2020: The Year in Pictures

Ash and dead trees surround men as they look for items to salvage on the Taal Volcano two days after it erupted in the northern Philippines, Jan. 14, 2020. [Jojo Rinoza/BenarNews]

This aerial picture shows a graveyard for victims of the COVID-19 outbreak, at the Pondok Ranggon cemetery in Jakarta, Aug. 10, 2020. [AFP]

Muhyiddin Yassin waves to supporters outside his Kuala Lumpur home as he leaves for his swearing-in ceremony as Malaysia’s unelected prime minister, March 1, 2020. [S. Mahfuz/BenarNews]

Bangladeshi opposition leader Khaleda Zia (with mask and pink head covering) is wheeled to her car as she leaves a hospital in Dhaka upon her release from custody, March 25, 2020. [BenarNews]

A sign announces the temporary closure of the National Monument (Monas) in Jakarta in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, March 15, 2020. [Afriadi Hikmal/BenarNews]

A parishioner is barred from the St. Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, as the archdiocese celebrated Palm Sunday Mass behind closed doors to prevent the spread of COVID-19, April 5, 2020. [Froilan Gallardo/BenarNews]

Migrant workers line up at a construction site in Pathum Thani province, Thailand, to receive face masks to protect themselves against the coronavirus disease, April 12, 2020. [Nontarat Phaicharoen/BenarNews]

Maria Ressa, editor of the Philippine news website Rappler, stands inside a disinfection booth as she arrives at the Manila Regional Court, moments before being convicted on cyber-libel charges, June 15, 2020. [Basilio Sepe/BenarNews]

A Papuan protester holds up a sign inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, during a demonstration in Surabaya, Indonesia, June 16, 2020. [AFP]

Ex-Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (center) arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court for the verdict in the first of his corruption trials linked to the 1MDB financial scandal, July 28, 2020. [S. Mahfuz/BenarNews]

People are sprayed with water with teargas shot from a water cannon during an anti-government protest in Bangkok, Oct. 16, 2020. [Reuters]

Demonstrators throw a bicycle toward a burning metro station in Jakarta after it was set on fire during a mass protest against a controversial new labor law, Oct. 8, 2020. [AP]

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida greet royalists as they leave a religious ceremony at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Oct. 23, 2020. [Reuters]

Malaysian King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah arrives at the National Palace for a meeting with fellow Malay Rulers to discuss Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s request for a national emergency declaration, Oct. 25, 2020. [S. Mahfuz/BenarNews]

Rohingya are seen aboard two navy ships that will take them to Bhashan Char Island from Chittagong, Bangladesh, as part of a government program to relocate refugees offshore, Dec. 29, 2020. [Reuters]