The past week has been captured in a series of powerful images from around the globe, documenting a spectrum of human experience from festive celebration to profound loss and conflict. Leading photojournalists have turned their lenses on events in Ukraine, the Middle East, and closer to home in the UK, providing a visual narrative of our times.
Conflict and Resilience from Ukraine to the West Bank
In Ukraine, the festive spirit persisted amidst the ongoing war. Ukrainians wearing traditional clothing took part in a Christmas procession at St Michael’s Square in Kyiv. This display of cultural resilience came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to travel to the US for a planned meeting with Donald Trump on Sunday, with Washington continuing to push for a peace deal.
Yet, the brutal reality of the conflict was starkly visible elsewhere. A fire burned in a heavily damaged residential area of the frontline town of Kostyantynivka, and a resident was photographed walking through the devastation. In a tactical shift, Ukrainian forces have recently pushed Russian troops out of the city of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, even as Moscow maintains its slow, grinding progress elsewhere. The environmental cost of war was also evident in Odesa, where a dead bird lay covered in sunflower oil after a spill from a port terminal hit by Russian missile and drone attacks.
In the occupied West Bank, tensions escalated as Israeli vehicles demolished the Palestinian al-Wa’ad residential building in East Jerusalem, cited for illegal construction. This act followed Israel's approval of a proposal for 19 new Jewish settlements in the territory, a move condemned by fourteen countries including Britain, Canada, and Germany as a violation of international law. In Gaza, a moment of childhood normalcy saw children playing with a ball at the Nuseirat camp for displaced Palestinians, a stark contrast to an Israeli military attack last weekend that killed six Palestinians, including a baby, in a school shelter.
Moments of Mourning, Solstice, and Sudden Calamity
The UK witnessed significant moments of mourning and tradition. In Manchester, hundreds gathered at Manchester Cathedral for the funeral of Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, the charismatic former bassist for The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. The Stone Roses singer, Ian Brown, remembered his bandmate as a ‘true musical comrade’ and ‘always a beautiful soul and spirit’.
Meanwhile, crowds amassed in the dark at Stonehenge near Amesbury to mark the winter solstice, watching the sunrise at the ancient stone circle, some dressed in traditional pagan clothing. In a bizarre incident in Whitchurch, Shropshire, boats were left stranded on the bed of the Shropshire Union Canal after a sinkhole developed, draining the water and swallowing several vessels.
A Global Snapshot: From Gun Violence to Ballet
The week's imagery spanned continents and themes. In South Africa, nine people were killed in a tavern shooting in Bekkersdal, the second mass shooting in the country this month. Sydney saw people gather at a floral memorial to honour the victims of the recent mass shooting at Bondi Beach.
Contrasting scenes of discipline and creativity emerged from Lisbon and Nairobi, where young ballet students prepared for Christmas performances. Environmental concerns were highlighted in New Delhi, where a man searched for usable items in the Yamuna River amid dense smog, and on the island of Rubane in Guinea-Bissau, where a girl sat on a swing, her island home threatened by encroaching seas.
In the United States, President Donald Trump was photographed aboard Marine One, while California faced a powerful winter storm. The system brought the wettest Christmas in decades to the state, causing mudslides, burying cars, and forcing hundreds of evacuations.
This collection of twenty photographs serves as a poignant and powerful record of the world from December 26th, 2025, capturing the enduring human spirit across a backdrop of conflict, tradition, and sudden change.
