The Week in Pictures: Jan. 1 - 7, 2016 - NBC News

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1.
Participants enter the water during the Coney Island Polar Bear Club's annual New Year's Day swim at Coney Island in the Brooklyn borough of New York on January 1, 2016.

PHOTOS - Sweet '16: A New Year Rings In Around the World

ANDREW KELLY / Reuters





2.
Dwayne Ehmer carries an American flag as he rides his horse on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 7, near Burns, Oregon. An armed anti-government militia group continues to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Headquarters as they protest policies governing the use of federal land in the West and the jailing of two ranchers for arson.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images





3.
"First-graders," President Barack Obama said woefully, resting his chin on his hand and wiping away tears as he recalled the 20 first-graders killed in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. "Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad," he said while speaking in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Jan. 5.

Tears streaking his cheeks, Obama launched a final-year push Tuesday to tighten sales of firearms in the U.S., using his presidential powers in the absence of tougher gun restrictions that Congress has refused to pass.

Jacquelyn Martin / AP





4.
A walker takes advantage of the clearing skies to stroll past rain puddles at Lake Balboa Park in Lake Balboa, Calif., on Jan. 7. The tail-end of a series of several El Nino-driven storms brought scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms to Southern California Thursday along with pounding surf and serious winds.

Michael Owen Baker / AP





5.
Greek Orthodox swimmer Nicolaos Solis kisses a wooden cross retrieved from the Bosphorus river's Golden Horn, as part of celebrations of the Epiphany day at the Church of Fener Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul on Jan. 6.

OZAN KOSE / AFP - Getty Images





6.
A bicycle covered in mud emerges after the Saint-Martin canal was drained for maintenance in Paris on Jan. 5. The cleaning and maintenance operations of the canal occur every 15 years, lasting three months and costing 9.5 million euros.

YOAN VALAT / EPA





7.
A towering inferno engulfs a 63-story luxury hotel on New Year's Eve in Dubai on Dec. 31, 2015. The fire erupted before the city's fireworks extravaganza and raced through the Address Downtown, one of the most upscale hotels and residences in Dubai. Dubai officials said only 14 people suffered minor injuries in evacuating the building late Thursday night.

NICOLAS CORNET / EPA





8.
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as holiday decorations are left on the ground during trading the morning of Jan. 4 in New York City. Monday was the first day of trading for the New York Stock Exchange and the market dove over 400 points upon opening. The U.S. stock market started the new year with a four-trading-day drop of 5.2 percent for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Andrew Burton / Getty Images





9.
Afghan soccer fans cheer for their national team as they watch a live broadcast of the SAFF Championship match between India and Afghanistan shown on a screen at Shar-e- Naw Park in Kabul on Jan. 3. India beat Afghanistan 2-1 in South Asia Football Federation (SAFF), and won the championship cup on Sunday.

WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP - Getty Images





10.
Fireworks light the sky above the medieval Mariendom or St. Mary's Cathedral, right, and St. Severi's Church shortly after midnight during the New Year celebrations in Erfurt, Germany, on Jan. 1. This photo taken with long exposure.

Jens Meyer / AP

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11.
A Kurdish boy protects himself against the cold as heavy snow hits the city of Sirnak, Turkey, on Jan. 1. Tensions are running high throughout Turkey's restive southeast as security forces impose curfews in several towns including Cizre in a bid to root out Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels from urban centers.

BULENT KILIC / AFP - Getty Images





12.
LaTonya Jones stands over her mother Bettie Jones during her funeral at New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church on Jan. 6 in Chicago. Bettie Jones, 55, and Quintonio LeGrier, 19, were both killed last month during a police involved shooting where officers were responding to a domestic dispute call after LeGrier pulled a bat on his father. Police later issued a statement saying Jones was accidentally killed.

Joshua Lott / Getty Images





13.
A boy looks through a frozen bus window in Minsk, Belarus on Jan. 5.

SERGEI GAPON / AFP - Getty Images





14.
A duck flutters its wings while others float in the relatively 'warm' waters of a steaming pond on the outskirts of Minsk, Belarus, on Jan. 5.

TATYANA ZENKOVICH / EPA





15.
A man carries a child as they try to reach the shore after falling into the Aegean sea while disembarking from a dinghy after crossing with other refugees from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos on Jan. 3. More than a million people reached Europe in 2015 in the continent's largest refugee influx since the end of World War II. Nearly 3,800 people are estimated to have drowned in the Mediterranean last year, making the journey to Greece or Italy in unseaworthy vessels packed far beyond capacity.

Santi Palacios / AP





16.
Ice formations cover a house at the beach near Fakse Ladeplads, Denmark, on Jan. 5.

Per Rasmussen / Polfoto via AP





17.
A flock of starlings fly in formation near the Arab town of Rahat, southern Israel on Jan. 4.

ABIR SULTAN / EPA





18.
A volunteer with the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) stands on a tree as others arrive to attend a conclave on the outskirts of Pune, India, on Jan. 3.

DANISH SIDDIQUI / Reuters





19.
A couple watches fireworks just after midnight at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro on Jan. 1.

CHRISTOPHE SIMON / AFP - Getty Images