Visually impaired students of a school for the blind fight for the ball during a soccer match inside their school in New Delhi Jan. 5, 2015.ANINDITO MUKHERJEE—REUTERS
Phil Bicker, who edited this photo essay, is a Senior Photo Editor at TIME
People celebrate the pagan rite called "Kolyadki" in the village of Osovo, east of Minsk, Belarus, Jan. 7, 2015. VASILY FEDOSENKO—REUTERSA Syrian man carries wood for a fire in the rebel-held city of Douma on Jan. 11, 2015. ABD DOUMANY—AFP/Getty ImagesUltra Orthodox Jews practice Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and music, near the port of the Israeli Mediterranean city of Tel Aviv-Jaffo on Jan. 18, 2015. Nati Shohat—Flash90/ReduxTommy Caldwell completing the historic free climb to the top of El Capitan's Dawn Wall, a 3,000-foot sheer granite face in Yosemite National Park, Calif. Jan. 14, 2015. Bligh Gillies—Big UP Productions/Aurora PhotosA Syrian refugee girl stands behind a door at a makeshift settlement in the village of Ketermaya, south of Beirut Jan. 8, 2015.ALI HASHISHO—ReutersAfghan refugee girls sit in a hole in the ground, playing with a doll in a slum areas on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015.Muhammed Muheisen—APA photo made with a long exposure shows the glow from a Noctiluca scintillans algal bloom along the seashore in Hong Kong on Jan. 22, 2015. The luminescence, also called Sea Sparkle, is triggered by farm pollution that can be devastating to marine life and local fisheries. Kin Cheung—APA stolen bronze statue of the late Hungarian sculptor Miklos Izso is substituted by a statue made of LEGO bricks, created by Hungarian lego artist Balazs Doczy in Margaret Island of Budapest on Jan. 16, 2015. ATTILA KISBENEDEK—AFP/Getty ImagesFireworks illuminate the sky above Munich, southern Germany, early Jan. 1 2015. Peter Kneffel—EPAAn India's Border Security Force (BSF) "Daredevils" motorcycle rider performs during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade on a foggy winter morning in New Delhi Jan. 8, 2015. ADNAN ABIDI—REUTERSA salvage tug lights the hull of the stricken Hoegh Osaka cargo ship after it ran aground on a sand bank in the Solent on Jan.4, 2015 in Cowes, England. Peter Macdiarmid—Getty ImagesPeople throw turnips at the Jarramplas as he makes his way through the streets of Piornal beating his drum during the Jarramplas Festival, Spain, Jan. 19, 2015.Daniel Ochoa de Olza—APThe Ara Yevi samba school performs on a float showcasing Pope Francis during carnival in Gualeguaychu, Argentina, early Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015. Members of the samba school said the Pope doesn't know they chose to honor his life at this year's celebration and look forward for him seeing their performing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)Natacha Pisarenko—APA Filipino boy runs amid black smoke billowing from electrical wires being burned by scavengers at a dumpsite in Manila, Philippines, Jan. 8, 2015. Aaron Favila—APThe Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) is pictured in Sao Sebastiao do Uatuma in the middle of the Amazon forest in Amazonas state Jan. 8, 2015. The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory is a project of Brazil's National Institute of Amazonian Research and Germany's Max Planck Institute and will be equipped with high-tech instruments and an observatory to monitor relationships between the jungle and the atmosphere from next July. REUTERSA barn called the Energy Barn, which was built by anti-pipeline activists directly on the route of the Keystone XL pipeline, stands in a snowy corn field near Bradshaw, Neb., Jan. 16, 2015. Nati Harnik—APChildren face off against a police dog handler during a protest against alleged land grabbing at Langata Road Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 19, 2015. DAI KUROKAWA—EPAA reveller dressed up as a "stick man" takes part in New Year's celebrations in Coin, near Malaga, southern Spain, early Jan. 1, 2015. JON NAZCA—REUTERSVisually impaired students of a school for the blind fight for the ball during a soccer match inside their school in New Delhi Jan. 5, 2015. ANINDITO MUKHERJEE—REUTERSAn artist performs in the air with balloons at Cibeles Square during the Three Kings parade in Madrid on Jan. 5, 2015. GERARD JULIEN—AFP/Getty ImagesSnowmen hit by shrapnel and debris are seen in a deserted playground in the Voroshilovsky area, in the center of Donetsk, Ukraine. Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. Manu Brabo—APChinese winter swimming enthusiasts warm up before swimming in the half-frozen Houhai lake with a water temperature around two degrees Celsius in Beijing, China, Jan. 12 2015. WU HONG—EPASouth Korea's Amry Special Warfare Command (SWC) soldiers aim their machine guns in a frozen river during a winter exercise in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Jan. 8, 2015. Ahn Young-joon—APPriests take pictures of Pope Francis (far L) as he arrives to lead a mass in Manila on Jan.16, 2015. GIUSEPPE CACACE—AFP/Getty ImagesMembers of a traditional firefighting preservation group perform ladder stunts during the annual New Year's Fire Brigade Review in Tokyo, Jan. 6, 2015. Eugene Hoshiko—APA man rides his horse through flames during the "Luminarias" annual religious celebration, on the night before Saint Anthony's, patron of animals, in the village of San Bartolome de los Pinares, Spain, Jan.16, 2015. JUAN MEDINA—REUTERSFrench president Francois Hollande (L) embraces US Secretary of State John Kerry prior to a meeting at the Elysee Palace on Jan. 16, 2015 in Paris. PATRICK KOVARIK—AFP/Getty ImagesSumatran tiger cubs and their parents walk around their enclosure at London Zoo in London, Jan. 5, 2015. during the annual stock take and animal count, which is a requirement of London Zoo's license.TOBY MELVILLE—REUTERSA woman lifts a dog on a leash along the seafront in Panama City Jan. 6, 2015. CARLOS JASSO—REUTERSRoger Federer of Switzerland plays tennis with Lleyton Hewitt of Australia between speedboats on Sydney Harbour ahead of their Fast 4 Exhibition match on Jan. 12, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. Cameron Spencer—Getty ImagesSo-called Silvesterchlaeuse (New Years Clause) walk in Urnaesch, Switzerland, Jan. 13, 2015, to offer best wishes for the New Year (following the Julian calendar) to the farmers in this region.GIAN EHRENZELLER—EPAA fox runs past the door of 10 Downing Street in London on Jan.13, 2015. JUSTIN TALLIS—AFP/Getty Images
