Year in pictures 2017

Our selection of some of the most powerful news photographs taken around the world this year.

An Eritrean Orthodox Christian pilgrim was baptised, during Epiphany, at the Qasr El-Yahud baptism site on the west bank of the River Jordan. The site is where Christians believe Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. Due to the sensitivity of the area, an agreement to allow visitors to the site was reached between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority alongside seven Orthodox denominations.

Kandy Freeman participated in a Black Lives Matter protest in front of Trump Tower in New York City. The protest movement formed in the United States in reaction to the killing of black people by police.

A moth landed on the nose of Rafael Nadal of Spain during the Men's Singles quarter-final match against Milos Raonic of Canada at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament.

On 20 January, then US President-elect Donald J Trump took an oath of office to become the 45th President of the United States in Washington DC while his wife, Melania, looked on. In his inaugural address, he vowed to fight for the "forgotten" Americans and that "our country will prosper again".

More than 600 Women's Marches to highlight women's rights were staged worldwide on the first full day of Donald Trump's presidency. Here, in Washington DC, Khalil Hymore Quasha carried his six-year-old daughter on his shoulders.

In south-west France, a golden eagle grabbed a drone mid-air during a military training exercise at Mont-de-Marsan Air Base.

To celebrate Charlie Chaplin's birthday, more than 600 people dressed up as the man himself in Corsier-sur-Vevey. Chaplin died in the Swiss town, having spent the last 24 years of his life living there.

Italy's Mount Etna, Europe's tallest and most active volcano, spewed lava as it erupted on the southern island of Sicily in February.

Thirteen-year-old Aibhin Kenneally warmed up before the World Irish Dancing Championships in Dublin.

On 21 August, more than seven million people across the US witnessed the first total solar eclipse to cross the North American continent from ocean to ocean since 1918. Here, in Sisters, Oregon, the Sun just reappears from behind the Moon. Warnings had been made about eye safety in the build-up to the eclipse, with people told they should not look at the Sun directly with the naked eye.

A Rohingya Muslim is helped out of the Naf River by photographers, while undertaking the difficult crossing from Myanmar to Bangladesh. The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority who have long experienced persecution. More than 647,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh since violence broke out in August.

Protests broke out in Nairobi as Kenyans voted in a re-run of the presidential election after elections in August were annulled. Here, Kenyan opposition lawmaker Caleb Amisi Luyai leans through the window of his car as tear gas billows out after police fired gas at a convoy of opposition politicians in the capital.

In September, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watched the launch of a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile. The country has conducted a number of missile tests amid growing international unease.

Firefighters took a break from tackling a wildfire at Penela, central Portugal. A wave of wildfires across the north and central regions of the country killed more than 100 people and injured many more after a hot, dry summer.

Spanish Civil Guard officers removed demonstrators outside a polling station in Barcelona on the day of a banned independence referendum. Spain imposed direct rule on Catalonia in response to the north-eastern region's most dramatic bid for independence.

In Beijing, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China determined who rules the country and its direction for the next term. President Xi Jinping, who has been consolidating power, remained as party chief for at least five years until the next congress.

A year-long mourning period ended at midnight on 29 October for Thailand's late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was the world's longest-reigning monarch, dying at the age of 88 after a 70-year reign.

A migrant arrived at a naval base after being rescued by Libyan coastal guards in Tripoli. Hundreds of thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have crossed the desert and the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe.

In Guatemala, a young woman walked between tombstones as people celebrated the Day of the Dead at a local cemetery. Colourful kites were flown to scare away bad spirits so that the dead could enjoy offerings from their relatives.

Actor Rose McGowan raised her fist after addressing the audience during a Women's Convention in Detroit, Michigan. She made her first public remarks since she accused Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of rape. Ms McGowan is one of several women to accuse Mr Weinstein of rape. He denies all allegations of non-consensual sex.

At a store in Sao Paulo, Brazil, shoppers reached out for television sets as they bought items on Black Friday. Black Friday originated in the US, where it takes place on the day after Thanksgiving and is regarded as the start of the Christmas shopping period.

Zimbabweans in Harare celebrated after President Robert Mugabe resigned, bringing an end to 37 years of rule. Emmerson Mnangagwa became president following a dramatic week in which the military took charge.

A man holds a baby at the border wall between Mexico and the US. On International Human Rights Day, families separated by the border are reunited for three minutes through the fence that separates Ciudad Juarez Park in Mexico and Sunland in New Mexico, United States.

All photographs are copyrighted.