Carlos Melendez prepares to feed his pet squirrel “Colita” in downtown San Salvador January 29, 2015. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

Students pose for a picture with a 3- D optical illusion artwork of a devastated cityscape in Aleppo, Syria at the campus of the Meiji University in Tokyo on November 18, 2016. The Japanese branch of the human rights organisation Amnesty International displayed the artwork to encourage people to think about the Syrian civil war. (Photo by Toshifumi Kitamura/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)

The 3D street painting “Crevasse” by artist Edgar Mueller is seen in this undated picture during the “Festival of culture”, 2008 in Dun Laoghaire, Irland. Edgar Mueller put a part of the eastern Pier into the ice age. This project has been supported by the Goethe Institution Germany. (Photo by Edgar Mueller/Getty Images)

“Anne Sudworth is a British artist internationally known for her paintings of magical trees and haunting moonlit landscapes”. – Wikipedia. Photo: Anne Sudworth – “Gowrim Idhree”.

2021 Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu from India struggles to keep her crown on in the wind, as she arrives on the observation level of the Empire State Building in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. January 12, 2022. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

“The Miss Exotic World Pageant (officially, the Miss Exotic World Pageant and Striptease Reunion) is an annual neo-burlesque pageant and convention, and is the annual showcase event (and fundraiser for) the Burlesque Hall of Fame (formerly the Exotic World burlesque museum). The pageant, sometimes referred to as the “Miss America of Burlesque”, attracts former burlesque queens from past decades, as well as current participants of the neo-burlesque scene. The pageant consists of burlesque performances spanning a weekend, culminating with the competition to crown a single performer as Miss Exotic World. Because of the significance of the Exotic World Burlesque Museum to the burlesque community, winning the pageant is considered a top honor for a burlesque performer”. – Wikipedia

Here: Stephanie Blake removes a stocking at the Miss Exotic World Pageant at the Exotic World Burlesque Museum on June 7, 2003 in Helendale outside of Barstow, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

A Chinese man made up like “Wutu” which means tiger in ancient time, dances during an annual exorcism ceremony of the local Tu ethnic minority group at Nianduhu Village on December 31, 2004 in Tongren County, northwest of China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)