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2016: The Year In Photos

Updated

Violence shook the Middle East, migrants made dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean and Europe, and voting in the United Kingdom and the United States produced shock results. These photographs tell some of the stories that defined 2016. (44 PHOTOS)

Five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, dazed and with a bloodied face, sits with his sister inside an ambulance after they were rescued following an air strike in the rebel-held Al-Qaterji neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, on August 17. (Reuters/Mahmoud Rslan)
26 Five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, dazed and with a bloodied face, sits with his sister inside an ambulance after they were rescued following an air strike in the rebel-held Al-Qaterji neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, on August 17. (Reuters/Mahmoud Rslan)
Rescue teams search for victims in the rubble of the village of Lazio in Amatrice, Italy, on September 1.  A devastating 6.0 magnitude earthquake on August 24 left nearly 300 dead. (epa/Alessandro di Meo)
27 Rescue teams search for victims in the rubble of the village of Lazio in Amatrice, Italy, on September 1.  A devastating 6.0 magnitude earthquake on August 24 left nearly 300 dead. (epa/Alessandro di Meo)
A young eagle hunter at the World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan on September 6. (Amos Chapple, RFE/RL)
28 A young eagle hunter at the World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan on September 6. (Amos Chapple, RFE/RL)
Syrian men carrying babies make their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings after a reported air strike on the rebel-held Salihin neighborhood of Aleppo on September 11. (AFP/ Ameer Alhabi)
29 Syrian men carrying babies make their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings after a reported air strike on the rebel-held Salihin neighborhood of Aleppo on September 11. (AFP/ Ameer Alhabi)
Hungarian women in traditional dress leave a voting booth during a referendum on EU migrant quotas in Veresegyhaz on October 2. Nearly 98 percent of voters rejected mandatory migrant quotas, but low turnout rendered the vote invalid. (Reuters/Bernadett Szabo)
30 Hungarian women in traditional dress leave a voting booth during a referendum on EU migrant quotas in Veresegyhaz on October 2. Nearly 98 percent of voters rejected mandatory migrant quotas, but low turnout rendered the vote invalid. (Reuters/Bernadett Szabo)
Hasidic Jews celebrate the traditional Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, in Uman, Ukraine, on October 2. (TASS/Viktor Drachev)
31 Hasidic Jews celebrate the traditional Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, in Uman, Ukraine, on October 2. (TASS/Viktor Drachev)
A demolition crew works to dismantle the migrant camp known as "The Jungle" in Calais, northern France, on October 2. Some 6,000-8,000 people had been living there in dire conditions. (AFP/Philippe Huguen)
32 A demolition crew works to dismantle the migrant camp known as "The Jungle" in Calais, northern France, on October 2. Some 6,000-8,000 people had been living there in dire conditions. (AFP/Philippe Huguen)
Muslim women and other tourists relax at the Neve Zohar resort on the Dead Sea in Israel on October 18. (AFP/Menahem Kahana)
33 Muslim women and other tourists relax at the Neve Zohar resort on the Dead Sea in Israel on October 18. (AFP/Menahem Kahana)
A visitor inside the control room of Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine on November 7. The control room was the site where technicians realized that a test of the backup cooling system had malfunctioned on April 26, 1986, leading to the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster. (RFE/RL/Serhiy Korovayniy)
34 A visitor inside the control room of Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine on November 7. The control room was the site where technicians realized that a test of the backup cooling system had malfunctioned on April 26, 1986, leading to the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster. (RFE/RL/Serhiy Korovayniy)
A migrant prepares to take a bath outside a derelict warehouse in Belgrade, Serbia, on November 10. (Reuters/Marko Djurica)
35 A migrant prepares to take a bath outside a derelict warehouse in Belgrade, Serbia, on November 10. (Reuters/Marko Djurica)
Demonstrators protest against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in front of Trump Tower in New York City on November 12, four days after his surprise victory in the presidential election. (AFP/Kena Betancur)
36 Demonstrators protest against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in front of Trump Tower in New York City on November 12, four days after his surprise victory in the presidential election. (AFP/Kena Betancur)
People run after a coalition air strike hit positions held by Islamic State (IS) fighters in Mosul, Iraq, on November 17. Iraqi security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and Shi'ite militias were all engaged in a lengthy offensive to retake the city from IS control. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)
37 People run after a coalition air strike hit positions held by Islamic State (IS) fighters in Mosul, Iraq, on November 17. Iraqi security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and Shi'ite militias were all engaged in a lengthy offensive to retake the city from IS control. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)
A Ukrainian serviceman fires a machine gun in a clash with Russian-backed separatists near the village of Avdiyivka on November 22. (epa/Anatolii Stepanov)
38 A Ukrainian serviceman fires a machine gun in a clash with Russian-backed separatists near the village of Avdiyivka on November 22. (epa/Anatolii Stepanov)
Dead bodies already placed in body bags are scattered on the ground after a bombing in the Jibb al-Quebeh neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, on November 30. According to Syria's civil defense volunteer group, the White Helmets, 45 people displaced by the war were killed in a bombing on the rebel-held neighborhood. (epa/Aleppo Media Center/Jawad al-Rifai)
39 Dead bodies already placed in body bags are scattered on the ground after a bombing in the Jibb al-Quebeh neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, on November 30. According to Syria's civil defense volunteer group, the White Helmets, 45 people displaced by the war were killed in a bombing on the rebel-held neighborhood. (epa/Aleppo Media Center/Jawad al-Rifai)
People hold posters of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro while awaiting the arrival of a procession carrying his ashes in Las Tunas, Cuba, on December 2. Castro, who ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century, died aged 90 on November 25. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)
40 People hold posters of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro while awaiting the arrival of a procession carrying his ashes in Las Tunas, Cuba, on December 2. Castro, who ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century, died aged 90 on November 25. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)
A boy plays with a paper plane near the site of a plane crash in the village of Saddha Batolni near Abbottabad, Pakistan, on December 8. All 47 people on board the plane were killed in the December 7 crash, including Junaid Jamshed, a Pakistani pop star turned Muslim preacher. (Reuters/Faisal Mahmood)
41 A boy plays with a paper plane near the site of a plane crash in the village of Saddha Batolni near Abbottabad, Pakistan, on December 8. All 47 people on board the plane were killed in the December 7 crash, including Junaid Jamshed, a Pakistani pop star turned Muslim preacher. (Reuters/Faisal Mahmood)
People carry their belongings as they flee deeper into the remaining rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria, on December 13. Syrian government forces retook rebel-held territory after a lengthy siege and brutal fighting. (Reuters/Abdalrhman Ismai)
42 People carry their belongings as they flee deeper into the remaining rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria, on December 13. Syrian government forces retook rebel-held territory after a lengthy siege and brutal fighting. (Reuters/Abdalrhman Ismai)
An off-duty Turkish police officer, Mevlut Mert Altintas, shouts "Don't forget Aleppo!" moments after he shot and killed the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, at a photo exhibition in Ankara on December 19. Altintas was later killed by police in a shoot-out. (AP/Burhan Ozbilici)
43 An off-duty Turkish police officer, Mevlut Mert Altintas, shouts "Don't forget Aleppo!" moments after he shot and killed the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, at a photo exhibition in Ankara on December 19. Altintas was later killed by police in a shoot-out. (AP/Burhan Ozbilici)
A firefighter stands beside a truck which plowed into a crowded Christmas market in the German capital, Berlin, on December 19, killing 12 people. The suspected Berlin attacker, 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri, was shot dead by Italian police on December 23 after a European-wide manhunt. (Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke)
44 A firefighter stands beside a truck which plowed into a crowded Christmas market in the German capital, Berlin, on December 19, killing 12 people. The suspected Berlin attacker, 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri, was shot dead by Italian police on December 23 after a European-wide manhunt. (Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke)
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