A Christmas fair in Romania, an enormous indoor ice rink in Paris, a surfing Santa Claus in Australia, a sunset camel safari in India, a cyclo-cross race in Belgium, holiday lights in Japan and France, and much more A drone flies a guard figure past a 12-meter-tall statue of Young-hee, the infamous doll from Netflix's South Korean TV series "Squid Game," standing on a barge in front of Wat Arun temple in Bangkok, Thailand, ahead of the launch of Season 2, on December 19, 2024. # Alida Freding, from Stockholm, in the role of Sankta Lucia, has her headdress of candles lit as she prepares to lead the procession during the Sankta Lucia Festival of Light service at York Minster on December 16, 2024, in York, England. The Sankta Lucia service, featuring the Chorus Pictor Choir, is a traditional Swedish service combining pagan and Christian traditions. # A dinosaur statue is seen on top of a ruined building in Aleppo, Syria, on December 16, 2024. Aleppo was the first major city to fall in last week's lightning offensive by rebel forces as they toppled Syria's Assad regime. #...

The 'choking game' has potentially deadly consequences, as players are challenged to temporarily strangle themselves by restricting oxygen to the brain. It sounds terrifying, but rough estimates suggest that about 10% of U.S. teenagers may have played this type of game at least once. There's more, unfortunately: The Skullbreaker Challenge, the Tide Pod Challenge and Car Surfing are but a few of the deadly games popularized through social media, particularly on Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X ' formerly Twitter. Many of these games go back more than a generation, and some are resurging. The consequences of these so-called games can be deadly. Skullbreaker Challenge, for example, involves two people kicking the legs out from under a third person, causing them to fall and potentially suffer lasting injuries. Swallowing detergent pods can result in choking and serious illness. A fall from car surfing can lead to severe head trauma. Coming up with an exact number of adolescent deaths from these activities is difficult. Data is lacking, partly because public health databases do not track these activities well ' some deaths may be misclassified as suicides ' and partly because much of the existing research is dated....

Near the end of every year, I look back through the many thousands of news photos taken in the previous months, reevaluating them to see which images stand out as iconic'which images take your breath away, bring you close, or make an emotional impact. In a year dominated by stories of warfare, divisive politics, and natural disasters, it feels even more important to showcase the incredible work of the photojournalists who bring the reality of these situations to millions of others. Here, I present my choices for the top 25 news photos of 2024. Be sure to check back throughout the week for more comprehensive stories, presented as '2024: The Year in Photos, Parts 1, 2, & 3.' The Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents after an attempted assassination at a campaign rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. # Brazil's Gabriel Medina reacts after getting a large wave in the fifth heat of the men's surfing third round during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Teahupo'o, on the French Polynesian Island of Tahiti, on July 29, 2024. #...

Speed climbing in Saudi Arabia, wildfires in California and New Jersey, a blanket of smog in New Delhi, a celebration of rural life in Turkey, Veterans Day in Seattle, a surfing record attempt in Brazil, a rodeo exhibition in Argentina, and much more Members of the public take photographs following the unveiling of the 2024 Christmas jumper design on the animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex at the Natural History Museum in London, England, on November 12, 2024. # A gaucho takes part in a rodeo exhibition during Tradition Day, aimed to preserve gaucho culture and celebrate the birth of writer Jose Hernandez, in San Antonio de Areco, Argentina, on November 10, 2024. # First responders arrive at a section of the Jennings Creek Wildfire in Greenwood Lake, New York, on November 13, 2024. An extended drought has helped fuel the Jennings Creek Wildfire on the New York'New Jersey border, which has grown to encompass 5,000 acres across both states. # A view of the Paul Taylor Dance Company's dress-rehearsal performance of Jody Sperling's "Clair de Lune," featuring dancer Emmy Wildermuth, at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on November 13, 2024, in New York City #...