Some are in it just for the money, others to help buy a meal. Then there are those who trade for fun or to spend time among friends. Millions of investors – pensioners, security guards, high-school students – dominate China's stock markets, conducting about 80 percent of all trades. Retirees gather in brokerage houses dotted around China also to enjoy some company and savour the air conditioning on hot days. Some start as young as 13, trading from home with an eye on future careers in finance. Winning isn't guaranteed. This year, among the most turbulent in China's financial history, its stock markets more than doubled in the six months to May, only to crash amid concerns that growth in the country, which makes everything from cars to steel, is slowing faster than previously thought. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

A monument to the character of Darth Vader from "Star Wars", which was rebuilt from a statue of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin, is seen in Odessa, Ukraine, October 23, 2015. The Internet Party of Ukraine's main candidate, a person named for the legendary "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader, campaigned in Odessa, cruising through town on a black van to the sound of Imperial March from "Star Wars" saga. (Photo by Yevgeny Volokin/Reuters)

Two novice Buddhist monks walk alongside a basket seller to collect alms following a clerics rule of no footwear nor use of umbrellas in Mandalay, Myanmar, Friday, October 9, 2015. (Photo by Hkun Lat/AP Photo)

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)

People stand around a leopard with its head stuck in a vessel in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan state, India, Wednesday, September 30, 2015. The leopard's head got stuck when it attempted to drink water from the pot, according to news reports. Forest officials tranquilized the animal and sawed off the vessel later in the day. (Photo by Kabir Jethi/AP Photo)

Tajammu Al-Ezza brigade fighters react while firing a Grad shell towards forces of Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad stationed in Salhab village, Hama countryside, May 7, 2015. (Photo by Mohamad Bayoush/Reuters)

The new Lamborghini Centenario car is pictured at the 86th International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, March 1, 2016. The Motor Show will open its gates to the public from March 3 to 13, presenting more than 200 exhibitors and more than 120 world and European premieres. ( (Photo by Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

A model presents a creation by Maltese hairstylist Marielle Calleja of Prive at the Malta Fashion Awards 2015 at the Marsa Shipbuilding warehouse in Marsa, outside Valletta in Malta, May 16, 2015. (Photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters)