Police executions in Brazil, and homemade soda in Syria

Women bare their legs in Algeria, and a suicide bomber attacks Shiites in Saudi Arabia

Chinese tour guide goes on angry rant, and bees die en masse in Morocco

Mental health woes in Gabon, and a 'massacre' in Angola

Re-enacting an Afghan woman's lynching, and poetry in Iraqi minefields

Police beat kids in Guinea, and militias dynamite homes in Iraq

Jokes against jihadists in Syria, and child soldiers in Yemen

Student unrest in Ivory Coast, and attacks on students in Mexico

Rebuilding attacked churches in Niger, and illegal fishing in Iran

Setting dogs on minors in the West Bank, and mining under train tracks in DR Congo

Caged children in Syria and dumpster diving in Ivory Coast

Fighting for bread in Syria, and the brutal arrest of a child in Sweden

Algerian protest shale gas, and Ivorians horrified by child abductions

Immigrant shopkeepers targeted in South Africa, and Ukrainians donate to their army

A Lebanese prison 'run by Islamists', and children tear-gassed in Kenya

A 3-year sit-in in Morocco, and politicians in dumpsters in Ukraine

Best of The Observers 2014

Police harass monks in Cambodia... and humiliate Afghans in Iran

Bullying gone bad in Gabon and taxi racketeers in Ivory Coast

German neo-nazis get pranked and Syrian workers go on strike

Violent repression in Bahrain and Rio favelas that regret gang rule