From front-page news to powerful moments you may have missed, this gallery showcases today’s top photos chosen by Associated Press photo editors.
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Intha ethnic people row on a long boat in a procession carrying Buddha images to a monastery during the Phaung Daw Oo pagoda festival Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Inle Lake, southern Shan State, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
The U.S. Capitol police officers patrol outside of Capitol building, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves after a Paris court sentenced him to 5 years after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy in an alleged scheme to finance his 2007 campaign with funds from Libya, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Faithful gather for a procession honoring Our Lady of Mercy in Havana, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to launch an Avenger UAV drone in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. ( AP Photo/Yevhen Titov)
Photos of twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, center, who have been held hostage in Gaza since the Hamas cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, are displayed at a memorial in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
New York City FC midfielder Aiden O'Neill (21) heads the ball during the first half of a MLS soccer game against Inter Miami, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
People display their copies of former Vice President Kamala Harris' new book "107 Days," about her presidential campaign on the first stop of the book's tour at Town Hall in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
Christian "King" Combs exits Manhattan federal court after a hearing for Sean "Diddy" Combs, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Law enforcement agents look around the roof of a building near the scene of a shooting at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Dallas on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order regarding TikTok in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Washington, as Attorney General Pam Bondi, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Vice President JD Vance listen. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A view of the darkroom that belonged to Frida Kahlo’s father, Guillermo, who was an official photographer for Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, inside the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
A model prepares in the backstage of the Roberto Cavalli 2026 Spring/Summer fashion show in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Kettia Jean Charles combs her niece's hair at the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications office, which was converted into a shelter for people displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly via video, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Portraits of two former Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah, right and Hashem Safieddine, left, are projected onto the landmark Raouche sea rock during an event commemorating their deaths in Israeli airstrikes nearly a year ago, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hezbollah supporters stand on building to watch the landmark Raouche sea rock which illuminated by a portrait of late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during an event commemorating his anniversary assassination, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Displaced Palestinians walk through a tent camp in Muwasi, an area that Israel has designated as a safe zone, in Khan Younis southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A dog accompanies officers as they wait for the conclusion of funeral services for slain Northern York County Regional Police detectives Cody Michael Becker, Mark Edward Baker and Isaiah Emenheiser, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Red Lion, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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Intha ethnic people row on a long boat in a procession carrying Buddha images to a monastery during the Phaung Daw Oo pagoda festival Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Inle Lake, southern Shan State, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
The U.S. Capitol police officers patrol outside of Capitol building, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves after a Paris court sentenced him to 5 years after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy in an alleged scheme to finance his 2007 campaign with funds from Libya, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Faithful gather for a procession honoring Our Lady of Mercy in Havana, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to launch an Avenger UAV drone in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. ( AP Photo/Yevhen Titov)
Photos of twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, center, who have been held hostage in Gaza since the Hamas cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, are displayed at a memorial in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
New York City FC midfielder Aiden O'Neill (21) heads the ball during the first half of a MLS soccer game against Inter Miami, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
People display their copies of former Vice President Kamala Harris' new book "107 Days," about her presidential campaign on the first stop of the book's tour at Town Hall in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
Christian "King" Combs exits Manhattan federal court after a hearing for Sean "Diddy" Combs, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Law enforcement agents look around the roof of a building near the scene of a shooting at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Dallas on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order regarding TikTok in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Washington, as Attorney General Pam Bondi, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Vice President JD Vance listen. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A view of the darkroom that belonged to Frida Kahlo’s father, Guillermo, who was an official photographer for Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, inside the new museum Casa Kahlo in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
A model prepares in the backstage of the Roberto Cavalli 2026 Spring/Summer fashion show in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Kettia Jean Charles combs her niece's hair at the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications office, which was converted into a shelter for people displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly via video, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Portraits of two former Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah, right and Hashem Safieddine, left, are projected onto the landmark Raouche sea rock during an event commemorating their deaths in Israeli airstrikes nearly a year ago, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hezbollah supporters stand on building to watch the landmark Raouche sea rock which illuminated by a portrait of late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during an event commemorating his anniversary assassination, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Displaced Palestinians walk through a tent camp in Muwasi, an area that Israel has designated as a safe zone, in Khan Younis southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A dog accompanies officers as they wait for the conclusion of funeral services for slain Northern York County Regional Police detectives Cody Michael Becker, Mark Edward Baker and Isaiah Emenheiser, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Red Lion, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.
SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.
“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.
It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.
Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.
While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.
NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.
The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)