Serbian police officers of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit pose for a picture in their base outside Belgrade October 8, 2014. When the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman in Ferguson, Missouri, in August sparked sometimes violent protests, the response of police in camouflage gear and armoured vehicles wielding stun grenades and assault rifles seemed more like a combat operation than a public order measure. Some U.S. police departments have recently acquired U.S. military-surplus hardware from wars abroad, but there are many law enforcers around the world whose rules of engagement also allow the use of lethal force with relatively few restrictions. But for every regulation that gives police wide scope to use firearms, there is another code that sharply limits their use. In Serbia, police may use measures ranging from batons to special vehicles, water cannon and tear gas on groups of people who have gathered illegally and are behaving in a way that is violent or could cause violence, but they may use firearms only when life is endangered. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

A Russian peacekeeper shouts “No pictures!” at a checkpoint outside the city of Stepanakert on November 13, 2020, during a ceasefire in the military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Russian began deploying 2,000 peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh on November 10 after Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed a peace deal to end weeks of fierce fighting over the disputed region. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP Photo)

Aina the mother sheep, a 4.5-metre musical sculpture installed in the first decade of July 2023 outside Huddersfield railway station in England as part of Artichoke’s latest project, Herd. She is one of 23 giant handcrafted musical sheep that will appear all over Kirklees this week before joining Aina for a grand finale in Huddersfield on 16 July. (Photo by Christopher Thomond/The Guardian)

An owner poses with her Maine Coon cat in front of a mirror during a cat exhibition in Bishkek on April 19, 2015. Cat lovers from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan took part in the exhibition. (Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP Photo)

Bikini-clad women ski as they are led by a car during a performance on the frozen Yenisei River outside Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia, March 20, 2016. The performance, entitled “Siberian Spring's Strings” and created with the participation of artist Vasily Slonov, marked the day of spring equinox (vernal equinox), according to organizers. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Participants wearing East Asian traditional costumes take photos during the 88th annual Hollywood Christmas Parade in Hollywood, Californi​a, USA, 01 December 2019. (Photo by Christian Monterrosa/EPA/EFE)

The Lumix GX1 single lens reflex (SLR) camera with 14-42 mm powerzoom lens is displayed at the Panasonic booth at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center January 10, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The new camera comes with an external viewfinder and flash and an ISO up to 12,800. The camera as shown sells for USD 949; the camera body alone is USD 799. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

A woman reacts with Samoyed puppies as she performs yoga on International Yoga Day, in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters)