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)

Beautiful, strange and occasionally alarming pictures from the shortlist for this year’s Wellcome image awards – which celebrate the very best in science photography and imaging – from an x-ray of a bat to a micrograph of a kidney stone. The exhibition opens on 12 March at three science centres and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Photo: Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an Arabidopsis thaliana flower, also commonly known as thale cress. Some of the anthers are open, revealing pollen grains ready for dispersal. Arabidopsis was the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced and is widely used as a model organism in molecular and plant biology. Horizontal width of image is 1200 microns. Magnification 100x. (Photo by Stefan Eberhard/Wellcome Images)

Indian actress Freida Pinto attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/VF20/WireImage)

Singer Rihanna poses at amfAR's fifth annual Inspiration Gala in Los Angeles, California October 29, 2014. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Revellers in Leeds, United Kingdom were excited to be out and about again on July 18, 2021. At a minute past midnight, England dropped most of its remaining Covid-19 social restrictions, such as those requiring indoor mask-wearing and limits on group gatherings. These changes come despite rising infections, pitting the country's vaccination programme against the virus's more contagious Delta variant. (Photo by Ioannis Alexopoulos/PA Wire Press Association via Getty Images)

Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year Sandra Bullock gets kisses from Vice President John Blickstead (L) and President of Hasty Pudding Theatricals Clare Putnam (C) in Harvard Square February 12, 2004 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo By Douglas McFadd/Getty Images)

Actress Frederique Bel attends the Opening ceremony and the “Grace of Monaco” Premiere during the 67th Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2014 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Charlize Theron attends the 33rd American Cinematheque Award Presentation Honoring Charlize Theron and The 5th Annual Sid Grauman Award Presented by Hill Valley to Adam Aron on behalf of AMC Theatres at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 08, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety/Rex Features/Shutterstock)