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world news

This week in pictures: New year festivities, disasters & more protests

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By Natalia Liubchenkova
A man swims in flood water in a low-income neighborhood in Jakarta, Indonesia. 2 January 2020.
A man swims in flood water in a low-income neighborhood in Jakarta, Indonesia. 2 January 2020.   -   Copyright  Dita Alangkara/AP Photo

From New Zealand to New York, millions around the world enjoyed spectacular firework displays to celebrate the arrival of 2020.

Hopes were high for the new year.

But it started with tragedy in Indonesia, where flash floods in the country's capital, Jakarta, and nearby towns have killed 43 people and forced almost 400,000 to flee their homes.

Meanwhile, people were evacuated from New South Wales and Victoria amid the threat of Australia's ongoing wildfires.

Then, on Friday, US-Iran relations were plunged into a new crisis when President Donald Trump authorised a drone strike that killed Iranian military chief Qassem Soleimani.

Here's a look at this week in pictures:

Ben Hider/Invision/AP
Confetti falls as New York welcomes in the new year at Times SquareBen Hider/Invision/AP
Andrew Medichini/AP Photo
A New Year dive in Italy: Marco Fois jumps into the Tiber river from the 18-metre-high Cavour Bridge in Rome, 1 January 2020.Andrew Medichini/AP Photo
Dita Alangkara/AP Photo
A man swims in flood water in a low-income neighborhood in Jakarta, Indonesia. 2 January 2020. Severe flooding in the capital as residents celebrated the new year has killed scores of people and displaced tens of thousands.Dita Alangkara/AP Photo
Glen Morey/AP
Wildfires rage under plumes of smoke in Bairnsdale, Australia. Thousands of tourists fled Australia's wildfire-ravaged eastern coast Thursday ahead of worsening conditions as the military started to evacuate people trapped on the shore further south.Glen Morey/AP
Vahid Salemi/AP Photo
A cleric holds a poster of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, during a demonstration over the U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Tehran, Iran. 3 January 2020.Vahid Salemi/AP PhotoVahid Salemi
Khalid Mohammed/AP Photo
Protesters burn property in front of the U.S. embassy compound, in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, 31 December, 2019.Khalid Mohammed/AP Photo
Michel Euler/AP Photo
Travelers wait to board a train at Gare de Lyon train station during the 30th day of transport strikes in Paris, Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. With 30 straight days of walkouts, French rail strikes against government plans to reform France's retirement system.Michel Euler/AP Photo
Zoya Shu/AP Photo
Yulia embraces her husband Olexandr Korinkov, Ukrainian soldier and prisoner of war, at Boryspil airport, outside Kyiv. He was released after a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists. 29 December, 2019.Zoya Shu/AP Photo
Claudio Bresciani/TT via AP
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg celebrates her 17th birthday by attending the weekly "Fridays For Future" climate strike outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm, Sweden. 3 January 2020.Claudio Bresciani/TT via AP
Matthias Schrader/AP Photo
Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan soars through the air during the trial round of the third stage of the 68th four hills ski jumping tournament in Innsbruck, Austria. 3 January, 2020.Matthias Schrader/AP Photo