(This Nov. 29 story has been corrected to change designation to prime minister, not president, in paragraph 6)
- After a global vaccination campaign, the dominance of the coronavirus pandemic in the headlines was replaced in February by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Economic turmoil whipped up by the pandemic and then the war saw the cost-of-living crisis spiral, driving unrest from Haiti to Sri Lanka, while anger boiled over in Iran about the treatment of women.
In June, years of political manoeuvring saw Roe vs Wade overturned in a blow to U.S. abortion rights.
Three months later, the death of Britain's longest-reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II ushered in the arrival of 73-year-old King Charles.
Throughout the year, desperate scenes of flooding, famine, and fires came in the wake of decades of global inaction on the climate crisis.
Some unexpected moments burst through - a sharp, public slap at the Academy Awards ceremony; a sudden uprising of Canadian truck drivers; the assassination of the former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Reuters photographers were on the ground to capture it all as it unfolded. This year, they were the direct witness to a firebombing of an English immigration centre, the killing of Haitian journalist Romelson Vilsaint and the storming of the Sri Lankan President's House, creating some of the year's most unforgettable images.
For a selection of some of the best Reuters pictures of the year, click here.