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 police officer pepper sprays a protester as another protester stands in front of the race director's car during a farmers' protest who attempted to block the stage' s route, during the 16 th stage of the 105 th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, between Carcassonne and Bagneres- de- Luchon, southwestern France, on July 24, 2018. The race was halted for several minutes on July 24 after tear gas was used as protesting farmers attempted to block the route. (Photo by Stephane Mahe/Reuters)

A protester clashes with riot police officers during a protest against the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit 2022, near the Democracy Monument in Bangkok, Thailand on November 18, 2022. (Photo by Tanat Chayaphattharitthee/Reuters)

A young protester takes part in a protest near Tahrir Square to call for the fall of Islamist President on January 24, 2012 in Cairo. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP Photo via The Atlantic)

Girls accompany grooms as they sit separate from the brides during a mass wedding for 150 couples in Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip July 20, 2015. The wedding was funded by al-Basheer Society for Relief and Development. (Photo by Suhaib Salem/Reuters)

A boy holds a toy rifle as Hamas militants parade at a rally just over a week after a cease-fire was reached in an 11-day war between Hamas and Israel, Sunday, May 30, 2021, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

Palestinians living in the rubble of destroyed houses or in makeshift tents in the city of Khan Yunis, which suffered great destruction during the 15-month-long attacks of the Israeli army, continue their daily life despite all the negativities on February 16, 2025 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. (Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Mother Nesrin Mehre, mourns near the body of Muhammad Mehre was killed in an Israeli attack on al-Nasr neighborhood in northwestern Gaza, on September 23, 2025. His body was taken from al-Shifa Hospital for burial. (Photo by Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images)