A man is publicly flogged by a member of the Sharia police after he was found guilty of raping a child, in Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh on November 26, 2020. (Photo by Cekmad/AFP Photo)

U.S. Capitol Police with guns drawn stand near a barricaded door as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, in Washington. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

Sasha, a police dog, wears a cap and gown, on the day of the 374th Commencement exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 29, 2025. (Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters)

An attendee dressed as Winnie the Pooh talks with a member of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department during the annual pre-Halloween High Heel Race in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 28, 2025. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Reuters)

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)

Riot police scuffle with pro-democracy students after hundreds of protesters stormed into a restricted area at the government headquarters, after a rally ahead of the October 1 “Occupy Central” civil disobedience movement in Hong Kong September 27, 2014. Hong Kong riot police used pepper spray on Saturday to disperse dozens of students who had stormed government headquarters, but an equal number held their ground in protests against Beijing's tightening grip on the city. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Members of the new BFEplus anti-terror unit of the German federal police holds a G36C automatic weapon after taking part in a capabilities demonstration at a police training facility on December 16, 2015 in Ahrensfelde, Germany. The BFEplus, whose acronym stands for Beweissicherungs und Festnahme Einheit, or Evidence Safeguarding and Arrest Unit, is to support the GSG9 police special forces unit in containing domestic terror threats. Germany is on high-alert following the November Paris terror attacks and a credible threat at the Germany vs. Holland football match in Hanover. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Riot police stood by the gates of parliament in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, May 14, 2013, during a demonstration against members of parliament who demanded higher wages. Demonstrators released two dozen piglets and poured blood on the pavement to protest the demands for a wage hike. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)