Newsmakers of 2019
Greta Thunberg: Since staging a solitary protest outside the Swedish parliament more than a year ago, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg has channeled the anger felt by millions of teenagers saddled with the prospect of an escalating climate...more
Volodomyr Zelenskiy: Before Zelenskiy became Ukraine's leader, he played the role of a president in a hit TV series who was forever landing in tricky situations. But rarely was the fictional president in as awkward a position as Zelenskiy is now - at...more
Carrie Lam: Hong Kong has been convulsed by sometimes violent protests and mass demonstrations since June, in response to a proposed law by the pro-Beijing chief executive's administration to allow people suspected of crimes on the mainland to be...more
Megan Rapinoe: The 34-year-old American midfielder emerged as a larger-than-life figure in soccer after leading the United States to a record-extending fourth World Cup title in France in July. When U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at Rapinoe,...more
Juan Guaido: The president of Venezuela's National Assembly, saying the vote in which President Nicolas Maduro won a second term was a sham, invoked a constitutional provision to declare himself president in January. Maduro has said Guaido is a...more
Theresa May: Fighting back tears, the British prime minister announced in the summer she would quit after failing to deliver Brexit, setting up a contest that eventually installed Boris Johnson as her successor. May, once a reluctant supporter of EU...more
Boris Johnson: The ebullient Brexiteer, who promised to lead Britain out of the European Union with or without a deal, replaced Theresa May as prime minister after winning the leadership of the Conservative Party in July. But Johnson was unable to...more
Jeffrey Epstein: Financier Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in July and pleaded not guilty to charges of trafficking dozens of underage girls as young as 14 from at least 2002 to 2005. He had escaped federal prosecution by pleading guilty in 2008 to...more
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: The Iraqi jihadist who rose from obscurity to declare himself "caliph" of all Muslims as the leader of Islamic State died in a raid by U.S. special forces in northwest Syria in October. The caliphate that Baghdadi declared in...more
Tayyip Erdogan: Relations between Washington and Ankara hit a new crisis point in October over Syria, after the Turkish president began a cross-border incursion against America's Kurdish allies and upended the U.S. presence there. Months earlier, the...more
Julian Assange: Sweden dropped a rape investigation against the WikiLeaks founder, ending the near decade-old case that had sent the anti-secrecy campaigner into hiding in London's Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition in 2012. The 48-year-old was...more
Kim Jong Un: The North Korean leader has warned the United States it has until the end of the year to offer more concessions in denuclearization negotiations or North Korea will pursue an unspecified "new path". Analysts say that may include a...more
Jacinda Ardern: The New Zealand prime minister was cheered globally for her compassionate and heartfelt support after 51 Muslims were killed in mass shootings in two Christchurch mosques. In the wake of the attacks, lawmakers banned military style...more
Robert Mueller: The special counsel spent 22 months investigating what he concluded was Russian interference in a "sweeping and systematic fashion" in the 2016 U.S. election to help Trump as well as the president's actions to impede the inquiry....more
Justin Trudeau: The Canadian prime minister held on to his job in October's election, securing his spot as one of the world's few high-profile progressive leaders, but tarnished by scandal and with his power diminished. The run-up to the campaign was...more
Meng Wangzhou: Huawei's chief financial officer, the daughter of the tech giant's founder, has been detained in Vancouver since December 2018. She is charged in the United States with bank fraud and is accused of misleading HSBC about Huawei's...more
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun: Saudi Arabia's guardianship system came under scrutiny in January when the Saudi teenager fled from her family and was granted asylum in Canada. The 18-year-old barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel room to resist...more
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor: Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, welcomed their first child in May. Wee Archie, who is seventh in line to the British throne, marked his first royal engagement in September, meeting Nobel...more
Next Slideshows
New Zealand mourns after deadly volcano eruption
The death toll is seen at 16 people and more than 20 are in hospital after a volcano erupted on White Island, where ongoing seismic activity is preventing teams...
Dec 12 2019On the UK campaign trail
UK parties drum up support before Britain holds an election on December 12, a political gamble by Prime Minister Boris Johnson who sees it as his best chance to...
Dec 11 2019MORE IN PICTURES
America in the age of Trump
Migrant detentions, a devastating pandemic, a protest movement for racial justice and more scenes from a nation reshaped by Donald Trump's presidency.
Defining photos from the Trump presidency
Donald Trump's four years in the Oval Office have been marked by "America First" nationalism, two impeachments, a pandemic and contentious stands on race and immigration.
Moving out of the White House
Personnel are seen moving items out of the White House in the final days of Donald Trump's presidency.
Trump's inner circle
The advisers, Cabinet members, lawmakers and family members surrounding Donald Trump during his presidency.
'Enemy of the people': Trump's relationship with the media
Images of the relationship between the press and President Donald Trump, who has called journalists "the enemy of the people" and "fake news."
Washington locks down ahead of inauguration
The nation's capital continues to boost security by shutting down access to iconic landmarks and erecting vehicle checkpoints ahead of Biden's inauguration.
North Korea shows off military might in massive parade
North Korea displayed what appeared to be a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) at a parade, capping more than a week of political meetings with a show of military might.
Off-road racers compete in the grueling Dakar Rally
Scenes from The Dakar Rally, one of the most famous off-road races in the world.
The people charged in siege of U.S. Capitol
The Justice Department has brought dozens of criminal cases in connection with the violent riots at the U.S. Capitol, in which Trump's supporters stormed the building, ransacked offices and in some cases, attacked police.