The top photos of the day by AP's photojournalists

From front-page news to powerful moments you may have missed, this gallery showcases today’s top photos chosen by Associated Press photo editors.

A polar bear mascot takes a ride in a lift during a break from entertaining guests on the eve of Christmas in Beijing, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Ivory Coast's Vakoun Bayo and Mozambique's Mexer compete for the ball during the Africa Cup of Nations group F soccer match between Ivory Coast and Mozambique in Marrakech, Morocco, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

A worshiper holds an electric candle during a Christmas Eve service at Indonesia Arena stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Investigators work around Bristol Health & Rehab Center and surrounding rubble after a gas explosion the day prior on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, in Bristol, Pa. (AP Photo/Mingson Lau)

Displaced Palestinian Salah al-Mabhouh, 40, sits by the fire with his son Abdul-Razzaq 8, next to their tent in al-Bureij camp, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Ammar al-Hakim, center, a Shiite leader attends a Christmas Eve Mass at Our Lady of Salvation Church in central Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Christians attend prayer on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, at St. Mary Cathedral in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

People take to the sea at Helen's Bay, Northern Ireland, for the annual Christmas Eve swim in the cold waters in Belfast Lough to raise money for Dementia NI & Air Ambulance NI, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, arrives at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The remains of two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in the Syrian desert were welcomed back to Des Moines on Wednesday, marking a solemn Christmas Eve for their grieving families.

Several loved ones approached the caskets carrying Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, and William Nathanial Howard, 29. The families huddled together, comforting one another and wiping away tears. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst and U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn looked on alongside senior leaders of the Iowa National Guard.

The killed guardsmen as well as a U.S. civilian interpreter killed in the Dec. 13 ambush were flown back to the U.S. last week, when President Donald Trump paid his respects and met with the families at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

On Wednesday, escorted by Howard's step-brother and two other members of the Iowa National Guard, the wooden caskets draped in American flags were lowered from the body of an Iowa Air National Guard aircraft that flew from Sioux City to collect the soldiers' remains from Delaware.

In Des Moines, like at Dover, as part of the solemn transfer ritual, fellow Iowa National Guard members wearing white gloves carried the cases. After the families spent several minutes mourning over their loved ones on the tarmac, the caskets were each loaded into a hearse, one blue and the other black.

The two soldiers, posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, were members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment. Their families followed the hearses in a procession to funeral homes in Des Moines and Marshalltown, escorted by Des Moines Police Department and Iowa State Patrol, respectively. Their funerals will take place in the coming days, according to the Iowa National Guard.

On the route away from the 132nd Wing at the Des Moines International Airport, dozens of people lined up on the mild December day carrying American flags and paying their respects to the killed soldiers.

Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, was also killed. He was laid to rest in Michigan over the weekend.

Hundreds of U.S. troops are deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the Islamic State group, and Trump promised “very serious retaliation” after the attack. The administration last week proceeded with military strikes in what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as a “declaration of vengeance” in a post on social media.

Three other Iowa National Guard members were wounded in the attack, one of whom was treated locally. Two others who were evacuated from Syria for medical treatment returned to the U.S. on Dec. 20.

The remains of Staff Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Staff Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, the two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in the Syrian desert, are moved during a dignified transfer at the Des Moines International Airport in Des Moines, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)