The Year in Pictures
2024
JANUARY
On the first day of 2024, Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway state in the South Caucasus, officially ceased to exist more than three decades after it had declared independence. Most of the 100,000 ethnic Armenians who lived there fled before the territory was seized back by Azerbaijan. Refugees are pictured here at a church in Goris, Armenia
THOMAS DWORZAK/MAGNUM PHOTOS FOR 1843
An Israeli tank moves along the border with the Gaza Strip. Between December 2023 and April 2024 the focus of the offensive was on Khan Younis, Gaza’s second city
AMIR LEVY/GETTY IMAGES
On January 20th a missile strike on Damascus, Syria’s capital, killed five members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Iran’s government blamed Israel. The soldiers’ funeral in Tehran drew large crowds
MAJID ASGARIPOUR/REUTERS
Paul Mackenzie, the leader of a Kenyan cult, was charged with murder and terrorism offences on January 16th for his part in the deaths of more than 400 of his followers in Shakahola forest. This picture was taken at the funeral in 2023 of one family – a mother, father, their five year-old-son and the son’s grandmother – who starved to death in Shakahola
FREDRIK LERNERYD FOR 1843
Activists in Indonesia rescue hundreds of dogs intended for human consumption after a truck containing the animals was seized by police. Campaigners in the country are trying to ban the trade in dog and cat meat
DAFFA RAMYA KANZUDDIN/GETTY IMAGES
FEBRUARY
Nayib Bukele was re-elected to the presidency of El Salvador on February 5th. Bukele, who once described himself as “the world’s coolest dictator” is popular with many Salvadoreans thanks to his draconian crackdown on the criminal gangs that used to terrorise the country. This picture shows a group of detainees being transferred to a new high security prison
PRESIDENCY OF EL SALVADOR/GETTY IMAGES
On February 8th a volcano in south-western Iceland erupted for the third time in less than two months. This time the lava destroyed a pipeline that supplies the island with hot water and heating
MARCO DI MARCO/AP PHOTO
Female Israeli soldiers pose for a selfie in southern Israel, near the border with Gaza, on February 19th. At the time, the death toll in Gaza stood at 29,000
TSAFRIR ABAYOV/AP PHOTO
Louis Har, 71 (left), was taken hostage by Hamas in 2023 during the October 7th attacks on Israel. More than four months later, he was reunited with his family after being rescued by Israeli security forces
UPI/ALAMY
In Irpin, a city in northern Ukraine, local residents gather to commemorate the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24th. The mayor of Irpin said as many as 300 civilians were killed by Russian troops who occupied the city during the first weeks of the war
ROMAN PILIPEY/GETTY IMAGES
February 11th was the 45th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution. Tehran marked the occasion with a display of Iranian missiles in Azadi (“Freedom”) Square
SAMAN/GETTY IMAGES
MARCH
The city of Baltimore in Maryland made global headlines on March 26th after a container ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six people. Politicians have pledged to replace the bridge by 2028
POLARIS/EYEVINE
A month after Alexei Navalny, the leader of Russia’s opposition, died in a remote penal colony, his wife Yulia cast her vote in Russia’s presidential election at the Russian Embassy in Berlin, Germany
SEAN GALLUP/GETTY IMAGES
On March 18th the result of Russia’s presidential election was announced: unsurprisingly, Vladimir Putin won by a landslide. His inauguration took place on May 7th
SERGEY BOBYLEV/GETTY IMAGES
On March 14th SpaceX, a company owned by Elon Musk, completed a third test flight of its flagship rocket, Starship
ALAMY
APRIL
Humanitarian aid packages were parachuted into northern Gaza by a number of countries, in the wake of a UN-backed report that suggested Israel was withholding food from Gazans during the ongoing conflict with Hamas. Israel has denied the claim
OMAR AL-QATTAA/GETTY IMAGES
On April 8th parts of the world went dark during a total solar eclipse. This American family wore homemade eye protection to look at the Sun
LAURIE SKRIVAN/POST DISPATCH/POLARIS
Eugene Delacroix’s masterpiece, “Liberty Leading the People”, was returned to the Louvre on April 30th after being restored. The painting depicts the July revolution in 1830, which overthrew King Charles X
DIMITAR DILKOFF/GETTY IMAGES
This Sudanese migrant had been about to attempt to cross the Channel, but the French police destroyed his boat. Three days earlier five migrants – including a seven-year-old girl – drowned while trying to get to Britain
SAMEER AL-DOUMY/GETTY IMAGES
Pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University in New York started an encampment to protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza. The protesters rebuilt the camp after it was cleared by police on April 18th. Thousands joined similar protests at universities across America and Europe
DEREK FRENCH/SOPA IMAGES VIA ZUMA PRESS WIRE/EYEVINE
Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews look at the remnants of an intercepted Iranian ballistic missile in the Israeli desert on April 28th. The missile was part of a retaliatory attack for Israel’s airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Syria on April 1st, which killed several Iranian military officers
OHAD ZWIGENBERG/AP PHOTO
MAY
On May 22nd Rishi Sunak, Britain’s prime minister, stood outside 10 Downing Street in the pouring rain to announce that a general election would take place on July 4th. Six weeks later, Sunak was ousted from Number 10 by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, whose party won the election by a landslide
KIN CHEUNG/AP PHOTO
Gang violence in Haiti, and particularly its capital, Port-au-Prince, triggered a humanitarian crisis. According to the United Nations more than 4,000 people have died and 700,000 have been displaced
GORAN TOMASEVIC/THE GLOBE AND MAIL/REDUX/EYEVINE
Young Georgians protest against the government’s plan to force organisations that get more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents”. Many fear their country is getting too close to its authoritarian neighbour, Russia, and would prefer it to have stronger ties with the European Union
ZURAB TSERTSVADZE/AP PHOTO
Israeli police fire water cannons at Haredi Jews who were protesting in Jerusalem after Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that they were no longer exempt from military service
MOSTAFA ALKHAROUF/GETTY IMAGES
Rahul Gandhi, the face of Congress, India’s opposition party, spent the spring campaigning across the country in the run-up to its general election
KEERTHANA KUNNATH FOR 1843
Zendaya, an American actress, arrives with her stylist Law Roach for the 2024 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on May 6th. This year’s theme was “Sleeping Beauties”
ANGELA WEISS/GETTY IMAGES
Heavy rains battered Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil. Almost 600,000 people were displaced. This aeroplane was stranded in flood water at an airport in Porto Alegre
ANSELMO CUNHA/GETTY IMAGES
JUNE
As the war in Gaza continued, refugees from across the strip arrived in the coastal city of Deir al-Balah. But nowhere in the territory is safe from Israeli bombardment, as this family discovered when their house was destroyed by an airstrike
ALI JADALLAH/GETTY IMAGES
Putin got on splendidly with North Korea’s president, Kim Jong Un, on his first visit to the country in nearly 25 years. After signing a mutual-defence agreement, Putin presented his ally with a Russian-made Aurus limousine, which the pair took for a spin around a park
REUTERS
On June 9th Narendra Modi, the leader of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was sworn in for a third term as prime minister. Although Modi was able to form a government with allies, the BJP unexpectedly lost its majority
AJAY AGGARWAL/GETTY IMAGES
Muslim pilgrims arrived in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, on June 16th to perform the last major ritual of the haj, called the “stoning of the devil”. Temperatures soared to 50°C during the pilgrimage, leading to the deaths of at least 1,300 people
FADEL SENNA/GETTY IMAGES
A Ukrainian soldier from a mobile air-defence unit in Kherson takes a break as he waits for Russian drones to hover into view. Now in its third year, the war has strained Ukraine’s resources and morale, leaving the country on the defensive
IVAN ANTYPENKO/REUTERS
Taylor Swift’s Eras tour spanned nearly two years, with 149 shows in over 50 cities. Bringing in nearly $2bn in ticket sales alone, it led commentators to coin the term “Swiftonomics”. This pair of Swifties saw the singer perform at Wembley Stadium in London
DOUGIE WALLACE FOR 1843
JULY
Left-wing Parisians celebrate after a leftist alliance won the most seats (but no overall majority) in the second round of parliamentary elections in France on July 7th
Dmitry Kostyukov/New York Times/Redux/eyevine
“I’d like to think that God thinks that I’m going to straighten out our country.” Donald Trump echoed the views of some of his supporters when he suggested that divine intervention saved his life after he was shot during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13th
REBECCA DROKE/GETTY IMAGES; ANNA MONEYMAKER/GETTY IMAGES
More than 70 Palestinians were reported to have been killed during an Israeli assault on Khan Yunis, a city in southern Gaza, on July 22nd. These women are mourning members of the Abu Taha family
BASHAR TALEB/GETTY IMAGES
Firefighters watch as flames consume forests near Chico, a city in northern California. Around 4,000 people were forced to flee their homes
JOSH EDELSON/GETTY IMAGES
AUGUST
After three little girls were murdered in Southport on July 29th, violent anti-immigration riots broke out in many British cities. Residents in Middlesbrough, a city in North Yorkshire, England, tackle a far-right rioter
GARY CALTON/GUARDIAN/EYEVINE
A scuffle breaks out in Turkey’s parliament on August 16th when a politician from the ruling party squared up to an opposition politician after he called for a jailed colleague to be allowed to take up his seat
ADEM ALTAN/GETTY IMAGES
At a camp for Sudanese refugees in Chad, a man with a whip attempts to keep a group of children in check as they wait for food. More than 12m people have been driven from their homes in Sudan since the start of the civil war in April 2023
IVOR PRICKETT/NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX/EYEVINE
Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American dual citizen, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after a Russian court found her guilty of treason. Karelina had made a $50 donation to an American charity that supports Ukraine
DMITRY CHASOVITIN/REUTERS
During a qualification round at the Paris Olympics, a Bulgarian gymnast attempts to impress the judges
FRANCISCO SECO/AP PHOTO
A Brazilian Olympic surfer on cloud nine after riding a huge wave in Tahiti, while Japanese and Hungarian fencers face off at the Grand Palais in Paris
JEROME BROUILLET/GETTY IMAGES
There was an optimistic mood at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Many delegates were relieved that Kamala Harris was running instead of Joe Biden
BRUCE GILDEN/MAGNUM PHOTOS FOR 1843
SEPTEMBER
A Ukrainian former prisoner-of-war embraces his family after being released from a Russian camp. More than 200 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers arrived home after a prisoner exchange was brokered by the United Arab Emirates
KOSTIANTYN LIBEROV/GETTY IMAGES
A funeral in Lebanon for a Hizbullah operative, who was killed when his pager exploded. On September 17th and September 18th Israel denoted thousands of devices belonging to members of Hizbullah, an Iran-backed Shia militia. The operation killed dozens and wounded thousands
DIEGO IBARRA SANCHEZ/NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX/EYEVINE
Pope Francis celebrates a mass in Singapore with 50,000 Catholics. It was the final stop on his 12-day tour of Asia and the Pacific, the longest international trip of the then 87-year-old’s papacy
GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE/REUTERS
Hurricane Helene was mainland America’s deadliest storm in nearly two decades, killing more than 230 people. One of the worst-affected places was Buncombe County, North Carolina, where 43 people died
JONATHAN DRAKE/REUTERS
At the Paralympics in Paris a robotic underwater camera captured contestants from China and America going head to head in the women’s 50-metre freestyle final while a Turkish swimmer adjusts her goggles
EMILIO MORENATTI/AP PHOTO; ADAM PRETTY/GETTY IMAGES
OCTOBER
Hours before Hurricane Milton devastated Florida, it was pictured from space. This photograph was taken from Endeavour, a SpaceX shuttle docked with the International Space Station
MATTHEW DOMINICK/NASA/REUTERS
In the early hours of October 1st Israel’s troops crossed the border into Lebanon in an escalation of its war with Hizbullah. Israel also stepped up air strikes against Hamas in southern Lebanon. According to Lebanon’s health ministry, nearly 4,000 people have been killed since October 2023, many of whom were civilians
LEO CORREA/AP PHOTO
With just over two weeks to go until the presidential election, Republican candidate Donald Trump moonlights as a McDonald’s server in an attempt to appeal to voters in the swing state of Pennsylvania
WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES
Palestinians mourn Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist group, who was killed by Israeli soldiers on October 16th. Sinwar was the architect of the October 7th attacks
IMAGESLIVE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, speaks to the press after voting in Georgia’s parliamentary elections on October 26th. Georgian Dream won a decisive victory, disputed by the country’s opposition, who fear Ivanishvili is in the pocket of Vladimir Putin
MARIA GIULIA MOLINARO VITALE/GETTY IMAGES
Desert towns in Morocco ended up underwater, after heavy rainfall caused the Sahara to be flooded for the first time in half a century
STELIOS MISINAS/REUTERS
NOVEMBER
On November 7th farmers in Niort, France, returned road signs they had stolen. They had been protesting against an EU trade deal that they feared would increase imports from South America
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/GETTY IMAGES
Catastrophic flooding killed more than 200 people in eastern Spain. Valencia was among the worst-hit areas, sparking mass protests at the regional government’s handling of the disaster
EMILIO MORENATTI/AP PHOTO; PAU VENTEO/GETTY IMAGES
The scale of Donald Trump’s victory on November 5th surprised even some of his supporters. His close alliance with Elon Musk, who reinstated Trump’s account on X after buying the platform in 2022, has prompted some commentators to lament the rise of an American “broligarchy”
JEFF BOTTARI/ZUFFA LLC
A bird’s-eye view reveals how drought has struck across the world in 2024 – from the dried-up Qingshitan Reservoir in Guilin, southern China, to the failing cranberry farms of Bradford County, Pennsylvania
COSTFOTO/GETTY IMAGES; LOKMAN VURAL ELIBOL/GETTY IMAGES
DECEMBER
Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, stunned the world when he declared martial law on December 3rd. Yoon claimed that the country’s opposition was a threat to national security. The state of emergency was reversed in less than 24 hours after strong opposition from parliament
EZRA ACAYAN/GETTY IMAGES
Just days after the collapse of its government, France celebrated the reconstruction of Notre Dame cathedral, five years on from the fire that led to its partial collapse. Emmanuel Macron, the embattled French president, hosted a crowd of foreign dignitaries at the inaugural mass on December 8th
SARAH MEYSSONNIER/REUTERS; CHRISTIAN HARTMANN/REUTERS
