A look at the best news photos from around the world.
2014 - The Year in Photos
update
![Flames rise from burning cars at the site of a car bomb that targeted Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik, Jan. 2, 2014. A large car bomb killed five people and wounded at least 20, a health ministry source told AFP.](https://gdb.voanews.com/7e1d79ab-ba1e-486d-a52e-92e9b09ab5aa_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Flames rise from burning cars at the site of a car bomb that targeted Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik, Jan. 2, 2014. A large car bomb killed five people and wounded at least 20, a health ministry source told AFP.
![A pilot flies on his paramoter above sand dunes during the Liwa 2014 Moreeb Dune Festival in the Liwa desert, 250 kilometers west of the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi, Jan. 2, 2014. ](https://gdb.voanews.com/9f7c4b1d-ddd7-467c-85e4-581cce7f1188_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A pilot flies on his paramoter above sand dunes during the Liwa 2014 Moreeb Dune Festival in the Liwa desert, 250 kilometers west of the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi, Jan. 2, 2014.
![This image taken by expedition doctor Andrew Peacock of www.footloosefotography.com on Jan. 2, 2014 shows a helicopter from the nearby Chinese icebreaker Xue Long picking up the first batch of passengers from the stranded Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy as rescue operations take place after over a week of being trapped in the ice off Antarctica.](https://gdb.voanews.com/6a793657-4bc2-4692-97a5-dd25e9ac19e2_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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This image taken by expedition doctor Andrew Peacock of www.footloosefotography.com on Jan. 2, 2014 shows a helicopter from the nearby Chinese icebreaker Xue Long picking up the first batch of passengers from the stranded Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy as rescue operations take place after over a week of being trapped in the ice off Antarctica.
![The U.S. side of the Niagara Falls is pictured in Ontario, Jan. 8, 2014. The frigid air and "polar vortex" that affected about 240 million people in the United States and southern Canada will depart during the second half of the week, and a far-reaching January thaw will begin, according to AccuWeather.com.](https://gdb.voanews.com/ecca4f93-657f-49a3-841d-82dfd16c3ef8_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The U.S. side of the Niagara Falls is pictured in Ontario, Jan. 8, 2014. The frigid air and "polar vortex" that affected about 240 million people in the United States and southern Canada will depart during the second half of the week, and a far-reaching January thaw will begin, according to AccuWeather.com.