A swarm of starlings flies over the Altare della Patria monument (Unknown soldier) in the city centre of Rome during sunset, on November 27, 2018. (Photo by Vincenzo Pinto/AFP Photo)

Military Chaplain Nikolay Medynsky blesses a Ukrainian soldier before he goes into battle, as Russia's attack on the Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 13, 2022. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Ukrainian soldiers Anastasia and Vyacheslav embrace prior to their wedding ceremony in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 7, 2022. (Photo by Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

Ukrainian soldiers of the 71st Jaeger Brigade fire a M101 howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline, near Avdiivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, March 22, 2024. (Photo by Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

People enjoy carnival while shouting slogans of female empowerment and anti harrassment in Sao Paulo, Brazil on January 28, 2018. The carnival is marked by a lot of fun, but also has space to talk about more serious things – without losing the good mood. Parading for the first time in São Paulo, the Vaca Profana block proposed a reflection on sieges and machismo. (Photo by Cris Faga/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Rougine, a 19-year-old female Arab fighter among the Syrian Democratic Forces, made up of US-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters, stands in fatigues embracing another colleague near the village of al-Torshan, 20 km on the outskirts of Raqa on February 6, 2017. (Photo by Delil Souleiman/AFP 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)

A suspected Vietcong is kicked by a Vietnamese soldier holding a rifle as another soldier attempts to tie his hands on October 22, 1965. The prisoner was one of 15 captured October 21 near Xom Chua when government troops raided in the plain of reeds area. Troops killed 43 suspected Vietcong and seized some arms. (Photo by Richard Merron/AP Photo)