Here are the most powerful news photos of the year

Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? . Getty Images highlighted the 100 most powerful news photos taken by its photographers in 2025. The photos captured political unrest, natural disasters, travel nightmares, and major news events. Donald Trump's presidency and administration also featured heavily in the collection. Sandy Ciric, senior director of news photography at Getty Images, told Business Insider that the 2025 news cycle was "unrelenting." "From the first days of the new year when devastating wildfires swept through Los Angeles, every week brought a barrage of breaking stories - including the death of a US president, a newly elected Pope, tariff wars , terror attacks, migration, starvation, hostages, plane crashes, floods, heat waves and in addition to all that, political turmoil and upheaval from the US to Nepal and beyond," Ciric said. As the year comes to a close, the team at Getty Images curated 100 of the most powerful news photos of the year taken by its photojournalists around the world, highlighting the defining moments of 2025. "Through it all, Getty Images photojournalists faithfully covered all of these stories and indelible moments with expertise, empathy, and creativity," Ciric said. Here are 30 images from the collection of the best news photos of the year. On January 8, the casket of former President Jimmy Carter lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda the day before his funeral. Carter died at the age of 100 at his home in Plains, Georgia. He served as president from 1977 to 1981. An aerial photo taken on January 15 showed beachfront homes in Malibu, California, destroyed by the Palisades Fire. Multiple wildfires across Los Angeles County , propelled by high winds, caused widespread damage in January. Firefighters worked to contain the Hughes Fire on January 22 in Castaic, California. The California wildfires burned over 40,000 acres and killed at least 29 people. On January 30, an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, DC. All 67 people on board both aircraft died in the crash, which occurred near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport . A worker removed signage on the headquarters of the US Agency for International Development on February 7 after it was shut down by the Department of Government Efficiency. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency targeted numerous federal agencies with layoffs and cuts to decrease government spending. Elon Musk and his son, X, joined President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on February 11. Musk and his son watched as Trump signed an executive order to implement DOGE's "Workforce Optimization Initiative." Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a heated exchange during a White House meeting on February 28. Zelenskyy left the White House after the Oval Office shouting match without signing a proposed minerals agreement between the US and Ukraine. As Trump arrived for his speech to a joint session of Congress on March 4, Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury held a sign reading "This...

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