Mass protests were met with violence in several countries, Notre Dame Cathedral burned, a comic actor became president of Ukraine before getting embroiled in a U.S. domestic political dispute, while a teenager inspired action and sparked controversy with her warnings about climate change: Here are some of the images capturing the biggest stories of 2019.
2019: The Year In Photos
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A woman stands at the side of a road on the outskirts of the town of Tal Tamr near the Syrian Kurdish town of Ras al-Ain along the border with Turkey on October 16. Smoke was used in an attempt to hamper the visibility of Turkish war planes during an offensive targeting Kurds in the border area. (AFP/Delil Souleiman)
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Hindu women worship in the polluted waters of the Yamuna River during the religious festival of Chatth Puja in New Delhi on November 3. (Reuters/Adnan Abidi)
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A mural on a building depicts Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg in downtown San Francisco, California, on November 12. It was painted by Argentinian artist Andres Iglesias. (epa-EFE/John G. Mabanglo)
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Riot police fire tear gas to disperse supporters of Bolivian ex-President Evo Morales and locals discontented with the political situation during a protest in La Paz on November 13. (AFP/Ronaldo Schemidt)
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A riot police officer stomps on an umbrella used by pro-democracy protesters during clashes outside Hong Kong Polytechnic University on November 18. (epa-EFE/Fazry Ismail)
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Riot police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against the government in Tbilisi, Georgia on November 18. (Reuters/Irakli Gedenidze)
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Pro-Russia separatists remove landmines near the settlement of Petrivske in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on November 19. (Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko)
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Women pass a branch of Iran's Melat Bank that was burned during protests over fuel prices in the city of Shahriar on November 20. Iran hiked gasoline prices by at least 50 percent earlier in November, prompting protests in various cities. (epa-EFE/Abedin Taherkenareh)
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A wounded protester is carried to receive first aid during clashes with security forces in Baghdad, Iraq, on November 28. Anti-government protests gripped the capital and the predominantly Shi'ite south, as activists accused leaders of corruption and allowing Iran's growing influence in Iraq's state affairs. (AP/Khalid Mohammed)
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U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks to the press before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on December 2 as the U.S. House of Representatives considered filing articles of impeachment against him. (Reuters/Tom Brenner)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (right), French President Emmanuel Macron (center), and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy gather at the Elysee Palace in Paris on December 9. It was the first meeting for Putin and Zelenskiy in an attempt to end five years of fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists. (Pool via AP/Christophe Petit Tesson)
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Migrants collect usable objects in a vacated campsite at Vucjak, northwestern Bosnia, on December 11, 2019. On the previous day, Bosnian authorities evacuated the camp due to the lack of running water and other facilities. (epa-EFE/Zoltan Balogh)
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Exit poll results projected on the BBC building in London shows British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party predicted to win 368 seats and a majority as the ballots begin to be counted in the general election on December 12, 2019. (AFP/Tolga Akmen)
