As the end of the year approaches, here is a look back at some of the major news moments of 2023. Events covered in this essay (the last of a three-part photo summary of the year) include an annular solar eclipse over North America, Israel’s war against Hamas, a destructive hurricane in Mexico, the felling of a famous tree in England, and much more. Be sure to check out the first part, the second part, and our “Top 25 News Photos of 2023.”
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Simone Biles competes on the Balance Beam in the Women's Individual All-Around Final during the 52nd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, in Antwerp, Belgium, on October 6, 2023. #
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On September 4, 2023, backed-up vehicles depart the Burning Man festival in Black Rock City, Nevada, following rains that turned the desert into a muddy mess. #
Matt Mills Mcknight / Reuters Read more -
This picture taken on September 2, 2023 shows a player scoring a try during the Water Rugby Lausanne by jumping into Lake Geneva from a floating rugby field. The match was part of a three-day tournament organized by the LUC Rugby that gathered more than 240 players in Lausanne, Switzerland. #
Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty Read more -
A masked witness rests before testifying in front of a military court at the trial of six soldiers accused of the murder of 56 civilians during a demonstration against the presence of a United Nations peacekeeping force, at the military auditorium in Goma, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on September 15, 2023. #
Arlette Bashizi / Reuters Read more -
A view of a village destroyed by a devastating earthquake, near Adassil, Morocco, on September 11, 2023. On September 8, a magnitude-6.8 quake struck near Marrakesh, destroying many buildings in mountainous rural villages, killing more than 2,900 people. #
Nacho Doce / Reuters Read more -
A woman reacts, standing in front of her earthquake-damaged house in the old city in Marrakesh on September 9, 2023. #
Fadel Senna / AFP / Getty Read more -
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visit a construction site at the Angara rocket launch complex in Tsiolkovsky, Russia, on September 13, 2023. Kim Jong-un was in Russia for talks with Putin. #
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A young bodyboarder catches a backwash wave at Coledale Beach on September 14, 2023, in Wollongong, Australia. #
Mark Evans / Getty Read more -
Danielle Collins of the United States serves against Caroline Garcia of France during their quarterfinal match of the Cymbiotika San Diego Open at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, California, on September 14, 2023. #
Sean M. Haffey / Getty Read more -
Sparks fly behind driver Carlos Sainz during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 15, 2023, in Singapore. #
Clive Mason / Getty Read more -
A Venezuelan migrant reaches the U.S. after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico at Eagle Pass, Texas, on September 23, 2023. #
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP / Getty Read more -
The rear wheels spin as Andy Clifford warms the tires of his "Snake Eyes" slingshot dragster ahead of a Wild Bunch Nostalgia class heat on the final day of the STP National Finals at the Santa Pod Raceway on September 24, 2023, in Podington, England. #
Leon Neal / Getty Read more -
Taylor Swift reacts during the first half of a game between the Chicago Bears and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on September 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Missouri. #
Jason Hanna / Getty Read more -
Models wear creations for the Undercover Spring/Summer 2024 womenswear fashion collection in Paris on September 27, 2023. #
Vianney Le Caer / Invision / AP Read more -
In this aerial view the "Sycamore Gap" tree on Hadrian's Wall lies on the ground, leaving behind only a stump in the spot it once stood, on September 28, 2023, northeast of Haltwhistle, England. The tree, which was apparently felled overnight, was one of the UK's most photographed, and appeared in the 1991 Kevin Costner film "Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves." Three people have been arrested over the incident, and are currently out on bail while the investigation into the felling continues. #
Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Read more -
This aerial photograph, taken on October 2, 2023, shows the Rusayo IDP camp, home to tens of thousands of war-displaced people, located at the foot of the active Nyiragongo volcano, on the outskirts of Goma in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since mid-2022, hundreds of thousands of Congolese have found refuge around Goma after fleeing fighting further north between the Congolese army and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebellion. #
Alexis Huguet / AFP / Getty Read more -
After lying in state inside San Francisco City Hall, the late U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein is carried to a hearse in San Francisco, California, on October 4, 2023. The longtime Democratic senator, who died last week at the age of 90, had also been the first female mayor of San Francisco. #
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A child does a wheelie on his bicycle on October 4, 2023 in Pia Wadjarri, Australia. #
Tamati Smith / Getty Read more -
Palestinian militants surround a truck reportedly carrying a captured Israeli woman, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 7, 2023, following a surprise attack by Hamas across southern Israel in which 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, and about 240 people were taken hostage. #
AFP / Getty Read more -
Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from the city of Ashkelon, Israel, on October 9, 2023. #
Amir Cohen / Reuters Read more -
A woman carrying a girl reacts, walking past dust-covered debris, after Israeli air strikes hit the Ridwan neighborhood of Gaza City on October 23, 2023. #
Ali Jadallah / Anadolu / Getty Read more -
A woman reacts upon seeing the body of her sister, who was killed in an Israeli bombardment on Rafah on October 21, 2023. #
Mohammed Abed / AFP / Getty Read more -
Members of the security forces continue to search for identification and personal effects at the Supernova Music Festival site, where hundreds were killed and dozens taken by Hamas militants near the border with Gaza, on October 12, 2023, in Kibbutz Re'im, Israel. #
Leon Neal / Getty Read more -
People demonstrate in support of Palestinians in New York City, on October 13, 2023. #
Ed Jones / AFP / Getty Read more -
Crowds of supporters gather on the National Mall at the March for Israel on November 14, 2023, in Washington, D.C. #
Mark Schiefelbein / AP Read more -
A sit-down protest in the Cannon House Office Building, in Washington, D.C., calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, on October 18, 2023 #
Leah Millis / Reuters Read more -
The moon crosses directly in front of the sun during an annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, above Albuquerque, New Mexico. #
Sam Wasson / Getty Read more -
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing to consider an appeal against his pre-trial detention on espionage charges in Moscow, Russia, on October 10, 2023. Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. government all deny the charges. He was arrested on March 29, 2023, and has been held in prison since, awaiting trial, as U.S. officials have been working to secure his release. #
Evgenia Novozhenina / Reuters Read more -
Afghan men carry a tent after a recent earthquake in the district of Zinda Jan, in Herat, Afghanistan, on October 10, 2023. #
Ali Khara / Reuters Read more -
A worker using a plasma torch cuts the head of a bronze monument to Civil War General Robert E. Lee that formerly stood in Charlottesville, Virginia, before it is melted at a foundry on October 21, 2023. As part of the "Swords Into Plowshares" project, the statue was melted down with the intention to use the metal to make a new public artwork. #
Eze Amos / Getty Read more -
An employee adjusts the skin tone on a wax figure of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, after the actor complained about how pale it appeared, at the Grévin Museum in Paris, France, on October 24, 2023. #
Stefano Rellandini / AFP / Getty Read more -
Schoolchildren wearing gas masks and suits attend training in a military-patriotic program called "School of Future Commanders" in Russian-occupied Sevastopol, Crimea, on October 28, 2023. #
AFP / Getty Read more -
An aerial view of damage caused by the passage of Hurricane Otis in Acapulco, Mexico, on October 28, 2023. The Category 5 hurricane underwent rapid intensification just before landfall, and caused more than $16 billion in damage. #
Rodrigo Oropeza / AFP / Getty Read more -
Canada's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen perform during the dance free program in the Grand Prix de France at Angers IceParc, in Angers, France, on November 4, 2023. #
Stephane Mahe / Reuters Read more -
Palestinians flee Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza, heading toward southern areas on foot along a highway on November 9, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israeli forces and Hamas. Thousands of Palestinians fled on November 8, getting away from the fighting and intense bombardment in Gaza as Israel said it was tightening its "stranglehold" around Hamas. #
Mahmud Hams / AFP / Getty Read more -
Police officers work to contain protesters trying to enter the train station in Barcelona, Spain, on November 11, 2023. Riot police briefly clashed with about 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters who stormed and occupied a commuter train station. #
Emilio Morenatti / AP Read more -
A newly-arrived Rohingya refugee walks to the beach after the local community decided to temporarily allow a boat full of refugees to land for water and food in Ulee Madon, Aceh province, Indonesia, on November 16, 2023. About 250 Rohingya refugees reached western Indonesia on an overcrowded wooden boat on November 16, 2023, bringing the total number of refugees reported by local officials to have arrived that week to nearly 600. #
Amanda Jufrian / AFP / Getty Read more -
A child greets Little Amal, a 12-foot-tall puppet representing a 10-year-old Syrian refugee child, near the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Playas de Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on November 6, 2023. #
Guillermo Arias / AFP / Getty Read more -
Smoke and dust rise during an Israeli military bombardment of the northern Gaza Strip on November 15, 2023. Intense bombardment and ground incursions by Israeli forces have reportedly killed more than 15,000 and left "nearly 1.9 million people (or over 85 per cent of the population) ... displaced across the Gaza Strip since October 7," according to a December 4 report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. #
Fadel Senna / AFP / Getty Read more -
An armed woman walks through Jerusalem during increased tensions between Palestinians and Israelis on December 4, 2023, in Israel. Israel and Hamas resumed fighting following a truce that lasted nearly a week. Both sides had agreed on the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, as well as the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. #
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