From house breaking in Johannesburg to hippos on the loose in Tbilisi to rioters attacking a policewoman in Burundi, Reuters photographers tell the story behind some of the most iconic pictures of the year. Here: Protesters drag a female police officer accused of shooting a protester in the Buterere neighbourhood of Bujumbura, Burundi, May 12, 2015. Goran Tomasevic: Protesters started throwing stones at a group of police, who then started to run away. The policewoman in the photo, Medikintos Inabeza, 33, got left behind and then some protesters started to push her, saying that she had shot a female protestor in the stomach with an AK47 rifle. I didn't see anything of that. There were 5 or 10 protesters pushing the policewoman at first, then others came and joined in. Up to 20 or 30 protesters were surrounding her at one point. The protesters kicked and beat her very badly; I also saw a couple of knives. I thought they were going to kill her... (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

Germany's Nikias Arndt, left, receives encouragement from a spectator during the men's elite road race at the world road cycling championships in Wollongong, Australia, Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Rick Rycroft/AP Photo)

A woman holds a disguised cuy or guinea pig (Cavia Porcellus), a popular source of meat in southern Colombia, at the Cuy Festival in La Laguna municipality, Nariño department, Colombia, on January 7, 2022. (Photo by JOaquin Sarmiento/AFP Photo)

A man takes care of the cats at the Arnamir cat hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 14, 2023. Animal care services can be an option during the holidays when pets are left behind, so that pets are not neglected while their owners are away. The hotel implements free-to-play concept, so that the cats are entrusted and has a comfortable room to stay. The rooms are monitored by a 24-hour surveillance camera. (Photo by Dasril Roszandi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A child coated in silver body paint, smiles during the “Loucura Suburbana”, or Suburban Madness pre-Carnival parade, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, February 8, 2024. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

Adrienne Yip takes a picture of her Burmese mountain dog named “Walter”, beneath the cherry blossoms in peak bloom at the Tidal Basin with the Washington Monument seen behind, in Washington, DC, USA, 18 March 2024. Peak bloom, as defined when seventy percent of the cherry blossoms are open, is occuring this week. This year's peak bloom, beginning the 17th of March, is tied for the second earliest in history and is seen as a reflection of warming temperatures. (Photo by Michael Reynolds/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Cheetah Darcy enjoys her newly-developed Cheetah Territory that covers 10,000 square at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, UK on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. Darcy, who is four-years-old, travelled from Ireland's Fota Wildlife Park to YWP last week where she will be joined by 13-year-old male Brooke who is on his way from the Bristol Zoo Project as a recommendation by the European Endangered Species Programme. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)

An actor playing the role of the Conductor, poses for a photograph alongside the Polar Express Train Ride at the Swanage Railway in Dorset, UK on Thursday, November 16, 2023, a festive-themed train journey based on the Polar Express book and film, which invites visitors to travel in their pyjamas and dressing gowns as they journey from Swanage to the “North Pole”. (Photo by Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images)