2024: The year in pictures

It began like any other campaign rally. On July 13, former President Donald Trump took the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, greeted his supporters and started his speech.

Then, in a flash, it was chaos.

Gunshots rang out — one of which struck the upper part of Trump’s right ear — Trump fell to the ground, and Secret Service agents rushed the stage to surround him. They then brought him to his feet and whisked him away from the scene as he raised a defiant fist in the air.

The shooter, identified by the FBI identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was positioned on a building rooftop just outside the rally venue. He was killed by the Secret Service. Trump survived, but one rally attendee, Corey Comperatore, was killed and two others were critically injured.

In the wake of the near assassination, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned. Months later, an independent panel of former law enforcement officials recommended a complete overhaul of Secret Service leadership after reviewing the agency’s security failures in Butler.

After months of stop-and-go negotiations between Israel and Hamas, there is seemingly no end to the war in sight.

Hopes for a ceasefire and hostage release deal have been shattered repeatedly. Talks remain stalled.

Hanging in the balance are the lives of dozens of Israeli hostages and Gaza’s population of 2.2 million, all trapped in a besieged enclave that has become a “hell on Earth,” according to aid agencies that have been pleading for a ceasefire to save lives.

Those who survive Israel’s bombardment — which has killed more than 44,000 people, according to Palestinian authorities — face what Gaza residents describe as a slow death under siege, with conditions growing more catastrophic by the day.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants launched a brutal air and ground assault in Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. Within hours of the terror attack, Israel struck back and mounted an all-out war in Gaza.

After more than three decades of Israeli restrictions on the flow of both people and goods into and out of Gaza, Palestinians in the enclave were already suffering from chronic shortages of food, clean water, electricity, medicine and housing. Many lived in refugee camps after experiencing generations of displacement.

When the year started, an election rematch seemed destined between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Biden, who defeated Trump in 2020 to become the oldest elected president ever, was seeking reelection at the age of 81. And Trump, despite his loss, continued to hold immense support among GOP voters as Republican challengers emerged but failed to gain traction. The primary season felt like a mere formality.

But by the summer, the race would change dramatically.

Paris hosted this year’s Summer Olympics, and it all started with a Parade of Nations unlike any we had ever seen.

Athletes traveled down the Seine River on boats, passing some of the French capital’s most iconic landmarks. The route ended in front of the famous Trocadéro, opposite the Eiffel Tower, where the Olympic cauldron was lit and French President Emmanuel Macron gave the official opening speech.

The United States went on to win the most medals in Paris (126) and tie China for the most golds (40). Leading the way was gymnastics superstar Simone Biles, who completed her comeback story by winning gold in both the team and individual all-around. Another one of the all-time great Olympians, swimmer Katie Ledecky, added two golds, a silver and a bronze to her career resume.

China was led by its dominant diving team, which won all eight events for an unprecedented sweep.

In track and field, world records were shattered by Swedish pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis and American hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Julien Alfred won Saint Lucia’s first-ever Olympic medal when she won the 100 meters.

The host nation had plenty to cheer for as well. France won gold in men’s volleyball and rugby sevens, swimmer Léon Marchand won four gold medals and a bronze, and judo legend Teddy Riner won two golds. Both the French men’s and women’s basketball teams earned silver medals while pushing the heavily favored Americans to the brink.

The Olympics wrapped up with the closing ceremony at the Stade de France, and the baton was passed to Los Angeles, which will be hosting the Games in 2028.

Nearly three years after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, the war drags on.

Ukraine has been struggling to hold back Russian advances at multiple locations along the front lines, which stretch for more than 600 miles. Russian forces continue to make incremental gains in the eastern Donbas region while Ukrainian units suffer from manpower shortages and are increasingly stretched.

The only gains for the Ukrainians this year have been inside Russia, where they launched a surprise incursion in the Kursk region in August. But that incursion hasn’t stopped Russia’s steady advancement in the eastern part of Ukraine, where its army chief warned in November that his forces were facing “one of the most powerful Russian offensives” since the start of the war.

Moscow has also unleashed near-constant waves of long-range drone strikes on Ukrainian cities, including the capital of Kyiv, in what appears to be a renewed effort to break the resolve of Ukrainian civilians.

Under the Biden administration, the United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, in the form of both weapons and budget assistance. But with the reelection of Donald Trump, Ukraine may soon have to adjust. Throughout his campaign, Trump cast strong doubts on continued US commitment to Kyiv.

Eight years ago, nearly all the world’s countries signed the Paris Agreement, which pledged to strive to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Scientists said this threshold would prevent cascading and worsening impacts such as droughts, heat waves and catastrophic sea level rise.

But data released in November by Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service shows 2024, the hottest year on record, is “virtually certain” to shoot above that threshold.

The consequences of the planet’s rapid warming haven’t been hard to find.