Photos: Memorable news stories of 2013

Nation & World News

Photos: Memorable news stories of 2013

A look back at images from the top news stories of 2013.

A child takes off Pope Francis' white zucchetto, or skullcap, during a meeting with children and volunteers of the Santa Marta Vatican Institute, at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013.

Runners continue to run towards the finish line of the Boston Marathon as an explosion erupts near the finish line of the race. Two simultaneous explosions ripped through the crowd at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing at least two people and injuring dozens on a day when tens of thousands of people pack the streets to watch the world famous race.

A woman carries her child through a field near the collapsed Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013, following a massive tornado.

Pedestrians walk past a barricade preventing them from entering the World War II Memorial in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013. Dozens of veterans barricaded outside the closed World War II Memorial because of the government shutdown were escorted past the barriers Tuesday by members of Congress so they could see the monument.

People hold their hands to their heads as they are escorted out of the building where a gunman was reported at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, Monday, Sept. 16, 2013.

Screen capture of the "wait" page that visitors encountered at healthcare.gov on Wednesday. Tuesday's "wait" page was just text.

Fire crews work the crash site of Asiana Flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Saturday, July 6, 2013.

In this photo taken Wednesday, March 27, 2013, demonstrators holding flags chants in front of the Supreme Court in Washington. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the second day of gay marriage cases, turned Wednesday to a constitutional challenge to the federal law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples.

This June 9, 2013 file photo provided by The Guardian Newspaper in London shows National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, in Hong Kong. Snowden says his "mission's already accomplished" after leaking NSA secrets that have caused a reassessment of U.S. surveillance policies. Snowden told The Washington Post in a story published online Monday night, Dec. 23, 2013, he has "already won" because journalists have been able to tell the story of the government's collection of bulk Internet and phone records.

Jodi Arias appears for her trial in Maricopa County Superior court Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, in Phoenix. The sensational murder case of Jodi Arias became the trial of the year as the proceedings were broadcast live and were a nightly cable television staple. Arias was convicted in May of killing boyfriend Travis Alexander at his suburban Phoenix home, but the jury failed to decide on her sentence. The case continues to languish in the courts as prosecutors prepare for a retrial aimed at securing a death penalty.

A typhoon survivor walks past a cargo ship which was washed ashore in typhoon ravaged Tacloban city, Leyte province, central Philippines on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms on record, slammed into central Philippine provinces Friday, leaving a wide swath of destruction.

Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, appear with their baby son Prince George outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, in central London July 23, 2013. Kate gave birth to the couple's first child, who is third in line to the British throne, ending weeks of feverish anticipation about the arrival of the royal baby.

A child runs to safety as armed police hunt gunmen who went on a shooting spree at Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi September 21, 2013. The gunmen stormed a shopping mall in Nairobi killing at least 20 people in what Kenya's government said could be a terrorist attack, and sending scores fleeing into shops, a cinema and onto the streets in search of safety.

FILE - This April 5, 2009 file image made from KRT video, shows the launch of a missile in Musudan-ri, North Korea. North Korea fired a long-range rocket Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, South Korean officials said, defying warnings from the U.N. and Washington.

President Barack Obama delivers his speech next to a sign language interpreter during a memorial service at FNB Stadium in honor of Nelson Mandela on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013 in Soweto, near Johannesburg. The national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa says a man who provided sign language interpretation on stage for Nelson Mandela's memorial service in a soccer stadium was a fake.

This Aug. 1, 2013 file photo shows Ariel Castro in the courtroom during the sentencing phase in Cleveland. Castro committed suicide when he hanged himself in his cell, two nationally regarded corrections consultants concluded following a review of his death released Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, rejecting earlier suggestions he may have died accidentally while seeking a sexual thrill.

Former New England Patriots NFL football player Aaron Hernandez is led into his court appearance at the Fall River Superior Court in Fall River, Mass., Monday, Dec. 23, 2013.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is interviewed after the Twitter Inc. IPO on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, November 7, 2013.

Syrians holding a wounded man being removed from the scene of a Syrian government airstrike in Aleppo, Syria, Dec. 17, 2013. The country's conflict, now in its third year, appears to have escalated in recent weeks as both sides maneuver ahead of 2014 planned peace talks and ignore calls for a cease-fire. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)

Egyptians wave national flags as fireworks light the sky over Tahrir Square, where hundreds thousands opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi celebrate in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, July 3, 2013. A statement on the Egyptian president's office's Twitter account has quoted Mohammed Morsi as calling military measures "a full coup." The denouncement was posted shortly after the Egyptian military announced it was ousting Morsi, who was Egypt's first freely elected leader but drew ire with his Islamist leanings. The military says it has replaced him with the chief justice of the Supreme constitutional Court, called for early presidential election and suspended the Islamist-backed constitution.

Protestors chant during a "Who Killed K.J." rally for Kendrick Johnson in front of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on Wednesday December 11th, 2013.

FILE - In this June 26, 2013 file image released by NBC, celebrity chef Paula Deen appears on NBC News' "Today" show in New York. Deen dissolved into tears during a "Today" show interview about her admission that she used a racial slur in the past. Deen fell on her butter knife during the tearful, defiant interview, but her empire crumbled, with everyone from Walmart to the Food Network dropping her like a hot cinnamon roll. (AP Photo/NBC, Peter Kramer, File)

FILE - This Oct. 24, 2012 file photo shows an empty field north of Detroit's downtown. Detroit, which on Thursday, July 18, 2013, filed the largest municipal bankruptcy case in American history, owes as much as $20 billion to banks, bondholders and pension funds. The city can get rid of its gargantuan debt, but a bankruptcy judge can’t bring back residents or raise its dwindling revenue. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

A meteorite contrail over the Ural Mountains' city of Chelyabinsk, about 930 miles east of Moscow, Russia. After a surprise meteor hit Earth at 42,000 mph and exploded over a Russian city in February, smashing windows and causing minor injuries, scientists studying the aftermath say the threat of space rocks hurtling toward our planet is bigger than they had thought.

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A child takes off Pope Francis' white zucchetto, or skullcap, during a meeting with children and volunteers of the Santa Marta Vatican Institute, at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013.

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