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.
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.
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.
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.
Plain-clothed police officers in Adana, Turkey, detain a man who was trying to set up a tent Monday, December 15, to mourn those killed in Kobani, Syria. Kobani, near the Turkish border, has been devastated by heavy fighting between Kurdish forces and ISIS militants.
Lazaro Iglesias, left, debates Peter Bell outside a restaurant in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood Wednesday, December 17, after U.S. President Barack Obama announced a change in approach toward Cuba. Iglesias, left, is against the policy shift, while Bell supports it.
A rebel fighter in Aleppo, Syria, keeps an eye on government troops on Wednesday, December 17. The United Nations estimates nearly 200,000 people have been killed in Syria since an uprising in March 2011 spiraled into civil war.
