Our world in photos: January 13
Brooklyn Eagle Staff
January 13, 2025
CONEY ISLAND — History and tradition here are not limited to summer fun: Revelers enter the cold water during the annual Polar Bear Plunge on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, here in “America’s Playground” in southern Brooklyn. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club, founded in 1903, does the yearly plunge as a fundraiser for local philanthropic groups, such as the Coney Island YMCA, the New York Aquarium, the NYC Parks Foundation/Kaiser Park Coastal Classroom and the Coney Island History Project. According to the club’s website, its members actually do weekly plunges from November through April, so by New Year’s, they have become seasoned.
Although membership to the Coney Island Polar Bear Club is full, the New Year’s Day plunge was free and open to the public.
SYRIA — Masked man with a gun usually a sign of oppression in most cases: People stand outside their homes in a residential area as members of the new security forces take part in an operation to detain, according to the state media, militiamen affiliated with ousted president Bashar Assad in Homs, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. The new security forces have been tracking down militiamen who, remaining loyal to ousted President Bashar Assad, have refused to surrender their weapons, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
The armed fighters believed to have aided in Assad’s ouster say they are working in coordination with Syria’s interim Interior Ministry.
NEW ORLEANS — Always in the wake of terrorist acts — incalculable mourning: Matthias Hauswirth of New Orleans prays on the street near the scene where a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans’ Canal and Bourbon streets, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. The FBI on Thursday reversed its statement from the previous day and now believes that the driver of the pickup truck, identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar,
was acting alone.
A native of Texas and Army veteran, Jabbar had been stationed at one point at Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in North Carolina. Police who found an ISIS flag in Jabbar’s vehicle believe that he had become radicalized.
NEW YORK — A classy move in a classic New York rivalry: Buffalo Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper (18) catches a pass for a touchdown in front of New York Jets cornerback Brandin Echols (26) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Orchard Park, N.Y. The Bills, currently ranked first in the AFC East, trounced the Jets 40-14. The New York Times’ Athletic described Sunday’s game as possibly “the worst of the season, from start to finish. It was a game in which the Jets were penalized 16 times for 120 yards.”
The Times’ Athletic blames the Jets’ lackluster season on rash managerial decisions, including the firing of 45-year-old Jets coach, Robert Saleh, after the season’s fifth week.
INDIA — Perfect setting to show importance of water in religious worship here: Sikh devotees pray while standing in the pond surrounding the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for the Sikhs, on New Year’s Day in Amritsar, India, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025.
Jan. 6 will mark another important celebration for India’s Sikh community: the “Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti,” marking the birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.
LONDON — The super bowl of darts, where the fans just might be more fun to watch than the players: Fans dressed in costumes arrive for the start of the quarterfinal match between Chris Dobey of England and Gerwin Price of Wales at the World Darts Championship in London, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. Dobey has now advanced to the semi-finals. Dobey won that match and advanced to the semi-finals to compete against the Netherlands’ Michael van Gerwen on Thursday. Winning the other quarterfinal match was 17-year-old Luke Littler, who competed against his friend Nathan Aspinall 5-2 to set up a semi-final against Stephen Bunting in the PDC World Championship.
The English have been playing darts since the Middle Ages, according to some sources, although a modern version of the game was developed in the early 1900s. In 1974, the newly formed British Darts Organisation launched the World Masters, then in 1978, held the first World Professional Darts Championship at Nottingham.
PASADENA — Rose Bowl leap of faith, defender’s torso pad revealed in tackle: Oregon running back Noah Whittington (6) attempts to leap over Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun (1) during the second half in the quarterfinals of the Rose Bowl College Football Playoff, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in Pasadena, Calif. The Ohio State Buckeyes (12-2 record) won 41-21 against the Oregon Ducks.
A New Year’s Day tradition, the Rose Bowl Game is played at the 102-year-old Rose Bowl Stadium, which has its own prominence as a National Historic Landmark and a California Historic Civil Engineering landmark. The stadium opened in 1922.
SYDNEY — Iga releases her famous topspin grip to let the racket fly: Poland’s Iga Swiatek celebrates after defeating Britain’s Katie Boulter in their quarterfinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025.
The tournament, which runs through Jan. 5, is an international hard-court tennis competition bringing mixed-gender teams from 18 countries. The United Cup is played across multiple Australian cities over 11 days, leading to the Australian Open.
