In 2014, Ukraine spiraled into civil conflict, fresh violence shook Gaza, and the Islamic State militant group seized swathes of Iraq and Syria. These are some of the photographs that tell the stories of the year.
2014: The Year In Photos
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A man walks through the wreckage of a Malaysian airliner brought down near the town of Shaktarsk in rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on July 17. All 298 people on board the flight were killed in the disaster. (Alexander Khudoteply, AFP)
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Muslims pray during Ramadan at the Meshedi Dadash mosque in Baku, Azerbaijan, on July 21. (Abbas Atilay, RFE/RL)
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Buildings reduced to rubble by Israeli attacks are seen in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood of Gaza City during a temporary cease-fire on July 26. (Oliver Weiken, epa)
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An Orthodox priest throws a tire during clashes between activists and militiamen on Kyiv's Independence Square on August 7. (Sergei Supinsky, AFP)
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A diver jumps from a 22-meter-high bridge during a competition in the town of Gjakova, Kosovo, on August 11. (Armend Nimani, AFP)
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Displaced Iraqis from the minority Yazidi sect walk toward the Syrian border as they flee attacks by the Islamic State militant group on August 11. (Rodi Said, Reuters)
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Visitors run away as waves caused by a tidal bore surge over the banks of the Qiantang River in China's Zhejiang Province on August 13. (Reuters)
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U.S. National Guard officers keep watch from a hill in Ferguson, Missouri, as demonstrators protest on August 21 against the police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man. Violent protests erupted in the wake of Brown's death in August and again in November, when the police officer responsible was acquitted. (Larry W. Smith, epa)
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Dust, glass, and damaged household items litter a kitchen in Donetsk, Ukraine, on August 26 during fighting between government forces and separatist rebels. (Sergei Ilnitsky, epa)
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People dance and throw straw during a traditional Belarusian festival in the village of Ozerco, near Minsk, on September 7. (Uladz Hrydzin, AFP)
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Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev looks out of a Russian Soyuz space capsule shortly after landing near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on September 11, following a six-month stay at the International Space Station. (Maxim Shipenkov, Reuters)
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People walk past a vehicle almost entirely submerged in mud after heavy flooding in the village of Tekija, Serbia, on September 17. (Djordje Kojadinovic, Reuters)
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Women in folk costumes dance near empty shopping carts during a local food fair in Stavropol, Russia, on September 21, 2014. In August, Russia imposed bans on many foreign food products in response to Western sanctions over Moscow's involvement in Ukraine. (Eduard Korniyenko, Reuters)
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A woman plays with her daughter at a winter sports resort near the village of Gudauri, north of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on September 24. (Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP)
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A sign warns of the danger of Ebola in West Point, a slum area of the Liberian capital, Monrovia, on September 25. The area was among the worst affected by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. (Ahmad Jallanzo, epa)
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A multiple exposure shows Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Khilko competing in the women's gymnastics trampoline event at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, on September 26. (Kim Hong-Ji, Reuters)
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People in the southeastern Turkish village of Mursitpinar gesture as air strikes hit Kobani, across the border with Syria, on October 22. Kurdish pershmerga fighters were battling Islamic State militants for control of the town. (Bulent Kilic, AFP)
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A girl takes a picture with a tablet while visiting a beach in Karachi, Pakistan, on October 28. (Akhtar Soomro, Reuters)
44
Protesters in Hong Kong open their umbrellas, symbols of the prodemocracy movement, as they mark one month since the beginning of mass demonstrations demanding reform. (Damir Sagolj, Reuters)
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A pro-Russian militant stands guard at a polling station during early voting in the eastern Ukrainian village of Volodorsk on October 29. The rebel-controlled Donbas region held parliamentary elections on November 2 that were not recognized in Kyiv or abroad. (Stanislav Krasilnikov, TASS)
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Afghan children study in open-air classrooms on the outskirts of Jalalabad on November 5. (Parwiz, Reuters)
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A young girl places a rose at the Berlin Wall memorial in Bernauer Strasse during a ceremony on November 9 marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of the wall. (Fabrizio Bensch, Reuters)
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Leaders of the G20 countries watch a performance at the opening of a summit in Brisbane, Australia, on November 15. (Jason Reed, Reuters)
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Demonstrators hold up red cards to show their opposition to Czech President Milos Zeman at a protest in Prague on November 17, the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that brought an end to communist rule. Zeman's opponents warn that the president is reviving warm relations with Russia and turning his back on human rights issues in Russia, China, and elsewhere. (David W. Cerny, Reuters)
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Dead buffalo lie on the ground during a sacrificial ceremony of the Gadhimai Mela Festival in Bariyapur, Nepal, on November 28. The Hindu festival, which takes place once every five years, involves the largest ritual animal slaughter in the world. (Navesh Chitrakar, Reuters)