AP Images, owners of the world's largest collections of historical and contemporary photographs, have assembled their best pictures of the year.
AP images cover topics ranging from breaking news and sports to business, entertainment, weather, fashion, travel and more.
It delivers more than 3,000 photos a day from journalists recording news as it happens around the world. For more than a century AP has captured the greatest moments in history, winning numerous awards, including 31 photo Pulitzers, the most of any news organisation.
To highlight what AP has brought to us in 2014 they have selected their favourite pictures of the year.
Pictures of the year - AP
(01 of24)
Thick smoke and flames from an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition rise in Kobani, Syria, as seen from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Monday, Oct. 20, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (credit:AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
(02 of24)
A Buddhist monk and relatives of passengers aboard a sunken ferry spray alcohols during a Buddhist ceremony to pray for speedy rescue and their safety at a port in Jindo, south of Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 18, 2014. The ferry flipped onto its side and filled with water off the southern coast of South Korea. (credit:AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
(03 of24)
Riot police launch tear gas into the crowd as thousands of protesters surround the government headquarters in Hong Kong Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. Hong Kong police used tear gas and warned of further measures as they tried to clear thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered outside government headquarters in a challenge to Beijing over its decision to restrict democratic reforms for the city. (credit:AP Photo/Wally Santana)
(04 of24)
Relatives of passengers aboard the sunken ferry Sewol sit near the sea at a port in Jindo, south of Seoul, South Korea on Sunday, April 20, 2014. Over 300 people were killed in the accident, many of them students. (credit:AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
(05 of24)
Pope Francis and President Barack Obama smile as they meet at the Vatican Thursday, March 27, 2014. A visibly energized President Barack Obama held a nearly hourlong audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, expressing his great admiration for the pontiff and inviting him to visit the White House. (credit:AP Photo/Gabriel Bouys)
(06 of24)
Local residents carry portraits of their ancestors, participants in World War Two as they celebrate Victory Day in St.Petersburg, Russia, Friday, May 9, 2014. About 30,000 people walked in central streets in a march named 'Immortal regiment' while carrying portraits their relatives who fought in World War Two. Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, is Russia's most important secular holiday , celebrated on May 9. (credit:AP Photo / Dmitry Lovetsky)
(07 of24)
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama practices tai chi with students at Chengdu No.7 High School in Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan province Tuesday, March 25, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Andy Wong)
(08 of24)
Students play in their school yard as Mount Sinabung erupts in Sukandebi, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)
(09 of24)
Visitors of the Holi Festival of Colours throw special colored powders in the air in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, April 6, 2014. The festival is fashioned after the Hindu spring festival Holi, which is mainly celebrated in the north and east of India. (credit:AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
(10 of24)
This image released by Ellen DeGeneres shows actors front row from left, Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Ellen DeGeneres, Bradley Cooper, Peter Nyong'o Jr., and, second row, from left, Channing Tatum, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong'o and Angelina Jolie as they pose for a "selfie" portrait on a cell phone during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 2, 2014, in Los Angeles. (credit:AP Photo/Ellen DeGeneres)
(11 of24)
An employee of the Russian Space Training Center hangs out space suits to dry of Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, NASA's U.S. flight engineer Kathleen Rubins and Japanese space agency's flight engineer Takuya Onishi after their undergoing training near in Noginsk, 60 km (38 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, July 2, 2014. The training was intended to simulate the capsule landing on water. (credit:AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
(12 of24)
A local youth takes a selfie photograph in front of Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to St George's indoor market on in Belfast Tuesday June 24, 2014. The Queen is on a 3 day visit to Northern Ireland. (credit:AP Photo/Peter Macdiarmid)
(13 of24)
In this photo provided by the Spanish Defense Ministry, aid workers and doctors transfer Miguel Pajares, a Spanish priest who was infected with the Ebola virus while working in Liberia, from a plane to an ambulance as he leaves the Torrejon de Ardoz military airbase, near Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Spanish Defense Ministry)
(14 of24)
Members of the Castellers Joves Xiquets de Valls try to complete their human tower during the 25th Human Tower Competition in Tarragona, Spain, on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014. The tradition of building human towers, or castells, dates back to the 18th century and takes place during festivals in Catalonia, where colles, or teams, compete to build the tallest and most complicated towers. The structure of the castells varies depending on their complexity. A castell is considered completely successful when it is loaded and unloaded without falling apart. The highest castell in history was a 10 floor structure with 3 people in each floor. In 2010 castells were declared by UNESCO one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. (credit:AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
(15 of24)
Malala Yousafzai holds up her Liberty Medal during a ceremony at the National Constitution Center, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014, in Philadelphia. The honor is given annually to an individual who displays courage and conviction while striving to secure liberty for people worldwide. (credit:AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
(16 of24)
A pro-Russian fighter holds up a toy found among the debris at the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines jet near the village of Hrabove, Friday, July 18, 2014. Emergency workers, police officers and even off-duty coal miners spread out across the sunflower fields and villages of eastern Ukraine, searching the wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines jet shot down as it flew high above the country's battlefield. The attack killed 298 people from nearly a dozen nations. (credit:AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
(17 of24)
A protester squirts lighter fluid on the police car as the car windows are shattered near the Ferguson Police Department after the announcement of the grand jury decision Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. A grand jury has decided not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed, black 18-year-old whose fatal shooting sparked sometimes violent protests. (credit:AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
(18 of24)
Protesters march in the street as lightning flashes in the distance in Ferguson, Mo. on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014. On Aug. 9, 2014, a white police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year old, in the St. Louis suburb. (credit:AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
(19 of24)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia holds up the trophy after defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland in the men's singles final at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Sunday, July 6, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
(20 of24)
Saharan migrants scale a metallic fence that divides Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla, early in the morning on Wednesday, May 28, 2014. Several hundred African migrants charged the barbed-wire border fence in SpainÃs North African enclave of Melilla with many managing to get across while dozens of others were beaten back by Moroccan and Spanish police. During the pre-dawn border storming, cries of pain and noises of people being hit could be heard as police from both sides tried to prevent dozens of the sub-Saharan migrants from entering the city from Morocco. (credit:AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
(21 of24)
Real Madrid's Gareth Bale celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's second goal in the Champions League final soccer match against Atletico Madrid at the Luz Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, Saturday, May 24, 2014. Real Madrid won 4-1 in extra time. (credit:AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
(22 of24)
Black smoke and fireballs rise during clashes between protesters and police in central Kiev, Ukraine, early Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
(23 of24)
Uruguay's Luis Suarez holds his teeth after running into Italy's Giorgio Chiellini's shoulder during the group D World Cup soccer match between Italy and Uruguay at the Arena das Dunas in Natal, Brazil, Tuesday, June 24, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
(24 of24)
Palestinians take cover as an Israeli strike on a building causes a ball of fire and smoke to rise in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. (credit:AP Photo/Hatem Ali)