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 woman and her dog compete in the Paris Sausage Walk along the banks of the River Seine on Sunday, November 16, 2025. The event raises funds for the well-being and adoption of dachshunds. (Photo by Dimtitar Dilkoff/AFP Photo)

This Saturday, July 22, 2017 photo released by Tokyo Zoological Park Society, shows a giant panda cub at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. The baby panda, born in June, got a check up on Saturday. (Photo by Tokyo Zoological Park Society via AP Photo)

In the forests of Viiksimo in Finland, in October 2023, a popular spot for watching wolves and bears, a crow has a rival at its lunch spot. (Photo by Valtteri Mulkahainen/Caters News Agency)

Photographer and animal lover Chris Keeney shows how to use a PetCam with your own pet and offers expert technical know-how and inspiring creative suggestions to get you started. This is Coulee, a border collie/golden retriver mix from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Chris Keeney/Princeton Architectural Press)

Praia du Forte, Bahia. “This was the lead picture for a National Geographic story on Bahia, because it was both mysterious as well as a “geography” picture showing where the slaves arrived from Nigeria. Beach pictures seem like they should be easy to take, but for me they are actually quite difficult. Too easy to fall into cliche. When I saw the kid coming on the horse, I quickly ran to see if I could make something with a woman in a bikini that was not a bikini shot”. (Photo by David Alan Harvey/The Guardian)

Japanese designer Masaya Kushino creates dream couples, blurring the boundaries between footwear and impressive artwork.

Star Wars collector James Burns, 44, poses for a photograph with some of his collection in London December 2, 2015. He said “I've met so many wonderful people, all over the world. It's a wonderful community of likeminded people with an interest in Star Wars. There's nothing else like it”. (Photo by Paul Hackett/Reuters)