The Year That Was 2011

USING HIS LOAF: An opposition supporter with pieces of bread taped onto his head shouts slogans during an anti-government protest in Sanaa, Yemen, on February 3.

TOO MANY TO BE IGNORED: Hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators crowd Cairo's Tahrir square on February 8.

DEVASTATION: A wave caused by a tsunami flows into the city of Miyako, north-east Japan, on March 11 after the magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck the area.

GROUNDED: A ship washed away by the tsunami sits amid debris in Kesennuma, Miyagi, on March 13.

WASHED AWAY: A home is seen adrift in the Pacific Ocean following the Japanese earthquake.

 

THE FALL OF LIBYA'S LEADER: The shot on the left shows Colonel Gaddafi in a jubilant mood with his supporters in Tripoli on April 10, but on October 20 he had been hunted down and killed by rebel soldiers, with the picture on the right taken from video footage.

REAR OF THE YEAR: Kate Middleton was supposed to be the centre of attention at the Royal Wedding on April 29, left, but in fact in was her sister Pippa's bottom that ended up grabbing the headlines, right.

EAR WE GO: As Prince William kisses his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, it all proves too much for bridesmaid Grace van Cutsem, left, who covers her ears.

 MOST WANTED CAPTURED: First we saw an astonishing shot of President Barack Obama in the situation room of the White House on May 1, left, overseeing the mission to hunt down Bin Laden, then after the terrorist was killed, footage was captured of him watching TV in his Pakistan hideout, right.

 EXPLOSIVE IMAGE: A cloud of ash billows from Puyehue volcano near Osorno in southern Chile on June 5.

 SHOCK: IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, centre, is taken out of a police station in New York on May 15. He was charged with attempting to rape a New York chambermaid.

 FLIGHT OF FANCY: Passenger Stefanie Gordon aboard a flight from New York to Florida snapped the space shuttle Endeavor streaking towards space on May 16 - with her mobile phone.

 TENDER MOMENT: Riot police walk in the street as a couple kiss on June 15, in Vancouver, Canada. The city broke out in riots after their hockey team the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.

 ON THE ATTACK: Protesters clash with riot police during a 48-hour general strike on June 28 in Athens.

FACE OF EVIL: Mass-killer Anders Breivik, left, sits in an armored police vehicle after leaving an Oslo courthouse on July 25.

 KILLER INSTINCT: A leopard attacks a forest guard on the outskirts of Siliguri, India, on July 19. The leopard strayed into the village area and mauled several villagers. It later died from baton and knife wounds despite being taken to a veterinary center.

HAPPY COUPLE: Zara Phillips, the eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth, and her husband England rugby captain Mike Tindall leave after their marriage at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 30.

 LUCKY ESCAPE: A woman can be seen jumping from a burning building in Surrey Street after rioting took place in Croydon, on August 8.

LIGHT FANTASTIC: The Tribute in Lights is illuminated next to One World Trade Center during events marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, September 11.

 DESPERATE: A man sets himself on fire outside a bank branch in Thessaloniki, Greece, on September 16. The bank had refused to renegotiate the 55-year old's overdue loan payment.

 KING OF POP: In Dr. Conrad Murray's trial in the death of Michael Jackson in Los Angeles on September 27, the jury was shown this image purporting to show the singer on a hospital gurney.

EMOTIONS RUNNING HIGH: Amanda Knox cries and gestures to friends during a news conference at Sea-Tac International Airport, Washington, after landing there on a flight from Italy on October 4, having been cleared of murdering Meredith Kercher.

 DON'T LET THE MUSIC STOP: As rebel fighters engage Gaddafi's troops in Sirte on October 10, one man decides it's a good moment to play the guitar.

 KEEPING THE FAITH: Minty Challis holds up a cross for the media, in front of a burning barricade during evictions at the Dale Farm travellers' site, near Basildon on October 19.

FORCED DEVOTION: Thousands of North Korean people paying their respects during the National Memorial service for their late leader Kim Jong-Il at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on December 29.