A look at the best news photos from around the world.
January 31, 2017
![A Ukrainian soldier inspects a crater caused by an explosion in Avdiivka. Fighting between government troops and Russia-backed separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine escalated, killing at least eight people, injuring dozens and briefly trapping more than 200 coal miners underground, the warring sides reported.](https://gdb.voanews.com/e6656251-1fa1-4624-a781-46611c03f3c4_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A Ukrainian soldier inspects a crater caused by an explosion in Avdiivka. Fighting between government troops and Russia-backed separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine escalated, killing at least eight people, injuring dozens and briefly trapping more than 200 coal miners underground, the warring sides reported.
![People perform a fire dragon dance during the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Jan. 30, 2017.](https://gdb.voanews.com/c3b0c01f-ea8c-4b3f-81fd-99a39c363df0_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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People perform a fire dragon dance during the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Jan. 30, 2017.
![Pooh, a one-year-old cat, with bionic paws, walks in a vet clinic in Sofia, Bulgaria. Pooh, who is thought to have lost his legs in a car or train accident last April, is back on the prowl thanks to veterinary surgeon Vladislav Zlatinov.](https://gdb.voanews.com/8e216e58-b3ef-419e-88f9-620523e7d087_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Pooh, a one-year-old cat, with bionic paws, walks in a vet clinic in Sofia, Bulgaria. Pooh, who is thought to have lost his legs in a car or train accident last April, is back on the prowl thanks to veterinary surgeon Vladislav Zlatinov.
![This image obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory showing a lava stream, pouring out of the lava tube on the sea cliff at the Kamokuna ocean entry from the Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, Jan. 29, 2017.](https://gdb.voanews.com/842cd92f-914c-46a2-a326-2a618c058bb3_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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This image obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory showing a lava stream, pouring out of the lava tube on the sea cliff at the Kamokuna ocean entry from the Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, Jan. 29, 2017.