This Is the World Press Photo of the Year

A stirring image of protesters during Sudan's uprising last year has won the World Press Photo of the Year award. The closing date for entries was Jan. 24, before the coronavirus pandemic dominated world news. The winning photo, "Straight Voice" by AFP photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba, shows a protester reciting poetry, illuminated by light from the phones of people around him, the BBC reports. The protesters were clamoring for a return to civilian rule after long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April.

"This moment was the only peaceful group protest I encountered during my stay," Chiba said in a statement. "I felt their undefeated solidarity like burning embers that remain to flare up again." Jury member Chris McGrath called the image "just a really beautiful, quiet photograph that summed up all the unrest across the globe of people wanting change," the AP reports. Other Photo of the Year nominees from almost 74,000 entries can be seen here. (More photojournalism stories.)