Best Associated Press Photos of the 2012 Year

 

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso of Spain, left, crashes with McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, airborne right, during the first lap of the Belgium Formula One Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Belgium, Sunday, September 2, 2012. (Photo by Luca Bruno/AP Photo)

 

In this February 1, 2012 file photo, an unidentified woman throws flour on French Socialist Party candidate for the 2012 presidential elections, Francois Hollande, in Paris. The woman ran to the side of the podium where Hollande stood to sign a “social contract” in favor of housing for all. (Photo by AP Photo/SZG)

 

A man injured in a bomb blast puts on a shoe before being taken to the hospital in the Khyber region, near Peshawar, Pakistan, January 10, 2012. A bomb targeting a tribal militia opposed to the Pakistani Taliban exploded in a market close to the Afghan border Tuesday, killing dozens of people in the deadliest blast in the country in several months, officials said. (Photo by Qazi Rauf/AP Photo)

 

An Afghan refugee boy poses with a plastic rifle as he and other children celebrate the first day of the Eid al-Fitr festival, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, August 20, 2012. Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, the Muslim calendar’s ninth and holiest month during which followers are required to abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)

 

In this January 7, 2012 file photo, a wild full grown leopard scalps the head of a man as it attacks after wandering into a residential neighborhood in Gauhati, in the northern state of Assam, India. Later the leopard was tranquilized by wildlife official and taken to the state zoological park. The leopard ventured into a crowded area and injured four people before it was captured and caged. (Photo by Manas Paran/AP Photo)

 

In this February 5, 2012 file photo, people walk along an icy promenade past ice covered cars and trees on the shores of Lake Geneva in Versoix, Switzerland. Across Eastern Europe, thousands of people dug out from heavy snow that had fallen during a cold snap and killed hundreds of people. (Photo by Keystone/Martial Trezzini/AP Photo)

 

A Greenpeace activist, dressed as a polar bear, sits inside a police car after being detained outside Gazprom's headquarters in Moscow, Russia, September 5, 2012. Russian and international environmentalists are protesting against Gazprom's plans to pioneer oil drilling in the Arctic. (Photo by Misha Japaridze/AP Photo)

 

Hikers watch an annular eclipse from Papago Park in Phoenix on Sunday, May 20, 2012. The annular eclipse, in which the moon passes in front of the sun leaving only a golden ring around its edges, was visible to wide areas across China, Japan and elsewhere in the region before moving across the Pacific to be seen in parts of the western United States. (Photo by Michael Chow, The Arizona Republic/AP Photo)

 

A Sadhu, or a Hindu holy man, takes a dip at Sangam, confluence of the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, during the annual traditional fair of Magh Mela in Allahabad, India, January 30, 2012. Hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus bathe at the confluence during the astronomically auspicious period of over 45 days celebrated as Magh Mela. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

 

Britain’s Mohamed Farah celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the men’s 5000-meter final during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Saturday, August 11, 2012. (Photo by Anja Niedringhaus/AP Photo)

 

Mirian Burrueco, 30, reacts behind the broken glass of her shop stormed by demonstrators during clashes with the police at the general strike in Barcelona, Thursday, March 29, 2012. Spanish workers livid over labor reforms they see as flagrantly pro-business staged a nationwide strike Thursday and tried to bring the country to a halt by blocking traffic, closing factories and clashing with police in rowdy demonstrations. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)

 

France's base jumper Florian Pays gestures while leaping from Malaysia's landmark KL Tower, the 421-meter (1,389-foot) broadcasting tower in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 29, 2012. (Photo by Vincent Thian/AP Photo)

 

U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stand together at the end of a bilateral meeting at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, March 26, 2012. (Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo)

 

Indian employees are evacuated as smoke billows after the Maharashtra state government caught fire in Mumbai, India, Thursday, June 21, 2012. Hundreds of employees were evacuated Thursday from the seven-story government building as more than two dozen fire engines battled the major fire that raged for more than three hours in India's financial and entertainment capital. (Photo by AP Photo/File)

 

In this October 29, 2012 file photo, a rebel sniper aims at a Syrian army position, seen with another rebel fighter reflected in a mirror, in a residential building in the Jedida district of Aleppo, Syria. (Photo by Narciso Contreras/AP Photo)

 

In this August 2, 2012 file photo, U.S. gymnast Gabrielle Douglas performs on the balance beam during the artistic gymnastics women's individual all-around competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London. Douglas won the all-around competition. (Photo by Gregory Bull/AP Photo)

 

In this September 5, 2012 file photo, people run for cover as smoke rises from the site of a fire at a fireworks factory on the outskirts of Sivakasi, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) southwest of Chennai, India. Police in southern India arrested six employees of the fireworks factory for a massive blaze that killed 40 workers and injured 60 others. (Photo by AP Photo/File)

 

A man rides a horse through a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Monday, January 16, 2012, in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. On the eve of Saint Anthony's Day, hundreds ride their horses trough the narrow cobblestone streets of the small village of San Bartolome during the “Luminarias”, a tradition that dates back 500 years and is meant to purify the animals with the smoke of the bonfires and protect them for the year to come. (Photo by Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP Photo)

 

In this August 2, 2012 file photo, Samantha Arevalo Salinas of Ecuador starts in a women’s 800-meter freestyle swimming heat at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. (Photo by David J. Phillip/AP Photo)

 

In this March 20, 2012 file photo, suspended by wires, Chinese artist Li Wei performs in the sky at La Villette in Paris. Wei’s work often depicts him in apparently gravity-defying situations. (Photo by Francois Mori/AP Photo)

 

A villager offers flowers to a female adult elephant lying dead on a paddy field in Panbari village, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Gauhati, India, September 1, 2012. The elephant was hit by a train and killed while crossing railway tracks with a herd of wild Asiatic elephants. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

 

The Northern Lights are seen in the skies near Faskusfjordur on the east coast of Iceland March 8, 2012. A solar storm shook the Earth’s magnetic field early Friday, but scientists said they had no reports of any problems with electrical systems. After reports Thursday of the storm fizzling out, a surge of activity prompted space weather forecasters to issue alerts about changes in the magnetic field. (Photo by Jonina Oskardottir/AP Photo)

 

In this May 23, 2012 file photo, chief midwife Maria Antoneta Cabral Barbosa holds a newborn baby boy she had just delivered by flashlight, at the regional hospital in Gabu, Guinea-Bissau. In Guinea-Bissau, one of the deadliest places in the world to give birth, a woman has a 1 in 19 chance of maternal death, compared to about 1 in 2,100 in the United States. Experts say women are increasingly heading to medical centers when things go awry, but logistical, financial, and cultural barriers are still keeping many pregnant women from seeking help in time. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

 

In this April 3, 2012 file photo, a tornado touches down in Lancaster, Texas, south of Dallas. Tornadoes tore through the Dallas area, peeling roofs off homes, tossing big-rig trucks into the air and leaving flattened tractor trailers strewn along highways and parking lots. (Photo by Parrish Velasco/AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News)

 

New York Yankees' Derek Jeter is hit by a pitch from Oakland Athletics' Graham Godfrey with the bases loaded, driving in Nick Swisher during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., May 26, 2012. (Photo by Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)

 

The sky turns black before a heavy rain shower as Germany's Hannes Aigner competes in the heats of the K-1 men's canoe slalom at Lee Valley Whitewater Center, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, July 29, 2012, in London. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)

 

In this March 26, 2012 file photo, Tibetan exile Jamphel Yeshi screams as he runs engulfed in flames after setting himself on fire at a protest in New Delhi, India, against Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India. Yeshi died Wednesday, March 28, 2012. (Photo by Manish Swarup/AP Photo)

 

Zach Ralston (90) and Brett Hudson (11) drive past the flipping car of Mike Affarano (83) during the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250 ARCA auto race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala., May 4, 2012. (Photo by Dave Martin/AP Photo)

 

In this April 24, 2012 file photo, North Korea’s new commander in chief, Kim Jong Un is displayed on a giant screen during a concert on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean army in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Photo by Ng Han Gua/AP Photo)

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