From civil war and natural disasters to punk protests, space jumps, and Olympic triumphs, these photographs tell the stories that defined 2012. (113 PHOTOS)
2012: The Year In Photos
56
New Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic (left) embraces former President Boris Tadic as he takes his oath of office at the National Assembly building in Belgrade on May 31. Nikolic said he wanted Serbia to join the EU, but stressed that Belgrade would never give up its claim to Kosovo. (AFP/Andrej Isakovic)
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An Afghan child in Kabul climbs on the barrel of a tank on May 31, the eve of International Children’s Day. (RFE/Sabawoon)
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A Kosovo Serb gestures to troops in a German KFOR armored vehicle guarding a bridge in the village of Rudare, near the northern Kosovo town of Zvecan, on June 1. A NATO soldier and three Kosovo Serbs were wounded in clashes that erupted as NATO units moved to dismantle Serb-held barricades in northern Kosovo. (AFP)
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Supporters of deposed President Hosni Mubarak react after a court sentenced him to life in prison in Cairo on June 2. Mubarak was charged with ordering the killing of protesters during the uprising that swept him from power in 2011. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)
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Britain's Prince Charles kisses the hand of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, during the Diamond Jubilee concert in front of Buckingham Palace in London on June 4. Pop royalty including Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John performed at the celebrations of the queen's 60 years on the throne. (Reuters/David Moir)
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Defendants accused of participating in the December 2011 clashes in the Kazakh oil town of Zhanaozen react behind a glass barrier while Interior Ministry officers block the audience during a court session in Aktau on June 4. Relatives of 37 protesters accused of rioting in Zhanaozen crammed into a makeshift courtroom to await the verdicts in the largest trial relating to the deadly clashes. (Reuters/Olga Yaroslavskaya)
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Ukrainian opposition protesters clash with riot police on June 5 in front of the parliament in Kyiv. The demonstrators were protesting against legislation expanding the use of the Russian language in courts and hospitals in the country's eastern regions, which have close ties to Moscow. (AFP/Sergei Supinsky)
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Venus, seen from Russia's Ivanovo region, transits in front of the sun early on June 6. This rare astronomical event won't happen for another 105 years. (Itar Tass/Vladimir Smirnov)
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Dancers perform under a giant inflatable logo of the Euro 2012 football championships during the opening ceremony at the National Stadium in Warsaw on June 8. (AFP/Christof Stache)
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Female supporters of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Muhammad Morsi hold campaign fliers bearing his portrait during celebrations on Cairo's Tahrir Square on June 18. Islamist candidates claimed victory in Egypt's first free presidential vote since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. (AFP/Patrick Baz)
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Young Salafi women spend time at a women-only beach in downtown Makhachkala, Daghestan, on July 8. (Reuters/Maria Turchenkova)
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Lightning strikes near the Memorial Center in Potocari on July 10, the night before a mass burial. The bodies of 520 recently identified victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre were buried on July 11, the anniversary of the killing of some 8,000 Muslims by Bosnian Serb forces. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic)
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The members of the Rolling Stones -- Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Charlie Watts -- pose in front of The Marquee Club in London on July 11. The picture was taken to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones' first-ever live performance, on July 12, 1962, at the iconic venue on London's Oxford Street. (Reuters/Rankin)
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Chinese artist and democracy activist Ai Weiwei waits for his lawyer to return from a court hearing at his compound in Beijing on July 20. The artist lost his appeal against a multi-million-dollar tax fine on a company he founded. (AFP/ Ed Jones)
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Afghan women march in Kabul on July 11 to protest against the recent public execution of a young woman for alleged adultery. The execution was captured in a shocking video. (RFE/Sabawoon)
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The Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft is transported to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 12. An International Space Station (ISS) crew of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams took off for the space station on July 15. (Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov)
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Three girls jump in Lake Ohrid in Macedonia on July 12. A heat wave in Macedonia with temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius forced residents to seek relief in the rivers and lakes. (AFP/Robert Atanasovski)
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People hold hands as they pray outside the Aurora Municipal Center in Aurora, Colorado, during a memorial service on July 22 for victims of a mass shooting at a movie theater two days earlier. Twelve people were killed and many more wounded in the attack by a lone gunman. (AFP/Joshua Lott)
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A supporter of jailed members of Russian punk collective Pussy Riot stages a protest with his lips sewn together outside the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg on July 23. (Reuters/Trend Photo Agency)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron as they attend a judo competition at the Olympic Games in London on August 2. (AFP/Franck Fife)
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South Africa's Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane dances to African music with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a gala dinner in Pretoria, South Africa, on August 7. (AFP/Jacquelyn Martin)
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U.S. singer Madonna performs in St. Petersburg during her MDNA tour on August 9. Defying a Russian law that forbids public endorsements of homosexuality, Madonna demanded tolerance for gays and lesbians during her St. Petersburg concert. (AFP/ Olga Maltseva)
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Former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko (back) gets into a police truck after a court session in Kyiv on August 17. Lutsenko, a close ally of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, was sentenced to two years in prison for negligence in his second trial this year, according to local media. (Reuters/Anatolii Stepanov)
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A wildfire is seen from the air near the Serbian village of Dubovo on August 22. An unprecedented drought and soaring temperatures in the Balkans caused a string of forest fires and serious damage to agriculture in the region. (AFP/Nebojsha Markovic)
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Free Syrian Army fighters run for cover after Syrian government forces fired a mortar in the northwestern city of Aleppo on August 30. (Reuters/Youssef Boudlal)