JAN. 9: Flocks of starlings fly at dusk over the Somerset Levels near Glastonbury in Britain. Despite a steady decline in annual winter visiting numbers of the migratory bird in recent years, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds estimates that approximately half a million were roosting in southwest England, providing spectacular daily murmurations as they come and go from their roosting spots.

JAN. 9: International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde dances with some orphan children from the La Main Dans La Main charity in Douala, Cameroon.

JAN. 9: Iraqi security forces march in a parade during a ceremony marking the Iraqi Police Day in Najaf.

JAN. 10: People take part in the 'No Pants Subway Ride' in Vienna, Austria. The ride is an annual event that has become a global celebration of bare thighs.

JAN. 10: Monks take pictures with their mobile phones of the mummified body of a monk at Puzhao temple in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China. According to local media, the monk named Fuhou died three years ago at the age of 94 and his remains were placed in a vat and turned into a mummy as a sign of respect.

JAN. 10: A Kazakh woman whips a male contestant as she defends herself during a Kyz Kuu (catch the girl) riding game at a winter festival in Yining, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China. The Kazakh festival also included games such as Buzkashi (goat dragging), horse racing and wrestling.

JAN. 12: Tourists from China take pictures of a boy dressed up in an honor guard uniform at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. The number of mainland Chinese tourists to neighboring Taiwan has dropped by half in the weeks before this weekend's elections, as Communist Party rulers in Beijing discouraged visits to China's diplomatic rival.

JAN. 12: A tomtit bird flies past a squirrel running on a fence after a snowfall in a park in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

JAN. 12: Giant snow sculptures in the shape of Russian traditional Matryoshka dolls are displayed at a tourist resort in Jilin, Jinlin Province, China.

JAN. 12: A car covered with ice remains stranded on the waterfront in Hamburg, New York. The owner left his Mitsubushi Lancer parked overnight outside a restaurant and by the next day, spray from Lake Erie had encased it in ice.

JAN. 13: Dead sperm whales are seen washed up on a beach on Texel Island, The Netherlands. The five sperm whales that beached on the island died overnight, Dutch media reported.

JAN. 13: Hindu pilgrims walk away from the confluence of the river Ganges and the Bay of Bengal, after taking a dip ahead of the "Makar Sankranti" festival at Sagar Island, south of Kolkata, India.

JAN. 13: Visitors take a "selfie" in a sunflower field in Bangkok, Thailand.

JAN. 13: A white lioness and one of her three cubs are seen at a private zoo called "12 Months" in the town of Demydiv, Ukraine.

JAN. 13: A Vatican employee helps a Swiss Guard who fell ill during Pope Francis' weekly audience at the Paul VI hall.

JAN. 13: Pope Francis kisses a child at the end of his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican.

JAN. 13: Members of the Russian Emergencies Ministry take part in a training session, part of the preparation for Russian Orthodox Epiphany celebrations, in the suburbs of Moscow. Orthodox believers will mark Epiphany on Jan. 19 by immersing themselves in icy waters regardless of the weather.

JAN. 13: A workman opens the smokebox door of a Japanese-made steam train at a train depot in Changhua, Taiwan.

JAN. 14: A group of junior codemakers looks through viewing apparatus while taking a 3-D tour of parliament during the unveiling of Google's new Canadian engineering headquarters in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.

JAN. 14: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio arrives for the British premiere of "The Revenant," in London.

JAN. 14: A jogger runs beneath the Angel of the North near Gateshead, northeastern England, as Britain braced for a new wave of bad weather. Forecasters issued warnings of heavy snow in parts of England and Scotland.

JAN. 14: Local residents dressed in costumes perform during celebrations for the Malanka holiday in the village of Krasnoilsk in the Chernivtsi region of Ukraine. The Malanka traditional holiday is more popular in the western regions of the country and is also known as the Old New Year, according to the old Julian calendar. During the celebrations, youngsters and adults wear traditional carnival costumes and masks, and visit local houses while singing carols, playing pranks or performing short plays.