Photos of the Week: 12/12 - 12/19

Updated



By KELSEY DRISCOLL

Happy Holidays! Whether you're currently celebrating Hanukkah, or still awaiting a holiday coming up, take some time to relax and take a look back at this past week in photos.

A Washington couple took some unforgettable wedding photos this week, thanks in part to gun-rights activists in Washington state. The "I Will Not Comply" rally took place on December 13th in Olympia, Washington to protest Initiative 594, which expanded background checks on gun purchases. The bride and groom were not a part of the protest, nor were the members of their wedding party, but the collision of these two events sure made for an interesting sight at the state's capitol.

In world news, several scenes in this week's photo roundup came from some heartbreaking circumstances, including the tense hostage situation in a Sydney cafe that lead to a shootout and left two people, and the gunman, dead. Locals have left thousands of floral bouquets and other gifts at the site of the attack in remembrance of the two citizens who lost their lives. In the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar, a school was attacked by Taliban gunmen in a massacre that killed more than 140 people.

Thankfully, with the bad comes the good -- including people around the globe really getting into the holiday spirit. In Berlin, a climber dressed as Santa was spotted ringing a bell as he sat on a ledge of the Kollhoff Tower before he took place in an acrobatic dance show. In London, costumed participants jumped into what we imagine was a freezing cold pool as part of the Outdoor Swimming Society's annual "December Dip." And, in Japan, two window cleaners prepared for the new year by dressing as the zodiac animals of a horse and a sheep, the horse for this past year and the sheep for the year to come.

Click through the slideshow above for more of our favorite photos from this week, including a friendly polar bear in France and more from recent protests around the United States.

More from AOL.com:
Photos of the Week: 12/5 - 12/12
Sports photos of the week, Dec. 8 to Dec. 14
Christmas Song Madness: Crowning America's Favorite Christmas Song

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