The year 2012 in pictures

New Delhi: 2012 was an eventful year, from big events like the London Summer Olympics and the U.S. presidential race, to regional conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, to smaller issues closer to home. Reverberations from last year's transformative Arab Spring still heavily affect Syria and Egypt; and the slow recovery from the recent global economic crisis brought bitter austerity measures to parts of Europe, leading to widespread protests. Collected here is a photo summary of the year 2012, covering various fields of the society:People run for cover as smoke rises from the site of a fire at a fireworks factory on the outskirts of Sivakasi, about 500 km (310 mi) southwest of Chennai, India, on September 5, 2012. Police in southern India said they arrested six employees of the fireworks factory for a massive blaze that killed 40 workers and injured 60 others. (AP Photo)A Tibetan man screams as he runs engulfed in flames after self-immolating at a protest in New Delhi, India, ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the country, on March 26, 2012. The Tibetan activist lit himself on fire at the gathering and was rushed to hospital with unknown injuries, reports said. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)Republican Arizona Governor Jan Brewer gestures during an intense conversation with President Barack Obama after he arrived at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, on January 25, 2012, in Mesa, Arizona. Asked moments later what the conversation was about, Brewer said: "He was a little disturbed about my book." Brewer recently published a book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," something of a memoir of her years growing up and defends her signing of Arizona's controversial law cracking down on illegal immigrants, which Obama opposes. Obama was objecting to Brewer's description of a meeting he and Brewer had at the White House, where she described Obama as lecturing her. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, silhouetted against the setting sun as she arrives to deliver a speech during an election campaign rally in Thongwa village some 50 km (31 mi) from Yangon, Myanmar, on February 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) A man injured in a bomb blast puts on a shoe before being taken to the hospital in the Khyber region, near Peshawar, Pakistan, on January 10, 2012. A bomb targeting a tribal militia opposed to the Pakistani Taliban exploded in a market close to the Afghan border, killing dozens of people in the deadliest blast in the country in several months, officials said. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf)Lampposts are covered in ice in the Adriatic coastal town of Senj, Croatia, on February 7, 2012. Europeans across the continent battled weeks of extreme winter weather, with thousands trapped by snow in remote, mountain villages in the Balkans. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)Actress Angelina Jolie strikes a pose for photographers as she arrives before the 84th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on February 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)A black rhino is transported by helicopter in South Africa. The seventh black rhino population established by the WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project was released after an epic trip across the country. Nineteen of the critically endangered animals were moved from the Eastern Cape to a new location in Limpopo province. (AP Photo/Green Renaissance-World Wildlife Fund)Susan Clark of Santa Monica, California, who opposes health care reform, stands with a red hand painted over her mouth to represent what she said is socialism taking away her choices and rights, in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on March 28, 2012, on the final day of arguments regarding the health care law signed by President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)Police and soldiers, bottom, and journalists, top, take cover during clashes after a deadly prison fire in Comayagua, Honduras, north of the capital, Tegucigalpa, on February 15, 2012. At least 360 inmates and visitors were killed in the fire, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Fernando Antonio)Greg Cook hugs his dog Coco after finding her inside his destroyed home in East Limestone, Alabama, on March 2, 2012. Several tornadoes hit the area, causing major damage in Limestone and Madison counties. (AP Photo/The Decatur Daily, Gary Cosby Jr.)A dog runs through the path lined by faithful as they wait for the the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI in Guanajuato, Mexico, on March 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, tears in his eyes, addresses a massive rally of supporters at Manezh square outside Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, on March 4, 2012. President Dmitry Medvedev stands behind him. Vladimir Putin claimed victory in Russia's presidential election, which the opposition and independent observers say was marred by widespread violations. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)Aida cries as she recovers from severe injuries after the Syrian Army shelled her house in Idlib north Syria, on March 10, 2012. Aida's husband and and two children were killed after their home was shelled. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)A larger-than-life image of 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, on April 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)A bear that wandered into the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, dorm complex Williams Village falls from a tree after being tranquilized by Colorado wildlife officials, on April 26, 2012. Colorado University police spokesman Ryan Huff said the bear was likely 1-3 years old and weighed somewhere between 150-200 pounds. (AP Photo/CU Independent, Andy Duann)A Syrian man cries while holding the body of his son near Dar El Shifa hospital in Aleppo, Syria, on October 3, 2012. Three suicide bombers detonated cars packed with explosives in a government-controlled area of the battleground Syrian city of Aleppo on Wednesday, killing at least 34 people, leveling buildings and trapping survivors under the rubble, state TV said. More than 120 people were injured, the government said. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)Superstorm Sandy left a swath of destruction at the end of October, causing at least 250 deaths in seven countries, and $65.6 billion in damages. Here, Seawater pours into the Ground Zero construction site in New York, as Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012. (AP Photo/ John Minchillo)A bomb is pictured in mid-drop, part of an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City, on November 21, 2012. For a week in mid-November, Gaza militants intensified rocket fire into Israel and Israeli forces struck hundreds of targets in the Gaza Strip in the latest flare-up of violence in the region. A ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was mediated by Egypt, and has held so far. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)Revelers on the Mall in London watch Britain Queen Elizabeth II appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony as part of a four-day Diamond Jubilee celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II accession to the throne, on June 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)The space shuttle Enterprise is towed past the World Trade Center's Freedom Tower, on its way to permanent display at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, on June 6, 2012. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)