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A war in Europe, the death of the Queen, record heatwaves and flooding, protests around the world and three prime ministers… it’s been quite a year.

Photographers have documented the huge news events of 2022 with striking images capturing key moments in history.

This is the year in pictures:

Ukrainians huddle under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee by crossing the Irpin River on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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March 5: Ukrainians huddle under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee by crossing the Irpin River on the outskirts of Kyiv. Pic: AP/Emilio Morenatti
Will Smith hits Chris Rock during the Oscars ceremony
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March 27: Will Smith slaps Chris Rock during the Oscars ceremony. Pic: Reuters/Brian Snyder
A woman carries her cat as she walks past buildings that were destroyed by Russian shelling, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Borodyanka, in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 5, 2022.        REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo        TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY        SEARCH "GLOBAL POY" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "REUTERS POY" FOR ALL BEST OF 2022 PACKAGES.
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April 5: A woman carries her cat as she walks past buildings destroyed by Russian shelling in Borodyanka. Pic: Reuters/Zohra Bensemra
 Queen Elizabeth II and Paddington Bear have cream tea at Buckingham Palace, in London, taken from a film that was shown at the BBC Platinum Party at the Palace  Heyday Films via AP)
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June 4: The Queen has tea with Paddington Bear during Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Pic: Buckingham Palace/Heyday Films
People in the US protest against the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade
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June 24: Protests against the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade. Pic: Sky News
Boris Johnson
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July 7: Boris Johnson is comforted by his family as he departs Downing Street. Pic: Tim Hammond/No 10 Downing Street
Demonstrators protest inside the President's House, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 9, 2022.        REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File Photo        TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY        SEARCH "POY STORIES 2022" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "REUTERS POY" FOR ALL BEST OF 2022 PACKAGES
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July 9: Demonstrators protest after storming the president’s house in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in July. Pic: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte
First image from James Webb Space Telescope
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July 11: First image from James Webb Space Telescope. Pic: NASA
Flames engulf a chair inside a burning home as the Oak Fire burns in Mariposa County, Calif., on July 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
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July 23: Flames engulf a chair inside a burning home as the Oak Fire burns in California in July. Pic: AP/Noah Berger
Aerials of the fire in Wennington
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July 19: Aerial images show homes on fire in Wennington on hottest day on record in the UK. Pic: Sky News
Soccer Football - Women's Euro 2022 - Final - England v Germany - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - July 31, 2022.
England's Chloe Kelly celebrates scoring their second goal with Jill Scott and Lauren Hemp.        REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo        TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY        SEARCH "GLOBAL POY" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "REUTERS POY" FOR ALL BEST OF 2022 PACKAGES.
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July 31: England’s Chloe Kelly celebrates scoring as the Lionesses become European champions. Pic: Reuters/Lisi Niesner
An aerial view shows a branch of the Loire River as historical drought hits France, in Loireauxence, France, August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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August 16: A branch of the Loire River in France as historical drought hits France amid record temperatures across Europe. Pic: Reuters/Stephane Mahe
A boy crosses a flooded street, with the help of a wire fastened on both ends, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Charsadda, Pakistan August 27, 2022. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz
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August 27: A boy clings on to a rope as he crosses a flooded street during devastating floods in Charsadda, Pakistan. Pic: Reuters/Fayaz Aziz
Members of the public file past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard with the Imperial State Crown and the Sovereign's orb and sceptre, lying in state on the catafalque in Westminster Hall, at the Palace of Westminster, London, ahead of her funeral on Monday. Picture date: Thursday September 15, 2022.
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September 15: Members of the public pay respects as the Queen’s coffin lay in state in Westminster Hall. Pic: PA
Britain's King Charles salutes as he departs Wellington Arch on the day of the state funeral and burial of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, in London, Britain, September 19, 2022 REUTERS/Toby Melville.
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September 19: A teary King Charles salutes on the day of the Queen’s funeral. Pic: Reuters/Toby Melville.
An aerial view of a partially collapsed Sanibel Causeway after Hurricane Ian caused widespread destruction, in Sanibel Island, Florida, U.S., September 29, 2022. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
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September 29: A partially collapsed Sanibel Causeway after Hurricane Ian caused widespread destruction in Florida. Pic: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton
Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Tehran on 1 October (file pic)
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October 1: Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Tehran. :Pic: AP
A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain, October 15, 2022.        REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File Photo        TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY        SEARCH "POY STORIES 2022" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "REUTERS POY" FOR ALL BEST OF 2022 PACKAGES
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October 15: A ‘Just Stop Oil’ activist is dragged away after blocking the road in Central London. Pic: Reuters/Henry Nicholls
Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss addresses the media in Downing Street in London, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Truss says she resigns as leader of UK Conservative Party. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
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October 20: Liz Truss resigns after just 44 days as prime minister. Pic AP/Alberto Pezzali
The clerk of a shop situated on the site where a stampede happened during Halloween festivities pays respects in the middle of the site, in Seoul, South Korea October 31, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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October 31: A man pays respects at the site of a crush during Halloween festivities in Seoul. Pic: Reuters/Kim Hong-J
Sky’s International Correspondent Alex Rossi and team witnessed scenes of jubilation in Kherson following the city’s recent liberation.
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November 12: Scenes of jubilation in Kherson as Ukraine regains control of the city. Pic: Sky News
NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule, lifts off from launch complex 39-B on the unmanned Artemis 1 mission to the moon, seen from Sebastian, Florida, U.S. November 16, 2022. REUTERS/Joe Rimkus Jr.     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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November 16: The view from Florida as NASA’s Artemis mission to the moon takes off. Pic: Reuters/Joe Rimkus Jr
Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates with fans and fellow players after receiving the World Cup trophy
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December 18: Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates with fans and players after winning the World Cup. Pic: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach

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Children among 25 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza – as 41 killed in attack on northern Lebanon

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Children among 25 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza - as 41 killed in attack on northern Lebanon

An 18-month-old boy and his 10-year-old sister are among 25 people who were killed in a series of Israeli strikes on central parts of Gaza, hospital officials have said.

Sixteen people were initially reported to have been killed in two strikes on the central Nuseirat refugee camp on Thursday, but officials from the Al Aqsa hospital said bodies continued to be brought in.

The hospital said they had received 21 bodies from the strikes, including some transferred from the Awda hospital, where they had been taken the day before.

Strikes on a motorcycle in Zuwaida and on a house in Deir al Balah on Friday killed four more, hospital officials said, bringing the overall toll to 25.

Five children and seven women are among those who have been confirmed dead.

The mother of the 18-month-old boy is missing and his father was killed in an Israeli strike four months ago, the family has said.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA earlier reported that 57 people had died in the Israeli strikes.

The Israeli military did not comment on the specific strikes but said its troops had identified and eliminated “several armed terrorists” in central Gaza.

Palestinians watch as smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. Pic: Reuters
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Palestinians watch as smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. Pic: Reuters

It also said its forces had eliminated “dozens of terrorists” in raids in northern Gaza’s Jabalia area – home to one of the territory’s refugee camps.

It comes as the Israeli military said on Friday it killed senior Hamas official Izz al Din Kassab, describing him as one of the last high-ranking members, in an airstrike in Khan Younis.

A displaced Palestinian boy in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
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A displaced Palestinian boy in Gaza City on 28 October. Pic: Reuters


The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have over the past few weeks resumed intense operations in the north of Gaza, claiming they are seeking to stop Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, from regrouping.

Meanwhile, top UN officials said in a statement on Friday that the situation in northern Gaza is “apocalyptic” and the entire Palestinian population in the area is at “imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence”.

The overall number of people killed in Gaza in the 13-month war is more than 43,000, officials from the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, reported this week.

Read more:
‘This is our land, we deserve it’

Charity demands UK evacuate critically ill children from Gaza

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Civil defence members work at a site damaged in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Yassin
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Civil defence members work at a site damaged in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Pic: Reuters

It comes as at least 41 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Baalbek region on Friday, the regional governor said.

The deaths were confirmed hours after Lebanon’s health ministry said 30 people had been killed in Israeli strikes on the country in the past 24 hours.

It is not clear if any of those killed in the Baalbek region were included in that figure.

In recent days, Israel has intensified its airstrikes on the northeast city of Baalbek and nearby villages, as well as different parts of southern Lebanon, prompting roughly 60,000 people to flee their homes, according to Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese official representing the region.

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Israel has issued evacuation orders for people living in parts of Lebanon

Israel’s military said in a statement that attacks “in the area of Beirut” had targeted Hezbollah weapons manufacturing sites, command centres and other infrastructure.

Israeli planes also pounded Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh overnight, destroying dozens of buildings in several neighbourhoods, according to the Lebanese state news agency.

More than 2,800 people have been killed and 13,000 wounded since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated after Hamas’s 7 October attack last year, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, in northern Israel, seven people, including three Israelis and four Thai nationals, were killed by projectiles fired from Lebanon on Thursday, Israeli medics said.

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North Korea vows to back Russia until ‘victory’ over Ukraine – as thousands of its troops ‘set to enter combat’

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North Korea vows to back Russia until 'victory' over Ukraine - as thousands of its troops 'set to enter combat'

North Korea says it will support Russia in its war with Ukraine “until the day of victory” – after the US warned thousands of Pyongyang’s troops are set to enter combat in the coming days.

North Korea’s foreign minister Choe Son Hui hailed Vladimir Putin’s “wise leadership” ahead of talks in Moscow on Friday, and insisted that Russia will “achieve a great victory”.

“We also assure that until the day of victory we will firmly stand alongside our Russian comrades,” she added.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has said thousands of North Korean troops are stationed near Ukraine’s border and are set to enter combat in the coming days.

Mr Blinken said 10,000 soldiers have been deployed to Russia, with up to 8,000 in the Kursk border region, and indicated they would be used on the frontline.

He added that the troops have been trained by Russian forces in artillery, drones and “basic infantry operations, including trench clearing”.

In an interview with South Korean TV channel KBS, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the West’s response to the deployment as “nothing, it’s zero”.

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North Korean troops near Ukraine border, US says

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Friday that he had “nothing to add to what has already been said” on the US claims, and thanked Ms Choe for North Korea’s support.

The deployment of troops to Russia comes after Mr Putin met Kim Jong Un in June, when the Russian president travelled to North Korea for the first time in 24 years.

Vladimir Putin met Kim Jong Un in North Korea in June. Pic: Reuters
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Vladimir Putin met Kim Jong Un in North Korea in June. Pic: Reuters

A mutual defence pact was agreed during their summit, meaning the countries will help each other if they are attacked.

Speaking in Moscow, Ms Choe accused the US and South Korea of plotting a nuclear strike against her country.

She provided no evidence to back her claim, but spoke of regular consultations between Washington and Seoul, at which she alleged such plotting took place.

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Ms Choe also told Mr Lavrov that tensions on the Korean Peninsula could turn “explosive” at any moment.

On Thursday, North Korea tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile, which it claimed was “the world’s most powerful strategic deterrent”.

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North Korea tests giant missile

On Friday, Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 31 Russian drones and one missile during an overnight strike across the country.

It said 48 drones were launched by Moscow, along with three cruise missiles. Out of the drones launched, another 14 were “locationally lost”.

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Why flooding in Spain has been so deadly – and why it could happen again

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Why flooding in Spain has been so deadly – and why it could happen again

More than 200 people have died in Spain after nearly a year’s worth of rain fell in a matter of hours.

On Friday, there were at least 205 confirmed deaths in Valencia, two in Castilla La Mancha, and one in Andalusia.

Local authorities issued warnings late on Tuesday, but many say this gave them next-to-no time to prepare for the conditions that had killed dozens by Wednesday.

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Here we look at what caused the flooding – and why they could happen again.

How quickly did the floods hit?

Heavy rain had already begun in parts of southern Spain on Monday.

In contrast to areas like Malaga, where residents told Sky News it had been “chucking it down for two days”, the rain did not start in the worst-hit region of Valencia until around 7pm on Tuesday.

At 8pm, people in Valencia received smartphone alerts warning them not to leave their homes.

But by then, many were already trapped in dangerous conditions, particularly in the south of the city where a major road had flooded, leaving drivers stuck in their cars.

Read more
‘No one came to rescue us’
Deadly flood damage is ‘utterly random’
Deadliest weather events were fuelled by climate change

By Wednesday morning, more than 50 people had been found dead.

The Chiva area of Valencia had been hit by 491 litres per square metre of rain in eight hours. Only around 65 l/m2 usually falls in the whole of October.

Storms spread west on Wednesday night and into Thursday, bringing deadly conditions to Andalusia and Castilla La Mancha as well.

What caused them?

Heavy rain is not uncommon across eastern Spain at this time of year.

It’s caused by a weather phenomenon called DANA – ‘depresion aislada en niveles altos’ in Spanish – which translates as ‘isolated low-pressure system at high levels’.

DANA occurs when:

1) Cold air from the north moves south;

2) Warm air then blows over the Mediterranean, rising quickly and forming heavy clouds;

3) The low pressure from the north gets blocked by the high pressure above the water, causing it to slow down or stop completely.

A graphic shows how the DANA phenomenon happens
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A graphic shows how the DANA phenomenon happens

This creates storm-like conditions that cannot move anywhere else – so the rain falls over the same area for a sustained period of time.

What role did climate change play?

General flash floods and those caused by DANA specifically have struck Spain long before humans started warming the climate.

But climate change is making heavy rain worse, and therefore more dangerous.

That’s because hotter air is able to hold more moisture. So when it rains, it unleashes more water.

The current 1.3C increase in global temperatures since pre-industrial times means the air can carry about 9% more moisture.

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What caused the floods in Spain?

And higher sea surface temperatures in the Mediterranean are a “key driver” of strong storms, said Dr Marilena Oltmanns, research scientist at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton.

The world is on track for 3.1C warming by the end of this century, which is expected to make rain heavier still, increasing the chances of flash flooding and giving areas little time to respond.

Imperial College London’s lead for its World Weather Attribution (WWA) group Dr Friederike Otto says there is “no doubt about it”.

“These explosive downpours were intensified by climate change,” she says.

Professor Mark Smith, an expert in water science and health at the University of Leeds, adds that hotter summers also dry out the soil in the ground, which means it absorbs less rain – and more of it flows into rivers and lakes – which flood quicker.

People work to clear a mud-covered street with piled up cars in the aftermath of torrential rains that caused flooding, in Paiporta, Spain, October 31, 2024. REUTERS/Eva Manez
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Scale of devastation in Paiporta, Valencia on Thursday. Pic: Reuters

Vehicles are seen piled up after being swept away by floods in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
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Abandoned and mangled cars in Valencia on Thursday. Pic: AP

Will they keep happening?

A red weather warning is in place for the Huelva area of Andalusia until Friday afternoon.

Beyond the warning period, storms are set to continue across parts of Spain for several days.

In the longer term, Dr Marilena Oltmanns says: “Given the long-term warming trend, both in the sea surface temperatures in the Mediterranean region and the global air temperature, we expect the events like the currently observed one in Spain to become more frequent.”

Chiva and the surrounding worst-hit area also suffers from the unfortunate geography of being in a river catchment – where water feeds into the River Turia – and close to the mountains. And is not far from the sea.

That means water has little chance to absorb into the land and so builds up very quickly.

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This makes it all the more imperative that forecasts are accurate, authorities prepare accordingly, and residents respond quickly.

Professor Hannah Cloke, professor of Hydrology at the University of Reading, describes people dying in their cars and being swept away in the street as “entirely avoidable”.

“This suggests the system for alerting people to the dangers of floods in Valencia has failed,” she says.

“People need to understand that extreme weather warnings for floods are very different from regular weather reports. We need to consider flood warnings totally differently, more like fire alarms or earthquake sirens, and less like the way we browse daily weather forecasts on our phones or on the TV.”

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Residents: ‘No one came to rescue us’

Gareth Redmond-King, international analyst at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), says Spain’s tragedy should serve as a “wake-up call” to the UK.

“This is not about future events in a far-off place with a dramatically different climate from the UK. Spain is one of our nearest neighbours,” he warns.

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