A look at the best news photos from around the world.
December 17, 2014
![Pope Francis blows out candles on a birthday cake on the occasion of his 78th birthday as he arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.](https://gdb.voanews.com/352fab8c-ec5c-4811-892f-6b6a0947879d_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Pope Francis blows out candles on a birthday cake on the occasion of his 78th birthday as he arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.
![Palestinian youths stand on a small boat fish at sunset in Gaza City.](https://gdb.voanews.com/31d7d14b-15b1-4e90-83a5-d8c66b09a5d9_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Palestinian youths stand on a small boat fish at sunset in Gaza City.
![A Shi'ite student of Imamia Students Organization (ISO) holds a poster during a protest against an attack by Taliban militants at an army-run school in Peshawar the previous day, in Karachi.](https://gdb.voanews.com/a4bc5e91-44e1-410b-b687-7c543c2fea0c_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A Shi'ite student of Imamia Students Organization (ISO) holds a poster during a protest against an attack by Taliban militants at an army-run school in Peshawar the previous day, in Karachi.
![People walk past a model of a dinosaur wearubg Santa Claus hat and gloves, at the Dinosaurs Park located in the Taiga area at the Royev Ruchey zoo in the suburbs of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.](https://gdb.voanews.com/383528de-59d0-4e45-b284-4fe2e7ef9ea9_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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People walk past a model of a dinosaur wearubg Santa Claus hat and gloves, at the Dinosaurs Park located in the Taiga area at the Royev Ruchey zoo in the suburbs of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.