A young Thai man jumps in the air and cheers as his rocket takes off at the Bun Bang Fai Rocket Festival on May 10, 2015 in Yasothon, Thailand. During the Bun Bang Fai rocket festival, Thai residents launch enormous home-made rockets into the air to gain Buddhist merit and to celebrate the beginning of the rainy season. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images)

Planned improvements to Rio’s favelas have meant increases in rent, forcing the poorest families into squatting in unoccupied buildings. Photographer Tariq Zaidi visits the Mangueira community favela, less than 1km from the showpiece Maracanã stadium, to see what life is like for the women living there. Here: Victoria, 12, at her home in Mangueira. (Photo by Tariq Zaidi/The Guardian)

Visitors run away as waves caused by a tidal bore surge past a barrier on the banks of Qiantang River, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province August 13, 2014. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Two women wearing nun outfits drink beer while watching the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier curling championships in Kamloops, British Columbia in this March 8, 2014 file photo. Although some people might conclude that a curling event could produce a dull atmosphere, it is actually far from it. Some of the most energetic and loyal fans are committed to showing their colours at tournaments around the world. There was a lull in the games that were being held on this day and I remember spotting these nuns sitting in their seats earlier. Although them just sitting there didn't produce a picture, I kept my eye on them for the entire match. As soon as I spotted them with beer in their hands, I slowly turned my camera towards them and waited for them to take a drink. One of the challenges of shooting this image was to not have everyone notice me taking the photo. I had a longer lens on and was right in the middle of the rink. I slowly turned my lens, not to make my intentions too obvious, and waited until they drank from their beers together. (Photo and caption by Ben Nelms/Reuters)

Children pour cold water on themselves under the control of fitness coach Margarita Filimonova (R) at local kindergarten number 317, with the air temperature at about minus 23 degrees Celsius (minus 9.4 degrees Fahrenheit), in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, February 5, 2013. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

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A participant in the Crazy Races extreme sports game competes in the cross-country obstacle race in Ufa, Russia on September 21, 2015. (Photo by TASS/Barcroft Media)

An undated handout picture made available on 29 April 2016 by the Toronga Zoo shows a baby echidna making a remarkable recovery after being attacked by chickens in a family's backyard at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by EPA/Taronga Zoo)

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)