On January 1, 2020, it would have taken the most hardened pessimist to have looked ahead to the coming year with any sense of the challenge to humanity that would be unleashed by Covid-19.
No matter how grim the year's events were for so many around the world, there were of course highs as well as lows.
Abu Dhabi's English-language newspaper The National captured the year's events each day and published some memorable front pages.
Above we display a selection of those striking pages as a record of many of the events that shaped our year in the UAE and beyond. To move on to the next picture click on the arrows, or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.
How 'The National' told the story of 2020 - in 27 front pages
Look back at the most striking newspaper pages that reflect events in the UAE and beyond
More from the national