China's independently developed Zhuque-3 reusable test rocket conducts a flight test at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on September 11, 2024 in Jiuquan, Gansu Province of China. China's private space company LandSpace successfully conducted a 10-kilometer vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) test on September 11. (Photo by Ni Yanqiang, Zeng Yangxi/Zhejiang Daily Press Group/VCG via Getty Images)

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)

Kayaks, 7, poses for a picture holding toy gun in a camp where Christians displaced by Islamic State militants are living, in Irbil, Iraq, Friday, December 23, 2016. Iraq’s Christians are marking the holiday in his camp for displaced people with a sense of worry and despair, unable to return to their towns they were forced to flee two years ago by the Islamic State group’s onslaught. (Photo by Manu Brabo/AP Photo)

Emma Raducanu of Great Britain takes a selfie after victory over Stephanie Voegele of Switzerland in the first round of the women's singles of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 31, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A motorcyclist, Helton Garcia dressed as Santa Claus, rides his motorcycle before handing out gifts to children in a rural school in Santo Antonio do Descoberto, state of Goias, Brazil on December 10, 2023. (Photo by Adriano Machado/Reuters)

Juventus' Italian forward Cristiana Girelli celebrates after scoring an equalizer during the UEFA Women's Champions League Group A football match between Juventus and Wolfsburg on November 09, 2021 at the Juventus stadium in Turin. (Photo by Marco Bertorello/AFP Photo)

American YouTuber, model and singer/songwriter Erika Costell (R) out and about in Los Angeles, USA on December 31, 2019. (Photo by ROGUT/starmaxinc.com/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

(L-R) Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas of music group Jonas Brothers attend the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)