Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends a farewell ceremony for the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, December 22, 2016. Karlov was fatally shot by a Turkish policeman Monday in a gathering in Ankara, Turkey. #

A man identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas stands over Andrei Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, after shooting him at a photo gallery in Ankara, Turkey, on December 19, 2016. Karlov, 62, was several minutes into a speech at the embassy-sponsored exhibition when Altintas fatally shot him in front of stunned onlookers. #

Artists prepare a snow sculpture for the upcoming Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China, on December 17, 2016. #

An Israeli soldier aims his weapon at Palestinian protestors, some dressed up as Santa Claus, during a demonstration next to a gate of a section of Israel's separation wall in the biblical town of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on December 23, 2016. #

People are silhouetted against a giant light sculpture at the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, as part of celebrations in the lead up to Christmas, on December 21, 2016. #

This photo taken on December 19, 2016 shows face masks on stone monkey statues in protest of the current heavy air pollution at Beijing Zoo in Beijing. Heavy smog suffocated northeast China for a fifth day on December 20, with hundreds of flights cancelled and road and rail transport grinding to a halt under the low visibility conditions. #

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Syrian girl Bana Alabed, known as Aleppo's tweeting girl, at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on December 21, 2016. #

Syrians walk in a snow covered street in the town of Maaret al-Numan, in Syria's northern province of Idlib, on December 22, 2016. Rebels and civilians who have sought refuge in the opposition-held province of Idlib, most recently from second city Aleppo, say they are suffering from skyrocketing prices and overpopulation. At least 25,000 people, including rebel fighters, have left east Aleppo since last week under an evacuation deal that will see the city come under full government control. #

Children play on an incomplete model of a large male figure based on the character Gulliver from the classic novel Gulliver's Travels, which was being used to teach youths about bodily functions, and had been receiving foreign funds for its completion, at the Navsarjan Trust's center in Nani Devti village near Ahmedabad on December 23, 2016. An Indian charity running schools for Dalit children will close down after the government banned it from receiving foreign funds over alleged threats to national unity, officials said December 23. "We had no option left as foreign funding was the major source of running our operations," Martin Macwan, managing trustee of the charity founded in 1988, told AFP. Charities, especially foreign-backed aid organizations like Greenpeace India, have come under increased scrutiny since a Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. #

Hungarian Artist Miklos Zoltan Baji performs a shamanic ritual around a bonfire during winter solstice celebrations in Bekescsaba, 200 kms southeast of Budapest, Hungary, on December 21, 2016. #

Members of the Shakti Sings choir sing as druids, pagans and revellers gather in the center of Stonehenge, hoping to see the sun rise, as they take part in a winter solstice ceremony at the ancient neolithic monument of Stonehenge near Amesbury on December 21, 2016 in Wiltshire, England. #

Choristers from the Salisbury Cathedral Choir have their final practice ahead of the services that will be held in the cathedral marking Christmas Eve on December 22, 2016 in Salisbury, England. Christmas has been celebrated in the cathedral for over 750 years since it was dedicated in 1258. It is thought that the foundation of the choir stretches back even further, with evidence of a song school in Salisbury as early as the 11th century. #

A woman walks past a lit Christmas display at a park in Pasay, south of Manila, Philippines on December 22, 2016. Christmas decorations adorn the streets and homes of many Filipinos as this predominantly Roman Catholic country prepare to celebrate the most important and beloved Christmas season. #

Kashmiri fishermen cover their heads and part of their boats with blankets and straw as they wait to catch fish in the waters of the Anchar Lake on a cold day in Srinagar, on December 20, 2016. #

A trail of devastation is left behind in Berlin, Germany, on December 20, 2016, the day after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market and killed 12 people and injured 56 others. #

Visitors are silhouetted against illuminated lights decorated on trees to celebrate the upcoming Christmas and New Year holiday season at the Garden of Morning Calm in Gapyeong, South Korea, on December 18, 2016. #

Zoo owner Manny Tangco, center, sits between an orangutan named "Pacquiao", left, and a Bengal tiger cub named "Tiger Duterte" during their annual "Animal Christmas Party" at the Malabon Zoo in Malabon, north of Manila, Philippines, on, December 21, 2016. #

Aerial view of Mexico's biggest fireworks market in Tultepec suburb, Mexico State, after a massive explosion killed at least 32 people on December 21, 2016. Mexico worked Wednesday to identify charred bodies left by an explosion at its biggest fireworks market, as authorities investigated what caused the multi-colored salvo of destruction. #

An investigator stands amidst the wreckage of houses destroyed in an explosion at the San Pablito fireworks market outside the Mexican capital, in Tultepec, Mexico, on December 21, 2016. #

A man dressed as Father Frost, Russian equivalent of Santa Claus, sits by the fire with a reindeer Yakut, marking winter solstice at the Royev Ruchey Park of Flora and Fauna in the Siberian Taiga wood in the suburbs of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, on December 21, 2016. #

Kangaroo joeys Dot and Matilda enjoy some Christmas treats at the Wild Life Sydney Zoo on December 23, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. Together with the Quokka and Sugar Gliders, the Australian native animals got an early Christmas treat from their keepers before the big day. #

Rebecca Smith poses for a photograph during winter solstice with her Irish Wolfhound dog called Amazing Grace at the 5,000 year old stone age tomb of Newgrange (not in view) in the Boyne Valley at sunrise in Newgrange, Ireland, on December 21, 2016. #

Iraqi children look at the body of a half-buried ISIS militant while talking to an Iraqi soldier in the al-Barid district in Mosul, Iraq, on December 18, 2016. In a part of Mosul that had been reclaimed from ISIS days ago, Iraqi special forces were attacked on Sunday by drones operated by ISIS fighters inside the city. #

Rescuers collect personal belongings of the victims of an Indonesian Air Force plane that crashed in the mountainous area in Wamena, Papua province, Indonesia, on December 18, 2016. The Hercules C-130 transport plane crashed in bad weather in the easternmost province, killing all people on board. #

A child dressed in a Santa costume sleeps during a procession to celebrate Christmas in Jammu, India, on December 22, 2016. Christians make up about 2 percent of India's 1 billion-plus population. #