgrave and Deputy Director of Photography / Curation and Talent Jaqueline Larma.