Through the lens: The Citizen’s Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
Decorations for the Christmas and New Year festivities at the Gorky Park in Moscow, Russia, 26 December 2024. Russians are preparing to celebrate New Year’s Eve on 31 December and Christmas, observed on 07 January, according to the Russian Orthodox Julian calendar. Picture: EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV
People stroll on the via della Conciliazione which leads to the Vatican and St Peter’s basilica, during the Catholic Jubilee Year, on December 26, 2024 in Rome. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)A small boat, carrying a group of rescued migrants, is towed by Spain’s Maritime Rescue vessel Salvamar Adhara upon its arrival to the port of La Restinga, El Pinar municipality, El Hierro island, Canary Islands, Spain, 26 December 2024. The Canary Islands’ migration route continues to expand with three small boats, carrying nearly 200 people, arriving on 26 December in Tenerife and El Hierro islands. Picture: EPA-EFE/GELMERT FINOLA young visitor poses for photos on decoration installed on Boxing Day, the holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, in the center of Dordrecht, Netherlands, 26 December 2024. Picture: EPA-EFE/REMKO DE WAALA participant of the annual winter swimming in Paradiso sits in Lake Lugano on St. Stephen’s Day in Paradiso, Switzerland, 26 December 2024. Picture: EPA-EFE/PABLO GIANINAZZIParticipants of the annual winter swimming in Paradiso swim in Lake Lugano on St. Stephen’s Day in Paradiso, Switzerland, 26 December 2024. Picture: EPA-EFE/PABLO GIANINAZZIElena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in action against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain during the United Cup day one match between Kazakhstan and Spain at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, 27 December 2024. Picture: EPA-EFE/RICHARD WAINWRIGHTSecurity personnel stand guard outside the residence of the late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, India, 27 December 2024. Singh died aged 92 on 26 December 2024 at a hospital in Delhi where he was being treated for age-related medical conditions. He served as India’s 13th prime minister from 2004 until 2014. Picture: EPA-EFE/RAJAT GUPTAUS surfer Mikey Redd rides a huge swell in training for the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout 2025 event held annually at Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, on December 26, 2024. The “Da Hui Backdoor Shootout” in 2025 is an invitation-only surfing competition held on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, during a holding period from January 4 to 16, 2025. (Photo by Brian Bielmann / AFP)People view the ‘Lantern Garden,’ part of a mile-long illuminated trail called ‘Lightscape,’ at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden in the Brooklyn borough of New York, New York, USA, 26 December 2024. Picture: EPA-EFE/SARAH YENESELAn Israeli soldier walks past an armoured personnel carrier (APC) on a truck as they leave the buffer zone, on the border between Israel and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, 26 December 2024. Israel’s military said that paratroopers’ forces, joined by other troops, are conducting ‘defense activities’ to prevent ‘any threat’ and are deployed in key positions within the buffer zone. Picture: EPA-EFE/ATEF SAFADIA man collects plastic and other debris washed ashore at a beach in Kedonganan, Badung Regency, on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on December 27, 2024. (Photo by SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP)A group of men carry an image of Saint Benedict as they participate in the cultural and religious celebration Marujada, a traditional festival that pays homage to Saint Benedict (Sao Benedito) in the city of Bragança, Para State, Brazil, on December 26, 2024. Cultural heritage of Brazil, the Marujada is a traditional festival that pays homage to Saint Benedict, the “black saint,” and has one of its highlights on Christmas Day, during the feast that lasts nine days until December 26. (Photo by Anderson Coelho / AFP)A Taliban security personnel keeps watch from a helicopter two days after air strikes by Pakistan in the Barmal district of eastern Paktika province on December 26, 2024. Pakistan air strikes in an eastern border region of Afghanistan killed 46 civilians, the Taliban government said on December 25, whilst a Pakistan security official said the bombardment had targeted “terrorist hideouts”. (Photo by Ahmad SAHEL ARMAN / AFP)
PICTURES: Christmas Day mass in Durban
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