Best of the Year
Supporters of Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro walk on the dome of the National Congress during a protest in Brasilia, Brazil, 08 January 2023. Hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the headquarters of the National Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Planalto Palace, the seat of the Presidency of the Republic, in a demonstration calling for a military intervention to overthrow President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. EPA-EFE/ANDRE BORGES
An unmarried Shembe pilgrim walks on top of the Nhlangakazi Holy Mountain during the annual Nazareth Baptist Church, (Shembe Church) pilgrimage near Durban, South Africa, 07 January 2023. On a hilltop in KwaZulu Natal in South Africa, thousands of members of the Nazareth Baptist Church gather for their annual pilgrimage. Known as the Nhlangakazi Holy Mountain, this sacred site is also the culmination of a 50km journey these predominantly Zulu pilgrims have made by foot, some coming from as far as the city of Durban, on South Africa’s east coast. EPA-EFE/KIM LUDBROOK
Activists hang in a tripod near the village of Luetzerath, Germany, 10 January 2023. The village in the North Rhine-Westphalia state is to make way for lignite mining despite the decision to phase out coal. The Garzweiler open pit mine, operated by German energy supplier RWE, is the focus of protests by people who want Germany to stop mining and burning coal as soon as possible in the fight against climate change. EPA-EFE/RONALD WITTEK
The body of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) lies in state in Saint Peter's Basilica for public viewing in Vatican City, 02 January 2023. Former Pope Benedict XVI died on 31 December at his Vatican residence, aged 95. For three days, starting from 02 January, the body will lay in state in St. Peter's Basilica until the funeral on 05 January. EPA-EFE/ETTORE FERRARI
French riot police during clashes as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration against the government's reform of the pension system, in Paris, France, 31 January 2023. The French government plans to delay the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030. EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT
Women react at the site of a collapsed building in the aftermath of a major earthquake in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras, Turkey, 08 February 2023. More than 9,000 people have died and thousands more injured after two major earthquakes struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on 06 February. Authorities fear the death toll will keep climbing as rescuers look for survivors across the region. EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA
A woman stands on a flooded area following heavy rains since 07 of February in Maputo, Mozambique, 09 February 2023. About 2,400 families were left homeless, and dozens of houses were flooded in the Mozambican capital. EPA-EFE/LUISA NHANTUMBO
A worker points with a torch during search efforts at the site of collapsed buildings after a powerful earthquake hit Hatay, Turkey, 15 February 2023. More than 50,000 people have died and more than 100,000 others were injured after two major earthquakes struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on 06 February 2023. EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK
Ukrainian serviceman of the 24-th separate mechanized brigade named after King Danylo' fires a mortar towards Russian positions, at an undisclosed location, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, 17 February 2023. EPA-EFE/OLEG PETRASYUK
A collapsed building with Abdulhamid Han Mosque in the background after a powerful earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, 18 February 2023. More than 45,000 people have died and thousands more are injured after two major earthquakes struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on 06 February. Authorities fear the death toll will keep climbing as rescuers look for survivors across the region. EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN
Members of a troupe participate in the Battle of Flowers, the first parade of the Barranquilla Carnival, in Barranquilla, Colombia, 18 February 2023. The Barranquilla Carnival was declared an Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. EPA-EFE/RICARDO MALDONADO ROZO
An image taken with a slow shutter speed of Ukrainian national flags waving over the graves of fallen Ukrainian soldiers in a military cemetery in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, late 22 February 2023, nearly one year since the start of the Russian invasion. Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory on 24 February 2022, starting a conflict that has provoked destruction and a humanitarian crisis. One year on, fighting continues in many parts of the country. EPA-EFE/PAVLO PAKHOMENKO
A man fixes the curtains ahead of the Fifth Plenary Session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, 12 March 2023. China holds two major annual political meetings, the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) which run alongside and together are known as 'Lianghui' or 'Two Sessions'. EPA-EFE/MARK R. CRISTINO
The dome of the Kashmiri Mashjid mosque is reflected in the eye of a Nepalese Muslim while he attends the first Friday prayer of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at Kashmiri Mashjid in Kathmandu, Nepal, 24 March 2023. Muslims around the world celebrate the holy month of Ramadan by praying during the night time and abstaining from eating, drinking, and sexual acts during the period between sunrise and sunset. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and it is believed that the revelation of the first verse in the Koran was during its last 10 nights. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA
Ultra-Orthodox Jews look as others collect water from a mountain spring outside Jerusalem, 04 April 2023. The water will be used in the making of 'matza', or unleavened bread, which is used in place of bread during the week-long Jewish high holiday of Passover, which commemorates the Jewish exodus from Egypt in Biblical times. EPA-EFE/ABIR SULTAN
People enjoy a summer day at Ipanema beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 18 March 2023. EPA-EFE/ANTONIO LACERDA
Latin clergymen take part in the procession of the Holy Thursday, during the Catholic Washing of the Feet ceremony on Easter Holy Week, next to the tomb of Jesus at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem, 06 April 2023. EPA-EFE/ATEF SAFADI
Protesters climb on 'The Triumph of the Republic' statue depicting Marianne at Place de la Nation during the annual May Day march in Paris, France, 01 May 2023. Despite the Constitutional Council's adoption of the law on 14 April raising the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 years old, protests against pension reform are being held in France on this International Workers' Day. EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON
Migrants put their arms between the bars of the wall to grab the food delivered by volunteers in San Diego, California, USA, 12 May 2023. According to humanitarian volunteers, there are about 400 migrants, all families, at this location held on US soil in the no man's land between Tijuana and San Diego after crossing the border illegally. A significant increase in the number of migrants crossing was expected as the Covid-era Title 42 policy, which allowed for a quick expulsion of illegal immigrants, expired at 23:59 ET on 11 May. EPA-EFE/ETIENNE LAURENT
An image made with a slow shutter speed shows a man cooling off in a small waterfall of the Kalumpang River during a hot day with up to 33 degrees Celsius, in Tanjung Malim, Malaysia, 02 June 2023. Earlier in May 2023 Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said that 'there was not yet a need for Malaysia to declare a heatwave Emergency, but the government would review this if temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius'. EPA-EFE/FAZRY ISMAIL
A general view of spactators and runners as they are chased through a street by bulls of the Miura ranch during the eighth and last 'Running of the Bulls' of this year's Sanfermines Festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, 14 July 2023. Pamplona's Running of the Bulls, known locally as Sanfermines, is held annually from 06 to 14 July in commemoration of the city's patron saint. Visitors from all over the world attend the fiesta, which is also seen as controversial by animal rights organizations. EPA-EFE/Rodrigo Jimenez
A member of the Household Division faints due to heat exhaustion whilst participating in the Colonel's Review at the Horse Guards Parade in London, Britain, 10 June 2023. The Colonel's Review is the final rehearsal for the Household Division before the Trooping the Color military ceremony that marks the King's birthday on 17 June. EPA-EFE/TOLGA AKMEN
Mayon volcano spews ashes and lava in Legazpi city, Albay province, Philippines, 17 June 2023. According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology's (Phivolcs) latest bulletin, Mayon Volcano’s lava and emission of sulfur dioxide continued amid its current high level of unrest. Lava flows have advanced to maximum lengths of 1.5 kilometers from the summit crater closing to the community homes. EPA-EFE/FRANCIS R. MALASIG
Swimmers participate in the annual nude winter solstice swim during Hobart's Dark Mofo festival at Long Beach in Hobart, Australia 22 June 2023. EPA-EFE/ROB BLAKERS
Ultra Orthodox Jews walk at the Damascus Gate during the Eid al-Adha holiday in the Old City of Jerusalem, 28 June 2023. EPA-EFE/ABIR SULTAN
A Pakistani man holds the head of a sacrificed cow on his shoulder during the Eid al-Adha celebration in Peshawar, Pakistan, 29 June 2023. Eid al-Adha is one of the holiest Muslim holidays of the year. It marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage, known as Hajj, to visit Mecca. During Eid al-Adha, Muslims slaughter animals and split their meat into three parts: one for family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy. EPA-EFE/BILAWAL ARBAB
A farmer drinks a traditional beverage inside a paddy field on National Paddy Day in Tokha village, outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, 30 June 2023. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA
A member of the public watches the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO)'s Chandrayaan-3 (Moon Vehicle-3), on board the Launch Vehicle Mark-III Mission 4 (LVM3 M4), lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India, 14 July 2023. Built on a budget of less than $75 million, the Indian space agency attempts to land a rover on the moon and join the group of nations comprising the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China that have made successful soft landings on the moon. EPA-EFE/IDREES MOHAMMED
Mykola (41) and his family drive in Dovhenke village, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, 15 July 2023. Mykola came to his sister's destroyed family home to collect the rest of an apiary damaged during active combat in Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. His own home in nearby Krasnopillia village was also destroyed during the fighting, and he was forced to move with his family to Khrestyshe, where he keeps bees and hopes to one day return home. Russian troops entered Ukraine on 24 February 2022, starting a conflict that has provoked destruction and a humanitarian crisis. EPA-EFE/OLEG PETRASYUK
A resident wearing a scuba-diving mask sprays water at the entrance of a house during a wildfire at Lagonisi area in Attica, Greece, 17 July 2023. Multiple wildfires in Greece left 28 people dead and 75 others injured. EPA-EFE/KOSTAS TSIRONIS
A Chinook helicopter operates over a wildfire near the village of Pournari, in Dervenochoria, northwest of the Attica region, Greece, 18 July 2023. Multiple wildfires have started in Greece since 17 July 2023 leaving at least 28 people dead and 75 injured, with 80 wildfires being recorded. EPA-EFE/KOSTAS TSIRONIS
Greek police officer Pavlos Terzoglou (26) carries a child as he and his colleagues forcibly evacuate a farmers' family that refused to leave their property during a wildfire near the village of Palaiokoundouro, in Dervenochoria, northwest of Attica region, Greece, 18 July 2023. Multiple wildfires that started in July in Greece left at least 28 people dead and 75 others wounded, Greek authorities announced. EPA-EFE/KOSTAS TSIRONIS
A protester points to a sign with the name of Azimio coalition party Raila Odinga as protesters and supporters of the opposition Azimio coalition burn tires as they engage with riot police in running battles during the renewed nationwide protests in Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya, 19 July 2023. Fresh nationwide protests against the Kenyan government have been called by the opposition coalition Azimio over the high cost of living and new tax increases that have been termed punitive despite a court order stopping their implementation. EPA-EFE/DANIEL IRUNGU
A Libyan border guard provides water to a Sub-Saharan African migrant, who reportedly has been abandoned by Tunisian authorities, upon his arrival in an uninhabited area on the Libya-Tunisia border near Al-Assah, 160 km west of Tripoli, Libya, 30 July 2023. Libyan border guards found more than 100 people, women, children and families, stranded in scorching summer temperatures and without water. According to the Red Crescent, Tunisian security forces have moved hundreds of migrants into the arid zone since June 2023. EPA-EFE/STR
Russian prisoners of war sit on their beds inside a detention center at an undisclosed location in the Lviv region, Western Ukraine, 03 August 2023. Russia and Ukraine have been accusing each other of abusing and mistreating their respective prisoners of war, prompting a UN investigation in early 2023. Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory in February 2022, starting a conflict that has provoked destruction and a humanitarian crisis. EPA-EFE/VITALII NOSACH
Models prepare backstage as they wait to show creations by Turkish designer Bora Aksu during the London Fashion Week, in London, Britain, 15 September 2023. The London Fashion Week runs from 15 to 19 September 2023. EPA-EFE/NEIL HALL
Indian journalists, writers, and social activists of different organizations protest against the recent arrest of journalists in Kolkata, India, 05 October 2023. Delhi Police's Special Cell searched 30 locations connected with online news portal NewsClick and its journalists in a case under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, with an allegation that News Click received money for pro-China propaganda on 03 October 2023. EPA-EFE/JAGADEESH NV
A Palestinian man mourns over the body of his dead son at the Al-Shifa hospital after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, 09 October 2023. Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have died since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October, and the Israeli strikes on the Palestinian enclave that followed it. EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED SABER
People search for the victims amid rubble of destroyed houses after an earthquake in the Zinda Jan district of Herat, Afghanistan, 09 October 2023. The initial 6.3-magnitude earthquake on 07 October 2023, followed by strong aftershocks, left at least 2,445 people dead and 9,240 others injured, and caused extensive destruction in the already struggling country, grappling with international sanctions following the Taliban's takeover of Kabul in August 2021. EPA-EFE/SAMIULLAH POPAL
A child is recovered from the rubble of a residential building leveled in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip 19 October 2023. Israel has called for the evacuation of all civilians in northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion. Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have died since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October, and the Israeli strikes on the Palestinian enclave that followed it. EPA-EFE/HAITHAM IMAD
A child gives flowers to Hindu devotees at the Mahalaxmi temple of Bode on the ninth day of Dashain festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal, 23 October 2023. During the 15-day-long Dashain festival, Nepalese devotees worship the Hindu goddess Durga, offering animal sacrifices, such as chicken, goats and buffaloes. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA
Al Shifa Hospital is lit up in Gaza City 24 October 2023. The Health Ministry in Gaza warned that electric generators in hospitals will cease functioning within days due to a fuel shortage and that 32 health centers are out of service due to targeting by Israeli warplanes and a fuel shortage. Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have died since the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October, and the Israeli strikes on the Palestinian enclave that followed it. EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED SABER
Israeli shells strike the northern part of the Gaza Strip during sunset, 29 October 2023. Thousands of Palestinians and Israelis have been killed, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Palestinian health authority, since Hamas militants launched an attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October, and the Israeli operations in Gaza and the West Bank which followed it. EPA-EFE/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE
Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza raise their arms as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (C) and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (not pictured) testify at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing to review their national security supplemental requests in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, USA, 31 October 2023. EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO
A rainbow over destroyed vehicles in the village of Posad-Pokrovske in the Kherson region, 01 November 2023. Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory in February 2022, starting a conflict that has provoked destruction and a humanitarian crisis. EPA-EFE/OLEG PETRASYUK
A Hindu person lights firecrackers during Dussehra festival celebrations in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 24 October 2023. Dussehra is an annual Hindu religious festival marking the victory of the Hindu God Lord Rama over the evil demon king Ravana. EPA-EFE/FAROOQ KHAN
Israeli army flares illuminate the sky over west Gaza in the northern Gaza Strip, on 06 November 2023. Thousands of Palestinians and Israelis have been killed, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Palestinian health authority, since Hamas militants launched an attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October, and the Israeli operations in Gaza and the West Bank that followed it. EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED SABER