The year in photos: poignant pictures from around the world in 2023

By Hollie Clemence, The Week UK

published 30 December 2023

**JANUARY:** Brazil's President Lula arrives at the Planalto Palace in Brasília following his inauguration ceremony. It was a "stunning comeback" for a politician who was banned from standing in the previous 2018 election because he was behind bars, said the BBC. The left-wing leader, who served as president between 2003 and 2010, beat Jair Bolsonaro with 50.9% of the votes.

A father holds the hand of his dead teenage daughter after earthquakes in Turkey — **FEBRUARY:** Turkey and Syria were hit by a series of devastating earthquakes, which killed more than 55,000 people. "Few images depict the agony quite as plainly as a photograph from the Turkish region of Kahramanmaraş, in which a father holds the hand of his dead teenage daughter," said The Guardian at the time. The image shows Mesut Hancer holding on to 15-year-old Irmak "as she lies on her bed beneath the slabs of concrete", said the paper.

**OCTOBER:** A woman holds a girl as Israeli air strikes hit Gaza City. Palestinians in the Strip have faced intense bombardment since 7 October, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel. The photographer, Ali Jadallah, who has lost four relatives in the conflict, described how he is "numb" with grief in an article for The Economist's 1843 magazine. "The most important thing now," he said, "is to report what is happening."

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Hollie Clemence is the UK executive editor. She joined the team in 2011 and spent six years as news editor for the site, during which time the country had three general elections, a Brexit referendum, a Covid pandemic and a new generation of British royals. Before that, she was a reporter for IHS Jane’s Police Review, and travelled the country interviewing police chiefs, politicians and rank-and-file officers, occasionally from the back of a helicopter or police van. She has a master’s in magazine journalism from City University, London, and has written for publications and websites including TheTimes.co.uk and Police Oracle.

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