The Most Memorable Photos of 2013 Pope Francis waves at his followers, as they stand along the beachfront in Rio de Janeiro awaiting mass on July 28, 2013. Foreign Policy named Pope Francis a 2013 Global Thinker -- for bringing "the freshness of the gospel to the Catholic Church." A note to readers, some of the following images contain graphic content. This photo, of bodies of thsoe people reportedly killed by nerve gas in the Ghouta region, was taken in the Duma neighborhood of Damascus on Aug. 21, 2013. More than 1,400 people, including women and children, died in a chemical attack on rebel-held districts of the Ghouta region east of Damascus. Days later, Noah Schachtman, writing for FP's The Cable, reported that same month that U.S. intelligence services had intercepted phone calls between an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense and the leader of a chemical weapons unit discussing the attacks. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh Anti-government protesters rally at Independence Square on Dec. 7, 2013 in Kiev, Ukraine. Thousands of people have been protesting against the government since Nov. 21 after Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych suspended a trade and partnership agreement with the European Union in favor of incentives from Russia. Amid the protests, Askold Krushelnycky argued in Foreign Policy that the December demonstrations were even bigger than the legendary Orange Revolution of 2004. A demonstrator kisses a riot police officer on Nov. 16, 2013 during a protest in Susa against the high-speed train line between Lyon and Turin. Since then, Italian authorities have accused the demonstrator of "sexual violence and insulting a public official." The train, expected to come into service in 2025, will see one million fewer trucks on the highways a year, and reduce train times between Paris and Milan from seven hours to just over four. Unknown anti-gay activist hits Russia's gay and LGBT rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev (center) during an unauthorized gay rights rally in central Moscow on May 25, 2013. Moscow city authorities had previously rejected requests for a gay rights rally, but Alexeyev said he would fight a ban in court. In June, President Vladimir Putin signed a law prohibiting "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations to minors." The furor, according to Democracy Lab's Prachi Vidwans, has prompted many politicians to avoid or boycott the 2014 Olympics, to be held in Sochi, Russia. Above, the scene of the first explosion that went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Three people died and more than 260 were wounded when brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev set off two pressure cooker bombs during the marathon, an event that draws as many as 20,000 participants and 500,000 spectators every year. John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images A garment worker reacts after being rescued following the Rana Plaza building collapse in Savar on April 24, 2013. A block populated with garment factories and shops collapsed in Bangladesh in April killing 1,127 people, according to a May report. Later that month, Joseph Allchin reported for Foreign Policy on how Bangladesh's garment industry came to dominate the country's export industry. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj A mother and her children hide from gunmen at Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi Sept. Gunmen stormed the shopping mall in Nairobi killing 39 people, and injuring 150 others. Sporadic gun shots could be heard hours after the assault started, as soldiers surrounded the mall and police and soldiers combed the building, hunting down the attackers shop by shop. Somali militant group al-Shabab later claimed responsibility for the attack. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola U.S. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama attend a memorial service at the Marine Barracks Sept. 22, 2013 in Washington, D.C., for the victims of the Sept. 16, 2013 shooting at the Washington Navy Yard that took 12 lives. On the day of the shooting, Foreign Policy's Yochi Dreazen reported on how the tragedy highlighted the military's many security flaws. "Visitors to the Pentagon walk past guards armed with assault rifles and then pass through an outside building equipped with state-of-the-art metal detectors," he wrote. [But] at military posts like the sprawling Marine base in Quantico, Virginia, for instance, anyone with one of the Common Access Cards issued to troops, civilian Defense Department employees, and government contractors can enter the facility without being patted down or made to go through a metal detector. A displaced Syrian child at a makeshift camp for Syrian refugees on Nov. 12, 2013 in Majdal Anjar, Lebanon. As the war in neighboring Syria drags on for a third year, Lebanon, a country of only 4 million people, is now home to the largest number of Syrian refugees. The situation is beginning to put huge social and political strains on Lebanon, Jordan and other destinations for those fleeing the conflict, as Foreign Policy's Nicholas Seeley reported in "The Last Refugee Camp." You can also check out our slideshow, "Postcards from Zataari," which examines life inside the Zaatari Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. Flames from the Rim Fire consumes trees on Aug. 24, 2013 near Groveland, California. The Rim Fire threatened 4,500 homes outside of Yosemite National Park. Over 2,000 firefighters battled the blaze. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Huma Abedin, wife of Anthony Weiner, a leading candidate for New York City mayor, speaks during a press conference on July 23, 2013 in New York City. Weiner addressed news of new allegations that he engaged in lewd online conversations with a woman after he resigned from Congress for similar previous incidents. Read Foreign Policy's list, "Weiners of the World." Photo by John Moore/Getty Images Two veiled Egyptian women, supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsy, sit in front of police blocking access to the headquarters of the Republican Guard in Cairo on July 8, 2013. In the months since Morsy's ouster, Egypt has quieted down but, as Eric Trager writes in "Clan Warfare," the country's relative calm will be shortlived because "[t]he new regime has done nothing to address the factors that catalyzed the first uprising almost three years ago," he wrote. A man fans a fire on Nov. 19, 2013 in Leyte, Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan which ripped through the Philippines in October has been described as one of the most powerful typhoons ever to hit land, leaving thousands dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. Countries all over the world have pledged relief aid to help support those affected by the typhoon but as FP's Catherine Traywick wrote in November, early relief efforts proved "an ugly introduction to the personality-centered world of Philippine politics, one marked by feuding dynasties, rampant cronyism, and, above all, dysfunction." Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Two men and a dog wait at the site of a wildfire in Cualedro, near Ourense on Aug. 24, 2013. A newly married couple walks up a hill with a view of the city of Antakya, on Aug. 29, 2013. Two Palestinian women stand in front of the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa mosques compound in Jerusalem on Dec. 12, 2013. A bruising winter storm brought severe weather to the Middle East, forcing the closure of roads and schools and blanketing much of the high altitude areas with snow and ice. See Foreign Policy's slide show, "Snow in the Desert" featuring photos of extreme weather in the Middle East. A Xhosa woman poses on a rock overlooking Qunu, South Africa ahead of the funeral of former South African President Nelson Mandela on Dec. 12, 2013. Mandela passed away on the evening of Dec. 5, 2013 at his home in Houghton at the age of 95. Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994 after spending 27 years in jail for his activism against apartheid in a racially-divided South Africa. Following his death, Foreign Policy's J. Dana Stuster wrote about the secret history of Mandela's favorite poem, John Campbell considered the myths that have shaped Mandela's legend, and FP also ran this slideshow titled, "Remembering a Giant of Justice," featuring highlights from Mandela's memorial service. Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Students from St. Andrew's University indulge in a tradition of covering themselves with foam to honor their "'academic family" on Nov. 4, 2013, in St. Andrews, Scotland. Every November, during the"'raisin weekend," a gift of raisins (now foam) is traditionally given by first year students to their elders as a thank you for their guidance. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Members of the Rendile tribe and the Turkana tribe dance before total hybrid eclipse in Sibiloi National Park in Turkana on Nov. 3, 2013. Astronomy enthusiasts in Kenya caught a partial glimpse of a rare "Hybrid Total Eclipse" which hasn't been witnessed in Africa for over 40 years. Turkish riot police officers take cover as Kurdish protesters shoot fireworks at them during clashes in central Istanbul on Dec. 7, 2013. Some 30 masked men in a group of around 150 demonstrators hurled Molotov cocktails and hand grenades at security forces in the Yuksekova district of Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey. Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, show their newborn baby boy to the world's media outside the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in London on July 23, 2013. Read Foreign Policy's Passport post on why British reporters actually quite disliked covering news of the royal baby. Chinese astronauts Zhang Xiaoguang, Nie Haisheng, and Wang Yaping salute after getting out of the re-entry capsule of China's Shenzhou X spacecraft following its successful on June 26, 2013 in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. The astronauts returned after a 15-day trip to a prototype space station. See FP's slide show about China's space program, "Houston, We Have a Problem." ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images A horseman rides his horses through colored smoke during a practice session at the beach of Scheveningen on Sept. 16, 2013 in the Netherlands. Some 80 members of the Dutch cavalry practiced for any possible emergency during the Prinsjesdag ceremony, which marks the opening of the Dutch parliament. Jasper Juinen/Getty Images Fourteen Panda cubs lie on a bed for members of the public to view at Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding on Sept. 23, 2013 in Chengdu, China. In 2013, 20 panda cubs were born, with 17 of those cubs surviving. But, as Foreign Policy's Liz Carter wrote in December, the Chinese really don't get America's obsession with pandas. View of the Costa Concordia on Jan. 14, 2012, after the cruise ship ran aground and keeled over off the Isola del Giglio. Three people died and several were missing after the ship with more than 4,000 people on board ran aground sparking chaos as passengers scrambled to get off. See FP's slide show "The Life and Death (and Resurrection) of a Cruise Ship."