A man runs up the 'gostra', a pole covered in grease, during religious feast of St Julian in Valletta, Malta. In the contest, which has roots in the Middle Ages, young men, women and children have to make their way to the top to uproot a flag to win a prize. From May to September in Malta, there is hardly any weekend when a town or a village is not celebrating the feast of its patron saint.Reuters
A man runs up the 'gostra', a pole covered in grease, during religious feast of St Julian in Valletta, Malta. In the contest, which has roots in the Middle Ages, young men, women and children have to make their way to the top to uproot a flag to win a prize. From May to September in Malta, there is hardly any weekend when a town or a village is not celebrating the feast of its patron saint.ReutersA man falls from a burning building in central Lahore, PakistanReutersA Balinese man kicks up fire during the Perang Api ritual in the Indonesian island of Bali. Nyepi is a day of silence for self-reflection to mark the Balinese Hindu new year.ReutersWolf researcher Werner Freund bites into a deer in an enclosure at Wolfspark Werner Freund, in MerzigReutersA passenger aircraft, with the full "Harvest Moon" behind, makes its final approach to Heathrow airportReutersA father reacts to news of the death of two of his children, killed in a mortar attack by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in AleppoReutersThe running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in PamplonaReutersThe Costa Concordia cruise ship, which capsized after hitting rocks off Italy's Giglio island, was pulled upright nearly two years after the disaster, in a gigantic parbuckling operation.ReutersSaudi youths demonstrate 'sidewall skiing' (driving on two wheels) in the northern city of HailReutersWreckage of a house in eastern Samar, in the central Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan, the worst storm in recorded history, smashed through the country. At least 3,974 people died.ReutersResidents flee as winds whip wildfire flames outside Clayton in CaliforniaReutersWater gushes from Xiaolangdi reservoir on the Yellow River in a sand-washing operation in Jiyuan, Henan provinceReuters
From the birth of a new prince to the Syrian civil war to the Edward Snowden leaks, 2013 has seen huge stories reverberate around the world. But what were the best photographs of the year?
Photographers have clicked flash far and wide to capture the most inspirational, despairing and moving moments of the past 12 months.
As the year comes to an end, IBTimes UK takes a look at the news agency Reuters' 12 most impacting photographs of 2013.
