A surfer makes his way out of the water Monday, December 15, at Zurriola Beach in San Sebastian, Spain.

U.S. contractor Alan Gross is welcomed with a hug after he arrived at an Air Force base in Maryland on Wednesday, December 17. Gross, held in Cuban custody since 2009, was freed as part of a landmark deal with Cuba that paves the way for a major overhaul in U.S. policy toward the island. "It's time for a new approach," said President Barack Obama, who said he's instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to begin discussions with Cuba to re-establish diplomatic relations.

The best man in a wedding party holds an AR-10 rifle while the party was having its pre-wedding portraits taken on the steps of the state capitol in Olympia, Washington, on Saturday, December 13. The man was handed the gun by activist Brandon Lyons, who was participating in a protest against the state's new law that requires background checks on all gun sales and transfers, including private transactions. The wedding party, which declined to be identified, was not part of the protest.

Britain's Prince George sits in a Kensington Palace courtyard in this official Christmas photograph released by his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on Saturday, December 13.

A woman runs to police officers after she escaped a hostage situation at a Sydney cafe on Monday, December 15. The siege ended with the death of the gunman and two of his hostages, but questions remain unanswered.

A poster for the movie "The Interview" is taken down from a theater in Atlanta on Wednesday, December 17. Sony Pictures canceled its plans to release the comedy -- which depicts an assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un -- following a threat from a group that hacked the movie studio. FBI investigators tracked the hackers back to the North Korean regime, U.S. law enforcement officials said.

Parents leave with their children after a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, was attacked on Tuesday, December 16. Several members of the Pakistani Taliban stormed the school, killing more than 140 people, mostly children. More than 100 people were injured.