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Agustina Cañamero, 81, and Pascual Pérez, 84, hug and kiss through a plastic film screen to avoid contracting the new coronavirus at a nursing home in Spain. June 22, 2020
Agustina Cañamero, 81, and Pascual Pérez, 84, hug and kiss through a plastic film screen to avoid contracting the new coronavirus at a nursing home in Spain. June 22, 2020 -  Copyright  Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo
Copyright Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo
Copyright Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo

In pictures: 2020's biggest news stories month by month

By Natalia Liubchenkova
Published on •Updated
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A selection of the most outstanding photographs which marked 2020's biggest headlines, shown chronologically in the months they happened.

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It was a year that we won’t ever forget; 2020 transformed the lives of almost each and everyone of us to an extent we could never have imagined before.

Navigating the pandemic has been a remarkable journey, documented in some of this year’s most striking images. There were, however, plenty of other events that made the headlines this year, reflected in our selection of outstanding photographs which we have presented chronologically below.

January

SGT Christopher Dickson/ADF via AP
New South Wales Fire and Rescue station officer looks out the window of an aircraft as a warm glow from wildfires near Coffs Harbour filters through the window. January 5 SGT Christopher Dickson/ADF via AP
Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo
Rescue workers search the scene where a Ukrainian plane crashed in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran. January 8, 2020 Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo
Aaron Favila/AP Photo
Animal volunteers search for pets left by owners as they fled to evacuation centres after Taal volcano eruption in Lemery, Batangas, southern Philippines. 15 January 2020 Aaron Favila/AP Photo
Abdulaziz Ketaz/ AFP
A Syrian boy is evacuated after a regime airstrike on Ariha town in Syria's last major opposition bastion of Idlib on January 15, 2020 Abdulaziz Ketaz/ AFP
Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo
Harvey Weinstein leaves a Manhattan courthouse after a second day of jury selection for his trial on rape and sexual assault charges. January 16, 2020 Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo
Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP
A man waves Union flags from a car as he drives past Brexit supporters gathering in London, on the day the UK formally left the European Union. January 31, 2020 Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP

February

Ibrahim Yasouf/AFP
Members of a Syrian family fleeing attacks by pro-regime forces, drive past a burning shop in the town of Abin Semaan in the countryside west of Aleppo. February 12, 2020 Ibrahim Yasouf/AFP
Oli Scarff/AFP
A woman looks out of her window as geese swim past in floodwater after the River Severn bursts its banks in Bewdley, west of Birmingham. February 16, 2020 Oli Scarff/AFP
Alex Brandon/AP Photo
President Donald Trump throws rose petals during a ceremony at the Raj Ghat Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, in New Delhi, India. February 25, 2020 Alex Brandon/AP Photo Alex Brandon

March

Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo
A police volunteer is disinfected to prevent the spread of coronavirus COVID-19, in Pamplona, northern Spain. March 22, 2020 Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo
Christopher Dolan/ The Scranton Times-Tribune via AP
Prepackaged communion is distributed to believers attending mass in their cars at the Shoppes at Montage in Moosic, Pennsylvania, USA. March 22, 2020 Christopher Dolan/ The Scranton Times-Tribune via AP
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP
Neighbours talk to each other from their balconies in Paris, amid a strict lockdown to stop the spread of the COVID-19. March 28, 2020 MARTIN BUREAU/AFP
Marco Longari/AFP
Residents of a Hillbrow buliding watch as police make sure everyone observes lockdown. Johannesburg, South Africa. March 28, 2020 Marco Longari/AFP

April

John Minchillo/AP Photo
Workers wearing personal protective equipment bury bodies in a trench on Hart Island, in the Bronx borough of New York. April 9, 2020 John Minchillo/AP Photo
Mohammed Abed/AFP
A Palestinian mother entertains her children with makeshift masks made of cabbage in the northern Gaza Strip during the COVID-19 pandemic. April 16, 2020 Mohammed Abed/AFP
Aaron Favila/AP Photo
A health worker wearing a protective suit is disinfected in a portable tent outside the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Centre in Manila, Philippines. April 27, 2020 Aaron Favila/AP Photo
Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo
Women clerics wearing personal protective equipment arrive at a cemetery to prepare the body of a person who died from COVID-19 for a funeral, in Ghaemshahr, Iran. April 30 Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo

May

Nataliia Liubchenkova/ Euronews
Trocadero Square in Paris stands nearly empty during a strict lockdown in France. May 10, 2020 Nataliia Liubchenkova/ Euronews
Oded Balilty/AP Photo
Members of the Israeli Mermaid Community swim with mermaid tails at the beachfront in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, Israel. May 23, 2020 Oded Balilty/AP Photo
John Minchillo/AP Photo
Motorists are ordered to the ground from their vehicle by police during a protest in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd. May 31, 2020 John Minchillo/AP Photo

June

June 14. Miguel Medina/AFP
A statue of a famous Italian journalist Indro Montanelli is cleaned in Milan, after it was defaced, stained with red paint and tagged with the inscription "racist, rapist" June 14. Miguel Medina/AFP
Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo
Musicians perform in front of the auditorium occupied by plants at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain. June 22, 2020 Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo
Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo
Agustina Cañamero, 81, and Pascual Pérez, 84, hug and kiss through a plastic film screen to avoid contracting the new coronavirus at a nursing home in Spain. June 22, 2020 Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo
June 24, 2020. Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo
A woman looks from a tribune during the Victory Day military parade in St.Petersburg, Russia. It is normally held on May 9, but this year it was postponed due to pandemic June 24, 2020. Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo
David Josek/AP Photo
Residents sit to dine on a 500 metre long table set on the Charles Bridge, after restrictions were eased following the coronavirus pandemic in Prague, Czech Republic. June 30 David Josek/AP Photo

July

Miguel Medina/AFP
An aerial view of the Presena glacier near Pellizzano in the Italian Alps with pink coloured snow, supposedly due to the presence of algae from Greenland. July 3, 2020 Miguel Medina/AFP
Martin Meissner/AP Photo
Farmer Benedikt Luenemann has cut a maze out of his corn field, showing symbols of Europe like Brandenburg Gate, Eiffel Tower, Charles Bridge. Selm, Germany. 3 July 2020 Martin Meissner/AP Photo
Koji Harada/AP Photo
A man walks on a badly damaged road following heavy rain in Kumamura in southern Japan's Kumamoto prefecture. July 6, 2020 Koji Harada/AP Photo
Mauro Pimentel/AFP
A man gives a thumbs up to people riding motorcycles as he and his wife walk along Leme beach in protective astronaut-like suits. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. July 12, 2020 Mauro Pimentel/AFP
Ina Fassbender/AFP
An aerial view shows a field with painted circles for social distance at the Rhine promenade in Dusseldorf, Germany. July 12, 2020 Ina Fassbender/AFP
John Locher/AP Photo
The comet Neowise is visible in the evening sky above the artwork titled: “Seven Magic Mountains” by artist Ugo Rondinone. Near Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. July 16, 2020 John Locher/AP Photo
Stephanie Lecocq/AP Photo
German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels. July 17, 2020 Stephanie Lecocq/AP Photo
STR/AP Photo
Muslim pilgrims circumambulate around the Kaaba as they keep social distance to protect themselves against coronavirus ahead of the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. July 29, 2020 STR/AP Photo

August

Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP Photo
A mouse runs as flames flare at the Apple Fire in Cherry Valley, California, USA. August. 1, 2020 Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP Photo
Matilde Campodonico/AP Photo
A man wearing a Spiderman costume waits for the bus amid the new coronavirus pandemic in Montevideo, Uruguay. August 2, 2020 Matilde Campodonico/AP Photo
Hassan Ammar/AP Photo
Hoda Kinno, 11, is evacuated by her uncle Mustafa shortly after a massive explosion at the port in Beirut, Lebanon. August 4, 2020 Hassan Ammar/AP Photo
August. 5, 2020. Jorge Saenz/AP Photo
A road divides the Cerro Lagoon with the water coloured at the right, which could be due to the presence of heavy metals like chromium, commonly used in the tannery process August. 5, 2020. Jorge Saenz/AP Photo
Andre Penner/AP Photo
Kayapo Indigenous people block a highway in Para state, Brazil, to pressure president Jair Bolsonaro to better shield them from COVID-19. August 17, 2020 Andre Penner/AP Photo
Urs Flueeler/AP Photo
A slightly injured cow is flown by helicopter from the Klausen Pass, Switzerland, during the "Bodenfahrt", an event when about 1,000 cows move to lower Alps. August 18 2020 Urs Flueeler/AP Photo
August 19, 2020. Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo
Belarusian opposition supporters light their phones and wave an old Belarusian national flag during a protest rally in front of the government building at Independence Square August 19, 2020. Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo
Michal Cizek/AFP
A patient is petting a horse during a hippotherapy session at Karel Boromejsky Sisters of Charity Hospital in Prague, Czech Republic. August 20, 2020 Michal Cizek/AFP

September

Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo
Former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden smiles as he puts on his face mask after speaking to the media in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. September 4 Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo
Yuri Cortez/AFP
Gang members in custody at a maximum security prison in Izalco, Sonsonate, El Salvador during the COVID-19 pandemic. September 4, 2020 Yuri Cortez/AFP
Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo
Migrants flee from the second fire in two days at the overcrowded Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece. September 9, 2020 Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo
Michael Probst/AP Photo
A parkour runner jumps on a railway bridge. The buildings of the banking district are visible in the background in Frankfurt, Germany. September. 9, 2020 Michael Probst/AP Photo
Alex Brandon/AP Photo
A child in a supergirl costume pays respects to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg near the US Supreme Court building. September. 23, 2020. Washington DC, USA Alex Brandon/AP Photo
Noah Berger/AP Photo
Flames consumed the Glass Mountain Inn in St. Helena, California, USA. September 27, 2020 Noah Berger/AP Photo

October

Valery Hache/AFP
An aerial photograph shows the damages in Saint-Martin-Vesubie, southeastern France, after heavy rains and floods hit the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. October 3, 2020 Valery Hache/AFP
Ahmad Al-basha/AFP
Yemeni pupils attend class on the first day of the new academic year in their school heavily damaged in the fighting. Taez, Yemen. October 7, 2020 Ahmad Al-basha/AFP
October 12, 2020. Emmanuel Dunand/AFP
A Palestinian child sits by Israel's separation barrier while his parents harvest olives on their land which was sectioned by the wall, near the West Bank village of Bayt Awwa October 12, 2020. Emmanuel Dunand/AFP
Wojtek Radwanski/AFP or licensors
People block traffic in the center of Warsaw during a protest against a decision by the Constitutional Court on abortion law restriction. Warsaw, Poland. October 26, 2020 Wojtek Radwanski/AFP or licensors

November

November 2, 2020. Peter Dejong/AP Photo
A sculpture in the shape of whale’s tail caught the front carriage of a metro train as it rammed through barriers at De Akkers station in Spijkenisse, near Rotterdam November 2, 2020. Peter Dejong/AP Photo
November 5, 2020. AFP
Syrians look out the window on the first train test ride from Aleppo as authorities aim to rehabilitate and reopen the line connecting the city to the capital Damascus, Syria November 5, 2020. AFP
Sergi Camara/AP Photo
Migrants are rescued in the Mediterranean Sea after leaving Libya to reach Europe aboard a rubber boat. November 11, 2020 Sergi Camara/AP Photo
Alexander Nemenov/AFP
Villagers outside of Nagorno-Karabakh set their homes on fire before fleeing to Armenia ahead of some a territory handover to Azerbaijan. November 14, 2020 Alexander Nemenov/AFP
Sergei Grits/AP Photo
A family drives a truck loaded with a small house along a highway as they leave their home village in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. November 18, 2020 Sergei Grits/AP Photo
Roveliu Buga/AP Photo
An election official wearing a biohazard suit, holds a mobile ballot box as an elderly lady casts her vote in the presidential elections in Hrusova, Moldova. November 15, 2020 Roveliu Buga/AP Photo
Michael Probst/AP Photo
Plush pandas and Corona beer bottles decorate the tables of a closed restaurant in Frankfurt, Germany. November 24, 2020 Michael Probst/AP Photo
STR/AFP
Workers remove garbage from the Yangtze River in Yichang in central China's Hubei province. November 26, 2020 STR/AFP
Ameer Al-Halbi/AFP
Parked vehicles burn during a protest against the ‘global security’ draft law in Paris, France. November 28, 2020 Ameer Al-Halbi/AFP

December

Mauro Pimentel/AFP
A man dressed as Santa Claus suspended from a cable car waves at visitors upon arrival to the Sugar Loaf mountain. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. December 05, 2020 Mauro Pimentel/AFP
Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo
The moon covers the sun during a solar eclipse in Piedra del Aguila, Argentina. December 14, 2020 Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo
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