A mahout splashes water on his elephant in the river Sabarmati on a hot summer day in Ahmedabad, India, May 20, 2015. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Actress Bai Ling poses for a picture in front of St. Basil's Cathedral at the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, July 1, 2015. (Photo by Ivan Burnyashev/Reuters)

Dancers wearing new bikinis perform in front of passers-by and a line of photographers during a promotional flash mob event on a square outside Shinjuku station in Tokyo on July 18, 2016. The event was organized by the Japan Swimsuit Association to promote new swimwear. (Photo by Toru Yamanaka/AFP Photo)

This photo taken on August 7, 2016 shows mahjong enthusiasts playing mahjong under water in a swimming pool at a diving club in the Chinese city of Chongqing. Only participants with proper diving certification were allowed to take part in the underwater competition. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

A plastinated body presented as a pole vaulter is exhibited at the Menschen Museum, Museum of Humans, in Berlin, August 29, 2016. The museum was caught up in a legal dispute with the district office of Berlin-Mitte for years before it was able to meet the requirements made by the court. (Photo by Sophia Kembowski/DPA Photo via Newscom)

Contorsionist Rich Miteku performs during the opening of the 41st Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival in Monaco on January 19, 2017. (Photo by Valery Hache/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)

Flowers are placed on a “comfort woman” statue during the weekly Wednesday protest in front of Japanese embassy demanding for an apology and compensation from Japanese government in Seoul, South Korea, July 22, 2015. “Comfort women” is the Japanese euphemism for women who were forced into prostitution and sexually abused at Japanese military brothels before and during World War Two. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)