Looking back at 2017, there were many individuals from around the world that captured attention throughout the year. CGTN explores the faces of January below.
UN Secretary-General Guterres takes office
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres participates in a wreath-laying ceremony in memory of fallen UN staff and addressed the organization administrative and support staff members in the lobby of the Secretariat Building at UN Headquarters, New York. / VCG Photo
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres participates in a wreath-laying ceremony in memory of fallen UN staff and addressed the organization administrative and support staff members in the lobby of the Secretariat Building at UN Headquarters, New York. / VCG Photo
Antonio Guterres, the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), took office on January 1, 2017. Facing multiple global crises, he called for peace on the very first day of taking over the world body.
The former prime minister of Portugal has rich UN experience, serving as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015. This experience advocating for refugees helped him stand out during the grueling selection process.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres participates in a wreath-laying ceremony in memory of fallen UN staff and addressed the organization administrative and support staff members in the lobby of the Secretariat Building at UN Headquarters, New York. / VCG Photo
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres participates in a wreath-laying ceremony in memory of fallen UN staff and addressed the organization administrative and support staff members in the lobby of the Secretariat Building at UN Headquarters, New York. / VCG Photo
He said that amid skepticism about the role of the UN, it's important for the organization's staff to assert the value of their work and the need for multilateral solutions to global problems.
As his burden mounts, he's vowed to make the UN system more effective and accountable.
Friends and relatives of victims in Istanbul nightclub attack spend first day of the year in sorrow
Friends and relatives mourn during the funeral of Lian Nasser, an 18-year-old Arab-Israeli woman who was one of the victims of an attack on a night club in Istanbul on New Year's Eve, during her funeral ceremony in city of Tira, north of Tel Aviv, January 3, 2017. /VCG Photo
Friends and relatives mourn during the funeral of Lian Nasser, an 18-year-old Arab-Israeli woman who was one of the victims of an attack on a night club in Istanbul on New Year's Eve, during her funeral ceremony in city of Tira, north of Tel Aviv, January 3, 2017. /VCG Photo
The new year started off with a sorrowful note for some in Turkey, as the nightclub shooting in Istanbul killed 39 people from 14 countries and wounded scores of others on January 1, 2017.
It marked a disturbing start to 2017 for a country rocked by terrorist attacks in the previous 12 months.
Instead of celebrating, friends and relatives of the victims spent the beginning of the new year in anger and grief.
Members of several Islamic religious communities and associations lay down flowers in front of the Turkish embassy in Berlin to pay tribute to the victims of the Reina night club attack in Istanbul, January 2, 2017. / VCG Photo
Members of several Islamic religious communities and associations lay down flowers in front of the Turkish embassy in Berlin to pay tribute to the victims of the Reina night club attack in Istanbul, January 2, 2017. / VCG Photo
Hundreds gathered at the Reina nightclub to condemn the attack.
Funerals and memorials were held across the city while the remains of foreign victims were flown back to their homeland.
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