The World Press Photo of the Year 2009

An Italian freelance photographer won the top prize in the World Press Photo competition with an image of a woman shouting her protest at the results of the Iranian presidential election from a Tehran rooftop at dusk. Judges said Pietro Masturzo's image was beautiful and captured the tension and emotion of the moment, as the protests were gathering strength. "The photo shows the beginning of something, the beginning of a huge story," jury chair Ayperi Karabuda Ecer said of Masturzo's photo. "It touches you both visually and emotionally and my heart went out to it immediately"

Detective Robert Kole of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office enters a home in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 26, following mortgage foreclosure and eviction. He needs to check that the owners have vacated the premises, and that no weapons have been left lying around. Officers go in at gunpoint as a precaution, as many houses have been vandalized or occupied by squatters or drug addicts.

Trangbang, South Vietnam, 8 June 1972. Phan Thi Kim Phuc (center) flees from the scene where South Vietnamese planes have mistakenly dropped napalm.

Loc Thuong, Binh Dinh, South Vietnam, September 1965. Mother and children wade across river to escape US bombing.