A masked protester talks to a soldier during clashes after the funeral of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan October 21, 2012. Lebanese soldiers fired guns and tear gas to push back hundreds of protesters who broke through a police cordon and tried to storm the government headquarters in Beirut. (Photo by Hussein Malla/Associated Press)

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)

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 member of the German wireless police picks up signals on the radio equipment he carries on his back, while his colleague takes notes. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images). Circa 1925

Two children jumping through a water hydrant's shower on a New York street. They have come from a neighbouring co-educational playgroup organised by the city's Police Department. (Photo by Orlando/Getty Images). 1950

A man carries a smoke flare as far-right activists march during the Gay Pride parade on June 12, 2016 in Kiev. More than 700 gay rights activists marched through central Kiev on June 12 amid a massive police presence for the third such gay pride event in the ex-Soviet country where homophobia remains widespread. The June 12 march was the first ever gay pride rally to be held in central Kiev, prompting an unprecedented security operation with several thousand police and National Guard officers lining the route during the event, which lasted around 20 minutes. (Photo by Yuriy Kirnichny/AFP Photo)

A protester throws a stone while clashing with Mozambican riot police in Maputo on November 27, 2024. Fresh anti-government protests erupted in Mozambique on November 27, 2024 after a police vehicle mowed down a woman at a demonstration in the capital for the opposition leader disputing October elections in a deadly weeks-long standoff AFP reporters at the scene said protestors hurled stones at security forces who fired bullets and tear gas as clashes broke out after the woman was struck while standing behind a large banner of opposition leader Venancio Mondlane. (Photo by Alfredo Zuniga/AFP Photo)

Flames from a burning barricade lit by pro-democracy protesters is reflected in the windows of a passing bus as passengers watch on during a protest gathering in front of Mong Kok police station on September 22, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Pro-democracy protesters have continued demonstrations across Hong Kong, calling for the city's Chief Executive Carrie Lam to immediately meet the rest of their demands, including an independent inquiry into police brutality, the retraction of the word “riot” to describe the rallies, and genuine universal suffrage, as the territory faces a leadership crisis. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)