Protests, politics and power: Here are 2019’s top photos of the year

It’s hard to pinpoint what 2019 will best be remembered for: power struggles, blossoming protest movements, heartbreaking tragedies or dazzling achievements in sports. Needless to say, the decade went out with a bang — the world is in flux.

Wherever history unfolded, Associated Press photographers were there to witness it. Relieve the year in photos with these 46 shots for the ages:

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Revellers run next to fighting bulls from Cebada Gago ranch during the running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona, Spain, on July 8, 2019. (AP/Alvaro Barrientos)

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Tyler Holland guides his bike through the water as winds from Tropical Storm Barry push water from Lake Pontchartrain over the seawall in Mandeville, La., on July 13, 2019. (AP/David J. Phillip)

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Swimmers reach for drink bottles while competing in the men’s 10km open water swim at the World Swimming Championships in Yeosu, South Korea, on July 16, 2019. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

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A demonstrator wearing a Puerto Rican flag joins thousands of others in a march to the governor’s residence in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 17, 2019. The protesters chanted demands for Gov. Ricardo Rossello to resign after the leak of online chats that showed him making misogynistic slurs and mocking his constituents. (AP/Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

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A large iceberg floats away as the sun sets near Kulusuk, Greenland, on Aug. 15, 2019. (AP/Felipe Dana)

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Lopez Lomong wins the men’s 10,000-meter run at the U.S. Track & Field Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 25, 2019. (AP/Charlie Neibergall)

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A man holding an independence flag is surrounded by smoke released by demonstrators during the Catalan National Day in Barcelona, Spain, on Sept. 11, 2019. September 11, called “Diada”, marks the fall of the Catalan capital to Spanish forces in 1714. (AP/Emilio Morenatti)

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Firefighters battle the Marsh Fire near the town of Brentwood, Calif., in Contra Costa County, on Aug. 3, 2019. (AP/Noah Berger)

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Gold medalist Gary Hunt of Britain dives during the men’s high diving competition at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, on July 24, 2019. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

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A swimmer from China performs during the artistic swimming team free preliminary event at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, on July 17, 2019. (AP/Mark Baker)

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The bodies of Salvadoran migrant Oscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his nearly 2-year-old daughter Valeria lie on the bank of the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Mexico, on June 24, 2019, after they drowned trying to cross the river to Brownsville, Texas. Martinez’ wife, Tania told Mexican authorities she watched her husband and child disappear in the strong current. (AP/Julia Le Duc)

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A lush forest sits next to a field of charred trees in Vila Nova Samuel, Brazil, on Aug. 27, 2019. The fires that swept parts of the Amazon this year added to global worries about a warming climate, as well as the sense of urgency at the Climate Action Summit at the United Nations. (AP/Victor R. Caivano)

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Riot police move forward as anti-government protestors occupied a road in Hong Kong on Oct. 1, 2019. (AP/Kin Cheung)

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A local resident uses his mobile phone to take photos of the damage in a house caused by a mortar fired from inside Syria on the Turkish town of Akcakale on Oct. 12, 2019. (AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

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Marching anti-government protesters are seen through a window with peeled off posters in Hong Kong on Oct. 1, 2019. (AP/Vincent Yu)

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Masked protestors ride a motorcycle on Sept. 30, 2019, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where demonstrators set fires and called for Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise to resign. (AP/Rebecca Blackwell)

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Supporters of former President Evo Morales protect themselves from tear gas launched by the police in La Paz, Bolivia, on Nov. 15, 2019. (AP/Natacha Pisarenko)

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San Francisco 49ers offensive guard Mike Person walks on the sideline in the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins on Oct. 20, 2019, in Landover, Md. (AP/Alex Brandon)

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A shattered and water-filled coffin lies exposed to the elements in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, at the cemetery in Mclean’s Town, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, on Sept. 11, 2019. (AP/Ramon Espinosa)

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A firefighter sprays water while embers threaten a residence as the Hillside fire burns through San Bernardino, Calif., on Oct. 31, 2019. (AP/Noah Berger)

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Student protesters with their homemade gear take their positions outside the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Nov. 13, 2019. (AP/Kin Cheung)

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A Brazilian soldier puts out fires at the Nova Fronteira region in Novo Progresso, Brazil, on Sept. 3, 2019. (AP/Leo Correa)

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Simone Biles of the United States performs on the uneven bars during a warmup for the women’s all-around final at the Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, on Oct. 10, 2019. (AP/Matthias Schrader)

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Firemen spray water after a car bomb exploded in the city of Qamishli, northern Syria, on Nov. 11, 2019. (AP/Baderkhan Ahmad)

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A mourner places a hand on the shoulder of Devi Posto, killed during clashes between security forces and supporters of former President Evo Morales, during a vigil at the San Francisco de Asis church in El Alto, on the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia, on Nov. 20, 2019. (AP/Natacha Pisarenko)

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A mural is illuminated at dusk on Feb. 8, 2019, on the chimney of a home in Paradise, Calif., that was destroyed by the Camp Fire. Artist Shane Grammer says he painted murals throughout the fire-ravaged town to convey hope in the midst of destruction. (AP/Noah Berger)

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President Donald Trump turns to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., as he delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, as Vice President Mike Pence watches, on Feb. 5, 2019. (AP/Andrew Harnik)

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A woman and her baby, who were evacuated from the last territory held by Islamic State militants, walk after being screened by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria, on Feb. 25, 2019. (SDF)

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Lady Gaga, winner of the Academy Award for best original song for “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born,” gets emotional in the press room during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 2019. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Jordan Strauss)

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A demonstrator is knocked over by a strand of barbed wire during clashes with the Bolivarian National Guard in Urena, Venezuela, near the border with Colombia on Feb. 23, 2019. (AP/Fernando Llano)

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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., meets with civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, during lunch at Sylvia’s Restaurant in the Harlem neighborhood of New York on Feb. 21, 2019. (AP/Bebeto Matthews)

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Queen Elizabeth II and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive with others through the East Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London ahead of the State Banquet on June 3, 2019. (AP/Victoria Jones)

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Models walk the runway during the fashion show of the Dior ready to wear Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection in Paris on Feb. 26, 2019. (AP/Christophe Ena)

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Carol Dean, right, cries and embraces Megan Anderson and her 18-month-old daughter, Madilyn, as Dean sifts through the debris of the home she shared with her husband, David Wayne Dean, who died when a tornado destroyed the house in Beauregard, Ala., on March 4, 2019. “He was my wedding gift,” said Dean of her husband whom she married three years ago. “He was one in a million. He’d send me flowers to work just to let me know he loved me. He’d send me some of the biggest strawberries in the world. I’m not going to be the same.” (AP/David Goldman)

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President Donald Trump hugs the American flag as he arrives to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2019, in Oxon Hill, Md., on March 2, 2019. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

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Demonstrators in Hong Kong march on the streets on June 16, 2019, to protest an extradition bill that would allow suspects to be sent for trials in mainland China, which many saw as infringing of Hong Kong’s judicial freedoms and other rights that were guaranteed when the former British colony returned to China in 1997. (AP/Vincent Yu)

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President Donald Trump pumps his fist to the crowd after speaking to a campaign rally in Montoursville, Pa., on May 20, 2019. (AP/Evan Vucci)

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North Koreans swim in an indoor swimming pool in Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 13, 2019. (AP/Dita Alangkara)

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Tiger Woods reacts after winning the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga. on April 14, 2019. (AP/David J. Phillip)

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Flames and smoke rise from Notre Dame cathedral in Paris as firefighters tackle the blaze on April 15, 2019. (AP/Michel Euler)

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Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard (35) covers the puck during the third period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators in Nashville, Tenn. on Feb. 12, 2019. The Red Wings won 3-2. (AP/Mark Humphrey)

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A masked Kashmiri protester jumps on an Indian police armored vehicle as he throws stones at it during a protest in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir on May 31, 2019. (AP/Dar Yasin)

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United States’ Serena Williams falls while attempting to return the ball to United States’ Alison Riske during a women’s quarterfinal match on day eight of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on July 9, 2019. (AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

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United States’ Megan Rapinoe, right, celebrates with Alex Morgan after Rapinoe scored the opening goal from the penalty spot during the Women’s World Cup final soccer match between the U.S. and The Netherlands at the Stade de Lyon in Decines, outside Lyon, France, on July 7, 2019. (AP/Francisco Seco)

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A migrant mother feeds her children in a freight train in Palenque, Chiapas state, Mexico, as they travel north on June 24, 2019. (AP/Marco Ugarte)

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People light fireworks above the rubble of destroyed buildings to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan in Gaza City on May 13, 2019. (AP/Hatem Moussa)

Alejandro Alvarez

Alejandro Alvarez joined WTOP as a digital journalist and editor in June 2018. He is a reporter and photographer focusing on politics, political activism and international affairs.