The Week in Pictures: Dec. 26 - Jan. 2

A child watches the moon move in front of the sun in a rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse over Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on Dec. 26, 2019.

The moon covers the sun in a rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse as seen from the south Indian city of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu state on Dec. 26.

The so-called annular eclipse, in which a thin outer ring of the sun is still visible, could be seen along a path stretching from India and Pakistan to Thailand and Indonesia.

A kangaroo rushes past a burning house in Lake Conjola, Australia, on Dec. 31.

More than 100 wildfires continued to engulf parts of eastern Australia on Thursday, and weather forecasts for the coming days are causing concern that the situation is set to get worse.

This fire season has been one of the worst in Australia's history, with at least 15 people killed, hundreds of homes destroyed and millions of acres burned.

Police arrive to conduct a clearance operation in the Kowloon district of Hong Kong on Dec. 31.

Anti-government protesters in Hong Kong held hands and formed human chains across the city on Tuesday, as they carried their months-long movement and its demands into 2020 with midnight countdown rallies and a massive march planned for New Year's Day.

Orkadian youths take part in the Boys New Years Ba' Game played with a hand crafted leather ball in Kirkwall, Scotland on Jan. 1, 2020.

The Ba' Game is a mass street football match which starts at the towns Mercat Cross and is played between two teams, the Uppies and the Doonies.

The game has been played in Kirkwall's streets for hundreds of years, with the teams made up of youths from the south end of the town and the north end.

Protesters burn property in front of the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad on Dec. 31.

Dozens of angry Iraqi Shiite militia supporters broke into the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday after smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, prompting tear gas and sounds of gunfire.

A vehicle burns at the Baghdad International Airport following an airstrike early on Jan. 3. The Pentagon said Thursday that the strike killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, at the direction of President Donald Trump. 

The deadly airstrike will raise tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which were already heightened by the New Year's attacks on the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad.

People raft on the Nestos river near the northern Greek city of Drama on Dec. 26.

Revelers dressed in mock military garb throw eggs as they take part in the "Els Enfarinats" battle in the southeastern Spanish town of Ibi on Dec. 28.

During this 200-year-old traditional festival, participants known as Els Enfarinats, or "the floured ones," dress in military clothes and stage a mock coup d'etat as they battle using flour, eggs and firecrackers outside the city town hall as part of the celebrations of the Day of the Innocents, a traditional day in Spain for pulling pranks.

Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg stands with community members in front of his residence in Monsey, N.Y. on Dec. 29.

A 37-year-old man pleaded not guilty to attempted murder in a knife attack that wounded five people at the rabbi's home during a Hanukkah celebration. Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the attack an act of "domestic terrorism."

Massive amounts of smoke rises from wildfires burning in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia in an image released on Jan. 2.

Thousands of tourists are fleeing Australia's wildfire-ravaged eastern coast ahead of worsening conditions as the military started to evacuate people trapped on the shore further south. Cooler weather has aided firefighting and allowed people to replenish supplies.

Thick smoke from wildfires fills the air in eastern Gippsland, Australia on Jan. 2.

The Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Choules docked outside of Mallacoota Thursday morning to evacuate thousands of people stranded in the remote coastal town following fires across East Gippsland which have killed one person and destroyed dozens of properties.

A demonstrator throws items at an armored vehicle during a protest against Chile's government in Santiago on Dec. 30.

A young shoeshiner waits for customers on a street in Kabul, Afghanistan on Dec. 29.

A male black rhino calf stands next to his mother, Doppsee, after its birth at the Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, Mich. on Dec. 25.

Image released on Dec. 27. 

Tourists watch the Harzer Schmalspurbahn narrow gauge train make its way through the snowy landscape on the Brocken mountain near Schierke, central Germany, on Dec. 28.

A child stands next to a shelter that burned after a fire broke out in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Dec. 27.

A woman celebrates as she watches the traditional New Year's fireworks at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Dec. 31.

Photos: Cities ring in the new year around the world

The Year in Pictures: 2019