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Pictures of the Week: December 27 – January 3

From celebrations ringing in 2014 around the world and the swearing in of New York City's new mayor to crackdowns on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the first legal sales of recreational marijuana in the United States, TIME presents the best pictures of the week.

From celebrations ringing in 2014 around the world and the swearing in of New York City’s new mayor to crackdowns on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the first legal sales of recreational marijuana in the United States, TIME presents the best pictures of the week.

Egypt Friday protests American Flag Pope Francis kisses a baby Jesus statue as he leads a mass at Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Light and laser illuminate the Great Wall of China to celebrate the new year at the Badaling section of the Great Wall, in Beijing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sits on a ski lift during a visit to a newly built ski resort in the Masik Pass region Fireworks illuminate the sky above Prague Ukraine Protest South Sudan Violence Friends and relatives of Yanguere Richard, 21, carry his remains to the burial grounds in Bangui Palestinian demonstrators protest near the Israeli border fence with Gaza as Israeli army shoots tear gas Spain Financial Crisis Evictions Demolitions Dead bodies are seen in the Qalamoun mountains, north of Damascus India Kashmir Muslims South Sudan Violence South Sudan Violence NEPAL-FESTIVAL-ELEPHANT India Train Fire Australia's team celebrates after the dismissal of England's Root during the third day of the fourth Ashes cricket test at the Melbourne cricket ground APTOPIX Spain Family Mass Faithful are pictured through the water of a fountain as Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican The MV Akademik Shokalskiy is pictured stranded in ice in Antarctica Els Enfarinats Festival Celebrated With Flour Fight In Ibi March for democracy in Bangladesh North Dakota Train Explosion APTOPIX Spain Weather Cold morning in Amritsar Relatives of Palestinian prisoner Barbakh celebrate ahead of his expected release in Khan Younis TOPSHOTS-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-PRISONERS Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners under peace talks brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry Snowy winter in Kashmir A woman places flowers at the site of an explosion on a trolleybus in Volgograd TOPSHOTS-INDIA-POLITICS-BJP-PROTEST A shrine attendant cleans up after a ritual to bid farewell to 2013 and prepare for the new year at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo A migrant labourer with his face covered with facial cream, smokes as he waits for the cream to dry at a barber shop in New Delhi Miley Cyrus Bill de Blasio Fireworks explode in the sky over Dubai A Buddhist man splashes coloured water on the dome of Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu TOPSHOTS-JAPAN-NEWYEAR APTOPIX Rethinking Pot The First Sales Singapore New Years Eve A man gets a sand bath from friends as thousands of people took to the beaches on New Year's Day in Durban Ice covers an apartment building which was destroyed by an explosion and a fire in Minneapolis World News - Jan. 1, 2014 Polar Bear Swim 2014 in Vancouver Flying pigeons cast shadows on the wall an old house built in front of the Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu A woman, displaced as a result of religious violence, plaits the hair of her daughter who is nursing an injury at a hospital in Bossangao China, Hangzhou: Panda Li Li plays on a tree in the sunshine in a zoo i APTOPIX South Sudan Violence Relatives mourn before the funeral of Palestinian Ali, near Nablus Japan's Empress Michiko and Crown Prince Masako make a public appearance as well-wishers wave Japan's national flags during New Year celebrations at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo CHINA-LIFSTYLE-TOURISM-WINTER EQUESTRIAN-UAE-MOREEB-DUNE-FESTIVAL TOPSHOTS-HONG KONG-ECONOMY-PROPERTY Indian poor people affected by the cold weather in Dehli The fingers of Rahul Maji, who lives and works with family at brick factory, is pictured as he works in Kathmandu BANGLADESH-VOTE TOPSHOTS-BANGLADESH-VOTE-POSTERS Woman looks at burning houses in Bossangoa, north of the Central African Republic's capital Bangui TOPSHOTS-CAMBODIA-LABOUR-TEXTILE-PROTEST-ARMY Pope Francis conducts a mass at the Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in downtown Rome SNOW STORM HITS WASHINGTON, D.C.

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