The World in 2020 - in pictures

From the Beirut port explosion to the global coronavirus pandemic, our world in pictures

A firefighter sprays foam retardant on a back burn ahead of a fire front in the New South Wales town of Jerrawangala on January 1, 2020. AFP

Argentinia's Luciano Benavides powers his KTM during the Stage 11 of the Dakar 2020 between Shubaytah and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, on January 16, 2020. AFP

Fans gather at LA Live to pay tribute to Kobe Bryant who died in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. AFP

Two men help an helicopter carrying snow in order to place it on a ski slope in the Superbagneres station, near Luchon, in French Pyrenees mountain southwestern France, on February 15, 2020. AFP

Hundreds of construction workers and heavy machinery build new hospitals to tackle the coronavirus on January 28, 2020 in Wuhan, China. GETTY IMAGES

An Iraqi boy poses in his snow-covered hat in the holy Shiite city of Karbala on February 11, 2020. AFP

A Syrian girl washes the mud off of her shoes, at a camp for displaced people from the east of Maaret al-Numan, near the cemetary of Kafr Yahmul village north of Idlib in northwestern Syria, on February 23, 2020. AFP

Volunteers work to clean up tornado-damaged areas on March 4, 2020 in Cookeville, Tennessee. AFP

Migrants, intercepted off the coast in the Mediterranean Sea, wait to disembark from a rescue boat at the port of Malaga, southern Spain on March 7, 2020. REUTERS

Venice is shrouded in silence and clean water like never before amid the coronavirus pandemic on March 28, 2020. ABACA-PRESSE

This picture taken on April 5, 2020, shows a person holding a Geiger counter at the scene of a forest fire at a 30-kilometer (19-mile) Chernobyl exclusion zone, not far from the nuclear power plant. AFP

A Thai nurse puts face shields on newborns to protect them from the coronavirus at Prince Hospital Suvarnabhumi, in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, on April 8 2020. EPA

People shout at police officers during a demonstration of conspiracy theorists as other demonstrators protesting against the lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease in Berlin, Germany on April 18, 2020. Reuters

A model walks the runway at the DEJIN collection show by Chinese designer Zhou Li during the China Fashion Week 2020/2021 A/W Collection on May 3, 2020 in Beijing, China. Getty Images

A man wearing a face mask talks to a shopkeeper in a deserted street near Gion, Kyoto, Japan, 11 May 2020. EPA

Shawanda Hill, right, the girlfriend of George Floyd reacts near the spot where he died while in custody of the Minneapolis Police, on May 26, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP

Protesters on horseback rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, through downtown Houston, Texas on June 2, 2020. Reuters

This photo taken on June 7, 2020 shows submerged streets and buildings after heavy rain caused flooding in Yangshuo, in China's southern Guangxi region. AFP

Protester Patrick Hutchinson carries an injured counter-protester to safety, near Waterloo station during a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, in London, Britain, June 13, 2020. Reuters

US President Donald Trump arrives for Independence Day events at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, South Dakota, July 3, 2020. AFP

Tengger tribe people make their way to the summit of Mount Bromo volcano to make offerings in Probolinggo, East Java province on July 7, 2020, as part of the Yadnya Kasada Festival. AFP

A H-2A rocket carrying the Hope Probe known as "Al-Amal" in Arabic, developed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to explore Mars, blasts off from Tanegashima Space Centre in southwestern Japan on July 20. AFP

Nasa astronauts Robert Behnken, left, and Douglas Hurley are seen inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida on August 2, 2020. NASA

A picture taken on August 4, 2020 from the Hamra district in the centre of the Lebanese capital Beirut shows a smoke plume rising following a huge explosion that rocked the port of Beirut. AFP

Cows stand on the roof of a cattle shed in the county of Gurye, South Jeolla Province, on 09 August 2020, as the region is suffering from flooding caused by recent heavy downpours. EPA

An aerial view taken in Mauritius on August 17, 2020, shows the MV Wakashio bulk carrier, belonging to a Japanese company but Panamanian-flagged, that had run aground and broke into two parts near Blue Bay Marine Park. AFP

In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, embers light up a hillside behind the Bidwell Bar Bridge as the Bear Fire burns in Oroville, California., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. AP

A migrant woman and children react after police use tear gas during clashes near the city Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos, on September 12, 2020, a few days after a fire destroyed the Moria refugee camp. AFP

Balconies at Qiyi City Forest Garden residential buildings complex are overrun by plants in Chengdu, China, 15 September 2020. The Chengdu Qiyi City Forest Garden project was launched in 2018. Residents were promised a modern eco-paradise and specially-designed balconies for growing plants. EPA

This aerial view taken on October 3, 2020 shows the damage in Saint-Martin-Vesubie, southeastern France, after heavy rains and floodings hit the Alpes-Maritimes department. AFP

A helicopter from Ministry of Defence rescue stranded crew members at the sea, in Quang Tri province, Vietnam, 11 October 2020. Heavy rains and floods killed nine people and left 11 missing in northern and central Vietnam during the past few days, according to media reports. EPA

US First Lady Melania Trump stands with US President Donald Trump as Jill Biden hugs husband Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden after the conclusion of the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 22, 2020. AFP

A Dutch metro train was saved from disaster on November 2, 2020, when it smashed through a safety barrier but was prevented from plummeting into water by a sculpture of a whale tail. AFP

Attorney for the President, Rudy Giuliani speaks to the media at a press conference held in the car park of Four Seasons Total Landscaping on November 7, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. AFP

Former wrestler Dan Gable speaks before being presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom award from US President Donald Trump, right, during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on December 7, 2020. BLOOMBERG

90 year old Margaret Keenan, the first patient in the UK to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, administered by nurse May Parsons at University Hospital, Coventry, England, on December 8, 2020. AP

Ethiopian refugees who fled the Ethiopia's Tigray conflict arrive by bus from Village Eight transit centre near the Ethiopian border at the entrance of Um Raquba refugee camp in Sudan's eastern Gedaref state. AFP

Read more from 2020 in review:

Wuhan to the Beirut blast: 2020's biggest moments photographed from above

Women of the year: female forces that shaped 2020

How 16 events that were postponed in 2020 will be staged in 2021

10 really good things that happened in 2020