2020 World Press Photo Awards: Which six pictures made the shortlist for this year's prize?

Nominees have been announced for the annual World Press Photo competition, which celebrates the best visual journalism over the past year.

The selected photographs are chosen by an independent jury and exhibited. Take a look at the six nominees for World Press Photo of the Year, below.

Relative Mourns Flight ET 302 Crash Victim, by Mulugeta Ayene

A grieving relative is pictured throwing dirt onto her face at the site of the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 crash on 14 March 2019. The crash occurred on the 10th of March, minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa airport. All 157 people on board the Boeing 737 MAX plane died.

It later emerged that American Airlines pilots had confronted Boeing about potential safety issues with the MAX. Boeing had resisted their calls but promised a software fix, which had not been done by the time Flight ET302 crashed. Planes remained grounded into 2020.

Clash with the Police During an Anti-Government Demonstration, by Farouk Batiche

Students scuffle with riot police during an anti-government demonstration in Algiers, Algeria, on 21 May. Protests had been rocking the country since February, as activists first ousted the long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, before continuing to demonstrate against the military-backed caretaker government.

Protests continued into 2020 without successful resolution.

Straight Voice, by Yasuyoshi Chiba

Sudan was another country rocked by long-term protests in 2019, as the people demanded the end of al-Bashir's 30-year dictatorship. After a military coup, protests turned violent as government forces opened fire on unarmed civilians, with dozens of people being killed.

In this photograph taken by Yasuyoshi Chiba, a young man recites a poem during a protest for civilian rule during a blackout in Khartoum, Sudan, on 19 June.

Awakening, by Tomek Kaczor

Resignation Syndrome, which can affect traumatised children in the process of asylum, renders people passive, immobile, mute and unresponsive. It seems most common in Roma and Yazidi children and those from the Balkans.

Here a 15-year-old Armenian girl who had recently woken from a catatonic state brought on by Resignation Syndrome, sits in a wheelchair, flanked by her parents, in a refugee reception centre in Podkowa Leśna, Poland.

Injured Kurdish Fighter Receives Hospital Visit, by Ivor Prickett

A badly-burned SDF fighter, Ahmed Ibrahim, 18, is visited by his girlfriend at a hospital in Al-Hasakah, Syria, on 20 October. She had at first been reluctant to enter the room, as she was horrified by his injuries, but a nurse persuaded her to go in to hold Ahmed’s hand and have a short conversation.

The SDF were key in the defeat of Islamic State in Syria before Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria, which allowed Turkey to then attack their Kurdish enemy and attempt to wrest control over the territory from them.

Nothing Personal - the Back Office of War, by Nikita Teryoshin

Taken at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on 18 February, a businessman is pictured locking away a pair of anti-tank grenade launchers.

IDEX is the biggest defence exhibition and conference in the Middle East, and one of the biggest arms trade-fairs in the world.

Nominations for other categories are available on the World Press Photo website.