With a presence in nearly every city and town across Iran, the paramilitary Basij volunteer corps has an ever-increasing influence on life in the Islamic Republic. Authorities created the Basij, which means mobilization in Persian, just after the country's 1979 Islamic Republic. It is part of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard. Photo: In this Thursday, August 22, 2013 photo, a female member of the Basij paramilitary militia aims a rifle as a trainer looks over her shoulder in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

The hot air balloon “Hopper T Frog” from Park City, Utah, peeks over the red rock cliffs during the 23nd Annual Red Rock Balloon Rally at Red Rock State Park December 6, 2003 near Gallup, New Mexico. (Photo By Douglas Tesner/Getty Images)

Reuters photographer Bobby Yip took a series of portraits of people taking part in the “Occupy Central” protests in Hong Kong, and asked them why they had joined the demonstrations. China rules Hong Kong under a “one country, two systems” formula that accords the territory limited democracy. Tens of thousands of mostly student protesters are demanding Beijing give them full democracy, with the freedom to nominate election candidates. The unrest is the worst in Hong Kong since China resumed its rule over the former British colony in 1997. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Parade-goers walk in the annual West Indian Day Parade on September 02, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The annual celebration of Caribbean culture is one of the largest of its kind and features dozens of floats and costumed participants that make their way down Flatbush Avenue. (Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images)

Jaheel Hyde, of Jamaica, competes in a men's 400-meter hurdles heat at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, August 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (Photo by David J. Phillip/AP Photo)

A young man looks over his shoulder as men watching a soccer match in a nearby bar ask why he isn't watching the game, while walking with his date during the men's gold medal soccer match between Brazil and Germany during Rio 2016 on Saturday, August 20, 2016. (Photo by Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

A woman cools off from the extreme heat from an opened fire hydrant in Brooklyn, New York on July 2, 2018. The highest temperature reached 35 degrees Celsius in New York City on Monday as a result of a prolonged heat wave. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge plays a stroke of golf during a visit to meet young people supported by the Cheesy Waffles Project, a charity for children, young people and adults with additional needs across County Durham, at the Belmont Community Centre, in Durham, north east England on April 27, 2021. (Photo by Andy Commins/Pool via AFP Photo)