Today in Pictures, Dec 24, 2019

Christmas spirit in Singapore, heightened security in Singapore in the lead up to the new year, and other pictures from around the world in Today in Pictures.

Updated

Published

December 24, 2019 at 9:24 AM

Mr Jorge Antunes, 61, and his five-year-old granddaughter Maia Antunes, posing for a photograph under a Christmas tree at Takashimaya on Dec 22, 2019. Last-minute shoppers are flocking to Orchard Road to pick up gifts in the days leading up to Christmas Day. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES/MARK CHEONG

Officers from the Police Tactical Unit of the Special Operations Command on patrol in Raffles Place on Dec 24, 2019. They are among the specialist police units on patrol in the city area as Singapore prepares to ring in the new year. PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES/LIM YAOHUI

Combination of Tv grabs taken from a video released by the Government of Ecuador showing a crane falling on a barge carrying 600 gallons of diesel in a port on San Cristobal Island, in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, on December 22, 2019. PHOTO: HANDOUT VIA AFP

A man carries suitcases as he wades through water during a high tide of 1.44 meters (4.72 feet), in St. Mark's Square, in Venice, Italy, Monday, Dec. 23, 2019. PHOTO: AFP

Stephanie Soto sits on the hood of her car after it stalled in flood waters as she was driving on December 23, 2019 in Hollywood, Florida. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES/AFP

A photo issued on Dec 24, 2019, shows a group of Afghan migrants enter an abandoned farm near the border with Croatia on Dec. 14, 2019 to use it as shelter before attempting to cross the border into the EU near Bihac, northeast Bosnia. PHOTO: AP

This handout picture taken and released on December 22, 2019 by Vatican Media shows Pope Francis greeting a group of sick children from the "Santa Marta" Paediatric Dispensary. PHOTO: HANDOUT VIA AFP

Belarusian students from cadet schools dance, as they take part in the 4th New Year's Republican Suvorov-Cadet Ball in Minsk, Belarus, 23 December 2019. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Krois family light candles on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in the Ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighbourhood of Jerusalem on December 22, 2019. PHOTO: AFP

A mahout trains his elephant dressed in a Santa Claus costume before a gift presentation to schoolchildren during Christmas celebrations in Ayutthaya on December 23, 2019. PHOTO: AFP

The DFDS Princess Seaways passenger ferry arrives at the mouth of the Tyne river, in Tyneside near Newcastle, England, from the North Sea as the sun rises in the early morning of Monday Dec. 23, 2019. PHOTO: AP

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.