Introduction by Bernadette Tuazon, CNN Digital’s Director of Photography
December 1, 2025
In 2025, the world witnessed a relentless news cycle full of compelling and jarring images.
We saw the reemergence to power of President Donald Trump and the impact of his historic second term. The death of a beloved pope and the installation of another. The continuing war and conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine. And the growing and alarming evidence of a warming planet.
These major news stories — with an array of incredible but often tragic images — largely defined the year, but we also saw moments of joy and resilience.
The year started with Trump’s inauguration in January, which swiftly set in motion a barrage of executive orders on a range of domestic and international policies, including immigration, the economy and foreign relations.
The immigration crackdown in the US has been a follow-through on one of Trump’s biggest campaign promises. Throughout the year, photographers captured scenes around the country of unsuspecting immigrants being forcibly detained by masked ICE agents and many separated from their families.
In the spring, news of Pope Francis' death filled the streets of Vatican City as mourners paid their final respects to a dearly revered pope who led the Catholic Church for 12 years. His funeral was followed by a historic conclave summoning 133 cardinals to the Vatican. They elected the first US-born pope, Robert Prevost, who chose Leo XIV as his papal name.
All year we saw agonizing scenes from Gaza as Palestinians struggled for safety and survival amid the Israeli strikes that began after the Hamas terror attacks on October 7, 2023. We also bore witness to scenes showing widespread famine and starvation, with children clamoring for food. In October, there was joy in both Gaza and Israel when a US-brokered ceasefire agreement was announced to potentially end two years of bloodshed.
As the year progressed, we continued to see more and more photos showing the devastating effects of climate change. January’s catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles County destroyed entire neighborhoods and displaced tens of thousands of residents. In October, Hurricane Melissa ripped across the Caribbean as one of the strongest Atlantic storms in 150 years.
As always, our “Year in Pictures” is not just a showcase of the best images of the year but also an acknowledgement of the tireless work photographers do daily to provide audiences with visual evidence of what is going on around them.
Editor’s note:Some of these images are graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.
In focus
These were some of the biggest stories of the year. You can jump directly to a section, or keep scrolling to see everything.
Immigration crackdownImmigration crackdown
A new popeA new pope
Trump’s second termTrump’s second term
War in the Middle EastWar in the Middle East
The climate crisisThe climate crisis
The war in UkraineThe war in Ukraine
Volcanic ash rises into the air during the eruption of Mount Ibu in Indonesia on January 15.Azzam/AFP/Getty Images
US President Joe Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the White House Oval Office on January 15. He used his 19-minute address to frame his four-year presidency on his own terms — and to appeal for a brand of politics that he sees as rapidly disappearing.Mandel Ngan/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Bedlington terriers are gathered together after competing at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York on February 11. Andres Kudacki/Getty Images
Beyoncé sits atop a car prop in midair after a technical glitch during a Cowboy Carter concert in Houston on June 28. The singer was forced to temporarily stop the show after the red convertible prop, suspended by cables, began to tilt to the side during her song “16 Carriages.” Beyoncé was quickly lowered down without injury, according to her entertainment and management company.Julian Dakdouk/PictureGroup/Shutterstock
A crane retrieves wreckage from the Potomac River in Washington, DC, on February 3. A passenger plane, on approach to Reagan National Airport, collided with a US Army helicopter midair on January 29, sending both aircraft into the river. The collision killed 67 people. It is the deadliest aviation disaster in the United States since November 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed in New York, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground. Nathan Howard/Reuters
Adrien Brody throws his chewing gum to girlfriend Georgina Chapman during the Academy Awards show on March 2, after he won the best actor Oscar for his role in “The Brutalist.” It is the second time Brody has won the award. He won 22 years ago for “The Pianist.”Carlos Barria/Reuters
Displaced families from Khartoum, Sudan, gather under a tree July 31 at a former orphanage that had been turned into a camp in Al Junaynah, Sudan. Most of them fled Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, after intense fighting between the country’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The civil war in the country began in 2023 and millions have had to flee their homes to find safety. The UN has described it as “the most devastating humanitarian and displacement crisis in the world.”Moises Saman/Magnum Photos
Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old from Allen, Texas, reacts after winning the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on May 29. After correctly spelling his final word, “eclaircissement,” he pumped his fists and collapsed to the stage.Michael A. McCoy/The Washington Post/Getty Images
US Vice President Kamala Harris oversees the certification of Donald Trump's election victory during a joint session of Congress on January 6. Harris lost to Trump in the 2024 election.Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Cattle are seen on a ranch in Nuevo Palomas, Mexico, on March 4. Ranchers were awaiting clarification on the implementation of new US tariffs that had taken effect. Trump has used tariffs and the threat of tariffs this year to renegotiate trade deals with countries all over the world.Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters
A miner working in a coltan mine stands on a hillside in Rubaya, Democratic Republic of Congo, on May 1. The country is endowed with vast mineral wealth, including the world’s largest reserves of cobalt and coltan — both critical to the production of electronics. Cobalt is used to produce batteries that power cell phones and electric vehicles, while coltan is refined into tantalum, which has a variety of applications in phones and other devices. This year, there have been more than 100 armed groups fighting for control in Congo’s mineral-rich east. The conflict has displaced 7 million people.Eduardo Soteras/Panos Pictures
Orcas swim around a lone seal perched on a small ice floe near the Antarctic Circle on February 20.Roie Galitz
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani celebrates with supporters at his election-night rally in Brooklyn on November 4. Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist who has focused on working-class issues, is the city’s first Muslim mayor and the first South Asian to hold the office.Victor Llorente for The New Yorker
Coco Gauff celebrates after winning the French Open on June 7. The 21-year-old American defeated world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in a thrilling final. It was her second grand slam singles title. She’s the first American to win a singles title at Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 2015.Thibaud Moritz/AFP/Getty Images
Volunteers bury those who died during a week of clashes in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on February 4. Nearly 3,000 people had been killed in Goma, according to the United Nations, after the city was captured by rebels following days of fierce fighting with the Congolese army.Guerchom Ndebo/The New York Times/Redux
Lesly Karen Cornett stands among what’s left of her house in London, Kentucky, on May 18. A violent, tornado-spawning storm system tore across the central United States, leaving at least 25 people dead in Missouri and southeastern Kentucky. Cornett and her husband took shelter in their bathtub.Michael Swensen/Getty Images
Actor Harrison Ford arrives on the red carpet for the Screen Actors Guild Awards on February 23. Caroline Brehman/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, arrives to a hearing in New York on September 16. A judge dismissed the top two charges against Mangione: murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism. Mangione still faces a count of second-degree murder.Mike Segar/Reuters
Many of the arrests have been caught on camera, showing emotional scenes as families are ripped apart. The camera has also revealed, at times, some heavy-handed tactics by federal agents. In July, civil rights groups sued the Trump administrationto stop the government’s policy of allowing ICE officers to arrest undocumented immigrants who show up for immigration hearings at courthouses.
The Department of Homeland Security announced in late October that there had been more than 527,000 deportations since Trump returned to office.
Protesters face off with US Border Patrol agents as federal immigration agents carry out a raid at a legal marijuana farm in Camarillo, California, on July 10. Jaime Alanis, a 57-year-old farmworker, fell from a greenhouse roof during the raid and later died from his injuries. He is the first known person to die during one of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations.Ethan Noah Roy
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer yells and waves his finger at Monica Moreta-Galarza after shoving her into a wall and then pushing her to the ground at an immigration court in New York City on September 25. Her husband had just been detained by ICE and they were being wrestled away from each other. Moreta-Galarza and her family had open asylum claims, according to US Rep. Dan Goldman, whose district includes the courthouse. The ICE officer who pushed her was later “relieved of his current duties,” an official said. He was placed back on duty days later after a review of the incident, two US officials familiar with the matter told CBS News. Graham MacIndoe
A man waves a Mexican flag as smoke and flames rise from a burning vehicle during protests in downtown Los Angeles on June 8. President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 members of the National Guard to Los Angeles to disperse protests that began in response to immigration raids. Days later, he doubled that deployment while also mobilizing hundreds of US Marines to help protect federal personnel and property. Protests started out peacefully before picking up in scale and intensity. CNN reporters on the ground witnessed officers striking and pushing protesters and deploying tear gas into the crowd. Photos and videos on the ground showed cars being set on fire and protesters throwing objects onto police vehicles. Trump’s decision to federalize and deploy the National Guard against American citizens — the first time a US president has used such power since 1992 — was called unnecessary and inflammatory by Democratic leaders. David Swanson/Reuters
Margelis Tinoco, a migrant from Colombia, reacts in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, after learning that her appointment to seek asylum through US immigration courts had been canceled on January 20. It was inauguration day for President Donald Trump, and his administration moved with lightning speed to roll out his immigration agenda and effectively close off the southern border to asylum seekers.Paul Ratje/The New York Times/Redux
I have always placed a great importance in showing the humanity in the stories I'm photographing, so that the audience can better understand what these people go through.
Photographer Paul Ratje
Migrants bound for Colombia board a boat in Miramar, Panama, on February 27. They were returning from southern Mexico after abandoning their hopes of reaching the United States.Matias Delacroix/AP
Detained migrants sit on a US Air Force plane as they wait for a removal flight to take off in Tucson, Arizona, on January 23. Within hours of taking office, President Donald Trump signed a spate of executive actions on immigration. Incoming refugee flights were canceled, troops were moving to the border, federal authorities were given permission to arrest people in or near schools and churches, and the pool of undocumented immigrants eligible for quick deportation without a judicial hearing was expanded.Senior Airman Devlin Bishop/US Air Force
Two officers with the California Highway Patrol try to dodge rocks being thrown near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on June 8. President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to the city after protests over immigration raids turned into violent clashes between protesters and law enforcement. Jae C. Hong/AP
Protesters are reflected in a helmet visor in downtown Los Angeles on June 8. Law enforcement officials, including members of the National Guard, were trying to disperse protests that had begun in response to immigration raids.Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times/Redux
A woman from Peru signals through the barred and tinted windows of a bus after she was detained following an appearance at immigration court in San Antonio on June 23.Eric Gay/AP
Emma Wilkins, a 10-year-old who was kneeling down in front of state lawmakers and chanting “stop attacking my friends,” is asked to go back to her seat as a Tennessee state House committee votes on a bill in Nashville on March 26. The committee approved a bill that would let schools block undocumented children from enrolling, according to The Tennessean. Nicole Hester/The Tennessean/USA Today Network/Imagn Images
A federal agent wears a mask at an immigration court in New York City on July 16. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons has said federal officers are covering up to protect their families after some have been publicly identified and then harassed online, along with relatives. Carol Guzy
US Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino poses for a photo at CNN’s Chicago bureau on October 7. Bovino has become the on-the-ground face of President Donald Trump’s effort to surge federal law enforcement into blue states and cities regardless of whether local officials want them there. Mustafa Hussain for CNN
Los Angeles police officers on horseback hit protesters with wooden batons while moving them out of the street in front of City Hall on June 11. The protesters had been rallying against immigration raids.Jordan Gale
A serpentine border wall, separating Mexico from the United States, ends abruptly on the outskirts of Fort Hancock, Texas, on January 23.Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Panos Pictures/Redux
A deportee from Iran writes “help us” on her window at the Decapolis Hotel in Panama City on February 15. Nearly 300 migrants from Asia were sent to Panama from the United States as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, which it has pressured Latin American nations to help with. Some didn’t even know they were being flown to another country until they actually landed in Panama, according to attorney Ali Herischi, who said “they were told they’re going to Texas.”Federico Rios Escobar/The New York Times/Redux
A sister and brother play outside a family member’s apartment complex in California on November 7. Their parents had been deported after an immigration raid, leaving them in uncertainty. Across the country, US-born children have become collateral damage in the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants.Zaydee Sanchez for CNN
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March and later brought back to the United States to face federal criminal charges, holds his wife’s hand as he reports to a facility in Baltimore for an immigration check-in on August 25. He was taken into custody by immigration officials. Minutes later, his attorneys filed a new lawsuit urging a federal judge to order his release and slow down his removal process so he could have a chance to challenge his potential deportation. Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
Detainees form the letters SOS at the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, on April 28. Nearly 200 Venezuelan migrants allegedlyassociated with the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua were being held at the center while facing deportation. The Supreme Court had temporarily barred the Trump administration from using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations. Paul Ratje/Reuters
Anita and her daughters Scarlett and Ashley rest at their home in Brooklyn, New York, on October 4. The migrant family from Ecuador is adapting to a new normal after Anita’s husband, Hermel, was detained by ICE following an immigration court hearing in July. He recently made the difficult decision to voluntarily deport to Ecuador, photographer Carol Guzy said. Anita’s own hearing is looming.Carol Guzy
More than ever, the media is playing a crucial role in showing the effects of these policies on real people. It can be soul-crushing at times to bear witness, but it is vitally important.
Photographer Carol Guzy, writing for Nieman Reports
People record interactions with federal agents in Chicago on October 14. Chicago emerged as the center of tense standoffs between federal agents carrying out immigration enforcement operations and frustrated and angry community members protesting the Trump administration’s wide-ranging deportation campaign.Jamie Kelter Davis/The New York Times/Redux
A law enforcement officer points a crowd control weapon at a protester in Chicago on October 14. Federal agents deployed tear gas during a tense standoff with local residents over immigration enforcement. Agents had pursued and crashed into a vehicle as part of an immigration enforcement operation in the city’s far southeast side, leading to an angry response from residents.Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times/AP
Protesters clash with law enforcement outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on June 19. The building was the center of almost constant protests throughout the summer. Most of the protests outside the facility have been peaceful, but occasionally they have ended in the deployment of tear gas and the facility being closed for several days. In September, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memorandum announcing 200 members of the Oregon National Guard would be “called into Federal service effective immediately for a period of 60 days.” The city of Portland and the state of Oregon then filed a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration had overreached its mandate in federalizing the Oregon National Guard in response to unrest.Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images
Cristian David Marim Leiva is seen inside an ICE detention holding cell in the agency’s field office in New Orleans on April 14. His detentionwas documented by Time magazine. The 18-year-old high-school junior had showed up to the immigration office for a routine check-in early that morning and was expecting to go to class that day. Instead, he was arrested and later released on a $4,000 bond. He entered the country illegally four years ago to escape violence in Honduras, he told Time. Christopher Lee for Time
Family members welcome home deportees in Guatemala City, Guatemala, outside a government facility that served as a reception area on January 15.Daniele Volpe/The New York Times/Redux
A man runs into the United States from Mexico after passing through a hole in the border wall in Sunland Park, New Mexico, on January 28. Paul Ratje/The New York Times/Redux
An artistic swimming team from the United States competes at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on July 22. This photo was taken using an underwater robotic camera with a wide lens that was looking up at the swimmers and the arena. The lanes from the bottom of the pool are reflected by the surface of the water.Adam Pretty/Getty Images
Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes a playful face as he carries his chair from the House of Commons in Ottawa on March 10. Mark Carney was elected leader of Canada’s Liberal Party in a monthslong, high-stakes race to replace Trudeau after Trudeau resigned as party leader and prime minister. Trudeau had led the party for over a decade.Carlos Osorio/Reuters
Seagulls fight in a pond at St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, Ireland, on April 19.Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center foreground, poses for photographs before meeting with US senators in Washington, DC, on July 9 to discuss a potential ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. With Netanyahu, from left, are Montana Sen. Steve Daines, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell.Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The Mexican Navy training ship Cuauhtémoc is surrounded by emergency responders after it collided with the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on May 17. Two people were killed and more than a dozen were injured after the ship, which was carrying 277 people, lost power and struck the bottom of the bridge. The ship was on a global goodwill tour and en route to Iceland at the time of the incident, officials said. There was no visible damage to the bridge, which only temporarily closed.Dave Sanders/The New York Times/Redux
American skiing legend Lindsey Vonn celebrates her second-place finish in a World Cup super-G race in Sun Valley, Idaho, on March 23. The podium spot concluded Vonn’s comeback season at the age of 40. She came out of retirement this season after a partial knee replacement.Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Law enforcement officials work in New Orleans, where there was an attack earlier in the day on January 1. Fourteen people were killed and dozens were injured after a pickup truck was driven into a crowd of New Year’s revelerson Bourbon Street. The FBI identified US Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, as the suspect in the attack and called it a premeditated “act of terrorism.” Jabbar was killed in a firefight with police after the attack. Jabbar had an ISIS flag in his vehicle, and he said in videos made before the attack that he had joined the terror group, authorities said.Michael DeMocker/Getty Images
Ballerina Gillian Murphy is photographed at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York on June 30. Murphy retired in July after a 29-year career with the American Ballet Theater.Amir Hamja/The New York Times/Redux
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is photographed in Catania, Italy, on May 31, a day before she and 11 other activists set sail for Gaza. Their ship was going to try to reach the shores of Gaza to bring in some aid and raise “international awareness” over the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the activists said at a news conference. Thunberg was later detained by Israeli forces and deported after the Gaza-bound aid flotilla was intercepted.Alessio Mamo/Redux
A costumed man fires a rifle loaded with blanks during a parade in Mexico City on May 5. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Battle of Puebla, in which Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza led his outnumbered troops to victory against the French on May 5, 1862.Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images
An elephant arrives at its new home in Mazatlán, Mexico, on May 20. Organized crime and violence in the Mexican state of Sinaloa forced a local sanctuary to close and transfer at least 700 animals — including elephants, tigers, lions, ostriches, chickens, monkeys, crocodiles and hippos — to a new location that is 212 kilometers (approximately 131 miles) away.Felix Marquez/AP
A package of fentanyl is found hidden inside a vehicle door in Culiacán, Mexico, on June 11. Fentanyl has become the most common drug involved in overdose deaths in the United States, fueling what the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified as the “third wave” of the opioid overdose epidemic.Adriana Zehbrauskas/The New York Times/Redux
Josh Mahler, 12, dives for a ball he threw while attending a minor-league baseball game at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 15.Chancey Bush/Albuquerque Journal
Former US President Joe Biden pays his respects to Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, as they lie in state at the Minnesota Capitol Rotunda in St. Paul on June 27. The Hortmans, along with their golden retriever, Gilbert, were fatally shot in their home in May in what Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz described as “a politically motivated assassination.”Tim Evans/Reuters
Security personnel are seen in the city of Jammu, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, on May 11. After an intense day of fighting that threatened to spiral out of control, India and Pakistan unexpectedly agreed to an immediate ceasefire on May 10, halting the worst fighting in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors.Atul Loke/The New York Times/Redux
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is swarmed by teammates after the Dodgers won the World Series on November 2. Yamamoto finished Game 7 and shut down the Toronto Blue Jays as the Dodgers won 5-4 in 11 innings. Yamamoto was named World Series MVP, winning three games. The Dodgers are the first team to win back-to-back titles since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000.Patrick Smith/Getty Images
A ship sails near a large iceberg in Ilulissat, Greenland, on February 18. Since the 1990s, the amount of ice lost by the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets has quadrupled; they are currently losing around 370 billion tons a year. Ice sheet melting is the dominant contributor to rising seas, and the rate of annual sea level rise has doubled over the past 30 years.Emilio Morenatti/AP
Eve Baer hugs her son, Ian Berg, at their home in Woodstock, New York, on February 24. Berg has been unresponsive since suffering a severe brain injury in a car crash nearly 40 years ago. But, as detailed in The Atlantic, his mother has continued to care for him at home and has always been convinced that he was aware of the world around him. Doctors now confirm that she is right.Sarah Blesener for The Atlantic
Buddhists throw fake money at the Gunung Timur Temple to honor their ancestors during the Hungry Ghost Festival in Medan, Indonesia, on September 6. The festival is observed in Chinese communities, with offerings of food, incense and paper money to wandering spirits.YT Hariono/AFP/Getty Images
Ohio State football player TreVeyon Henderson holds the top of the team’s national championship trophy after Vice President JD Vance fumbled the base of it during an event at the White House on April 14.Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Francis, the first Latin American pope in history, died at the age of 88.
Many world leaders attended his funeral, most of which took place outside under bright sunshine in St. Peter’s Square. Vatican authorities said that more than 250,000 people participated in the service.
Cardinals pay their respects as the body of Pope Francis lies in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica on April 23.Stefano Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio/Vatican Pool/Getty Images
Cardinal Robert Prevost, the man who would later become Pope Leo XIV, leads a prayer service for Pope Francis at St. Peter's Square on March 3. Francis had been admitted to a hospital in Rome, where he was battling pneumonia in both of his lungs. Hannah McKay/Reuters
Nuns are among the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square on April 22, the day after Pope Francis died.Toby Hancock/CNN
Pope Francis’ coffin is carried into St. Peter's Basilica on April 23. Susana Vera/Reuters
People in Johannesburg pray during a memorial Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King on April 23.Themba Hadebe/AP
Mourners hold candles in Dili, East Timor, on April 26. The year before, an estimated crowd of 600,000 gathered for Pope Francis’ Mass in the country, according to local authorities.Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images
A person holds a rosary with a cross during Mass at the Sacred Heart Church in Bentong, Malaysia, on April 21.Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images
Worshippers mourn by the Stone of Anointing at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on April 21.Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
My first thought when I heard the tragic news was to pack my bags and leave for Rome immediately. … As a photographer I feel a strong responsibility (to capture stories) that will remain forever in history.
Photographer Alessio Paduano
People waiting in line to enter St. Peter’s Basilica and pay their respects to Pope Francis are reflected in a window on April 23. Alessio Paduano for CNN
People pay their respects to Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica on April 23.James Hill/The New York Times/Redux
A person peeks through a curtain during Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican on April 26. Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peter's Square at the start of his funeral on April 26. Although Francis simplified the papal funeral rites in a move of typical modesty, there was still plenty of pomp and pageantry.Bernadette Tuazon/CNN
Nuns watch Pope Francis’ funeral from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square on April 26. Andreea Alexandru/AP
Cardinals attend Pope Francis’ funeral on April 26. During Francis’ 12-year papacy, he appointed more than 20 cardinals from nations that had never previously had a cardinal — nearly all from developing countries, including Mongolia, Laos, Papua New Guinea and Mali.Bernadette Tuazon/CNN
The popemobile carries Francis’ coffin past the Colosseum in Rome after his funeral ceremony at the Vatican on April 26. About 150,000 people lined the 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) procession route from Vatican City through Rome.Gianni Cipriano/The New York Times/Redux
A white rose is placed on the tomb of Pope Francis in Rome on April 28. Popes are usually buried within Vatican City, beneath St. Peter’s Basilica. But Francis is the first pontiff in more than a century to be buried outside the Vatican. He requested a “simple” tomb a couple of miles away at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore — also known as St. Mary Major. The church has long held a special significance for Francis, who used to visit on Sunday mornings to honor the Virgin Mary.Bernat Armangue/AP
After nine days of mourning, all cardinals under the age of 80 convened to pick Francis’ successor. They would choose Robert Prevost to become the first US-born pontiff in history. Prevost took on the name Pope Leo XIV.
Leo, a 70-year-old from Chicago, spent much of his career as a missionary in South America and most recently led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments.
In his first speech, the new pope outlined his vision for the Catholic Church.
“We have to seek together to be a missionary church. A church that builds bridges and dialogue,” he said.
Cardinals gather in the Sistine Chapel on May 7 to begin choosing Pope Francis’ successor.Vatican Media/Reuters
A skullcap made for Pope Francis’ successor is displayed in the shop of Italian tailor Raniero Mancinelli. Mancinelli also counts bishops and cardinals among his clients.Alessio Paduano for CNN
Italian tailor Raniero Mancinelli works at his shop in Rome. For decades, Mancinelli has personally handcrafted the white cassocks that popes wear on the day of their election.Alessio Paduano for CNN
White smoke appears from the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on May 8, signaling that a new pope has been selected. Alessio Paduano for CNN
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on May 8. “Peace be with you all,” he said as he started his address.Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters
When it was later learned that he was an American, the groups of faithful from the United States went crazy with joy, with songs, shouts, smiles and stars-and-stripes flags.
Photographer Alessio Paduano
A man in St. Peter’s Square holds up an American flag as people cheer for the new pope on May 8. Pope Leo is the first US-born pope in history.Alessio Paduano for CNN
Pope Leo waves to people as he appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.Francesco Sforza/Vatican Media/Reuters
The mother of Rashik Khatiwada mourns her son during cremation rituals in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 16. Khatiwada, 23, died during the deadliest social unrest Nepal has seen in years. Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters
Australian water polo player Matthew Byrnes jumps into the water before a match at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on July 16.Adam Pretty/Getty Images
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro shows his electronic ankle bracelet after a meeting with his party’s parliament members on July 21. In September, Bolsonaro was found guilty of attempting to overturn the country’s 2022 election with a plot prosecutors say included plans to assassinate the president-elect in a bid to cling to power. Four out of five justices on a Brazilian Supreme Court panel voted to convict Bolsonaro on all five counts and sentence him to 27 years and three months in prison.Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress
Police tape is seen outside a damaged fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, after an explosion there on May 17. Authorities believe Guy Bartkus drove a car containing abomb to the clinic on May 17 and detonated it, killing himself, injuring several people and destroying the clinic’s building. Other nearby buildings were also damaged. Authorities say Bartkus had an anti-pro-life ideology — the belief that people should not be born without their consent.Gabriel Osorio/AFP/Getty Images
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen drives near his childhood home in Freehold, New Jersey, in June. Springsteen released over 80 never-heard songs this summer with his “Tracks II: The Lost Albums” collection. A Springsteen biopic, starring Jeremy Allen White, was also released in movie theaters this year.Daniel Arnold/The New York Times/Redux
A parent runs toward the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis on August 27. A shooter opened fire through the stained-glass windows of the church that day, killing two children and wounding 18 other people. The attack took place as students were attending a Mass to mark the first week of class at the Annunciation Catholic School. The shooter, who graduated from the school in 2017, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Star Tribune/Getty Images
A rainbow is seen in the distance as the Davis Darts and the Brighton Bengals compete in a high-school football game in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, on August 14.Tess Crowley/The Deseret News
Britain’s Prince William; Catherine, the Princess of Wales; and their children — from left, Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte — watch aircraft fly past Buckingham Palace during a VE Day parade in London on May 5. This year marked 80 years since the end of World War II in Europe.Frank Augstein/AP
Tramell Tillman reacts after he won the Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series (“Severance”) on September 14. He is the first Black man to win in the category.
Rescue workers search for survivors at the Jet Set nightclub after its roof collapsed in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on April 8. More than 200 people were killed.Eddy Vittini/AP
“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, center, performs with the original cast of the Broadway show to open the Tony Awards in New York on June 8. This year marked the 10th anniversary of “Hamilton.”Sara Krulwich/The New York Times/Redux
A protester’s dentures fly out of his mouth while running for cover as police officers on a motorcycle work to disperse a demonstration in Buenos Aires on March 5. Protesters were demanding higher pensions and opposing austerity measures implemented by Javier Milei's government.Rodrigo Abd/AP
Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Cooper DeJean runs through the end zone after he returned an interception for a touchdown during the second quarter of Super Bowl LIX on February 9. The Eagles dominated the game, crushing the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22.Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Rapper Kendrick Lamar performs at the start of the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans on February 9. Lamar is one of hip-hop’s most celebrated artists, and his performance came a week after he won five Grammy Awards, including song and record of the year for his hit “Not Like Us.”Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu reacts while listening during a House meeting at the State Capitol in Austin on August 20. The Texas House passed a redistricting bill that day, paving the way for a Republican-drawn map that could net the GOP as many as five US House seats in next year’s midterm elections. In November, a federal court blocked Texas from using the newly drawn map, ruling that the map is likely an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. That ruling wastemporarily blocked while the Supreme Court considered the case.Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Employees at a poultry store in New York clean cages and take away chickens to be slaughtered on February 7. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the state was temporarily shutting down all live bird markets in New York City and Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties after inspectors discovered seven cases of bird flu in poultry.Andres Kudacki/AP
Marquinhos, captain of soccer club Paris Saint-Germain, prepares to lift the UEFA Champions League trophy with his teammates in Munich, Germany, on May 31. PSG thrashed Inter Milan 5-0 to win the tournament for the first time in its history.Maja Hitij/UEFA/Getty Images
Postal worker Nate Chamberlain descends from the Grand Canyon as he begins his mail delivery route to the remote village of Supai, Arizona, on March 26. It's the last US Postal Service route to deliver mail by mule. Elliot Ross
A SpaceX capsule carrying three NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut lands off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, on March 18. The crew was returning to Earth from the International Space Station. Two of the astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, had been on the ISS since June 2024. They were only expected to be there for a week, but their spacecraft home encountered issues and their stay in space was extended for months. Keegan Barber/NASA/AP
A boy sleeps on sacks of garbage along the polluted Pasig River in Manila, Philippines, on June 5.Eloisa Lopez/Reuters
After delivering his inaugural speech in the Capitol Rotunda, where he vowed a new “golden age of America,” Trump began signing a stack of executive actions to immediately dismantle key policies of his predecessor. Among the actions Trump signed on day one: a crackdown on immigration, a withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization, and a pardon of about 1,500 people who were charged in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on January 20. First lady Melania Trump is holding the Bible. Trump’s inauguration ceremony was moved indoors, to the US Capitol Rotunda, because of dangerously cold temperatures projected in the nation’s capital. Morry Gash/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Marine One carries Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, from the US Capitol on Inauguration Day.Tristen Rouse/CNN
Trump reviews the troops at the Capitol Visitor Center’s Emancipation Hall during his inauguration. Rebecca Wright/CNN
Trump supporters pray as they watch the inauguration from the nearby Capital One Arena. Thousands of people who had tickets to attend the outdoor inauguration were not able to fit into the new indoor configuration at the Capitol.Will Lanzoni/CNN
The president and first lady arrive to dance at an inaugural ball in Washington, DC.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
After deciding the line was too long for the inaugural ball they planned on attending, Atlanta residents Kevin McCarthy and Janice Hall have an impromptu dance at a Starbucks in Washington, DC, on January 20.Stephen Voss for CNN
Security personnel oversee the arrival of migrants in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on February 7. The week before, the Trump administration began transporting migrants to Guantanamo Bay on US military aircraft, a move that sparked backlash from immigrant advocates and a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union over migrants’ lack of access to legal representation.Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, emerged as a major player at the start of Trump’s second term. Trump tasked Musk with overseeing significant cuts to the federal workforce as the head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The cuts started with the US Agency for International Development and then subsequently reached the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Internal Revenue Service, among others.
Trump and Musk fell out around the signing of what Trump called his “big, beautiful bill,” a massive package of tax and federal spending cuts and funding boosts for the Pentagon and border security. It was the first major legislative achievement of Trump’s second term, but he and Musk began publicly fighting about the bill on social media and in the Oval Office.
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump told reporters in June, less than one week after the two exchanged effusive praise on Musk’s last day as a special government employee. Musk would return to the White House in November to attend a dinner for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Trump is joined by Elon Musk and Musk’s 4-year-old son, X, during a question-and-answer session inside the White House Oval Office on February 11. Musk, the world’s richest man, was leading a sweeping effort to reshape the federal government. He defended his far-reaching moves to reporters: “The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what the people are going to get.” Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
It's interesting to be in the front seat of history and see all this happening, and the byproduct of what comes out of it.
Photographer Jim Watson
Trump greets Marc Fogel, an American teacher who was detained in Russia for more than three years, at the White House on February 11. The White House secured Fogel’s release in exchange for the release of accused Russian money launderer Alexander Vinnik, a Trump administration source told CNN.Evan Vucci/AP
Trump also had a very public argument with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this year. The disastrous meeting devolved right in front of the cameras before Zelensky and his delegation were told to leave. The two men appeared to have patched things up by April, when they met again at the Vatican on the sidelines of the pope’s funeral. They’ve continued to meet throughout the year as Trump tries to broker a peace deal with Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, gets into an argument with Trump and Vice President JD Vance during a disastrous meeting in the White House Oval Office on February 28. Zelensky and Vance were arguing about Russia’s war in Ukraine and the path to possible peace when Trump interjected: “You don’t have the cards right now.” The meeting was supposed to lead into the signing of a mineral rights deal, but instead, the Ukrainians were instructed to leave and Trump ordered a pause on shipments of US military aid. Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
US Rep. Al Green raises his cane and shouts in protest as Trump addresses a joint session of Congress on March 4. Green, a Texas Democrat known for his ardent anti-Trump bent, was given a verbal warning by House Speaker Mike Johnson before he was escorted out of the House chamber. Trump delivered the longest annual address in modern history, clocking in at roughly one hour and 39 minutes. He recapped his first 43 days in office and outlined his vision for the rest of his term. He also used his speech to relentlessly attack his opponents, blame his predecessor and air old grievances. It was one of the most partisan speeches to Congress, with almost none of the customary calls for unity.Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Sipa USA
Kanon Kennedy looks down as crews begin dismantling the Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, DC, on March 10. Republicans in Congress threatened to withhold funding for the district if it kept the two-block mural intact.Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Trump stands in the presidential box of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as he visits the venue in Washington, DC, on March 17. The Kennedy Center’s newly constituted board elected Trump as its chairman in February. During his visit, the president said the venue is ripe for an overhaul. Trump has faced blowback for his efforts to remake the center, with “Hamilton” the most high-profile show to cancel performances in the wake of Trump taking over the board. “I never liked ‘Hamilton’ very much,” Trump told reporters.Carlos Barria/Reuters
US Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado, points to a screenshot of a Signal group chat during a hearing of the House Select Committee on Intelligence on March 26. Top US intelligence officials were grilled by lawmakers two days after a report in The Atlantic revealed that members of Trump’s Cabinet used the messaging app Signal to discuss detailed operational plans about its mid-March military strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen. Trump called the Signal chat scandal the first real “glitch” of his second term. He ultimately pinned blame on then-national security adviser Mike Waltz, who added Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to the text thread.Kenny Holston/The New York Times/Redux
Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talk at the Vatican before the funeral of Pope Francis on April 26. It was their first face-to-face encounter since their disastrous White House meeting in February. Zelensky thanked Trump for the “good meeting” in a post on social media. A White House spokesman accompanying Trump said that the two leaders “had a very productive discussion.”Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/AP
People are seen on a hill overlooking the Yantian port in Shenzhen, China, on May 9. The yearslong trade war between China and the United States was amplified in February, when Trump imposed tariffs on the Asian nation as well as Canada and Mexico. Since then, the two have been entangled in a chaotic relationship, with tit-for-tat tariffs at times reaching triple-digit levels.Tingshu Wang/Reuters
Trump visits a synagogue at the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on May 16. The UAE was the final stop of Trump’s trip to the Middle East, the first major international trip of his second term. He also made stops in Qatar and Saudi Arabia as he looked to shore up relations with some of his key regional allies.Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
People watch a military parade in Washington, DC, on June 14. Trump, who turned 79 years old that day, had long pushed for the parade, which celebrated the 250th anniversary of the US Army. Dozens of tanks and fighting vehicles rolled through the capital’s streets.Eric Lee/The New York Times/Redux
A person gestures toward US Marines during a “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles on June 14. More than 2,000 protests took place across all 50 states through the No Kings movement, which organizers say seeks to reject “authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy.” The mobilization was a direct response to the military parade in Washington, DC, that celebrated the 250th anniversary of the US Army and coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday.David Ryder/Reuters
Protesters spell out “No King!” at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach on June 14.Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images
Trump addresses the nation after American warplanes bombed three nuclear sites inside Iran on June 21. Behind Trump, from left, are Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror,” Trump said during his four-minute speech from the White House Cross Hall. Iran, which insists its nuclear program is peaceful, retaliated by firing about a dozen ballistic missiles at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest US military installation in the Middle East. But Tehran tipped off both the United States and Qatar that the strike was coming, and air defenses were able to intercept all but one of the incoming Iranian missiles, according to US and Qatari officials. No deaths or injuries were reported in Qatar. In a social media post, Trump thanked Iran for warning the missile attack was coming. Later that day, he announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Carlos Barria/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, joins Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, right, on a tour of a migrant detention facility, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” in Ochopee, Florida, on July 1. The detention, processing and deportation camp for undocumented migrants is situated in Florida’s Everglades, the vast expanse of marshes and swamps that covers much of the southern part of the state. In September, a federal appeals court temporarily blocked a judge’s order requiring Florida and the federal government to shut down and dismantle the facility. It had been the subject of intense criticism for its treatment of migrants who had been confined there amid sweltering heat, bug infestations and meager meals. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
Republican members of Congress gather around House Speaker Mike Johnson after he signed Trump’s signature domestic policy bill in Washington, DC, on July 3. The signing of what Trump called his “big, beautiful bill” was the first major legislative achievement of his second term. It was centered on three of the most popular policies in the Republican party — addressing border security, bolstering the military and giving out tax cuts. It included some of Trump’s biggest promises from the campaign trail, including no taxes on tips or overtime pay, a funding boost for the Pentagon, and billions of dollars to help fund a nationwide immigration crackdown.Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
People fired from the US State Department leave the department’s headquarters in Washington, DC, on July 11. The State Department began firing more than 1,300 people that day as part of a dramatic overhaul of the agency, according to a State Department official. Trump administration officials defended the reorganization, arguing it was necessary to make the “bloated” agency more effective and aligned with the president’s priorities.Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times/Redux
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt calls on reporters during a briefing in Washington, DC, on July 17. During the briefing, Leavitt said Trump “would not recommend” a special prosecutor to investigate the Jeffrey Epstein case despite some GOP calls to do so. Epstein has been the subject of myriad conspiracy theories since he died in prison in 2019, and Trump’s relationship with the late convicted sex offender has been under scrutiny. In July, Trump dismissed the controversy as sordid and uninteresting, and his Justice Department announced that there was no Epstein “client list” and it didn’t plan to release any more documents in the investigation. He reversed his stance in November and ultimately signed a bill to release all the files tied to Epstein.Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
On the campaign trail last year, Trump said that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day. The reality has been much more complicated. Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in August, but a peace deal continues to be elusive.
Also in August, Trump deployed members of the National Guard and agents from numerous federal agencies throughout Washington, DC, as he temporarily placed the DC police department “under direct federal control.”
Trump has not shied away from using force in major American cities this year. His immigration crackdown has seen agents making arrests in raids from coast to coast. In June, Trump sent US Marines and members of the National Guard to Los Angeles after immigration protests intensified. His decision to deploy the National Guard against American citizens is the first time a US president has used such power since 1992. Trump has also tried deploying National Guard troops to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, though some have been ordered home amid ongoing legal battles.
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin leave at the end of a scheduled news conference in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, where they did not take questions. The two men met for nearly three hours that day and proclaimed progress, but there was no deal made to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Police and members of the Drug Enforcement Administration patrol the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, on August 15. Trump deployed members of the National Guard and agents from numerous federal agencies throughout the nation's capital after announcing that he was temporarily placing the DC police department “under direct federal control.” Trump said the move was aimed at restoring order in the city. The president had repeatedly complained about rising crime in DC, though violent crime in the nation’s capital fell in 2024 and was falling in 2025, too, at the time of the president’s announcement. Alex Kent/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Joyce Baucom, accompanied by her son Jonathon and support dog Little Mother, sleeps outside the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, on August 23. They had lived on the street for about a year. Jonathon suffers from kidney failure and was on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. Because he is immunocompromised, he and his mother avoid staying in shelters. Days after Trump began his federal law enforcement surge in DC, he posted on Truth Social that the homeless must move out “IMMEDIATELY,” pledging: “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.”Astrid Riecken/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Trump and his Cabinet are reflected in a mirror while meeting at the White House on August 26. Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux
(Trump) does like to drive the narrative, and he’s very good at that.
Photographer Doug Mills
Employees at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bid farewell to top officials as they were escorted out of the agency’s main office in Atlanta on August 28. The officials resigned their positions after the ouster of the agency’s director, Dr. Susan Monarez. Monarez was removed from her position less than a month after being sworn in. Just weeks into her tenure, she had clashed with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy over vaccine policy and her refusal to fire several veteran CDC leaders, according to people familiar with the situation. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
A flag frames a Trump banner hanging at the Department of Labor in Washington, DC, on September 1.Matt McClain/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before the Senate Finance Committee in Washington, DC, on September 4. Kennedy answered questions on a variety of topics, including vaccines, recent staffing changes and increasing calls for him to resign. He often fired back at lawmakers during his testimony, which was praised by the White House. Some of the pointed questioning came from Republicans who voted to confirm Kennedy.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
A federal agent sprays the Rev. David Black as he and other protesters demonstrated outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on September 19. Trump’s immigration crackdown this year has often led to protesters clashing with police. Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times/AP
A crowd of hundreds of US generals and admirals from around the world listen as Trump delivers remarks at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, on September 30. In his speech, Trump suggested the generals and admirals would be crucial to his fight against the “enemy from within” and could use the homeland as a “training ground.”Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux
A protester stands in the haze of a smoke grenade outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on October 4. A federal judge in Oregon granted a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard into Portland after the president announced he would send in troops to protect what he calls a “war-ravaged” city. The president and his administration cited weekslong demonstrations outside the Portland ICE facility, framing them as “violent riots” tied to “Antifa domestic terrorists.” Local officials disputed that characterization, claiming in the lawsuit that protests were small until Trump’s National Guard announcement brought renewed attention to them. The state has also called the president’s portrayal of the city “wildly hyperbolic.”Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Trump poses for a portrait in the White House Oval Office on October 21.Stephen Voss for Time
Construction workers, bottom right, stand atop the US Treasury building and watch as demolition work continues on the East Wing of the White House on October 23. The entirety of the East Wing appeared to have been knocked down as Trump moved ahead with plans to construct a massive new ballroom. Various presidents have added on to the White House in their own ways over the years, but this is the first change to the building’s facade since the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, when the current East Wing was constructed.Jacquelyn Martin/AP
House Speaker Mike Johnson, fourth from left, is joined by other Republican lawmakers at a news conference to discuss the federal government shutdown on October 28. The government was shut down for 43 days this year — the longest shutdown in US history. It ended when Trump signed a funding package on November 12, hours after a deal was struck between Republicans and centrist Senate Democrats.Kylie Cooper/Reuters
A woman wearing a Statue of Liberty-style headpiece attends a protest in Washington, DC, on November 5. The protest marked one year since Trump was elected president a second time.Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Trump stands at his desk after a guest fainted during an Oval Office event about lowering certain drug prices on November 6. The event was paused and resumed later. Trump said the man was “fine” and being attended to by a doctor.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene attends a news conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the US Capitol on November 18. Greene in recent months has been pushing for the release of the Epstein files. Later in the month, she announced that she would resign from office in January, stunning some in her own party after a shocking, monthslong political pivot that catapulted her from one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies to one of his top antagonists.Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
President Donald Trump is reflected in a mirror as he and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman walk along the White House Colonnade on November 18. The crown prince was welcomed to the White House with all the trappings of a state visit, including a black-tie dinner in the East Room.Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times/Redux
Seagulls swarm around a fishing boat while two fishermen gut their catch of Atlantic cod in Ilulissat, Greenland, on January 19.Ivor Prickett/Panos Pictures
Beyoncé is joined by her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, as she accepts the album of the year Grammy in Los Angeles on February 2. Beyoncé has won moreGrammy Awards than anyone in history, but she had never won album of the year until this year, when her genre-bending “Cowboy Carter” took top honors.Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
A lioness receives dental treatment from the animal welfare organization Four Paws at a former zoo on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on October 30.Irina Dambrauskas/Reuters
A family gathers in the roofless remains of their destroyed apartment in Daraya, Syria, on June 27. Millions of Syrians still await reconstruction aid followingthe fall of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship. Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times/Redux
From left, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrive at amilitary parade in Beijing on September 3. Xi presided over the parade, which marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Xi, Putin and Kimhad never appeared together in public before. Alexander Kazakov/Kremlin/Sputnik/AP
Synchronous fireflies glow in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, on June 3.Saul Young/News Sentinel/USA Today Network/Imagn Images
Singer Sabrina Carpenter, center, performs during the MTV Video Music Awards in Elmont, New York, on September 7. Carpenter performed her new song, “Tears,” with backup support from drag performers made famous by the reality series “Drag Race,” as well as dancers dressed as police officers. Some of those on stage with her held signs with messages that read “In Trans We Trust” and “Protect Trans Rights.”John Shearer/Getty Images for MTV
Tourists swim with a sea lion in the waters off Ecuador’s Floreana Island on August 27. Todd Heisler/The New York Times/Redux
Former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein appears for his sex crimes retrial in New York on June 11. Weinstein was convicted of one of the top charges inhis retrial, but he was acquitted of another. The judge declared a mistrial on a third charge,according to Reuters. Steven Hirsch/Pool/Getty Images
Emergency crews respond to a shooting and fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, on September 28. The assailant plowed his truck into the chapel, shooting worshippers with an assault weapon and setting the building on fire before dying in a shootout with police. At least four people were killed in the attack.David Guralnick/Detroit News/AP
A protester lights flares in Marseille, France, on September 18. Hundreds of thousands of people took part inanti-austerity protests across France, unions said, urging President Emmanuel Macron and his new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to acknowledge their anger and scrap looming budget cuts.Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images
Swimming legend Katie Ledecky celebrates after she broke her own world record in the 800-meter freestyle on May 3. She recorded a time of 8:04.12 at the TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale, shaving six-tenths of a second off her previous record and finishing almost 20 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
People take selfies and celebrate at the Singha Durbar, the seat of Nepal’s government’s various ministries and offices, after it was set on fire duringprotests in Kathmandu on September 9. Nepali protesters, angered by a bloody crackdown, defied a police curfew and took over the streets of the capital, setting fire to the Supreme Court, parliament and other government buildings. Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned from office.Niranjan Shrestha/AP
A person’s hands are tied outside Columbia University’s graduation ceremony in New York on May 21.Videos showed Columbia students chanting “Free Mahmoud” and booing acting university president Claire Shipman during her commencement speech. Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia’s student protest movement demanding a ceasefire in Gaza,was arrested and detained by federal agents on March 8. His lawyer said his green card was revoked by the Trump administration. He was held at adetention center in Louisiana for more than three months until a judgeordered his release in June. Alex Kent/The New York Times
Builders work at a construction site of standard factory buildings in Wuhu, China, on August 25. Work schedules were adjusted to avoid peak temperatures.Xiao Benxiang/VCG/Getty Images
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk hands out “Make America Great Again” hats before speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10. Kirk, a conservative political activist, co-founder of Turning Point USA and ally of US President Donald Trump, was fatally shot while answering questions at the event. The assassination sent shockwaves across the political spectrum, with Republicans and Democrats calling for an end to political violence at a time of heightened concern about deadly attacks and the targeting of public officials.Tess Crowley/The Deseret News/AP
People react after Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10. Kirk, 31, courted young voters and used his network of nonprofits to turn out voters on campuses and churches in 2024. President Donald Trump has credited Kirk with galvanizing and mobilizing the youth vote for him. The suspect in the shooting, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson,has been charged with aggravated murder. Tess Crowley/The Deseret News/AP
People visit a tribute for Charlie Kirk at the headquarters of his nonprofit, Turning Point USA, in Phoenix on September 21.Cheney Orr/Reuters
Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, speaks at his memorial in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21. Tens of thousands of supporters filled State Farm Stadium to pay their respects.Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
The Stena Immaculate, a tanker transporting jet fuel for the US military, is anchored in the North Sea off the coast of England on March 11.A cargo ship smashed into it, sparking fears of a potential environmental disaster.Dan Kitwood/Pool/AP
Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel returns from a nearly weeklong suspension on September 23. In an emotional monologue, Kimmel assailed “anti-American” efforts to curtail free speech in the United States and signaled that he won’t temper his criticism of President Donald Trump. He also addressed his remarks about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer that led ABC to halt production of his show.Randy Holmes/Disney/Getty Images
It delivered the first reprieve for the people in Gaza in more than a year and only the second since the Israeli bombardment began in 2023 in response to the deadly terror attacks carried out by Hamas militants on October 7 of that year. The ceasefire allowed vital humanitarian aid inside the enclave, and some Israeli hostages were swapped for Palestinian prisoners.
The deal collapsed in March, however, as Israel carried out a wave of deadly strikes in the enclave which killed more than 400 people, according to Palestinian authorities. Israel justified the strikes by accusing Hamas of refusing to release hostages or accept a ceasefire extension, which Hamas denied.
For 11 weeks, Israel blocked all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, saying it was meant to pressure Hamas to release hostages. It ended its total blockade in late May, but extreme hunger continued across the enclave. As the conflict continued, international outrage grew over starvation in Gaza. In July, more than 100 international humanitarian organizations issued a joint statement, calling on Israel to restore the full flow of food, clean water and medical supplies to Gaza and agree to a ceasefire.
Israel had previously blamed Hamas for its decision to halt aid shipments, alleging the militant group was stealing supplies and profiting from it. Hamas denied this allegation. Israel also said it was allowing ample aid into the besieged territory, but aid agencies and multiple Western nations said the amount of food reaching Gaza’s population under strict Israeli control was a fraction of what was needed.
Ali Marouf and his mother, Aisha, cook on the roof of their house in Jabalya, Gaza, on March 17, after it had been destroyed by anIsraeli air and ground offensive in the territory.Jehad Alshrafi/AP
Wounded children are carried to a hospital in Gaza City after a school sheltering displacedPalestinians was hit by an Israeli airstrike on April 3.Saher Alghorra/The New York Times/Redux
A Palestinian boy holds a book as he sits in the rubble of a house April 29 following Israeli strikes at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
My life is divided between work, family and the daily struggle for food and water. … On top of all this exhaustion, the scenes we photograph only add to our psychological defeat and human suffering.
Palestinian photographer Eyad Baba
Five-year-old Osama al-Raqab undergoes treatment at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, on May 31. Osama’s mother told The Associated Press that his cystic fibrosis had worsened due to the lack of meat, fish and enzyme tablets he needed to help him digest food. Israel halted all humanitarian aid into Gaza in early March, with government officials saying their goal was to force Hamas to accept new ceasefire terms and release hostages. The ban meant no supplies entered the territory for 11 weeks, pushing Gaza’s 2.1 million people deeper into a hunger crisis. Haitham Imad/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Emily Damari, left, lies in bed with her partner, Danielle Amit, and Amit’s dog, Mayo, at her home in Rishpon, Israel, on June 10. Damari was among those kidnapped by Hamas during its attack on October 7, 2023. She was released in January as part of a short-lived ceasefire and hostage exchange deal. Avishag Shaar-Yashuv/The New York Times/Redux
In June, Israel also launched strikes against Iran, targeting its nuclear program and military leaders. The United States struck three nuclear sites inside Iran as well. The aim, they said, was stopping Tehran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons. The targets included Iran’s largest uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “the heart of Iran’s ballistic missiles program.” He said the operation would continue “for as many days as it takes” to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat.
An oil storage facility burns in Tehran, Iran, after being hit by Israeli airstrikes on June 15. Israel launched unprecedented strikes against Iran on June 13, saying the operation was aimed at stopping Tehran’s rapid progress in developing nuclear weapons. Several of the most important men in Iran’s military and nuclear program were killed in Israel’s initial strikes, which targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz and what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “the heart of Iran’s ballistic missiles program.” The United States also struck three nuclear sites inside Iran on June 21. Iran retaliated with strikes against Israel and a US military base in Qatar. A ceasefire deal was reached later that month. Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times/Redux
Palestinians run for cover after an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza on June 15.Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
People in Tel Aviv, Israel, take shelter after a missile alert warned of an incoming attack from Iran on June 16. Avishag Shaar-Yashuv/The New York Times/Redux
Two men debate the Iran-Israel conflict in Tehran, Iran, on June 17, while smoke rises in the distance. The smoke was coming from a burning oil refinery that had been struck by Israeli airstrikes west of the capital.Farhad Babaei/Laif/Redux
Missiles launched from Iran are intercepted near Ashkelon, Israel, on June 15.Amir Cohen/Reuters
Palestinians flock to an aid center to receive food in Gaza City on June 17. Humanitarian organizations at the time said that aid entering the enclave was only a tiny fraction of what was needed. Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/Anadolu/Getty Images
Israeli soldiers survey destruction following an Iranian missile attack in Bat Yam, Israel, on June 24.Avishag Shaar-Yashuv/The New York Times/Redux
Dr. Abeer Al-Gharbawi, left, performs surgery under the illumination of a battery-powered light during a power outage at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on July 4. Hospitals in Gaza said that fuel shortages were forcing them to shut off vital services, putting patients’ lives at risk.Jehad Alshrafi/AP
An injured boy reacts as he sits on the ground near wounded men at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, Gaza, on July 20. At least 73 people were killed and around 150 people injured by Israeli gunfire in Gaza while seeking aid that day, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The Israel Defense Forces said that troops had “fired warning shots in order to remove an immediate threat posed to them” after “a gathering of thousands of Gazans was identified in the northern Gaza Strip.”AFP/Getty Images
Young Palestinians wait for a charity organization to distribute food in Gaza City on July 24. There has been growing international outrage this year over starvation in Gaza. In August, a report by a United Nations-backed initiative said that parts of the enclave were officially experiencing a “man-made” famine. Scores of people — most of them children — have died of malnutrition since October 2023, the Palestinian health ministry said. Israel rejected the report, saying it “relies on partial, biased data and superficial information originating from Hamas.” Israel has at times restricted or cut off the entry of aid to the ravaged enclave to force Hamas to release the hostages and agree to a ceasefire. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid – which it has denied. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images
Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid that was airdropped from a plane in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on August 5. Proponents of airdrops say they can act as an additional means to deliver aid to hard-to-reach areas within a short period of time. But human rights agencies repeatedly condemned the method as an inefficient way of getting aid to Palestinians in Gaza, with pallets of supplies having crushed Palestinians in the past. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
Demonstrators gather around a fire on a street in Tel Aviv, Israel, on August 2 as they call for an end to the war with Hamas and a ceasefire deal to release all remaining hostages.Tamir Kalifa
The world’s attention was focused on the devastation and destruction in Gaza but for many Israelis, there was no greater priority than the safe return of the hostages.
Photographer Tamir Kalifa
Relatives and colleagues of Reuters cameraman Hussam Al-Masri mourn over his body ahead of his funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza, on August 25. Israel faced global condemnation for back-to-back strikes on the biggest hospital in southern Gaza that week. At least 22 people were killed, including health workers, emergency response crews and five journalists. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conceded the incident was a “tragic mishap.” But the Israeli military defended the assault on the hospital, claiming that six “terrorists” had been killed in the attack, which it said was directed at a “camera that was positioned by Hamas.” It insisted that the IDF “does not intentionally target civilians.” Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu/Getty Images
A boy eats a pita bread sandwich while looking from the window of a vehicle in Gaza on September 2. People were evacuating Gaza City ahead of a planned ground operation by the Israeli military. Israel launched its ground incursion later that month. Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
Four siblings from the Mqat family — from left, Oussama, Rajab, Darine and Ritaj — play together on September 11 after arriving in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on a medical evacuation flight from Gaza. Rajab, 10, was hurt in an airstrike in March and needed medical treatment, according to The New York Times. Natalie Naccache/The New York Times/Redux
The body of 2-year-old Malek Al-Zaqzouq, who was killed in an Israeli military strike, is prepared for burial at Al-Aqsa Hospital before his funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on September 22.Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
In October, joy filled the streets of both Gaza and Israel when a breakthrough plan was announced to potentially end two years of bloodshed. The first phase of the plan, proposed by US President Donald Trump, was to include the release of all Israeli hostages, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza to an agreed-upon line, and the release of some Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
The last 20 living hostages held in Gaza were released on October 13, prompting elation and relief throughout Israel. Meanwhile, crowds in Gaza celebrated the release of more than 1,700 Palestinian detainees. Potential sticking points remain, including Hamas disarmament and the governance of Gaza, but for the most part the ceasefire has held.
Many displaced Palestinians, however, are returning home to find that little is left standing. Much of northern Gaza has been reduced to rubble over the past two years. Aerial footage shows vast stretches of land with nothing but ruins. There’s no infrastructure, no electricity and no running water.
People in Tel Aviv, Israel, cheer the release of hostages on October 13. The last 20 living hostages held in Gaza were released that day, prompting elation and relief throughout Israel. Crowds in Gaza, meanwhile, celebrated the release of more than 1,700 Palestinian detainees freed as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.David Guttenfelder/The New York Times/Redux
Palestinian detainees released by Israel wave from a bus as they arrive at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 13.Saher Alghorra/The New York Times/Redux
Ziv Berman, one of the Israeli hostages released by Hamas, reacts after arriving at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, on October 13.Avishag Shaar-Yashuv/The New York Times/Redux
The return of the hostages from Gaza stirred profound emotions across (Israel), turning the freed captives into powerful symbols for so many people here.
Israeli photographer Avishag Shar-Yashuv
People walk at an intersection in Gaza City on October 15. Many of the buildings have been destroyed by Israeli bombardments over the last two years.AP
People swim in the River Seine in Paris on August 12. Parts of the country were in the midst of a heat wave. Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
The shadow of the Blue Ghost lunar lander is seen on the surface of the moon asthe uncrewed spacecraft touched down on March 2. A parade of lunar landers developed by the private sector launched this year, part of a convoy of robotic spacecraft that NASA and its partner agencies hope will pave the way for astronauts to return to the moon’s surface later this decade.Firefly Aerospace
US President Donald Trump watches Chelsea captain Reece James lift the FIFA Club World Cup trophy after the final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 13. There appeared to be some confusion among the Chelsea players as to whether they should wait for Trump to leave before proceeding with the ceremonial trophy lift. Typically in soccer, the trophy lift is for the players and staff of the winning team. But after a few moments, Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez — standing on the other side of Trump —motioned for James to go ahead with Trump standing center stage. Carl Recine/FIFA/Getty Images
A whirling dervish stands in front of Turkish police officers who were using pepper spray to disperse protesters at a rally in Istanbul on March 23. Protests had been taking place across Turkey amid anger overthe jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu – the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Imamoglu was arrested on corruption charges at his home just days before he was to be nominated as a candidate in the 2028 presidential election. He has denied the charges against him.Yasin Akgul/AFP/Getty Images
US Sens. Mitch McConnell, left, and Jim Justice high-five each other near an elevator at the US Capitol on February 20. McConnell, the former Senate Republican leader, announced that day thathe would not be running for reelection in 2026. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Images
Academy Awards host Conan O’Brien lies over the red carpet as it’s laid out February 26 ahead of the show in Los Angeles.Philip Cheung/The New York Times/Redux
Racers take to the track during a preliminary heat of the T-Rex World Championship Races in Auburn, Washington, on June 29.Lindsey Wasson/AP
Dylan Mortensen gets a hug after speaking at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on July 23. Kohberger, who murdered four University of Idaho students in 2022,was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Kyle Green/Pool/AP
After using fentanyl, Austin Draper lies on the bed in his apartment on the edge of San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood on September 9. He has suffered from recurring endocarditis, a heart infection caused by his injection drug use. HIs battle with drug addiction was documented by the San Francisco Chronicle. Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images
Denver Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin, right, catches a touchdown pass duringthe Broncos’ comeback win over the New York Giants on October 19. The Broncos overturned a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to win 33-32. They scored all 33 of their points in the fourth quarter.Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
A person photographs a tornado in Clear Lake, South Dakota, on June 28.Ty Newcomb
Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert, center, accepts an Emmy Award from actor Bryan Cranston on September 14. Colbert’s show won outstanding talk series for the first time. The win came a couple of months after CBS, citing financial pressures, said it wascanceling Colbert’s show after the end of the broadcast TV season in May 2026.Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images
A player kicks a penalty shot during the final of the Al-Qudah tournament in Egypt on October 9.Mahmoud Khaled/Getty Images
A girl offers Tarawih prayers to mark the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on February 28.Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images
Lightning strikes over the Las Vegas Strip during a severe thunderstorm on September 6.Ethan Miller/Getty Images
People take part in a J’ouvert celebration in Brooklyn, New York, on September 1. J’Ouvert is a pre-dawn reverie with roots in the emancipation of enslaved people in the Caribbean.Christian Monterrosa/Reuters
A meerkat sits on a tiny chair at the Peak Wildlife Park in central England on April 11.Martin Rickett/PA Wire
Actress Cynthia Erivo is seen backstage at the Academy Awards on March 2. Erivo was nominated for best actress for her role in the musical “Wicked.”John Shearer/97th Oscars/The Academy/Getty Images
In this image taken from video, passengers walk away from a Delta Air Lines jet thatcrash-landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport on February 17. All 80 people on the plane survived the crash, which happened on a gusty day following a heavy snowfall.Peter Koukov/Handout/Reuters
Rory McIlroy celebrates after sinking a putt to win the Masters tournament on April 13. With his dramatic playoff victory, the 35-year-old became just the sixth player in history to complete the career grand slam. He joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only men to win all four majors.Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivor Danielle Bensky, left, and Lauren Hersh, the national director of the coalition World Without Exploitation, embrace each other in Washington, DC, after learning that the US Senate had agreed to pass the Epstein files legislation on November 18. President Donald Trump would eventually sign a bill directing the Justice Department to publicly release all records amassed by federal prosecutors during the sex trafficking investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.Heather Diehl/Getty Images
The climate crisis
Apocalyptic scenes spread across Los Angeles County in January, as multiple wildfires scorched thousands of homes and devastated entire neighborhoods.
The Eaton and Palisades fires that month were the most destructive wildfires in Southern California’s history, and climate change played a role, providing the conditions that first increased plant growth in the region and then dried those plants to tinder. Climate change can be blamed for around 25% of the fuel available for the fires, according to scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles. They said the fires were larger and burned hotter than they would have in a world without planet-warming fossil fuel pollution.
Throughout the year, we witnessed many more examples of how the climate crisis is fueling more intense disasters — often at the cost of human lives.
In July, four months’ worth of rain fell in just hours in central Texas, causing flooding that killed at least 136 people.
In October, Hurricane Melissa, one of the most powerful storms in more than 150 years, tore across the Caribbean, unleashing widespread destruction in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas. It had estimated maximum sustained winds of 185 mph.
A wildfire ravages the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 7.Ethan Swope/AP
Hurricane Melissa is seen in a satellite photo just a few hours before the powerful Category 5 storm made landfall in Jamaica on October 28, with estimated maximum sustained winds of 185 mph. Melissa, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in more than 150 years, tore across the Caribbean, unleashing widespread destruction in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas.European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-2
Yaseen, a 15-year-old boy, sleeps inside a tent during a heat wave that forced villagers in a brick-making settlement to seek shelter outdoors in Islamabad, Pakistan, on May 16.Adrees Latif/Reuters
A helmsman uses a long wooden pole to steer his pirogue through a flooded residential area of Gatumba, Burundi, on May 9. Climate change has made flooding more frequent on nearby Lake Tanganyika, which has been above its normal level since 2018. Some residents have been displaced from their homes for years. Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images
The Dragon Bravo Fire burns on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona on July 14. The fast-moving wildfire destroyed a historic lodge and dozens of other structures in Grand Canyon National Park. The fire began with a lightning strike on July 4. Authorities first used a “confine and contain” strategy, according to the Associated Press, but shifted to aggressive suppression when the fire started to grow rapidly because of high temperatures, low humidity and strong wind gusts.Michael Chow/The Republic/USA Today Network/Imagn Images
People carry the bodies of flooding victims after funeral prayers at a village near Pir Baba in northwest Pakistan on August 16. Pakistan, home to around 250 million people, is one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. It faces the double punch of searing heat waves and heavy monsoon rains — this year, both have been relentless. Muhammad Sajjad/AP
A snorkeler swims past large Porites — coral boulders that are hundreds of years old — in Australia’s Ningaloo Reef on April 8. The Porites have been drained of color by the stress of a severe and prolonged marine heat wave. Oceans are now storing 90% of the excess heat from global warming — and each of the last eight years has set a new record for the amount of heat stored in the ocean. As of May, mass global bleaching that began in 2023 had spread to at least 82 countries and territories, impacting almost 84% of the world’s reefs. In March, for the first time ever, World Heritage-listed reefs on either side of Australia bleached in unison — Ningaloo in the west and the Great Barrier Reef in the east.Nush Freedman for CNN
It's pretty heartbreaking to see these places that you love — and that you have a really personal connection to — change so much.
Photographer Nush Freedman
A cat sits on a couch outside a mobile home in Pikeville, Kentucky, following flooding in the neighborhood on February 17. Severe storms with torrential rains caused intense flooding in Kentucky and parts of Florida and Georgia. Jon Cherry/Getty Images
Firefighters work to put out a wildfire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 7. Philip Cheung/The New York Times/Redux
Arturo Huidobro, center, prepares to remove dead pigs from a farm following heavy rainfall and flooding in Poza Rica, Mexico, on October 11. The rains were triggered by the convergence of two tropical storms churning off Mexico’s western coast, and arrived at the end of an already unusually heavy rainy season that left rivers overflowing and hillsides weakened.Felix Marquez/AP
Matthias Huss, director of the Swiss glacier monitoring group GLAMOS, stands at the Rhone Glacier near Goms, Switzerland, on June 10. The glacier is partially covered with sheets to insulate the ice from the sun and warm air. Experts say Swiss glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. Years of little snowfall and high summer temperatures are driving the rapid melting.Matthias Schrader/AP
A worker arranges pepper plants in a greenhouse in Jos, Nigeria, on February 28. The greenhouse uses smart technology that monitors factors like air quality and soil conditions, helping small farmers protect their crops from the effects of climate change. Olympia de Maismont/AFP/Getty Images
A man and a child cool off in canal water on a hot day in Peshawar, Pakistan, on June 12.Fayaz Aziz/Reuters
Remnants of old houses from the long submerged Greek village of Kallio can be seen on November 3 after drought caused the man-made Lake Mornos to shrink. Kallio was flooded in 1980 to create a reservoir serving the water needs of the capital of Athens. But the lake has shrunk dramatically over the past few years. Scientists say extreme weather linked to climate change is now driving the decline. Greece’s arid Mediterranean climate is particularly susceptible to the effects of global warming, which has also worsened summer wildfires, including blazes that reached the outskirts of Athens this year.Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images
Underwater channels are seen in a salt pond at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Newark, California, on May 22. The vibrant color is a result of the water’s salinity. For centuries, San Francisco's Bay Area has been a center for salt extraction, causing striking, unnatural colors to form. The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project will eventually transform 15,100 acres of industrial salt ponds back to tidal marshes. “Over the last 150 years, the San Francisco Bay has lost about 80 to 90 percent of its wetlands,” said Donna Ball, the project’s lead scientist. “Restoring tidal marshes in that area will be a line of defense against sea level rise and climate change.” Noah Berger
People wade through mud after flooding in Poza Rica, Mexico, on October 14. Dozens of people died in central and eastern Mexico because of landslides and flooding caused by torrential rains, the government confirmed.Hector Quintanar/AFP/Getty Images
Firefighters help a man from a flooded apartment in Taiwan’s Hualien County on September 24. Typhoon Ragasa triggered landslides, flooding and huge waves as it barreled through the region. The Philippines, Taiwan and southern China experience multiple typhoons annually, but the human-caused climate crisis has made storms more unpredictable and extreme.Lam Yik Fei/The New York Times/Redux
This aerial photo, taken on October 29, shows buildings destroyed in Black River, Jamaica, after Hurricane Melissa. The country’s infrastructure has taken a battering, leaving it “severely compromised,” according to Desmond McKenzie, Jamaica’s minister of local government and community development.Ricardo Makyn/AFP/Getty Images
People crowd around a closed supermarket, asking for supplies in Black River, Jamaica, on October 30 after Hurricane Melissa slammed into the country.Matias Delacroix/AP
Firefighters work to extinguish a wildfire in As Fermosas, Spain, on August 16. Europe is on track for its worst wildfire season on record as swaths of the continent — including Portugal, France, Spain, Albania and Greece — battled raging, deadly fires and temperatures that soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Nacho Doce/Reuters
Shepherds lead a flock of sheep across a drought-affected field on the outskirts of Qamishli, Syria, on June 2. Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images
Houses are submerged in water in Blatten, Switzerland, on August 24. A few months earlier, a landslide from a destabilized Alpine glacier buried part of the mountain village which had been evacuated ahead of time. Debris from the same landslide choked a nearby river, flooding the town.Sean Gallup/Getty Images
The sun sets over the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on July 6. Four months’ worth of rain fell in just hours in central Texas, causing catastrophic flooding that claimed the lives of at least 136 people. Hundreds of others were rescued, many by helicopter, authorities said.Brandon Bell/Getty Images
A view inside of a cabin at Camp Mystic, the summer camp in Hunt, Texas, where 25 girls and two counselors died in flooding from the nearby Guadalupe River. This photo was taken on July 5, a day after the disaster.Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
A girl wades through a flooded street August 9 on Tibaguin Island in Hagonoy, Philippines. The island was partially submerged by seawater amid rising tides.Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
Shay Martin, left, and her husband, Tanner, hold hands after the birth of their daughter, AmyLou, in American Fork, Utah, on May 15. Tanner, who was battling terminal colon cancer, died the next month at the age of 30.The family’s story was documented by The Washington Post.Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Fire damage is seen at the Pennsylvania governor’s residence in Harrisburg on April 13. A 38-year-old manwas charged with attempted homicide, aggravated arson, terrorism and other crimes after police say his homemade Molotov cocktail attack forced Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family to flee the mansion. They were not hurt. The suspectpleaded guilty in October and was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.Commonwealth Media Services
Players from Inter Miami and Paris Saint-Germain look to gain possession of the ball during a FIFA Club World Cup match in Atlanta on June 29. Clockwise, from bottom left, are Inter Miami’s Tadeo Allende, PSG’s Vitinha, Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi, PSG’s Lucas Hernandez and PSG’s Warren Zaire-Emery.Shaun Botterill/FIFA/Getty Images
Singer Taylor Swift and talk-show host Jimmy Fallon listen to Swift’s new album, “Life of a Showgirl,” during a “Tonight Show” episode that aired on October 6.Todd Owyoung/NBC/Getty Images
Police investigators work outside a Midtown Manhattan office building where alone gunman killed four people and injured a fifth on July 28. It was the deadliest mass shooting in New York City since 2000. The gunman died by suicide, police said.Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
A rare albino alligator named Claude is reflected in water as it sits in its enclosure at the California Academy of Sciences, a museum in San Francisco, on September 17. Claude recently turned 30.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Jasim Alhasan waits to undergo kidney dialysis at the Abu Hamam Hospital in Deir Ez-Zur, Syria, on June 22, before heading to the capital of Damascus for a kidney transplant. Medical clinics in Syria have been overwhelmed as some facilities have been forced to close due to cuts to foreign-aid budgets, most notablythe dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development earlier this year. Staff members at the Abu Hamam Hospital, run by the French health-care group Mehad, said their dialysis center was operating over normal capacity to meet the needs of their existing patients. Four other Mehad dialysis centers in Syria had been shut down due to a lack of renewed funding, the organization said.Ed Ram/Getty Images
Janice Combs, mother of Sean "Diddy" Combs, waves as she leaves a federal courthouse in New York on July 2. Her son had just been found guilty by a federal jury on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but he was acquitted of the most serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. A judge in Octobersentenced him to four years and two months in prison. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers captured this lightning sprite from the International Space Station while the ISS was over Mexico and the United States on July 3. “Sprites are TLEs or Transient Luminous Events, that happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below,”Ayers said in a social media post. Nichole Ayers/NASA
People take part in the annual Mermaid Parade at New York’s Coney Island on June 21. The annual Mermaid Parade marks the beginning of summer in the city and pays tribute to Coney Island’s Mardi Gras celebrations from the early 1900s.Craig T Fruchtman/Getty Images
Zion, a migrant from South Sudan, sits inside a municipal hall in Agyia, on the Greek island of Crete, on July 13.Nicolas Economou/Reuters
Mountaineers approach the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal on May 18.Kunga Sherpa/AP
Dr. Walaa Sulaiman looks inside her former apartment after returning to Khartoum, Sudan, on April 23. She and her family had fled the capital 20 months earlier because ofthe country’s civil war. Giles Clarke for Avaaz/CNN
This image of the planetary nebula NGC 2899 was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on April 23. It is approximately 4,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Vela.NASA/ESA/STScI
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma hugs Huskies star Paige Bueckers as she comes off the floor late in the NCAA Tournament final on April 6.UConn crushed South Carolina 82-59 to win the school’s 12th national title in women’s college basketball. No other school has more titles. Bueckers would later getpicked No. 1 overall in the WNBA Draft. John Raoux/AP
A giant dust storm, known meteorologically as a haboob, approaches the Phoenix metropolitan area on August 25.The towering wall of dust plunged the city into near-zero visibility and was quickly followed by severe thunderstorms.Ross D. Franklin/AP
Geordie Beamish, a runner from New Zealand, tries to avoid the foot of Canada’s Jean-Simon Desgagnés after falling during a steeplechase race at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on September 13.Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
A visitor is illuminated by a rainbow created by prisms at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, on November 24.Matt McClain/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Iconic singer Diana Ross attends the annual Met Gala in New York on May 5. Her 60-pound, 18-foot-long train was embroidered with the names of all of her children and grandchildren.Kevin Mazur/MG25/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
A woman takes a picture of her dog in front of what’s left of a Banksy mural in London on September 11.The artist’s creation, at the Royal Courts of Justice, portrayed a judge beating a protester with a gavel. It was scrubbed from the wall.Jaimi Joy/Reuters
A person wearing an alien mask is seen at a Thom Browne fashion show duringParis Fashion Week on October 6. Cha Gonzalez for CNN
The war in Ukraine
It has been nearly four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the war has shown no signs of letting up.
The attacks came after recent attempts at a peace deal have stalled, leaving Kyiv’s Western allies frustrated. US President Donald Trump met separately this year with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but there has been no breakthrough.
Drone warfare has picked up over the past year, especially on the Russian side that can launch hundreds in a single night. In June, Ukrainian forces launched an audacious and sophisticated counter-assault that saw drones hit targets across a large swath of Russia. The attack destroyed dozens of Russian warplanes parked at air bases thousands of miles from the front lines, according to a source in the country’s security services.
A woman says goodbye to her 17-year-old grandson, Roman Martynyuk, during a funeral in Korostyshiv, Ukraine, on May 28. Martynyuk and his younger siblings Tamara and Stanislav were among those killed in a massive Russian aerial attack that targeted Ukraine with missiles and drones. Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
A Ukrainian soldier fires an antiaircraft weapon at Russian drones in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on June 4. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times/Redux
A woman comforts her daughter at the funeral for Ruslan Hanuschak in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on January 18. Hanuschak, a Ukrainian soldier, was killed in action. Carl Court/Getty Images
A member of Ukraine’s military fires on the Russian front line near Kupiansk, Ukraine, on May 15.Tyler Hicks/The New York Times/Redux
Multiple wounds cover the face of Kostiantyn Bychek at a hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 25. Bychek was injured in a Russian strike on a residential neighborhood.Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
I often try to keep a cool head to do my job, but at the end of a hard day it becomes difficult to step away from what I have seen.
Photographer Evgeniy Maloletka
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire after shelling in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region of Ukraine on June 30. Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Yulia Vasiakina cries as she hugs her horse, Kamelia, in Odesa, Ukraine, on July 11. Kamelia was killed inside a stable during a Russian drone attack.David Guttenfelder/The New York Times/Redux
Funeral workers bury the coffins of 15-year-old children Danylo Nikittskyi and Alina Kutsenko during a funeral ceremony in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, on April 7. A Russian missile attack in Kryvyi Rih killed at least 19 people, including nine children. It was one of the deadliest strikes this year in the conflict.Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Two women embrace in a shelter during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 7.Svet Jacqueline
A rescue worker takes a break at the site of a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, on April 13. Ballistic missiles ripped through the busy center of Sumy, officials said, killing at least 35 people and striking terror into residents who were out enjoying Palm Sunday and attending morning church services.Roman Pilipey/AFP/Getty Images
This satellite image, taken on June 4, shows destroyed aircraft at an air base in Russia’s Irkutsk region. Ukrainian forces destroyed dozens of Russian warplanes parked at air bases thousands of miles from the front lines, according to a source in the country’s security services.Vantor
A family sleeps on the platform of a metro station as they take cover from a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 10. Hundreds of Russian drones flying from all directions attacked Kyiv overnight. Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
A woman carries her pet dogs as she runs from her apartment block after Russian aerial bombs exploded in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on July 24.David Guttenfelder/The New York Times/Redux
A Ukrainian air defense unit fires at Russian drones in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine on August 10.Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Buildings are destroyed in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, on July 24. Chasiv Yar had a pre-war population of 12,000 but is now in ruins after two years of airstrikes and artillery attacks.Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images
The frontlines are increasingly harder to report on with drone warfare, and the attacks in Kyiv this summer and fall have been relentless. In the same breath, the increased risks have made every story within Ukraine feel that much more important, and the role of journalism more crucial as well.
Photographer Svet Jacqueline
Serhii Nakhalenko cries as he holds his youngest son, Danylo, as he and his wife, Natalia, arrive with their other children at an evacuation transit area in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on August 18.Ed Ram/The Washington Post/Getty Images
A rescuer attends to a victim outside a residential building after a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on August 28. Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images
Oleksandr, a former Ukrainian prisoner of war, embraces his mother, Olha, after a prisoner swap with Russia on April 19.Alina Smutko/Reuters
A machine gun and a flak jacket of a Ukrainian serviceman are seen on a wall near the front-line town of Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, on July 22.Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukrainian Armed Forces/Reuters
Police officers in Kyiv, Ukraine, help an injured woman leave her house, which was damaged by a Russian airstrike on April 24. Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Children rest in a school shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, during an air alert that lasted more than three hours on September 2.Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
Kateryna, a senior lieutenant and the Ukrainian Army’s only female combat pilot, wipes down her helicopter’s windshield after returning from a front-line mission in eastern Ukraine on April 30.Oksana Parafeniuk/The New York Times/Redux
Ukrainian service members prepare a combat drone near the eastern city of Kupiansk on June 6.Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters
Makdelina Desta, one of the founders of the group known as Addis Girls Skate, hangs out with her friends in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in February. Photographer Chantal Pinzi documented Desta’s all-female skateboarding group, which is shredding stereotypes in the African country.Chantal Pinzi
Aelan Vaast, a professional surfer from French Polynesia, trains in a wave pool at the Surftown MUC complex in Hallbergmoos, Germany, on October 7.Adam Pretty/Getty Images
A police officer looks at the wreckage of a passenger plane that crashed into a residential area shortly after taking off from an airport in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12. Only one of the 242 people on board the Air India flight survived, according to the airline. In addition to those on board, people on the ground were killed when the plane crashed into the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel. In total, at least 290 people had died, a senior doctor at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital told CNN. Adnan Abidi/Reuters
A blacksmith sharpens knives at a shop in Karachi, Pakistan, ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha on June 5.Rizwan Tabassum/AFP/Getty Images
Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min, left, and Rodrigo Bentancur celebrate after defeating Manchester United in the Europa League final in Bilbao, Spain, on May 21. It was the London club’s first trophy in 17 years.Alex Pantling/UEFA/Getty Images
Spectators sit on boats and watch a film during the Muyuna Floating Film Festival in Iquitos, Peru, on May 24.Hugo Curotto/AFP/Getty Images
Lady Gaga performs at the Coachella music festival in Indio, California, on April 11.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Coachella
Cast members from the TV show “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia” are reflected in various mirrors as they pose for a portrait in Burbank, California, on May 5.Sinna Nasseri for The New York Times
Singer Benson Boone performs at New York’s Madison Square Garden on September 5 as part of his American Heart World Tour.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Law enforcement officers are seen near the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta during an active shooting on August 8. One first responder, DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose, was killed in the shooting. The gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin dives to the ice in celebration after he broke Wayne Gretzky’s record to become the NHL’s all-time leading goalscorer on April 6. Ovechkin scored the record-breaking goal — the 895th goal of his career — during a road game against the New York Islanders.Sarah Stier/Getty Images
A demonstrator blows soap bubbles next to a member of the Buenos Aires police during a protest in the Argentine capital on August 6. The protest, in opposition of President Javier Milei, was held after he vetoed a pension increase and a bill strengthening protections for people with disabilities, which lawmakers had passed in July.Agustin Marcarian/Reuters
The northern lights glow over St. Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, England, on November 12. Solar storms created a dazzling display of auroras across regions where they are rarely witnessed.Owen Humphreys/PA Images/Getty Images
Zainab, 3 months old, lies on the lap of her 14-year-old sister, Wuhaiba Hamed, in the Tujur Hospital in Sudan on January 25. Zainab’s mother died giving birth to her. The civil war in Sudan has led to what the United Nations has called “the most devastating humanitarian and displacement crisis in the world.”Simon Townsley/Panos Pictures
Kermit the Frog speaks during the University of Maryland's commencement ceremony on May 22. Kermit’s creator, Jim Henson, attended the school decades ago.John T. Consoli/University of Maryland
A rare two-headed California kingsnake is held at the East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley, California, on April 29. The snake, named Angel and Zeke, died in September, just a day short of its first birthday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images
Former US Vice President Kamala Harris waves while visiting Essence Communications in New York as part of her book tour on September 24. Harris wrote “107 Days,” a memoir about her 2024 presidential campaign.Yunghi Kim/Contact Press Images for CNN
A combine skirts around a pair of sinkholes as it harvests wheat in a field in Karapinar, Turkey, on July 23. The two sinkholes formed side by side, one year apart. One is 20 meters (65.6 feet) deep and 45 meters (147.6 feet) wide, and the other is 40 meters (131.2 feet) deep and about 20 meters (65.6 feet) wide. Over the last 10-20 years, as a result of decreasing rainfall due to climate change and excessive use of groundwater for agricultural activities, large sinkholes have been emerging one after the other in Karapinar, also known in Turkish as the Obruk Platosu (sinkhole plateau).Onur Coban/Panos Pictures
A polar bear is seen in front of an abandoned research station on Kolyuchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia, in the country’s Far East, on September 14.Vadim Makhorov/AP
