Top 50 UPI photos of 2012 (51 images)

Egyptian protesters throw stones during a clash outside the US embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, March 9, 2012, condemning the decision of the Ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to release American activists who were involved in what is known as NGOs foreign fund case. UPI/ Ahmed Fred

A proud little person stands in the entrance of his 'mushroom' hut after a show featuring dwarves singing, dancing and acting during a twice-daily performance for tourists at their "Kingdom of the Dwarves" located in a mountain commune just outside of Kunming, the capital of China's southern Yunnan Province, on September 25, 2012. A community of Asian dwarves has set up its own village to escape discrimination and bullying from normal sized people, yet hoping to attract tourist dollars from the "theme park' of fairy tale characters they've managed to build. UPI/Stephen Shaver

Iranian soldiers march during the annual military parade on September 21, 2012 in front of the mausoleum of the Iran's late leader Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran, Iran. The parade marks the beginning of the 1980-1988 war between Iran and Iraq. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian

Palestinians set fire to tires during a protest marking Land Day, near the border between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip March 30, 2012. Israeli security forces fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up groups of Palestinian stone-throwers, as annual Land Day rallies turned violent. Land Day commemorates the killing by security forces of six Arabs in 1976 during protests against government plans to confiscate land in northern Israel's Galilee region. UPI/Ismael Mohamad