By — Larisa Epatko Larisa Epatko Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/photos-highs-and-lows-of-2017 Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter The highs and lows of 2017 in photos World Dec 25, 2017 9:23 AM EDT From hurricanes and floods to scientific discoveries and World Series wins, we look back at some of the year’s tragedies, developing stories and more lighthearted moments. President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump down Pennsylvania Avenue after his swearing in ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20. Photo by Evan Vucci/Pool via Reuters Businessman and reality television celebrity Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States on Jan. 20. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took part in the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21. Photo by Bryan Woolston/Reuters Following President Trump’s inauguration, hundreds of thousands of people at the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., other U.S. cities and around the world rallied for human rights, immigration reform, reproductive rights and other issues on Jan. 21. A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the Dow Jones Industrial Average passes the 20,000 mark shortly after the opening of the trading session on Jan. 25. Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters Dow Jones industrial average surged past 20,000 for the first time on Jan. 25 after newly sworn in President Trump signed a series of executive order, including one that would ease TransCanada’s construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Protesters against President Donald Trump’s travel ban voiced support for immigrants and refugees at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 31. Photo by Monica Almeida/Reuters On Jan. 27, President Trump also signed an order temporarily halting and reviewing the visa process for people entering the U.S. from certain countries. The order launched protests and court challenges by those who viewed it as discriminating against Muslims. Eventually, the Supreme Court allowed a revised version of the ban to go into effect during the lower courts’ review. A woman helps an injured person after a man drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London on March 22. Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters A man drove a car into pedestrians on the Westminster Bridge in London on March 22, killing five people and injuring 50. In May, a man exploded a homemade bomb into a crowd at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killing 22 people. Another attack occurred in June, in which the perpetrators drove a van into people on London Bridge and slashed civilians with knives in Borough Market, leaving eight people dead. “We believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face, as terrorism breeds terrorism, and perpetrators are inspired to attack not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots after years of planning and training – and not even as lone attackers radicalized online – but by copying one another and often using the crudest means of attack,” said British Prime Minister Theresa May. Demonstrators against Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro clash with riot police in Caracas in June. Photo by Fredrico Parra/AFP/Getty Images Protests gripped Venezuela in June as a failing economy and soaring inflation caused food and medicine shortages. The U.S. imposed more sanctions on the South American country due to President Nicolas Maduro’s attempts to consolidate power. Flames and smoke billow from the Grenfell Tower apartments in West London on June 14. Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters Fire engulfed the Grenfell Tower apartments in London on June 14, causing 71 deaths. The exterior cladding covering the 24-floor public housing building was believed to have accelerated the flames. Migrants try to stay afloat after they fell off their rubber boat during a rescue operation by the Malta-based NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station ship in the central Mediterranean Sea on April 14. All 134 sub-Saharan migrants, who were coming from Libya, survived. Photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters The migrant exodus from Northern Africa continued, especially via routes in Libya, where trafficking has become a problem. About 3,000 migrants have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea this year, according to the International Organization for Migration, as special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reported on July 19. The worst monsoon-related flooding in years has killed more than 1,400 in South Asia, news outlets report. Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters From July through September, monsoon rains inundated India, Bangladesh and Nepal, killing more than 1,400 people and destroying homes, schools and health centers. Riot policemen detain a man during clashes between supporters of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and those of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance coalition, during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, on Oct. 11. Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters Kenya held presidential elections on Aug. 8, in which President Uhuru Kenyatta was re-elected to a five-year term. Opposition candidate Raila Odinga contested the results and in a surprising decision, the Supreme Court scrapped the results. New elections were set for Oct. 26, but Odinga withdrew early, saying nothing had changed, and Kenyatta won in a landslide, sparking deadly protests. A crowd of white nationalists face a group of counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12. Photo by Justin Ide/Reuters A Unite the Right rally, including white supremacists, white nationalists, neo-Confederates, Klansmen and neo-Nazis, gathered Aug. 11-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest the removal of Confederate monuments. A woman died when a car ran into a crowd in the counter-protests that ensued. People watch the solar eclipse in Madras, Oregon, on Aug. 21. Photo by Jason Redmond/Reuters A total solar eclipse on Aug. 21 dipped a swath of the U.S. for 2 minutes into darkness, reportedly sending chickens home to roost and crickets to chirp. A previous total eclipse visible over the continental U.S. was in 1979, and the next one is in 2024. A woman sits atop a fire hydrant on a flooded street in Miami as Hurricane Irma hits Florida on Sept. 10. Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images Back-to-back hurricanes hit the U.S. and its territories starting Aug. 25 with Hurricane Harvey. The Category 4 storm dropped a record amount of rain — more than 60 inches — on parts of Houston. A woman observes the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria in Canovanas, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 26. Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters Days later, Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, swept through the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Florida and Georgia. Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 storm, again walloped the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in September. The death toll included 82 from Harvey, 134 from Irma and 52 from Maria, along with an estimated $200 billion in combined damages. Afghan policemen beckon to Ali Ahmad, 4, at the site of a suicide attack on a Shiite Muslim mosque in Kabul on Aug. 25. The boy was rescued. Photo by Omar Sobhani/Reuters Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for an Aug. 25 assault on a Shiite Muslim mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, which left at least 30 people dead. As it lost ground in other countries, the Islamic State group stepped up attacks against the minority Shiite sect in Afghanistan. Afghan police beckon to a child after an attack on a mosque in Kabul. “Your bravery will not be forgotten.” Photo courtesy of ArtLords ArtLords, a group in Afghanistan that promotes peace through art, recreated a Reuters photo of the incident on a blast wall in Kabul to remember the bravery of those trying to save a young boy. President Donald Trump tries to get the attention of 11-year-old Frank Giaccio, who is engrossed in cutting the Rose Garden grass at the White House on Sept. 15. Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters President Donald Trump welcomed 11-year-old Frank Giaccio to cut the Rose Garden grass at the White House on Sept. 15. The boy was so engrossed in his task, he appeared to ignore the president’s greeting. A woman leaves flowers on Oct. 3 at a makeshift memorial on the Las Vegas Strip for victims of the Route 91 music festival mass shooting. Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters On the night of Oct. 1, a gunman took aim at a concert in Las Vegas, firing bullets at the crowd, killing 58 people and wounding nearly 500 more. Harvey Weinstein appears at the 89th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on Feb. 26. File photo by Mike Blake/Reuters The New York Times detailed allegations of sexual harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein on Oct. 5, which led to his firing from his production company and more allegations in Hollywood, the media and Capitol Hill. Rebels carry an injured fighter after an assault on government soldiers, on the road between Kaya and Yondu, in South Sudan on Aug. 26. Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters The U.N. said Oct. 15 that South Sudan’s four-year-old civil war has left half the population, about 6 million people, in need of humanitarian aid. “The cycle of violence must be brought to an end,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. This artist’s impression shows two tiny but very dense neutron stars at the point at which they merge and explode to produce gravitational waves and a short gamma-ray burst, both of which were observed on Aug. 17. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser Astronomers on Oct. 16 announced the discovery that a collision of neutron stars generated gravitational waves. The waves previously were only spotted around black holes. The Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in game seven to win the 2017 World Series at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles. Photo by Robert Hanashiro/USA Today Sports via Reuters The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in game 7 of the World Series on Nov. 2, gratifying a city still recovering from Hurricane Harvey. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his wife Louise Linton hold a sheet of new $1 bills bearing Mnuchin’s name at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 15. Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images The signatures of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Treasurer Jovita Carranza appeared on newly minted currency this year. Zimbabweans celebrate after President Robert Mugabe resigns in Harare on Nov. 21. Photo by Mike Hutchings/Reuters The Zimbabwe military forced President Robert Mugabe to resign on Nov. 21 after 37 years in power. Some Zimbabweans are feeling a “bit cautious” that his replacement, former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, will be more of the same, the Voice of America’s Blessing Zulu told the PBS NewsHour. Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce their engagement at Kensington Palace in London on Nov. 27. Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters Britain’s “flame-haired former wild child” Prince Harry and American actor Meghan Markle announced their engagement on Nov. 27. After they wed at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018, the couple will be known as the duke and duchess of Sussex. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-15 in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang on Nov. 30. Handout photo by KCNA via Reuters North Korea test-fired its largest missile yet on Nov. 28, causing even more global concern over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions. Firefighters battle the Creek Fire in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles on Dec. 5. Photo by Gene Blevins/Reuters Wildfires in Southern California destroyed homes and caused tens of thousands of people to evacuate in December. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has called 2017 the most expensive wildfire suppression year on record. Pope Francis meets a group of Rohingya refugees during an inter-religious conference at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Dec. 1. Photo by Max Rossi/Reuters Pope Francis met with Rohingya refugees on Dec. 1, offering compassion for their situation. More than 600,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to neighboring Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar. Yemen’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed on Dec. 4 by Houthi rebels after switching alliances to Saudi Arabia. File photo by Khaled Abdullah/Reuters Houthi rebels killed former President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh on Dec. 4 after he aligned himself with their enemy Saudi Arabia. More than 8,600 people have died since March 2015 when the Houthi movement rebelled against forces loyal to the Yemeni government, thrusting the Middle Eastern country even further into a humanitarian crisis. Palestinians burn posters depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a protest against the U.S. intention to move its embassy to Jerusalem and to recognize the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Dec. 6. Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters President Trump named Jerusalem the capital of Israel on Dec. 6, prompting protests and Muslim leaders to say the U.S. is unfit to act as a peace broker. The Iraqi Federal Police wave Iraqi flags as they celebrate victory against the Islamic State militants in West Mosul, Iraq on July 2. Photo by Erik De Castro Iraqis celebrated the removal of the Islamic State group from their country on Dec. 9. The militant group at one time controlled nearly one-third of Iraq. U.S.-led forces previously pushed the Islamic State out of its home base of Raqqa, Syria, in October. Russian President Vladimir Putin also said during a visit to Syria that international terrorists, including the Islamic State, are defeated in Syria and he ordered the withdrawal of some Russian troops. The droid BB8 rolls the red carpet at the world premiere of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in Los Angeles, California on Dec. 10. Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters At the world premiere, the cast of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” paid tribute to Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia since the 1970s and died last year soon after filming ended. The eighth episode of the Star Wars saga opened in theaters on Dec. 15. Let us know the ones we missed in the comments section. By — Larisa Epatko Larisa Epatko Larisa Epatko produced multimedia web features and broadcast reports with a focus on foreign affairs for the PBS NewsHour. She has reported in places such as Jordan, Pakistan, Iraq, Haiti, Sudan, Western Sahara, Guantanamo Bay, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Turkey, Germany and Ireland. @NewsHourWorld
From hurricanes and floods to scientific discoveries and World Series wins, we look back at some of the year’s tragedies, developing stories and more lighthearted moments. President Donald Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump down Pennsylvania Avenue after his swearing in ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20. Photo by Evan Vucci/Pool via Reuters Businessman and reality television celebrity Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States on Jan. 20. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took part in the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21. Photo by Bryan Woolston/Reuters Following President Trump’s inauguration, hundreds of thousands of people at the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., other U.S. cities and around the world rallied for human rights, immigration reform, reproductive rights and other issues on Jan. 21. A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the Dow Jones Industrial Average passes the 20,000 mark shortly after the opening of the trading session on Jan. 25. Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters Dow Jones industrial average surged past 20,000 for the first time on Jan. 25 after newly sworn in President Trump signed a series of executive order, including one that would ease TransCanada’s construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Protesters against President Donald Trump’s travel ban voiced support for immigrants and refugees at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 31. Photo by Monica Almeida/Reuters On Jan. 27, President Trump also signed an order temporarily halting and reviewing the visa process for people entering the U.S. from certain countries. The order launched protests and court challenges by those who viewed it as discriminating against Muslims. Eventually, the Supreme Court allowed a revised version of the ban to go into effect during the lower courts’ review. A woman helps an injured person after a man drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London on March 22. Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters A man drove a car into pedestrians on the Westminster Bridge in London on March 22, killing five people and injuring 50. In May, a man exploded a homemade bomb into a crowd at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killing 22 people. Another attack occurred in June, in which the perpetrators drove a van into people on London Bridge and slashed civilians with knives in Borough Market, leaving eight people dead. “We believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face, as terrorism breeds terrorism, and perpetrators are inspired to attack not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots after years of planning and training – and not even as lone attackers radicalized online – but by copying one another and often using the crudest means of attack,” said British Prime Minister Theresa May. Demonstrators against Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro clash with riot police in Caracas in June. Photo by Fredrico Parra/AFP/Getty Images Protests gripped Venezuela in June as a failing economy and soaring inflation caused food and medicine shortages. The U.S. imposed more sanctions on the South American country due to President Nicolas Maduro’s attempts to consolidate power. Flames and smoke billow from the Grenfell Tower apartments in West London on June 14. Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters Fire engulfed the Grenfell Tower apartments in London on June 14, causing 71 deaths. The exterior cladding covering the 24-floor public housing building was believed to have accelerated the flames. Migrants try to stay afloat after they fell off their rubber boat during a rescue operation by the Malta-based NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station ship in the central Mediterranean Sea on April 14. All 134 sub-Saharan migrants, who were coming from Libya, survived. Photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters The migrant exodus from Northern Africa continued, especially via routes in Libya, where trafficking has become a problem. About 3,000 migrants have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea this year, according to the International Organization for Migration, as special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reported on July 19. The worst monsoon-related flooding in years has killed more than 1,400 in South Asia, news outlets report. Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters From July through September, monsoon rains inundated India, Bangladesh and Nepal, killing more than 1,400 people and destroying homes, schools and health centers. Riot policemen detain a man during clashes between supporters of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and those of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance coalition, during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya, on Oct. 11. Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters Kenya held presidential elections on Aug. 8, in which President Uhuru Kenyatta was re-elected to a five-year term. Opposition candidate Raila Odinga contested the results and in a surprising decision, the Supreme Court scrapped the results. New elections were set for Oct. 26, but Odinga withdrew early, saying nothing had changed, and Kenyatta won in a landslide, sparking deadly protests. A crowd of white nationalists face a group of counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12. Photo by Justin Ide/Reuters A Unite the Right rally, including white supremacists, white nationalists, neo-Confederates, Klansmen and neo-Nazis, gathered Aug. 11-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest the removal of Confederate monuments. A woman died when a car ran into a crowd in the counter-protests that ensued. People watch the solar eclipse in Madras, Oregon, on Aug. 21. Photo by Jason Redmond/Reuters A total solar eclipse on Aug. 21 dipped a swath of the U.S. for 2 minutes into darkness, reportedly sending chickens home to roost and crickets to chirp. A previous total eclipse visible over the continental U.S. was in 1979, and the next one is in 2024. A woman sits atop a fire hydrant on a flooded street in Miami as Hurricane Irma hits Florida on Sept. 10. Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images Back-to-back hurricanes hit the U.S. and its territories starting Aug. 25 with Hurricane Harvey. The Category 4 storm dropped a record amount of rain — more than 60 inches — on parts of Houston. A woman observes the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria in Canovanas, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 26. Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters Days later, Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, swept through the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Florida and Georgia. Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 storm, again walloped the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in September. The death toll included 82 from Harvey, 134 from Irma and 52 from Maria, along with an estimated $200 billion in combined damages. Afghan policemen beckon to Ali Ahmad, 4, at the site of a suicide attack on a Shiite Muslim mosque in Kabul on Aug. 25. The boy was rescued. Photo by Omar Sobhani/Reuters Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for an Aug. 25 assault on a Shiite Muslim mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, which left at least 30 people dead. As it lost ground in other countries, the Islamic State group stepped up attacks against the minority Shiite sect in Afghanistan. Afghan police beckon to a child after an attack on a mosque in Kabul. “Your bravery will not be forgotten.” Photo courtesy of ArtLords ArtLords, a group in Afghanistan that promotes peace through art, recreated a Reuters photo of the incident on a blast wall in Kabul to remember the bravery of those trying to save a young boy. President Donald Trump tries to get the attention of 11-year-old Frank Giaccio, who is engrossed in cutting the Rose Garden grass at the White House on Sept. 15. Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters President Donald Trump welcomed 11-year-old Frank Giaccio to cut the Rose Garden grass at the White House on Sept. 15. The boy was so engrossed in his task, he appeared to ignore the president’s greeting. A woman leaves flowers on Oct. 3 at a makeshift memorial on the Las Vegas Strip for victims of the Route 91 music festival mass shooting. Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters On the night of Oct. 1, a gunman took aim at a concert in Las Vegas, firing bullets at the crowd, killing 58 people and wounding nearly 500 more. Harvey Weinstein appears at the 89th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on Feb. 26. File photo by Mike Blake/Reuters The New York Times detailed allegations of sexual harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein on Oct. 5, which led to his firing from his production company and more allegations in Hollywood, the media and Capitol Hill. Rebels carry an injured fighter after an assault on government soldiers, on the road between Kaya and Yondu, in South Sudan on Aug. 26. Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters The U.N. said Oct. 15 that South Sudan’s four-year-old civil war has left half the population, about 6 million people, in need of humanitarian aid. “The cycle of violence must be brought to an end,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. This artist’s impression shows two tiny but very dense neutron stars at the point at which they merge and explode to produce gravitational waves and a short gamma-ray burst, both of which were observed on Aug. 17. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser Astronomers on Oct. 16 announced the discovery that a collision of neutron stars generated gravitational waves. The waves previously were only spotted around black holes. The Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in game seven to win the 2017 World Series at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles. Photo by Robert Hanashiro/USA Today Sports via Reuters The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in game 7 of the World Series on Nov. 2, gratifying a city still recovering from Hurricane Harvey. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his wife Louise Linton hold a sheet of new $1 bills bearing Mnuchin’s name at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 15. Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images The signatures of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Treasurer Jovita Carranza appeared on newly minted currency this year. Zimbabweans celebrate after President Robert Mugabe resigns in Harare on Nov. 21. Photo by Mike Hutchings/Reuters The Zimbabwe military forced President Robert Mugabe to resign on Nov. 21 after 37 years in power. Some Zimbabweans are feeling a “bit cautious” that his replacement, former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, will be more of the same, the Voice of America’s Blessing Zulu told the PBS NewsHour. Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce their engagement at Kensington Palace in London on Nov. 27. Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters Britain’s “flame-haired former wild child” Prince Harry and American actor Meghan Markle announced their engagement on Nov. 27. After they wed at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018, the couple will be known as the duke and duchess of Sussex. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-15 in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang on Nov. 30. Handout photo by KCNA via Reuters North Korea test-fired its largest missile yet on Nov. 28, causing even more global concern over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions. Firefighters battle the Creek Fire in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles on Dec. 5. Photo by Gene Blevins/Reuters Wildfires in Southern California destroyed homes and caused tens of thousands of people to evacuate in December. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has called 2017 the most expensive wildfire suppression year on record. Pope Francis meets a group of Rohingya refugees during an inter-religious conference at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Dec. 1. Photo by Max Rossi/Reuters Pope Francis met with Rohingya refugees on Dec. 1, offering compassion for their situation. More than 600,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to neighboring Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar. Yemen’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed on Dec. 4 by Houthi rebels after switching alliances to Saudi Arabia. File photo by Khaled Abdullah/Reuters Houthi rebels killed former President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh on Dec. 4 after he aligned himself with their enemy Saudi Arabia. More than 8,600 people have died since March 2015 when the Houthi movement rebelled against forces loyal to the Yemeni government, thrusting the Middle Eastern country even further into a humanitarian crisis. Palestinians burn posters depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a protest against the U.S. intention to move its embassy to Jerusalem and to recognize the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Dec. 6. Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters President Trump named Jerusalem the capital of Israel on Dec. 6, prompting protests and Muslim leaders to say the U.S. is unfit to act as a peace broker. The Iraqi Federal Police wave Iraqi flags as they celebrate victory against the Islamic State militants in West Mosul, Iraq on July 2. Photo by Erik De Castro Iraqis celebrated the removal of the Islamic State group from their country on Dec. 9. The militant group at one time controlled nearly one-third of Iraq. U.S.-led forces previously pushed the Islamic State out of its home base of Raqqa, Syria, in October. Russian President Vladimir Putin also said during a visit to Syria that international terrorists, including the Islamic State, are defeated in Syria and he ordered the withdrawal of some Russian troops. The droid BB8 rolls the red carpet at the world premiere of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in Los Angeles, California on Dec. 10. Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters At the world premiere, the cast of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” paid tribute to Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia since the 1970s and died last year soon after filming ended. The eighth episode of the Star Wars saga opened in theaters on Dec. 15. Let us know the ones we missed in the comments section.