2009: The Year In Photos
1
The body of the Russian lawyer Stanislav Markelov, who was representing a Chechen family in court, lies on the ground after he was shot dead in Moscow on January 19. His murder has become a symbol of lawlessness and human rights abuses in Chechnya.
2
U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance after his inauguration on January 20.
3
Russian Patriarch Kirill kisses a golden cross after the National Orthodox Church Council elected him to replace Patriarch Aleksy II, who died in December.
4
Female students wave Iranian flags on the 30th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran on February 10.
5
A Kosovar man adjusts Albanian national flags in the town of Kacanik, southeast of Pristina, on February 15, as Kosovo prepared to celebrate the first anniversary of its declaration of independence from Serbia.
6
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (right) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov show the "reset" button that Clinton presented to Moscow as a gesture of improving relations. Due to a translation error, the text on the button read "reset" in English and "overload" in Russian.
7
Iraqi female police cadets train with AK-47 machine guns in Karbala, south of Baghdad, on March 26.
8
Members of the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi (Ours) throw shoes at a basketball hoop bearing a picture of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Moscow on April 1.
9
U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a speech near a statue of the first Czechoslovak president, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, in Prague on April 5. In his speech, Obama outlined his vision of world nuclear disarmament.
10
Moldovans wave flags at a rally in Chisinau on April 8. The Communist Party's disputed election victory sparked violent clashes and riots in the capital.
11
Iranian snipers in full camouflage take part in an Army Day parade in Tehran on April 18.
12
An Iranian police officer sprays tear gas at a supporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Musavi during riots in Tehran on June 13.
13
A still from a video shows Iranian men trying to help Neda Agha-Soltan after she was fatally wounded by gunfire during a protest in Tehran on June 20. Her image was adopted as a symbol of resistance against the Iranian regime.
14
A poster made by Iranian fans adorns a makeshift shrine to pop music legend Michael Jackson outside the Jackson family compound in Encino, California. Jackson died on June 25 at the age of 50.
15
Ethnic Uyghurs carry a woman who fainted during clashes between members of the Uyghur minority and Han Chinese in Urumqi in China's far west Xinjiang Province on July 7.
16
Russian police detain opposition protesters during their March of Dissent on Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square.
17
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin does the butterfly stroke while vacationing outside the town of Kyzyl in southern Siberia on August 3.
18
People in Tskhinvali, the capital of the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia, mourn the victims of the 2008 Russian-Georgian war on August 8, a year after the conflict began.
19
Iranian opposition supporters cover their faces as they go on trial in Tehran on August 8 for their alleged roles in the postelection unrest.
20
Thousands of supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah wait for him to arrive at a campaign rally in central Afghanistan on August 14. Abdullah lost to incumbent Hamid Karzai in the vote, which was marred by widespread fraud.
21
Imams pray in the city of Bulgar in the Russian republic of Chuvashia on August 17.
22
Volunteers carry the body of a victim after a bombing at a police compound in Nazran, Ingushetia, on August 17.
23
Russian emergency rescuers work at the scene of an accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in Siberia on August 19. At least 75 people died in the flood caused by equipment failure at the plant.
24
A young Afghan woman shows a finger marked with ink after she cast her vote in the presidential election on August 20 in Kabul.
25
A Polish veteran watches a military formation in Gdansk on September 1, the anniversary of the start of World War II in 1939.