Every day, the news agencies send their photographers to capture the moments of wonder and despair, hope and humanity that accompany and illuminate the stories they produce.
This year, the Associated Press shortlist included the image of two Israelis living out a most unusual fantasy.
26 View gallery


(L-R) Adi Kazav and Lied Adi Hagbi, members of Israel's Mermaid Community, pose for a portrait with mermaid tails at their home in Netanya
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


The Iron Dome air defense system takes out rockets fired from Gaza near Sderot
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


Ultra-Orthodox Jews at the wedding of the son of the Rabbi of the Nadvorna Hasidic dynasty in Bnei Brak
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


People light fireworks above the rubble of destroyed buildings to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan in Gaza City
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


Relatives mourn the death of Palestinian Hamas militant Mohammad Abu Namous, 27, in the family home during his funeral in the Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


A man walks through the gate of the Sachsenhausen Nazi death camp with the phrase "Arbeit Macht Frei" (work sets you free) in Oranienburg, Germany, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


Anti-government protesters take cover during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, as security forces open fire
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


A woman and her baby, evacuated from the last territory held by Islamic State, being screened by Kurdish forces outside Baghouz, Syria
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


A local resident uses his mobile phone to take photos of the damage in a house caused by a mortar fired from inside Syria on the Turkish town of Akcakale
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


Women and children ride in the back of a truck that is part of a convoy evacuating hundreds out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants in Baghouz, Syria
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


A Shiite child beats his chest next to his father during a procession to mark the end of the mourning period following the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, Muhammad's grandson and one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints, in Lahore, Pakistan
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


A riot policeman removes an anti-government protester who is blocking a main highway with her body in Beirut, Lebanon
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


Anti-government protesters set fires in Baghdad, Iraq, while security forces fire live ammunition and tear gas near the state-run television station
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


Firemen spray water after a car bomb exploded in the city of Qamishli, northern Syria
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


A U.S. Border Protection officer stands in heavy rain near the border fence between San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


The afternoon sun hangs low as it shines through the snow at the airport in Nome, Alaska
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


President Donald Trump turns to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as he delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, as Vice President Mike Pence watches
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


A demonstrator is knocked over by a strand of barbed wire during clashes with the Bolivarian National Guard in Urena, Venezuela, near the border with Colombia
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


Firefighters work to resuscitate the driver of a commuter train who was injured in a collision with another train in Sao Cristovao station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


Family photos of some of those who died at the Kigali Genocide Memorial center in the Kigali, Rwanda commemorating the 25th anniversary of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus massacred by the majority Hutu population over a 100-day period in what was the worst genocide in recent history
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


Flames and smoke rise from Notre Dame cathedral in Paris as firefighters tackle the blaze
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


A Sri Lankan family mourns next to the coffins of their three family members, all victims of an Easter Sunday bombing, in Colombo, Sri Lanka
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


A cliff diver jumps from the landmark Raouche sea rock during qualifying for the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series competition in Beirut, Lebanon
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


A troupe charges and fires their rifles during Tabourida, a traditional horse riding show also known as Fantasia, in the coastal town of El Jadida, Morocco
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


World War II veteran Lev Yatsevich, 92, salutes as he waits for other participants of an event marking the anniversary of the failed August 1991 hardline coup outside the former Russian parliament building, which now houses the Russian Cabinet, in Moscow
(Photo: AP)
26 View gallery


A Brazilian soldier puts out fires at the Nova Fronteira region in Novo Progresso, Brazil
(Photo: AP)

