1. Other contestants comfort Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez (top right) after she was incorrectly crowned Miss Universe at the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas. December 20.
2. Sri Lankan officer cadets stand to attention for the national anthem as one of their women colleagues lays down after fainting during a passing out parade ceremony for 161 new army officers` graduation in Diyatalawa on December 20.
3. A baby boy sits on makeshift flotation device made from a wheel interior inside a flooded house in Calumpit, Bulacan, suburban Manila on December 20.
4. A long exposure photograph shows the SpaceX Falcon 9 lifting off (L) from its launch pad and then returning to a landing zone (R) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, on the launcher`s first mission since a June failure, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States. December 21.
5. An orangutan dressed in a Santa Claus outfit sits next to zoo owner Manny Tangco as they sing Christmas jingles during the Animal Christmas party at Malabon zoo, north of Manila, December 21.
6. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi meets children as he visits a school for Syrian refugees who fled their war-torn country in the Mount Lebanon village of Bchamoun, outside the capital Beirut. December 22.
7. Excavators are seen during rescue operations at an industrial estate hit by a landslide in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. December 23.
8. With their heads covered and a rope around their neck participants protest in front of the Ukrainian government building in Kiev. December 23.
9. A Palestinian boy sits atop a wall with an elephant painting in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. December 23.
10. A campaigner for the Hong Kong Vegetarian Society lies on a mock plate as a meat dish on a pavement in Hong Kong. December 23.
