The World 2010-19 - in pictures

End of the decade: from the rapid rise of ISIS to the growing fame of youth climate activist Greta Thunberg, our world in pictures

A woman walks near a fire at the Hyppolite iron market in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 29, 2010, more than two weeks after the devastating Haiti earthquake. Jorge Silva / Reuters

The volcano in southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier sends ash into the air on April 16, 2010. Brynjar Gauti / AP Photo

Somali refugees who crossed the border into southern Ethiopia cluster between two food tents at the Kobe refugee camp on July 19, 2011. Roberto Schmidt / AFP

People marooned by flooding grab the side bars of a hovering Army helicopter to escape in the Muzaffargarh district, Punjab province, Pakistan on August 7, 2010. Adrees Latif / Reuters

Anti-government protesters celebrate inside Tahrir Square after the announcement of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation in Cairo, Egypt, February 11, 2011. Amr Abdallah Dalsh /Reuters

A wave approaches Miyako City from the Heigawa estuary in Iwate Prefecture after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck the area in Miyako, Japan on March 11, 2011. Mainichi Shimbuni / Reuters

Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, are seen walking after their wedding ceremony in Westminster Abbey in central London on April 29, 2011. Toby Melville / Reuters

US President Barack Obama with Vice President Joe Biden, US Secretray of Defense Robert Gates and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, along with members of the national security team, watch the operation against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, in Washington, DC on May 1, 2011. AFP

Anti-austerity protesters clash with riot police in Athens on October 19, 2011. Aris Messinis / AFP

The remnants of a roller coaster sits in the surf three days after Hurricane Sandy came ashore in Seaside Heights, New Jersey November 1, 2012. Steve Nesius / Reuters

Lynn and Christopher McDonnell, the parents of seven-year-old Grace McDonnell, grieve near Sandy Hook Elementary after learning their daughter was one of 20 school children and six adults killed after a gunman opened fire inside the school in Newtown, Connecticut. Picture taken December 14, 2012. Adrees Latif / Reuters

Newly elected Pope Francis I waves to the waiting crowd from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica on March 13, 2013 in Vatican City. Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

Runners near the finish line of the Boston Marathon as a bomb is detonated on April 15, 2013. Dan Lampariello / Reuters

An aerial view shows the Costa Concordia as it lies on its side next to Giglio Island in Italy on August 26, 2013. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters

A mother and her children hide from gunmen at Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi on September 21, 2013. Siegfried Modola / Reuters

Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education, signs a copy of her book before an event launching her memoir, "I Am Malala", at the Southbank Centre in central London, Britain on October 20, 2013. Olivia Harris / Reuters

An aerial view of a coastal town devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in Samar province, Philippines on November 11, 2013. Erik De Castro / Reuters

South African President Jacob Zuma sits between Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, left, Nelson Mandela's former wife, and Nelson Mandela’s widow Graca Machel during the funeral service for the former South African leader in Qunu, South Africa on December 15, 2013. Odd Andersen / AP Photo

Members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant carry their weapons during a parade at the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the border with Turkey January 2, 2014. Yaser Al-Khodor / Reuters

BJP leader Narendra Modi speaks to supporters after his landslide victory in elections on May 16, 2014 in Vadodara, India. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shown smoldering in a field on July 17, 2014 in Grabovo, Ukraine, after it was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. Pierre Crom / Getty Images

A grave digger walks past fresh graves at a cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone, during the height of the Ebola crisis on December 20, 2014. Baz Ratner / Reuters

Justin Trudeau is sworn-in as Canada's 23rd prime minister in Ottawa on November 4, 2015. Chris Wattie / AFP

French fire brigade members aid an injured man near the Bataclan concert hall following a terror attack in Paris, on November 13, 2015. Christian Hartmann / Reuters

Pakistani Christians hold lighted candles as they hold a prayer ceremony at The Eternal Life Church in Lahore on December 16, 2015, on the first anniversary of an attack on Army Public School in Peshawar. Arif Ali /AFP

Cuban President Raul Castro raises US President Barack Obama's hand during a joint press conference at the Revolution Palace in Havana on March 21, 2016. AFP

Flowers and messages left in remembrance of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox are pictured in Parliament Square in central London on June 19, 2016. Ben Stansall / AFP

Lone activist Ieshia Evans stands her ground while offering her hands for arrest as she is charged by riot police during a protest against police brutality outside the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana, on July 9 2016. Jonathan Bachman / Reuters

Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to the crowd during his acceptance speech on November 9 after winning to 2016 US Presidental election. Mark Wilson / Getty Images / AFP

US President-elect Donald Trump arrives for the inauguration ceremony to swear him in as the 45th president of the United States, in Washington, DC on January 20, 2017. Brian Snyder / Reuters

A man cries as he carries his daughter while walking from an ISIS controlled part of Mosul towards Iraqi special forces soldiers during a battle in Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Goran Tomasevic/ Reuters

Police officers at a security cordon as a huge fire engulfs the Grenfell Tower early on June 14, 2017 in west London. Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP

Photographers help a Rohingya refugee to come out of Nad River as they cross the Myanmar-Bangladesh border in Palong Khali, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on November 1, 2017. Hannah McKay / Reuters

German Chancellor Angela Merkel deliberates with US president Donald Trump on the sidelines of the official agenda on the second day of the G7 summit on June 9, 2018 in Charlevoix, Canada. Jesco Denzel / Bundesregierung via Getty Images

Detained Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone are escorted by police as they leave after a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar, August 20, 2018. Ann Wang / Reuters

Luis Acosta holds 5-year-old Angel Jesus, both from Honduras, as a caravan of migrants from Central America en route to the United States crossed through the Suchiate River into Mexico from Guatemala in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico on October 29, 2018. Adrees Latif / Reuters

People raise their hands during a mass opposition rally against President Nicolas Maduro in which Venezuela's National Assembly head Juan Guaido declared himself the country's "acting president" on January 23, 2019. Federico Parra / AFP

Palestinians throw stones and burn tyres in response to Israeli forces' intervention as they gather to support the maritime demonstration to break the Gaza blockade by sea with vessels in Gaza City, Gaza on October 22, 2018. Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A child sleeps in a bag in the village of Beit Sawa, eastern Ghouta, Syria, March 15, 2018. Omar Sanadiki / Reuters

Pope Francis blesses a child before celebrating Mass at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi, UAE, February 5, 2019. Vatican/Reuters

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern consoles a woman as she visited Kilbirnie Mosque to lay flowers among tributes to Christchurch attack victims, in Wellington, on March 17, 2019. TVNZ via AP

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrives at the Westminster Magistrates Court after he was arrested in London on April 11, 2019. Hannah McKay / Reuters

Smoke billows as fire engulfs the spire of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on April 15, 2019. Benoit Tessier / Reuters

Officials inspect the damaged St Sebastian's Church after multiple explosions targeting churches and hotels across Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019 in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Chamila Karunarathne / Getty Images

Sudanese protesters gather outside the army headquarters in Khartoum on May 6, 2019. AFP

Ahmad Sayed Rahman, a five-year-old Afghan boy who lost his right leg when he was hit by a bullet in the crossfire of a battle, dances with his prosthetic leg at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hospital for war victims and the disabled, in Kabul on May 7, 2019. Wakil Kohsar / AFP

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea on June 30, 2019. KCNA via Reuters

Anti-government protesters protect themselves from tear gas shells with umbrellas during a demonstration near Central Government Complex in Hong Kong on September 15, 2019. Jorge Silva / Reuters

Climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks during the UN Climate Action Summit on September 23, 2019 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Johannes Eisele / AFP

The National

Read more from the decade that was the 2010s:

The Middle East 2010-19 - in pictures

How the UAE has emerged on the global stage in the past decade

Middle East is 'the canary in the coal mine' of climate change

A decade of health advances: the victories and defeats in the war on disease

The age of the outsiders - and why they prefer the campaign trail to governing

China has finally shed its inhibitions – now it should lead Asia

Macedonian town oils wheels of fake news machine before US polls

In a changing world, humanitarianism needs to be smarter and more innovative than ever

Thanks to 5G, this is the decade we graduate from the smartphone

Updated: December 30, 2019, 11:55 AM