Xinhua selects world pictures of the year 2019

Photo released on July 21, 2019 shows the British oil tanker Stena Impero surrounded by speedboats of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran. The IRGC seized the British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz for what it called "failing to respect the international maritime rules while passing through the strait." (Morteza Akhoundi/ISNA/Handout via Xinhua)