The past 12 months have been eventful, to say the least. From Donald Trump’s new presidency to the enormous Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh; the devastating effects of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria; violent clashes between nationalists and protesters in the U.S.; ongoing struggles against extremists across the globe; and so much more. Here, we present the Top News Photos of 2017—be sure to also see the more comprehensive series, 2017: The Year in Photos, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Warning, some of the photos may contain graphic or objectionable content.
I.People fly into the air as a vehicle is driven into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017, killing one person and injuring 19 others. Police say the driver was James Alex Fields Jr., who was in Charlottesville to take part in the rally. Fields is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old protester Heather Heyer. The white nationalists were holding a "Unite the Right" rally, bringing groups of white supremacists, neo-Nazis, militias, and like-minded groups together to openly voice their ideologies and to protest the city of Charlottesville's plans to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
II. An exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, on September 11, 2017. The United Nations Refugee Agency now reports that more than 624,000 people have fled Myanmar since August 24. The refugees, mostly Rohingya Muslims, crossed into Bangladesh to escape the violence in Myanmar's western Rakhine state—a situation the UN now describes as ethnic cleansing
III/The steep and well-defined eyewall of Hurricane Jose, imaged by the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2A satellite, on September 9, 2017. Jose was the tenth named storm, and third major hurricane of the 2017 hurricane season. This year was an especially destructive season for hurricanes. Multiple storms reached category 5 intensity, and several hurricanes made significant damaging landfall, including hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria
IV.United States President Donald Trump takes the oath of office as his wife, Melania Trump, holds the Bible and his son, Barron Trump, looks on, on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
V.Kandy Freeman participates in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City on January 14, 2017
VI.Hand-held candles burn in the background as Pope Francis touches the figure representing Our Lady of Fatima during his visit to the Chapel of the Apparitions at the Fatima shrine, in Fatima, Portugal, on May 12, 2017. Two of the three child shepherds who reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Fatima one century ago were declared saints on May 13, 2017 by Pope Francis.
VII.A young girl dances with an American flag in baggage claim while women pray behind her during a protest against the travel ban imposed by executive order, at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas, Texas, on January 29, 2017. Legal challenges to the ban emerged almost immediately, leading to court battles throughout the year, and eventually, the Supreme Court, which lifted previous injunctions on December 4, allowing the ban to go into full effect for six mainly Muslim countries. Several lawsuits are still pending
VIII.A migrant tries to board a boat of the German NGO Sea-Watch in the Mediterranean Sea on November 6, 2017. During a shipwreck, five people died, including a newborn child. The United Nations estimates that 164,654 migrants crossed the Mediterranean to enter Europe in 2017, less than half of last year's total of 350,549. Despite the lower numbers, the journey remains extremely dangerous—3,038 deaths were reported this year. Analysts are uncertain why the numbers declined so sharply.
IX.A man wearing a shirt with swastikas is punched by an unidentified member of the crowd near the site of a planned speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer (who popularized the term "alt-right") at the University of Florida campus on October 19, 2017, in Gainesville, Florida.
X. A member of the Mexican navy kneels next to Frida the rescue dog after an earthquake struck the southern coast of Mexico, in Juchitan, Mexico, on September 10, 2017. Mexico suffered a pair of major earthquakes in September—an 8.2 magnitude on the 7th in the state of Chiapas, and a 7.1 on the 19th near Mexico City. The combined quakes cause widespread damage and claimed more than 450 lives. The work of the rescue dogs and massive displays of volunteerism became the visual symbols of the response to the disasters.