Cruise ships quarantined over coronavirus – in pictures

Thousands of passengers and crew on two cruise ships in Asian waters have been placed in quarantine after cases of coronavirus were confirmed onboard. About 3,700 people are facing at least two weeks locked away on the Diamond Princess cruise liner anchored off Japan, while 1,800 passengers and crew are being kept onboard the World Dream, docked in Hong Kong

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Billions of locusts swarm through Kenya – in pictures

Huge locust swarms in east Africa are the result of extreme weather swings and could prove catastrophic for a region still reeling from drought and deadly floods. Dense clouds of the ravenous insects have spread from Ethiopia and Somalia into Kenya, in the region’s worse infestation in decades

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‘Passengers of light’ visit Iran-Iraq war memorials – a photo essay

Pilgrimages made by loved ones of those who died in combat are also supported and organised by the regime, which sees in them the opportunity to spread its doctrine

In Iran, every spring, thousands of families travel to the battle sites of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88). Many of those who make these pilgrimages – called Rahian-e Noor in Persian (the passenger of light) – lost loved ones in the war, which caused more than half a million deaths on the Iranian side.

But they are also supported and organised by the regime, which sees the opportunity to disseminate its doctrine.

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What young women think in 2020

Children’s charity Plan International UK and photographer Joyce Nicholls travelled across the UK talking to young women about the issues important to them in 2020: public safety, body image, social media and feminism. Their research found that girls are fed up and frustrated with the lack of real progress on gender equality.

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Ashen landscapes of the Philippines after Taal volcano eruption – in pictures

The eruption of Taal volcano near Manila spewed lava into the sky, leaving villages blanketed by heavy ash. The falling ash pushed aviation officials to temporarily shut down the capital’s main airport, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and stranding tens of thousands of travellers.

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Lava gushes from Taal volcano in Philippines – in pictures

Red-hot lava gushed out of the Taal volcano in the Philippines after a sudden eruption of ash and steam forced villagers to flee en masse and shut down offices and schools. Clouds of ash blew more than 60 miles north, reaching the capital, Manila, and forcing the shutdown of the country’s main airport. There have been no reports of casualties or major damage from the eruption that began on Sunday

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Protests and prayers after the killing of Qassem Suleimani – in pictures

Iran has vowed revenge for a US airstrike at Baghdad international airport that killed Gen Qassem Suleimani, the head of the elite Quds force and architect of Iran’s spreading military influence in the Middle East

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Protests, climate crisis and Ebola: a tumultuous 2019 – in pictures

Around the world people took to the streets in pro-democracy protests, while extreme weather, disease and violence wreaked havoc in some of the most vulnerable communities. But amid disaster, new grassroots leaders came to the fore, women fought to claim their rights and radical treatments for diseases were trialled

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2010-2019: a decade in pictures

The Guardian’s picture editors take a look back at some of the news photography that has defined the past 10 years

From the earthquake in Haiti at the start of 2010, the decade was defined by successive international refugee crises, natural disasters and conflict. In the UK, a joyful London Olympics preceded the spectre of a split with Europe as the world’s population faced up to an overheating planet.

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Barriers, barbed wire and borders in the head: Josef Koudelka’s Holy Land

The Magnum photographer grew up behind the iron curtain. As a documentary charts his journey where Israel and Palestine meet, Koudelka talks about challenging official narratives – and himself

There’s a surreal moment near the start of Koudelka Shooting Holy Land, a documentary about the acclaimed photographer Josef Koudelka. He has pointed his lens at one of the concrete barriers that separate Israel and Palestine but has been stopped by an official and a heavily armed soldier. His local assistant, Gilad Baram, is trying to smooth things over. “It might result in a book,” Baram tells the soldier. “He is a one of the most renowned photographers worldwide. He is a photographer with an agency called Magnum.”

Suddenly the atmosphere changes. “Magnum? Ah, I know it,” says the soldier, his stern face breaking into a smile. A short discussion later, a friendly handshake and all is well.

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The censor is watching: China’s mega photo fair – in pictures

Life on green trains, wild animals caught unawares and 55 ‘sweetheart’ portraits that angered the authorities … here the highlights of China’s biggest photography show

To visit the Lianzhou Foto festival, one flies along the banks of the Pearl river delta and into the heart of Guangzhou. Witnessing this mega city from the plane is to suddenly realise the immensity of modern China. Roughly 50 million people live in this urban sprawl surrounding Hong Kong.

Lianzhou is a four-hour drive from Guangzhou into the forested mountains of Guangdong province. It is perhaps an unlikely destination for a major arts event. But in 2005, Duan Yuting, a 47-year-old former photo editor for a Guangzhou newspaper, chose the city to found the festival, now firmly established as China’s leading contemporary photography event.

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Kim Jong-un rides to sacred peak on white horse – in pictures

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, rode a white horse up a sacred mountain on his second symbolic visit to the site in less than two months. Photos showed Kim, his wife and top lieutenants, on horseback as they travelled to snow-covered Mount Paektu, the highest peak on the Korean peninsula

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