2013: The year in photos

South Africa's Riaan Van Niekerk rides his KTM during the 5th stage of the Dakar Rally 2013 from Arequipa in Peru to Arica in Chile, Jan. 9, 2013.

Connecticut

Nelba Marquez Greene (right), her husband Jimmy Green, and her mother Elba Marquez, grieve over the loss of their daughter Ana Grace Marquez Green (in photo) at the launch of the Sandy Hook Promise in Newtown, Conn., Jan. 14, 2013.

Delaware

U.S. Army soldiers carry the flag-draped transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. David J. Chambers, during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base, Jan. 19, 2013.

International Space Station

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield, Expedition 34 flight engineer, watches a water bubble float freely between him and the camera, showing his image refracted, in the Unity node of the International Space Station, Jan. 21, 2013.

Greece

Riot police push protesters during clashes outside the Labour Ministry in Athens, Jan. 30, 2013.

Russia

A meteorite contrail is seen in this frame grab made from a dashboard camera video, in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia, Feb. 15, 2013.

Maine

A woman digs out her car after it was blocked by drifting snow during a blizzard, in Portland, Maine, Feb. 9, 2013.

Japan

Japanese men wear loincloths as they splash about in freezing cold water during Naked Festival in Okayama, Japan, Feb. 16, 2013.

South Africa

"Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius awaits the start of court proceedings in the Pretoria Magistrates Court, after being charged with shooting to death his girlfriend, 30-year-old model Reeva Steenkamp, Feb. 19, 2013.

New Jersey

A worker cleans debris from the Fun Town Pier that was damaged by Superstorm Sandy, in Seaside Heights, N.J., Feb. 19, 2013.

Syria

Displaced Syrian children are reflected in a puddle as they walk through an olive tree field near the Azaz camp for displaced people, north of Aleppo province, Syria, Feb. 21, 2013.

Syria

A Syrian man reacts while standing on the rubble of his house while others look for survivors and bodies in the Tariq al-Bab district of the northern city of Aleppo, Feb. 23, 2013.

Vatican City

Pope Benedict XVI waves to the faithful during his final general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Feb. 27, 2013.

South Africa

People react inside a cloud of paint powder during the Holi One Color Festival held in Cape Town, South Africa, March 2, 2013.

Virginia

Lesleigh Coyer, 25, of Saginaw, Michigan, lies down in front of the grave of her brother, Ryan Coyer, who served with the U.S. Army in both Iraq and Afghanistan, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, March 11, 2013. Coyer died of complications from an injury sustained in Afghanistan.

Arizona

Sister Martin Therese, center, of St. Mary's High School in Phoenix, cheers with sisters and their teachers while they watch a live telecast of Pope Francis, March 13, 2013.

India

The mother of Ram Singh, the man accused of driving the bus on which a 23-year-old student was gang raped in December 2012, cries as she speaks to journalists outside the family's home in New Delhi, India, March 11, 2013.

Japan

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shouts "banzai" as he raises his hands with members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party during the annual party convention in Tokyo, March 17, 2013.

Virginia

A wreath of flowers circles Iraq war veteran Marine Corporal Carlos J. Melendez's headstone on the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq, at Arlington National Cemetery, March 19, 2013.

Israel

President Obama pauses after laying a wreath during his visit to the Hall of Remembrance at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Israel, March 22, 2013.

Spain

Penitents walk the streets during the Holy Week procession of the Cofradia Jesus Yacente, in Zamora, Spain, March 29, 2013.

Northern Ireland

Farmer Donald O'Reilly searches for sheep or lambs trapped in a snow drift, as weakened animals that had just been rescued rest nearby, in the Aughafatten area of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, March 26, 2013.

Afghanistan

An Afghan army soldier stands guard in the destroyed courthouse in Farah, western Afghanistan, April 4, 2013.

England

Christie's scientific specialist James Hyslop poses for photographs with a sub-fossilized pre-17th century Elephant Bird egg at the auction house's premises in London, March 27, 2013.

India

Indian villagers from Nandgaon wait for the arrival of villagers from Barsana to play Lathmar Holi at the Nandagram temple famous for Lord Krishna and his brother Balram, in Nandgaon, India, March 22, 2013.

New York

People relax along the East River in lower Manhattan during warm weather in New York, N.Y., April 9, 2013.

Afghanistan

The lifeless bodies of Afghan children lay on the ground before their funeral ceremony, after a NATO airstrike killed several Afghan civilians, including ten children, during a fierce gun battle with Taliban militants in Shultan, Shigal district, Kunar, eastern Afghanistan, April 7, 2013.

Japan

Chocolate, a miniature dachshund, receives acupuncture therapy to help with lumbar disk herniation, at the Marina Street Okada animal hospital in Tokyo Japan, April 12, 2013.

Massachusetts

An injured woman is tended to at the site of the Boston Marathon Bombing, in Boston, April 15, 2013.

North Korea

North Korean children practice a musical performance at Mangyongdae Children's Palace in Pyongyang, April 18, 2013.

Spain

A Collado Ruiz ranch fighting bull is lit by a ray of sun during a bullfight at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, April 21, 2013.

West Bank

Members of the Samaritan sect take part in a traditional pilgrimage marking the holiday of Passover atop Mount Gerizim near the West Bank city of Nablus, April 30, 2013.

Bangladesh

The hand of a garment worker is seen among the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Savar, outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 30, 2013.

Illinois

San Diego Padres' Everth Cabrera breaks his bat as he hits a ground ball during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, May 1, 2013.

Pakistan

A man falls from a high floor of a burning building in central Lahore, May 9, 2013.

Burma

Roma Hattu, a Rohingya Muslim woman who is nine months pregnant and is displaced by violence, grimaces while experiencing labor pains on the bare floor of a former rubber factory now serving as her family's shelter near Sittwe, Burma, April 28, 2013.

Maryland

Oxbow, with an exercise rider aboard, gallops at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, May 17, 2013.

Mexico

A cloud of ash belches out of Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano, some 55 kilometers from Mexico City, as seen from Paso de Cortes, in the Mexican central state of Puebla, May 20, 2013.

New York

Former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner greets voters and residents in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, May 23, 2013.

Oklahoma

Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary School after a tornado destroyed the building, in south Oklahoma City, May 20, 2013.

Bahrain

A Bahraini girl is carried by her mother during the funeral of Sayed Omran Sayed Hameed, in the village of Karzakkan, south of Manama, May 28, 2013.

Guatemala

Ixil Mayan women gather around a mass grave as forensic anthropologists exhume the skeletons of their loved ones who died during the country's civil war, near Ixtupil, Guatemala, May 24, 2013.

Israel

A member of "Dressed to Dance" rehearses before their show at Tower Of David in Jerusalem's old city, May 29, 2013.

Afghanistan

An Afghan boy jumps off an overbridge for swimming at a river on the outskirts of Herat, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, June, 3, 2013.

Washington, D.C.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, center, takes a drink of water as he and other members of the military testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on pending legislation regarding sexual assaults in the military, on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 4, 2013.

Turkey

Supporters of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave their national flag, in Istanbul, June 7, 2013.

Illinois

Lightning strikes the Willis Tower in downtown Chicago, Ill., June 12, 2013.

Japan

A staff member of the Japanese toy and home appliances maker CCP Co. operates a "Nano-Falcon," the world's smallest infrared remote-controlled helicopter, at the Tokyo Toy Show, June 13, 2013.

Hong Kong

Passengers watch a television screen broadcasting news on former NSA analyst Edward Snowden, on a train in Hong Kong, June 14, 2013.

Australia

Terry Evison of Nilma competes in Steer Wrestling during the National Rodeo Finals, on the Gold Coast, Australia, June 16, 2013.

North Korea

Commuters ride on a subway train at Yonggwang station, or "glory station," in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 18, 2013.

New York

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Shyla Smith (right) and Courtney Burdeshaw kiss in the west chapel moments after they were wed at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau the day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on DOMA, in New York City, June 27, 2013.

Chile

View of the heavy sea in Antofagasta, Chile, July 4, 2013.

China

Visitors watch water gushing from the section of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir on the Yellow River, during a sand-washing operation in Jiyuan, Henan province, July 6, 2013.

California

A Boeing 777 airplane lies burned on the runway after it crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport, in San Francisco, Calif., July 6, 2013.

Spain

A "aloitador" (fighter) tries to hold on to a wild horse during the "Rapa Das Bestas" (Shearing of the Beasts) traditional event in the Spanish northwestern village of Sabucedo, July 7, 2013.

Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin submerges on board the Sea Explorer 5 bathyscaphe off the island of Gogland, 110 miles west of St. Petersburg, Russia, July 15, 2013.

China

Visitors at a water park enjoy themselves in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, July 13, 2013.

Brazil

Pope Francis greets the crowd of faithful from his "Popemobile," in downtown Rio de Janeiro, July 22, 2013.

North Korea

Portraits of the late North Korean leaders Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung are lit near a residential area at night, in Pyongyang, July 25, 2013.

Israel

Medical clown David Barashi, a.k.a. "Dush the clown," interacts with a child receiving medical care as part of the "Dream Doctors Project," at the Hadasa hospital, in Jerusalem, June 24, 2013.

Netherlands

Sunbathers crowd on the beach in Scheveningen, Netherlands, during a warm summer day, July 21, 2013.

North Korea

Performers participate in the Arirang mass games in Pyongyang, July 22, 2013.

North Dakota

A man rides a mechanical bull at the North Dakota State Fair in Williston, N.D., July 27, 2013.

Afghanistan

An Afghan man washes his horse in Kabul, Aug. 4, 2013.

Russia

Former paratroopers scuffle with gay right activist Kirill Kalugin, right, in St.Petersburg, Russia, Aug. 2, 2013.

India

An Indian youth dangles from a power line before diving into the floodwaters of an overflowing Ganges river in Allahabad, Aug. 6, 2013.

India

An Indian woman adjusts her sari after she got wet in the monsoon rains in New Delhi, India, Aug. 7, 2013.

Bahrain

A Bahraini anti-government protester, masked against the tear gas, carries a national flag and stones during clashes with riot police in the village of Shakhura, Bahrain, Aug. 14, 2013.

India

A Hindu protestor shouts slogans against the state government after rival communities clashed in Kishtwar, in Jammu, India, Aug. 10, 2013.

California

Fire consumes trees along U.S. highway 120 as the Rim Fire burns out of control, in Buck Meadows, Calif., Aug. 21, 2013.

India

A villager smokes tobacco as he joins other protesters during a rally demanding pensions for elderly poor citizens, in New Delhi, India, Aug. 22, 2013.

Brazil

Waura Indians wrestle during this year's "quarup," a ritual held over several days to honor in death a person of great importance to them, in Xingu National Park, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, Aug. 25, 2013.

Italy

An aerial view taken from an Italian navy helicopter shows the Costa Concordia as it lies on its side next to Giglio Island, Aug. 26, 2013.

Kenya

A captured wild male black rhino named Sero at Lewa Wildlife looks out from its crate at Lewa conservancy, Kenya, Aug. 26, 2013.

Turkey

A newly-married couple walks up a hill with a view of the city of Antakya, Turkey, Aug. 29, 2013.

Singapore

Nick Vujicic, an Australian motivational speaker who was born without limbs, swims with sharks at the Marine Life Park in Singapore, Sept. 5, 2013.

Argentina

Members of the Tokyo bid committee celebrate as Jacques Rogge President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announces Tokyo as the city to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, during a ceremony in Buenos Aires, Sept. 7, 2013.

Colorado

An aerial view of vehicles submerged in flood waters along the South Platte River near Greenley, Colo., Sept. 14, 2013.

Illinois

A women becomes emotional near the scene of a shooting at Cornell Square Park in Chicago's Back of the Yard neighborhood that left multiple victims, including a three-year-old boy, Sept. 19, 2013.

Kenya

Kenyans pray as they hold a church service for the victims of the Westgate Shopping Center attack, in Nairobi, Kenya, Sept. 29, 2013.

Syria

A Syrian opposition fighter rests inside a cave at a rebel camp in the Idlib province countryside, Syria, Sept. 17, 2013.

Pakistan

An Afghan refugee, her burka billowing, holds her daughter as she walks to her home through an alley of a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Sept. 16, 2013.

Brazil

In this photo released by the Voz de Areia Branca, a community news blog, a dead dolphin is carried by a tractor on Upanema beach in the Areia Branca municipality of Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil, Sept. 22, 2013.

Iraq

Mahmoud Abdel Rahman carries the dead body of his 11-month-old grandson, Latif, who was killed along with his mother on Monday when their house collapsed in a car bomb attack, while mourners carry the coffin of the mother, Hasnah Abdel Rasul, during their funeral in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Oct. 1, 2013.

Cambodia

A flooded restaurant near the Mekong River, as 500 families are relocated from Tonle Bit commune after the Mekong river broke its banks, in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia, Oct. 1, 2013.

Pakistan

A man shaves his monkey with a razor before it performs tricks for money in Lahore, Oct. 7, 2013.

China

North Korea's Kim Sun Bom and So Myong Hyok compete in the final of the men's 10-meter synchronized platform diving event at the sixth East Asian Games in Tianjin, China, Oct. 7, 2013.

Pakistan

Pakistani schoolboys look out the window of their classroom at other classmates chanting prayers to commemorate the anniversary of Malala's shooting by the Taliban, at a school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Oct. 9, 2013.

Thailand

Devotees of the Chinese Jui Tui Shrine carry a religious statue through exploding firecrackers during a street procession at the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket, Oct. 11, 2013.

Bahrain

The brother of Yussef al-Nashmi, who died in hospital the day before as he was detained by Bahraini authorities, mourns over his body during his funeral in the western Manama suburb of Jidd Hafs, Oct. 12, 2013.

Washington, D.C.

President Barack Obama tries to close a plastic bag while bagging sandwiches with furloughed federal workers, including Dolly Garcia, right, who works at the U.S. Census Bureau, and Chantelle Burton, left, who works at the Health and Human Services department, and other volunteers at a Martha's Table kitchen, in Washington, D.C., Oct. 14, 2013.

Indonesia

A youth stands on a a whale shark towed by fishermen along the coast of Surabaya in eastern Java island, to be sold to prospective buyers after getting entangled in a fishing net, Oct. 22, 2013.

Washington, D.C.

First Lady Michelle Obama speaks with Sesame Street characters Elmo and Rosita during an event announcing free licensing of Sesame Street characters to promote and market fresh fruit and vegetables by Produce Marketing Association growers, suppliers and retailers, as part of the Let's Move initiative, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., Oct. 30, 2013.

Italy

Protesters clash with anti riot-police during a demonstration to ask for affordable housing and against the government's austerity measures, in downtown Rome, Oct. 31, 2013.

New York

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama poses for a photograph inside her Infinity Mirrored Room installation titled "The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away" during a media preview of her new exhibition at the David Zwirner gallery in New York, Nov. 7, 2013.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh mother Nazma Begum grieves at the grave of her garment worker daughter, Aakhiat, who was identified through DNA matching, at Jurain graveyard in Dhaka, Nov. 7, 2013.

Philippines

A rainbow appears above Typhoon Haiyan survivors desperate to catch a flight from the Tacloban airport, Nov. 15, 2013.

Philippines

Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan are evacuated by C-130 military planes at the airport in Tacloban, central Philippines, Nov. 14, 2013.

India

A Shi'ite Muslim is sprayed with rose water as he flagellates himself during a Muharram procession to mark Ashura in Mumbai, India, Nov. 15, 2013.

Pennsylvania

Abraham Lincoln re-enactor Rick Miller poses for photographs after a ceremony commemorating the 150th anniversary of the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, in Gettysburg, Pa., Nov. 19, 2013.

China

A residential compound is seen during a smoggy day in Wujiaqu, Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, Nov. 19, 2013.

Austria

A participant dressed as the Krampus creature walks the streets in search of delinquent children during Krampus night, in Neustift im Stubaital, Austria, Nov. 30, 2013.

Washington, D.C.

Two Western Lowland gorillas lay entwined inside the Great Ape House at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park during the ZooLights celebration, Dec. 2, 2013.

China

A People's Liberation Army veteran looks out as he and other soldiers attend a farewell ceremony at a military base in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, Nov. 30, 2013.

Texas

Livestock huddle as they feed in an open field covered in ice, near Corinth, Texas, Dec. 7, 2013.

Ukraine

Interior Ministry personnel block a street during a gathering of supporters of EU integration in Kiev, Ukraine, Dec. 9, 2013.

Central African Republic

A Christian man chases a suspected Seleka officer in civilian clothes with a knife near the airport in Bangui, Central African Republic, Dec. 9, 2013.

South Africa

The grave of former South African President Nelson Mandela is covered with flowers in his home village of Qunu, Dec. 16, 2013.

Nepal

A Newari woman, with her lips and face painted to depict a deity, sits inside a house before she takes part in a parade to celebrate the Yamari Puni festival in Kathmandu, Dec. 17, 2013.