World Press Photos: General News category

First Prize General News Category, Stories

Freetown, Sierra Leone: Medical staff at the Hastings Ebola Treatment Center work to escort a man in the throes of Ebola-induced delirium back into the isolation ward from which he escaped. In a state of confusion, he emerged from the isolation ward and attempted to escape over the back wall of the complex before collapsing in a convulsive state. A complete breakdown of mental facilities is a common stage of advanced Ebola. The man pictured here died shortly after this picture was taken. PHOTO: PETE MULLER, USA, PRIME FOR NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC / THE WASHINGTON POST

First Prize General News Category, Singles

Donetsk, Ukraine: Damaged goods lie in a kitchen in downtown Donetsk. Ordinary workers, miners, teachers, pensioners, children, and elderly women and men are in the midst of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Artillery fire killed three people and wounded 10 on 26 August 2014. PHOTO: SERGEI ILNITSKY, RUSSIA, EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

Second Prize General News Category, Stories

Abuja, Nigeria: School uniforms belonging to three of the missing girls. In her school notebook, Hauwa Nkeki wrote a letter to her brother: "Dear Brother Nkeki, Million of greetings goes to you thousand to your friend zero to your enemies." Hauwa is one of the nearly 300 girls who were kidnapped by the Islamic militants Boko Haram on 14 April 2014 from their school dormitory in Chibok, a remote village in northern Nigeria. Boko Haram's name translates roughly to "Western Education is Sinful." The group believes that girls shouldn't be in school and boys should only learn the Koran. PHOTO: GLENNA GORDON, USA, FOR TIME / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Second Prize General News Category, Singles

Shipwrecked people are rescued aboard a boat 20 miles north of Libya by a frigate of the Italian navy. After hundreds of men, women and children had drowned in 2013 off the coast of Sicily and Malta, the Italian government put its navy to work under a campaign called "Mare Nostrum" rescuing refugees at sea. Only in 2014, 170,081 people were rescued and taken to Italy. PHOTO: MASSIMO SESTINI, ITALY

Third Prize General News Category, Stories

Gaza conflict : Women grieve on the stairs of an apartment block, during the funeral of a young Islamic fighter, Abdalla Ismail al Buheisi, on 22 July. After weeks of rising tension following the killing of three Israeli teenagers, Israel launched a major offensive against Hamas in Gaza. Hamas had fired rockets into Israel on 7 July, after a series of Israeli air strikes in which several Hamas members had been killed. On 8 July, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge, aimed at stopping the rocket attacks, and destroying Hamas capabilities, in particular the smuggling tunnels that had been built between Gaza and Egypt. The offensive lasted seven weeks, during which more than 2,100 people were killed in Gaza, 69 percent of which, according to the UN, were civilians. In Israel, six civilians and 67 soldiers were killed. Amnesty International published a report that criticized Israel's 'grossly disproportionate' responses, but suggested violations of international law on both sides. PHOTO: SERGEY PONOMAREV, RUSSIA, FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

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