In what has been a year of momentous change in the Middle East, the biggest story of 2017 came out of Riyadh with the rise of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia made waves around the world by announcing women will be allowed to drive beginning 2018. The decision will help bring the countries’ young population into the work force as part of Saudi Vision 2030.
Saudi Arabia also joined Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt to cut all relations with Qatar over concerns that Doha supports extremism and attempts to interfere in the region’s internal affairs.
Now entering its third year of civil war, Yemen witnessed the dramatic murder of former president Ali Abdulla Saleh’s at the hands of his Houthi allies. As the Houthis dig in their heels in Sanaa, the region’s worst humanitarian disaster looks likely to intensify.
In a series of grueling battles in Iraq, ISIL was finally defeated in 2017 at the hands of Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi.
And finally, in what might cap the most polarizing year in any recent American President’s debut, Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has sent waves of protest around the world.
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Read more:
Lebanon year in review: Is the country a failed state?
The economy in review: UAE weathers challenges
Iraq year in review: the country may be free of ISIL but lies in ruins
Pictures: The world in 2017
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A man cries as he carries his daughter while walking from an ISIL-held part of Mosul towards Iraqi special forces soldiers during the battle to retake the city. Goran Tomasevic / Reuters / March 4, 2017 -
A Syrian infant suffering from severe malnutrition is seen at a clinic in Hamouria, Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus. Amer Almohibany / AFP Photo / October 21, 2017 -
Palestinians run for cover as smoke rises following an Israeli air strike on a Hamas post, in the northern Gaza Strip. Mohammed Abed / AFP Photo / February 6, 2017 -
Italy's Linda Cerruti and Costanza Ferro perform in the Women's Duet final during the synchronised swimming competition at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapes. François-Xavier Marit / AFP Photo / July 16, 2017 -
Comedian Simon Brodkin, right, givesBritain's Prime Minister Theresa May her P45 (UK's employee leaving form) during the Conservative Party annual conference in Manchester. Paul Ellis / AFP Photo / October 4, 2017 -
A Syrian man carries a wounded child following reported government airstrikes on the rebel-held town of Douma. Sameer Al Doumy / AFP Photo / February 25, 2017 -
A Libyan coast guardsman watches over the rescue of 147 illegal immigrants attempting to reach Europe off the coastal town of Zawiyah, 45 kilometres west of the capital Tripoli. Taha Jawashi / AFP Photo / June 27, 2017 -
Indonesian school children play outside as mount Sinabung volcano spews thick volcanic ash as seen from Karo, North Sumatra province. AFP Photo / February 10, 2017. -
Indonesian men take part in a rehearsal of a mass traditional Saman dance - known as the "dance of a thousand hands". Chaideer Mahyuddin / AFP Photo / August 12, 2017 -
Britain's Anthony Joshua, right, throws a punch at Ukraine's Wladimir Klitschko during the fourth round of their IBF, IBO and WBA, world Heavyweight title fight at Wembley Stadium in London. Ben Stansall / AFP Photo / April 29, 2017 -
Beachgoers watch a forest fire from afar in La Croix-Valmer, near Saint-Tropez, France. Valery Hache / AFP Photo / July 25, 2017 -
French CRS anti-riot police officers are engulfed in flames during May Day clashes in Paris. Zakaria Abdelkafi / AFP Photo / May 1, 2017 -
Repsol Honda Team's Spanish rider Marc Marquez celebrates winning the Valencia MotoGP. Jose Jordan / AFP Photo / November 12, 2017 -
A Korean People's Army propaganda poster at a museum in Sinchon, south of Pyongyang. Ed Jones / AFP Photo / July 29, 2017 -
Revellers release lanterns into the air in celebration of the Yee Peng festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Roberto Schmidt / AFP Photo / November 3, 2017 -
A demonstrator catches fire during clashes with riot police during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas. Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP Photo / May 3, 2017 -
The car of Ferrari's Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen, right seen after a crash as Ferrari's German driver Sebastian Vettel leads during the start of the Singapore Grand Prix. Manan Vatsyayana / AFP Photo / September 17, 2017 -
A man believed to be Carles Puigdemont gestures inside the public prosecutor's office in Brussels. Catalonia's sacked separatist leader Carles Puigdemont and four of his former ministers turned themselves in to Belgian police after Spain issued a warrant for their arrest. Nicolas Maeterlinck / AFP Photo / November 5, 2017 -
An air tanker drops fire retardant on flames during wildfires in California. Josh Edelson / AFP Photo / July 19, 2017 -
Spanish Nationalists during a demonstration against independence in Catalonia in Barcelona. Pau Barrena / AFP Photo / September 30, 2017 -
Police control a security cordon as a huge fire engulfs the Grenfell Tower in west London. Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP Photo / June 14, 2017 -
Iraqi children sit amid the rubble in Mosul's Nablus neighbourhood. Arisa Messinis / AFP Photo / MArch 12, 2017 -
US president Donald Trump boards the elevator after escorting Martin Luther King III to the lobby after meetings at Trump Tower. Dominick Reuter / AFP Photo / January 16, 2017 -
Bodies of Rohingya Muslim refugees lay on the shore of Inani beach, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Fred Dufour / AFP Photo / March 12, 2017 -
Flooding in Houston from tropical storm Harvey. Thomas B Shea / AFP Photo / August 27, 2017 -
An Iraqi woman walks by the destroyed Al-Nuri Mosque as she flees from the Old City of Mosul. Ahmad Al Rubaye / AFP Photo / July 5, 2017 -
China's Qi Guangpu of China performs an aerial during training for the Snowboarding and Freestyle Skiing World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain. Paul Hanna / Reuters / March 9, 2017 -
A Nazi walks with a bloody lip as demonstrators yell at him on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. Shannon Stapleton / Reuters / October 19, 2017
