The Week in Pictures: Dec. 1 - 8 2017, NBC News

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1.
Heavy smoke covers the seaside enclave of Mondos Beach beside the 101 highway as flames reach the coast from the Thomas wildfire near Ventura, California on Dec. 6.

Wind-whipped wildfires raged across the Los Angeles region, with flames triggering the closure of a major freeway and mandatory evacuations in an area dotted with mansions.

Mark Ralston / AFP - Getty Images




2. The home of Sven Berrar and Sven Schaan is decorated with some 67,000 bulbs in Voelklingen, Germany, on Dec. 4.
Thomas Wieck / EPA




3.
Australia's Liberal MP Warren Entsch lifts up Labor MP Linda Burney as they celebrate the passage of a same-sex marriage bill in the House of Representatives in Canberra on Dec. 7.

The bill changes the definition of marriage from solely between a man and a woman to "a union of two people" excluding all others. The legislation passed with a majority that wasn't challenged, although five lawmakers registered their opposition.

Lukas Coch / AAP via Reuters




4. Paddle boarders race in the Nautic SUP Paris Crossing competition along the Seine river near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Dec. 3.
Charles Platiau / Reuters




5.
Israeli forces disperse Palestinian protesters outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on Dec. 7, 2017.

Thousands took part in angry anti-U.S. demonstrations around the Muslim world over the Trump administration's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Since the 1979 Camp David Accords, previous presidents have refused to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or move the U.S. Embassy.

Ahmad Gharabli / AFP - Getty Images




6.
Trees burn in Ojai, California, on Dec. 5.

The so-called Thomas Fire has scorched about 132,000 acres since Monday in Ventura County.

John Cetrino / EPA




7.
John Bain and Brandon Baker take cover from the embers as they try to help stop a fire from burning a stranger's home on Dec. 5 in Ventura, California.

Photos: Wildfire tears through San Diego County

Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images




8.
A firefighter checks the interior of a home as they conduct structure protection on Dec. 5 in Oakview, California.

Marcus Yam / LA Times via Getty Images




9.
Visitors walk in the courtyard of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on Dec. 3.

Giuseppe Cacace / AFP - Getty Images




10.
Houthi rebel fighters inspect the damage after an air strike reportedly carried out by the Saudi-led coalition targeted the presidential palace in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Dec. 5.

Saudi-led warplanes pounded the rebel-held capital before dawn after the rebels killed former president Ali Abdullah Saleh as he fled the city following the collapse of their uneasy alliance, residents said.

AFP - Getty Images




11.
Pedestrians cross the ancient Magdalena bridge over the Arga River as the season's first snow falls in Pamplona, northern Spain, on Dec. 1.

Alvaro Barrientos / AP




12.
Sen. Al Franken holds hands with his wife Franni Bryson as he leaves the Capitol after announcing his resignation on Dec. 7.

Franken said he will resign from the Senate in coming weeks following a wave of sexual misconduct allegations and a collapse of support from his Democratic colleagues, a swift political fall for a once-rising Democratic star.

Jacquelyn Martin / AP




13.
A four-month-old panda cub plays during its naming ceremony at the Beauval Zoo in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, France, on Dec. 4.

Chinese dignitaries and French first lady Brigitte Macron chose the name Yuan Meng, which fittingly means "the realization of a wish" or "accomplishment of a dream."

Thibault Camus / Pool via Reuters