The year in photos: Defining moments from Asia’s stories in 2024

RFA’s visual editors present some of the year’s most impactful news pictures.

By Paul Nelson for RFA

The devastating aftermath of Typhoon Yagi that left hundreds dead and billions of dollars of damage. A photo op of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin behind the wheel of a luxury car. The spray of a water cannon during confrontation between Chinese and Philippine ships in the South China Sea.

Here are some of the extraordinary moments of 2024:

People wave Cambodian and Chinese flags as the Chinese ship Qi Jiguang prepares to dock with a banner reading "Bring peace and friendship to meet good friends" at the Sihanoukville port, May 19, 2024.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review People wave Cambodian and Chinese flags as the Chinese ship Qi Jiguang prepares to dock with a banner reading "Bring peace and friendship to meet good friends" at the Sihanoukville port, May 19, 2024. (AFP)
New recruits of Bamar People's Liberation Army (BPLA) participate in a training session at a camp in a territory belonging to political organization the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), in Karen State, Myanmar, March 6, 2024.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review New recruits in the Bamar People's Liberation Army train at a camp in territory belonging to the Karen National Liberation Army, in Karen state, Myanmar, March 6, 2024. (Reuters)
Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. (Adrian Portugal/Reuters)
Police detain a woman outside the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court in Hong Kong on Nov. 19, 2024, as the city's largest national security trial drew to a close.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review Police detain a woman outside the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court in Hong Kong on Nov. 19, 2024, as the city's largest national security trial drew to a close. (Peter Parks/AFP)
A woman prays as she walks around Pha That Luang stupa, in Vientiane, Laos, July 28, 2024.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review A woman prays as she walks around Pha That Luang stupa, in Vientiane, Laos, July 28, 2024. (Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters)
Ethnic Rohingya refugees stand on their capsized boat as rescuers throw a rope to them off West Aceh, Indonesia, on March 21, 2024.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review Ethnic Rohingya refugees stand on their capsized boat as rescuers throw a rope to them off West Aceh, Indonesia, on March 21, 2024. (Reza Saifullah /AP)
A Tibetan youth with his face painted in the colors of the Tibetan flag attends a peace march during the 65th Tibetan National Uprising Day against the Chinese occupation of Tibet, in the suburb of McLeod Ganj near Dharamsala on March 10, 2024. Tibetans in exile in India on March 10 waved the flag of their homeland in protests marking 65 years since a failed uprising was crushed by Chinese troops, driving the Dalai Lama and thousand of compatriots to flee.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review A Tibetan youth with his face painted in the colors of the Tibetan flag attends a peace march during the 65th Tibetan National Uprising Day against the Chinese occupation of Tibet, near Dharamsala, India, on March 10, 2024. (Sanjay Baid/AFP)
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un ride an Aurus car in Pyongyang, North Korea in this image released by the Korean Central News Agency June 20, 2024.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un take a drive in an Aurus car in Pyongyang, in this image released June 20, 2024. (KCNA via Reuters)
A US-made TOW-2A wire-guided anti-tank missile is launched by Taiwanese soldiers from a M1167 TOW carrier vehicle during a live fire exercise at the Fanshan training grounds in Pingtung county on Aug. 26, 2024.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review Taiwanese soldiers launch a U.S.-made TOW-2A wire-guided anti-tank missile during a live fire exercise at the Fanshan training grounds in Pingtung county on Aug. 26, 2024. (Sam Yeh/AFP)
An asylum-seeking migrant from China rests while waiting to be transported by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, U.S. June 4, 2024.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review An asylum-seeking migrant from China rests while waiting to be transported by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, June 4, 2024. (Go Nakamura/Reuters)
Tibetan and Uyghur activists protest outside of the UN offices in Geneva during the review of China's rights record by the United Nations Human Rights Council, Jan. 23, 2024. China faced criticism from Western countries during a review of its rights record at the United Nations but it was also lauded by many countries including India and Eritrea. Beijing was facing a regular Universal Periodic Review (UPR) — an examination all 193 UN member states must undergo every four to five years to assess their human rights record.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review Tibetan and Uyghur activists protest outside of the UN offices in Geneva during the review of China's rights record by the United Nations Human Rights Council, Jan. 23, 2024. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)
A farmer salvages their harvest from a flooded rice field in Hanoi's Chuong My district on Sept. 24, 2024. Serious flooding in central Vietnam has killed three people and forced more than 10,000 residents to evacuate their homes, disaster officials. Earlier in September large swathes of the country's north were devastated by flooding in the wake of Typhoon Yagi, which left nearly 300 people dead and caused $1.6 billion worth of damage.
asia-year-in-photos-2024-pictures-review A farmer salvages their harvest from a flooded rice field in Hanoi's Chuong My district on Sept. 24, 2024, in the wake of Typhoon Yagi. (Nhac Nguyen/AFP)