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As the first week of the New Year took its course, it was time for some to regroup and rethink strategies; for others, to carry on ancient traditions. Elsewhere, Christmas came a bit later than usual. And President Obama shed a tear before taking some tough decisions. A venerable sports legend lived on through his fans' tribute in Sydney while a literary one turned 164 and got the inhabitants of Latvia's capital excited. While you go about all these, how about a winter cycling marathon at minus 15 degrees C by the Moskva River?
A volunteer of the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) stands on a tree as others arrive to attend a conclave on the outskirts of Pune, India, January 3, 2016. Thousands of volunteers attended the gathering which was held to promote the organisation and reach out to the society, according to local media reports. ~Photo: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Fans dressed as late cricket player and commentator Richie Benaud wear suits, grey wigs and prop microphones, as they pay tribute to him while watching the third cricket test between Australia and the West Indies at the SCG in Sydney, January 4, 2016. According to Mail Online , a total of 501 Benaud look-alikes (the sum total of his Test cap number, the test matches he played and the wickets he scalped) took part in the tribute at the SCG where the first match was being played since his passing in April. ~Photo: Jason Reed/Reuters
Flowers and candles adorn the star of late singer Natalie Cole on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California January 4, 2016. Grammy-winning singer Cole, whose biggest hit came in a virtual duet with her late father, pop legend Nat King Cole, of his decades-old hit "Unforgettable," has died at the age of 65, her family said on Friday. ~Photo: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
A zookeeper poses for a photograph as she counts penguins in their pool during the annual stocktake of animals at ZSL London Zoo on January 4, 2016 in London, England. The zoo's annual stocktake requires keepers to check on the numbers of every one of the 800 different animal species, including every invertebrate, bird, fish, mammal, reptile, and amphibian. ~Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images
Jewish settler Refael Morris stands with his wife and baby near their house in the unauthorised Jewish settler outpost of Achiya, south of the West Bank city of Nablus January 5, 2016. Steeped in messianic Jewish mysticism and rebelling against what they see as adulterated modern Zionism, the "Hilltop Youth," a new generation of ultra-religious settlers whose resentment of the secular Israeli state rivals their hostility toward Arabs, number in the hundreds, by most accounts. But they pose a deep-rooted challenge even for the nationalist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as it struggles to stanch Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed in the absence of peace negotiations. ~Photo: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
U.S. President Barack Obama wipes away a tear while announcing steps the administration is taking to reduce gun violence while delivering a statement in the East Room of the White House in Washington January 5, 2016. Obama said the gun control measures were well within his authority to implement without congressional approval. ~Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
A New Year calendar showing a picture of former Thai Prime Ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, is seen at a local restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, January 6, 2016. According to local media, the Pheu Thai Party on Monday petitioned the government to order provincial governors to revoke a ban on New Year calendars bearing pictures of Thaksin and his sister Yingluck. ~Photo: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
The Haxey Fool, Dale Smith, is smoked as he starts the Haxey Hood at Haxey Village on January 6, 2016 in Doncaster, England. The origin of the ancient game of Haxey Hood goes back hundreds of years to the 14th century. Lady de Mowbray was out riding towards Westwoodside on the hill that separates it from the village of Haxey, when her silk riding hood was blown away by the wind, farm workers in the field rushed to help and chased the hood eventually it was caught by one of the men, but being too shy to hand it back to the lady, he gave it to one of the others to hand back to her. She thanked the farm worker who had returned the hood and said that he had acted like a Lord, whereas the worker who had actually caught the hood was a Fool. The act of chivalry and the resulting chase amused her so much she donated 13 acres of land on condition that the chase for the hood would be re-enacted each year. ~Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
People watch the funeral of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed during a funeral procession at his residence Gupkar road in Srinagar on Thursday. Sayeed, who passed away at AIIMS in Delhi on Thursday morning, was called in an obit published by The Hindu as the “man with the healing touch” — referring to his policies that advocated for peace between the centre government and the dissidents within his state. ~Photo: Nissar Ahmed/The Hindu
A painting of killed cartoonists Charb, at left, and Honore, Wolinski, Cabu, Charb and Tignous is seen on a wall outside satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo former office, one year after the attacks on it, in Paris, France, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. It's a year to the day since an attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo launched a bloody year in the French capital. Tensions in France, under a state of emergency since a wave of attacks on Nov. 13, have been even higher this week as the anniversary of the January attacks approached. ~Photo: Francois Mori/AP
People gather to receive a piece of traditional Christmas bread, marking the Orthodox Christmas Day festivities in Belgrade, Serbia January 7, 2016. Serbian Orthodox believers celebrate Christmas on January 7, according to the Julian calendar. ~Photo: Marko Djurica/Reuters
A U.S. Air Force pilot grasps a flight control and weapons firing stick while preparing to launch a MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), from a ground control station at a secret air base in the Persian Gulf region on January 7, 2016. The U.S. military and coalition forces use the base, located in an undisclosed location, to launch drone airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria, as well as to distribute cargo and transport troops supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. The Predators at the base are operated and maintained by the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, currently attached to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing. ~Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
People sit beneath a partially demolished structure in the mostly demolished Vila Autodromo favela community, a former fishing colony, on January 6, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Most residents of the favela community have moved out and had their properties demolished after receiving compensation for their homes which are located directly adjacent to the Olympic Park under construction for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. A small fraction of remaining families from an original 700 or so in Vila Autodromo are resisting the controversial evictions and remain in the community. The favela sprang from an old fishing community and was considered one of the city's safest. Removals and demolitions have occurred in other Rio communities with tangential links to the games. ~Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, competes against Russian national coach of judo Italy's Ezio Gamba, during Russia's national Judo team training session in the resort city of Sochi, Russia, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016. After Russian President Vladimir Putin and national judo team coach Ezio Gamba took each other to the mat in a practice, Putin followed up with a smooth move, granting the Italian a Russian passport. ~Photo: Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
A phone is pictured on a board installed in a new campaign by the Brussels' tourism office, Belgium, January 8, 2016. The phone was designed to allow tourists to call Brussels residents to ask about the city's security status after its lockdown late last year. ~Photo: Francois Lenoir/Reuters
A flashmob gathers in front of Hauptbahnhof main railway station to protest against the New Year's Eve sex attacks on January 9, 2016 in Cologne, Germany. Over 100 women have filed charges of sexual molestation, robbery and in two cases, rape, stemming from aggressive groping and other behavior by gangs of drunken men described as Arab or North African at Hauptbahnhof on New Year's Eve. Police have recently stated that at least some of the men identified so far are refugees, which is feeding the propaganda of right-wing groups opposed to Germany's open-door refugee policy. Germany took in approximately 1.1 million migrants and refugees in 2015. ~Photo: Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images
People dress up as characters from Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle's stories as they celebrate the birthday of detective Sherlock Holmes, one of Doyle's most famous fictional character, in Riga, Latvia, January 9, 2016. From 1979 to 1986, a Soviet TV film adaptation of the novel titled "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson" shot most of its episodes in Riga. ~Photo: Ints Kalnins/Reuters
Participants of the first winter cycling marathon in support of cycling infrastructure in the city, ride along the embankment of the frozen Moskva River and the Kremlin Wall in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016. In frosty weather, participants overcame 14 kilometres, (about 12 miles) . Temperatures dipped to -15 C (5 F) in Moscow and -18 C (-0,4 F) at night. ~Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
