The hand of Iryna Filkina, a woman who according to residents was killed by Russian army soldiers, is pictured as her body lies on the street, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Bucha, Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 2, 2022. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra.
After a global vaccination campaign, the dominance of the coronavirus pandemic in the headlines was replaced in February by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Economic turmoil whipped up by the pandemic and then the war saw the cost-of-living crisis spiral, driving unrest from Haiti to Sri Lanka, while anger boiled over in Iran about the treatment of women.
In June, years of political manoeuvring saw Roe vs Wade overturned in a blow to U.S. abortion rights.
Three months later, the death of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II ushered in the arrival of 73-year-old King Charles.
Throughout the year, desperate scenes of flooding, famine, and fires came in the wake of decades of global inaction on the climate crisis.
Some unexpected moments burst through – a sharp, public slap at the Academy Awards ceremony; a sudden uprising of Canadian truck drivers; the assassination of the former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Reuters photographers were on the ground to capture it all as it unfolded. This year, they were the direct witness to a firebombing of an English immigration centre, the killing of Haitian journalist Romelson Vilsaint and the storming of the Sri Lankan President’s House, creating some of the year’s most unforgettable images.
A man catches a fish in a street flooded during floods caused by heavy rain in Imperatriz, Maranhao state, Brazil, January 6. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino.Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic walks with his team after landing at Dubai Airport after the Australian Federal Court upheld a government decision to cancel his visa to play in the Australian Open, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 17, 2022. REUTERS/Loren Elliott.The body of Mexican photojournalist Margarito Martinez Esquivel lies on the ground next to his car after he was killed outside his home, in Tijuana, Mexico, January 17, 2022. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes.A son and daughter embrace their father, a coronavirus patient in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ward, before his intubation procedure at the Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California, U.S., January 25. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton.A Palestinian woman gestures in front of Israeli troops during a protest over the killing of three Palestinian gunmen by Israeli forces, in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 9, 2022. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma.Two people scream while dancing, as protests against COVID vaccine mandates continue, along Wellington street near the Parliament of Canada, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 17. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio.Servicemen of the Ukrainian National Guard take positions in central Kyiv, after Russia launched a massive military operation against Ukraine, February 25, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich.A Ukrainian soldier hides from a helicopter air strike amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, near Demydiv, Ukraine, March 10. REUTERS/Maksim Levin.Dr. Shelly Tien, 40, performs an abortion while a nurse assists with ultrasound during the procedure at Planned Parenthood in Birmingham, Alabama, U.S., March 14, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein.A man walks past a fire after a shelling, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, March 25. REUTERS/Oleg Pereverzev/Will Smith (R) hits Chris Rock as Rock spoke on stage during the 94th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 27, 2022. REUTERS/Brian SnyderThe hand of Iryna Filkina, a woman who according to residents was killed by Russian army soldiers, is pictured as her body lies on the street, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Bucha, Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 2, 2022. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra.A woman carries her cat as she walks past buildings that were destroyed by Russian shelling, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Borodyanka, in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 5, 2022.Yana Bachek is consoled by her partner Yevgeniy Vlasenko and her mother Lyubov Gubareva, as she mourns over the body of her father Victor Gubarev, 79, killed by shelling during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, April 18, 2022. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis.Service members of the Ukrainian armed forces, who surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict, sit in a bus upon their arrival under the escort of the pro-Russian military in the settlement of Olenivka in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, May 20. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko.Internally displaced Somali woman Habiba Bile stands near the carcass of her dead livestock following severe droughts near Dollow, Gedo Region, Somalia, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal Omar.Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, along with Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as part of Trooping the Colour parade during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in London, Britain, June 2, 2022. REUTERS/Hannah McKay.A waste collector climbs down while looking for recyclable materials as smoke billows from burning garbage at the Bhalswa landfill site on World Environment Day in New Delhi, India, June 5. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis.Jon Greene, defense advisor to Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), carries Kodak, the bear, to decorate the Senator’s office on Capitol Hill to raise awareness about New Hampshire, while intern Roderick Emley takes calls, in Washington, U.S., June 7, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein.U.S. President Joe Biden falls to the ground after riding up to members of the public during a bike ride in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, U.S., June 18, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz.Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe lies on the ground after apparent shooting during an election campaign for the July 10, 2022 Upper House election, in Nara, western Japan, July 8, 2022. Kyodo via REUTERS.Demonstrators protest inside the President’s House, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled, amid the country’s economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 9, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte.Local boy Ratukali Madanawa, 8, takes a break from diving in the sea at Serua Village, Fiji, July 14. As the community runs out of ways to adapt to the rising Pacific Ocean, the 80 villagers face the painful decision whether to move. REUTERS/Loren Elliott.People carry a dead body during a police operation against drug gangs in the Alemao slums complex, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes.An aircraft drops retardant on the Fairview Fire burning near Hemet, California, U.S., September 6. REUTERS/David Swanson.Pallbearers carry the coffin of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as the hearse arrives at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain, September 11, 2022. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis.British Prime Minister Liz Truss speaks to the media at the Empire State building in New York, U.S., September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville.A woman wades through chest-deep flood after Super Typhoon Noru, in San Ildefonso, Bulacan province, Philippines, September 26. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez.A man carrying a gun walks with a family on a flooded street after Hurricane Ian caused widespread destruction, in North Port, Florida, U.S., September 30, 2022. REUTERS/Shannon StapletonA protestor cuts her hair during a demonstration following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, in Istanbul, Turkey, October 2. REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya.A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a “Just Stop Oil” protest, in London, Britain, October 15, 2022. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls.A Ukrainian serviceman takes cover as an air-raid siren sounds during a Russian drone strike, which local authorities consider to be Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Shahed-136, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 17. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich.Saul, 4, wipes the tears of his father Franklin Pajaro, after they were expelled from the U.S. and sent back to Mexico under Title 42, near the Paso del Norte International border bridge, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, October 17, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez.Rescue team members move a body at the scene where many people died and were injured in a stampede during a Halloween festival in Seoul, South Korea, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-ji.Demonstrators and journalists react next to the body of journalist Romelson Vilsaint who was fatally struck by a tear gas canister, outside a police station in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 30. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol.A man throws an object out of a car window next to the Border Force centre after a firebomb attack in Dover, Britain, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls.December 18, 2022 Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates winning the World Cup with the trophy REUTERS/Hannah Mckay.A fan of Brazilian soccer legend Pele raises his arms as people gather to mourn his death, in Santos, Brazil, December 29, 2022. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli.
