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.

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.

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.

A combination of pictures shows houses and decorations ahead of Christmas in German cities of Berlin, Hamburg-Heimfeld, Moenchengladbach, Olching and Stolberg.

Clowns from Slava's Snowshow pose for photographers on London's South Bank.

Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers attend a training session in freezing temperatures in Heihe, northeast China's Heilongjiang province.
 

A white beluga whale wears a Santa hat to attract visitors at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, Japan.