Through the lens: The Citizen’s Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
The sun rises as birds fly over the uShaka Marine Pier, south of Durban on 30 December, a day before the New Year’s Festivities begin worldwide. Picture: Rajesh JantilalPreparations are underway in Rotterdam, Netherlands, 30 December 2025, for the National Fireworks display, which will be set off on the Erasmus Bridge on New Year’s Eve. The grand fireworks show on one of Rotterdam’s most famous bridges has been held for more than fifteen years. Picture: EPA/IRIS VAN DEN BROEKA Zulu traditional dancer performs for Joburg shoppers and of New Year’s Eve celebrations, 30 December 2025, in Ferreirasdorp, Johannesburg. Picture: Michel Bega/The CitizenA man in costume is gored by a bull during a bullfight at the Zapote festivities in San Jose, Costa Rica, 29 December 2025. The festivities take place from 25 December 2025 to 04 January 2026. Picture: EPA/JEFFREY ARGUEDASJoburg residents queue to buy fireworks from the China Fireworks shop in Commissioner Street, 30 December 2025, ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations. Picture: Michel Bega/The CitizenA group of Nepalese indigenous people from the Gurung community wearing traditional attire perform during the ‘Tamu Lhosar’ New Year festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, 30 December 2025. Tamu Lhosar is the new year festival celebrated by the Gurung people, the indigenous people living in the high altitude foothills of Nepal. The Nepali government announced a public holiday to recognize the prominent festival of the community. Picture: EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHAGeorgian farmers sell foodstuff at a street market in Tbilisi on December 29, 2025, ahead of the upcoming New Year and Christmas holidays. (Photo by Vano SHLAMOV / AFP)People celebrate as they witness the first flash flood of the season surging through the Qumran riverbed in the Judean Desert, near the Dead Sea, West Bank, 29 December 2025, on a stormy day in the region. Picture: EPA/ABIR SULTANJoburg residents buy fireworks from the Sui Hing Hong shop in Commissioner Street, 30 December 2025, ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations. Picture: Michel Bega/The CitizenVenerable Monk Bhikkhu Pannakara greets well-wishers while leading a group of Buddhist monks during their 2,300-mile peace walk in Fayetteville, Georgia, USA, 29 December 2025. The monks, from the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas, are on a planned 120-day ‘Walk for Peace’ to Washington, DC, to promote peace, loving-kindness, compassion, mindful awareness, unity, and healing. Picture: EPA/ERIK S. LESSERA woman walks in the sea during a religious ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 29 December 2025. Hundreds of followers of Afro-Brazilian religions gathered to offer gifts to lemanja, considered the mother of the orishas, sovereign of the waters, and protector of sailors. Picture: EPA/Andre CoelhoA person looks on during a protest organized by unions affiliated with the Bolivian Workers’ Union (COB) and miners’ groups in Cochabamba, Bolivia, 29 December 2025. Demonstrators protested a decree withdrawing a fuel subsidy that had been in place for more than 20 years. Picture: EPA/JORGE ABREGO
