Photos of the month: December

An Iraqi woman, dressed as Santa Claus, rides her bicycle in the old city of Mosul, Iraq, December 18, 2020. REUTERS/Abdullah Rashid

Family members and loved ones of Jose Garcia cry as he is laid to rest at the San Jose Cemetery in La Mesa, New Mexico, December 22, 2020. Garcia, a 68-year-old farmworker and father to nine children, died of COVID-19 after being admitted to the Las Cruces hospital where his daughter Carolina works as a nurse. Justin Hamel/Handout via REUTERS

A group of Nihangs (Sikh warriors) arrive to take part in a protest against the newly passed farm bills at Singhu border near Delhi, India, December 3, 2020. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Children look at lights from inside their family car as they visit Luminna Fest, a drive-through Christmas light festival, during the coronavirus outbreak in Sao Paulo, Brazil December 5, 2020. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

The Lai family look out over the Hong Kong skyline on an outing to Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong, China, December 14, 2020. The family has made a wrenching decision to emigrate to Scotland, disillusioned with the hometown they love. They're among hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers who could emigrate after the imposition of a national security law in June that has seen a crackdown on dissent. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Rohingyas who will be shifted to Bhasan Char island are seen onboard a bus in Chattogram, Bangladesh, December 4, 2020. Bangladesh is set to move some 100,000 Rohingya from cramped refugee camps on the mainland to the low-lying island despite opposition from rights groups. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

An Ethiopian refugee who fled the Tigray region stands within the Fashaga camp on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in Kassala state, Sudan December 13, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Gabriel Cervera calls the family of a patient who died, as healthcare personnel work inside a coronavirus unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, December 12, 2020. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare

The open casket for Florence Bolton, a COVID-19 patient who died on Dec. 2 at Roseland Community Hospital, stands for viewing at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, December 9, 2020. The 86-year-old grandmother was married to husband Raymond for over 60 years, a teacher, churchgoer and lover of aerobics and line dancing. On the day Florence passed away, 2,811 people died of probable COVID-19 complications in the United States, according to a Reuters tally. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

A doctor collects a swab sample from a man to be tested for the coronavirus outside Clinic Ajwa in Shah Alam, Malaysia December 10, 2020. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng

Bianca Toniolo draws on her bedroom window on Christmas Eve in San Fiorano, Italy, December 24, 2020. Her father Marzio Toniolo has been documenting what life has been like for their small northern Italian town since they were put on lockdown due to the coronavirus weeks before the rest of the country. REUTERS/Marzio Toniolo

Margaret Keenan, 90, is the first patient in Britain to receive the Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at University Hospital, administered by nurse May Parsons, at the start of the largest-ever immunization programme in the British history, in Coventry, Britain December 8, 2020. Britain was the first country in the world to start vaccinating people with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Jacob King/Pool via REUTERS

A person gestures while interacting with artist Benjamin Clegg's "Rainbow in the Dark" at Light Up Trails at The Wiston Estate in Steyning, West Sussex, Britain, December 9, 2020. REUTERS/Paul Childs

A pedestrian walks through falling snow in Boston, Massachusetts, December 17, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Shuhei Okawara, 30, owner of mask shop Kamenya Omote, holds a super-realistic face mask based on his real face, made using 3D printing technology, in Tokyo, Japan December 16, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Demonstrators in favor of legalizing abortion react after the Senate passed an abortion bill, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 30, 2020. REUTERS/Flor Guzzetti

Gymnast Ty-La Morris, then 12, trains at the Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation, which offers free and discounted classes for children in Detroit and in New York, in New York. Ty-La, who said she's drawn comparisons to 2016 Olympic champion Simone Biles, said a full - a tumbling move where a gymnast flips backwards and twists - was her favorite move that she's learned through her classes at Wendy Hilliard Foundation. She's also formed rock-solid bonds there with other students. "We are very close. We (are) like brothers and sisters," Ty-La said. "I just always wanted to do gymnastics because I just love to flip," she said, "and now I'm doing it." Picture taken February 22, 2020. REUTERS/Idris Solomon

Silvana La Poderosa and Simplemente Maria, cholita wrestlers, fight during their return to the ring after coronavirus restrictions, in El Alto on the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia. Picture taken November 29, 2020. REUTERS/David Mercado

People dance at a nightclub, almost a year after the global outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, December 12, 2020. Nightlife in Wuhan is back in full swing almost seven months after the city lifted its stringent lockdown and the city's young partygoers are embracing the catharsis. REUTERS/Aly Song

Bob Underhill, 84, and his wife Patricia, 82, suffering from Alzheimer's, kiss through a face mask as they are allowed to visit with physical contact for the first time at The Chiswick Nursing Centre, which introduced a coronavirus test with results ready in 30 minutes, in London, Britain December 2, 2020.  REUTERS/Kevin Coombs

Sammy Olszta, 6, grandson of U.S. Olympic wrestling gold medalist and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Dan Gable, leans against the Resolute Desk as Gable delivers remarks beside President Donald Trump during a presentation ceremony inside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, December 7, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

A cat wears sunglasses as pro-democracy activists protest after the constitutional court's ruling on Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's conflict of interest case, in Bangkok, Thailand, December 2, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

A man breaks a 2020 pinata at an event for people to say goodbye to the year 2020 at an event in Times Square called Good Riddance Day in Manhattan, New York, December 28, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

The Duomo Cathedral is seen during a snowfall in Milan, Italy December 28, 2020. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo

Robert Burck, better known as the "Naked Cowboy", falls during a nor'easter storm in Manhattan, New York, December 17, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

People gather at Yerablur Military Pantheon cemetery on the eve of Armenia's nationwide mourning to commemorate those killed in a conflict over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Yerevan, Armenia December 18, 2020. REUTERS/Artem Mikryukov

Pallbearers wearing PPE carry the coffin of a patient who died from the coronavirus inside a church in Athens, Greece, December 2, 2020. REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis

A full moon is seen behind buildings at night in Ashkelon, southern Israel December 1, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Rohingya refugees disembark from a navy vessel as they arrive at the Bhasan Char island in Noakhali district, Bangladesh, December 29, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

Police officers surround a suspect who was shooting outside the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, New York, December 13, 2020. A gunman shouting "Kill me!" opened fire from the steps of the church just after an outdoor choir performance there, and was shot dead by police. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

Firefighters work next to a car surrounded by flames during a protest against the "Global Security Bill'', which right groups say would make it a crime to circulate an image of a police officer's face and would infringe journalists' freedom in the country, in Paris, France, December 5, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

President Donald Trump plays golf at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, December 30, 2020. REUTERS/Marco Bello

Nurse Elena Betti reacts after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Careggi hospital in Florence, Italy, December 27, 2020. REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini

A female soldier's goggles are fogged up after handling bodies of coronavirus victims in Kathmandu, Nepal. Women soldiers clad in PPE are being deployed to handle Nepal's coronavirus dead, in a majority-Hindu country where it is still a cultural taboo for women to touch a dead body. Picture taken November 11, 2020. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

The shadow of a person's hand and Christmas window decorations are seen cast on an opposing wall in Galway, Ireland, December 18, 2020. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne    

Jane Cristina Dias Alves, 43, a nurse, a volunteer in COVID-19 vaccine trial for AstraZeneca, poses for a photograph in Sao Paulo, Brazil, December 11, 2020. Alves has a daughter and lives with the parents and with the grandmother. "Two nurses on my team, who are close to me and we talk every day, had COVID-19 and were hospitalized here in the ICU. It was something that moved us all. That influenced my decision – both the fear and also the conviction to join the trial. It strengthened my desire to take part in the trial. To know how much we can make the difference. Having a colleague next to you ill with the virus, taking care of him, knowing he can get worse and even lose his life – that moves something inside you," she said. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

A hospitalized child meets his best friend through a plastic sheet to prevent coronavirus transmission at the department of paediatric rehabilitation and developmental disabilities of IRCCS at the San Raffaele hospital, arranged for children who wished to see and hug their loved ones for Christmas, in Rome, Italy, December 22, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Vogue dancer Xiong Feng practices with his team for a video in Wuhan, Hubei province, China December 15, 2020. The 22-year-old, who goes by the name Daiki, teaches the dance form popularized by LGBTQ communities. He says his class numbers have jumped since Wuhan's coronavirus lockdown ended, as students, many of whom are young gay men, say they are keen to live more authentic lives in the wake of a traumatic year. REUTERS/Aly Song

A man walks inside a truck terminal during a nationwide strike to protest against newly passed farm bills in Mumbai, India, December 8, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

A Christmas tree with names of those who died during a port explosion, is seen near the damaged grain silos, in Beirut, Lebanon December 22, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Firefighters tackle a blaze at a homeless encampment in Montebello, California, December 8, 2020. REUTERS/David Swanson

Members of the far-right group Proud Boys clash with counter protesters, in downtown Washington, December 12, 2020. REUTERS/Erin Scott

The family of mother and son Sonya and Frank Anthony Gregorio, who were shot and killed by an off-duty police officer, mourn over their caskets at their funeral, in Paniqui, Tarlac province, Philippines, December 27, 2020. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

Dr. Eileen Sprys, front, and registered nurse Mary Bond, hug each other at Medical Arts Hospital in Lamesa, Texas, December 17, 2020. Not a single rural hospital in Texas received any doses of the coronavirus vaccine in the first week after its approval, frustrating rural health workers including those at the COVID-besieged Medical Arts Hospital. "We're all exposed all the time," Sprys said. "We don't have an isolated COVID wing or staff only dedicated to COVID unlike in larger hospitals. To not be included in the first shipment of vaccines is just so upsetting." REUTERS/Go Nakamura

President Trump stands among U.S. Army cadets as he attends the annual Army-Navy collegiate football game at Michie Stadium, in West Point, New York, December 12, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

People party on a street as pubs shut for the night due to tier 3 restrictions in Soho, as the spread of the coronavirus continues in London, Britain, December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

An orangutan, which was seized from the Thailand-Malaysia border three years ago, looks from a cage before it is transferred to Indonesia, at the airport in Bangkok, Thailand December 17,2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

Lego bricks weighing a total of 22 grams, which is equivalent to the amount of plastic that someone could eat in one month, are displayed on top of pieces of sushi rice in this illustration taken in Tokyo, Japan. People could be ingesting the equivalent of a credit card of plastic a week, a 2019 study by WWF International concluded, mainly in plastic-infused drinking water but also via food like shellfish, which tends to be eaten whole so the plastic in their digestive systems is also consumed. Reuters used the findings of the study to illustrate what this amount of plastic actually looks like over various periods of time. Picture taken November 11, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/Illustration

People stand in the "Mill", a 20-meter-long natural ice cave created by melted water accumulated during the summer and by a siphon effect in the autumn that creates an ice cathedral, at the Glacier 3000 ski resort in Les Diablerets, Switzerland, December 10, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

A classroom sits empty at the Government Science school where gunmen abducted students, in Kankara, northwestern Katsina state, Nigeria December 14, 2020. The kidnap of the 344 schoolboys had the appearance of an Islamist militant attack. But four government and security officials familiar with negotiations that secured the boys' release told Reuters the attack was a result of inter-communal feuding over cattle theft, grazing rights and water access - not spreading extremism. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

A truck driver is illuminated in his cabin while lorries are parked on the M20 motorway, as EU countries imposed a travel ban from the UK following the coronavirus outbreak, near Ashford, Britain, December 21, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Confetti flies in the air as Jeanne Peters, 95, a rehab patient at The Reservoir nursing facility, gestures after she was given the first coronavirus vaccination as Mary Lou Galushko, left, looks on, in West Hartford, Connecticut, December 18, 2020. Stephen Dunn/Pool via REUTERS

A Palestinian man is reflected in broken glass in a mosque damaged in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City December 26, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

SpaceX's first super heavy-lift Starship SN8 rocket explodes during a return-landing attempt after it launched from their facility on a test flight in Boca Chica, Texas, December 9, 2020. REUTERS/Gene Blevins

Farmer Tomislav Suknaic touches his horse in front of his damaged household in Majske Poljan village after an earthquake in Croatia, December 30, 2020. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic

People react as dust rises after explosions hit Aden airport, upon the arrival of the newly formed Yemeni government in Aden, Yemen December 30, 2020. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman

Lorenzo Ramirez is comforted by his son Jesus, during the funeral of his wife Laura Aguilar, who died of COVID-19, at the San Rafael cemetery in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 24, 2020. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Far-right protesters break the door to the Capitol building during a protest against coronavirus restrictions in Salem, Oregon, December 21, 2020. REUTERS/Mathieu Lewis-Rolland

A person wearing a sheep mask participates in an anti-vaccination demonstration at the Parliament Square in London, Britain, December 14, 2020.  REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

Investigators work near the site of a motor home explosion on 2nd Avenue that occurred the day before in Nashville, Tennessee, December 26, 2020. REUTERS/Harrison McClary

Tanna Ingraham places the body of a patient who died due to COVID-19 inside a body bag, at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, December 30, 2020.  REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare

Nicky Clough looks through the window as her mother Pam Harrison opens a present on Christmas Day at Alexander House Care Home, in Wimbledon, London, Britain, December 25, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Workers smoke while constructing ice structures at the site of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival before its opening in Harbin, China, December 18, 2020. Tens of thousands of ice blocks have been prised out of the river and moved by truck to the venue of Harbin's annual winter festival, where they are used to build life-sized castles, pagodas, bridges and even a functioning hotpot restaurant. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Panchito Vicente, 2, is reflected in plexiglass as he visits Santa Claus, Ray Hamlett, 74, at the Citadel Outlet mall in Commerce, California, December 3, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

A man does morning exercise at the Ramna Park in Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 23, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

People queue outside the Waitrose and Partners supermarket, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Balham, London, Britain December 22, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Intensive care unit nurse Merlin Pambuan, 66, is cheered by hospital staff as she walks out of the hospital where she spent 8 months battling COVID-19, at Dignity Health - St. Mary Medical Center, in Long Beach, California, December 21, 2020. "This is my second life," she said as she left the hospital, her workplace for the past 40 years. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Bishop Elijah Hankerson III, founder and senior pastor at Life Center International, Church of God in Christ poses for a photo in St. Louis, Missouri, December 19, 2020. Public health officials hope Black faith leaders and other Black role models will help alleviate strong skepticism among African Americans about the safety of the vaccine, which is being distributed across the country. REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant

Evelia De La Cruz, a hospital housekeeper at Roseland Community Hospital, disinfects the room where a COVID-19 patient died in the intensive care unit on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, December 1, 2020. Some of De La Cruz's colleagues refused to work the COVID-19 wards, she said, leaving the hospital understaffed. She has been laboring seven days a week, at times for weeks on end. "Every day I went to work, even on my days off, because I know that the patients need me, the hospital and the country needs me," she said. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

A cast member of the York Theatre Royal traveling pantomime gets tested for the coronavirus ahead of a show at the Acomb Parish Church Hall, in York, Britain, December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Lee Smith

Somali boys enjoy the water at Hamarweyne beach in Mogadishu, Somalia December 5, 2020. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

People arrange Christmas displays at a church in Las Pinas City, Metro Manila, Philippines, December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Lisa Marie David

An Iraqi demonstrator jumps over a burning tire during anti-government protests in Basra, Iraq, December 20, 2020. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani

Warna Di, a 32-year-old player from Garuda Indonesia Amputee Football (Garuda INAF), lies on the turf during the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 3, 2020. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana

Guido Montano and David Aruquipa kiss after their marriage was recognized as the first same-sex civil union by the Bolivian Civil Registry in La Paz, Bolivia, December 11, 2020. After a two-year legal battle, activists in the Andean nation hope the decision will pave the way for an overhaul of the country's marriage laws. REUTERS/David Mercado

Artist Sayna Soleimanpour performs a photoshoot in protest against the mistreatment and alienation of Turkish women based on their clothing, during a two-day curfew amid the spread of the coronavirusm on a deserted street in Istanbul, Turkey, early December 6, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

A moon ring, also called a winter halo, is seen over a Thai house at the beach on Koh Chang island, Thailand December 30, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

A flare is set off near security personnel vehicles on a street during protests against Chile's government in Santiago, Chile December 11, 2020. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

Palestinian woman Husn Qassem stands inside her damaged house at the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on the southern outskirts of Damascus, Syria December 2, 2020. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

The Almaty television tower sticks out from a blanket of thick fog in Almaty, Kazakhstan, December 11, 2020. REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev