Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
Hindu faithful pray next to Bagmati River during the ‘Madhav Narayan’ festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, 29 January 2025. The festival is a month-long event devoted to religious fasting, holy bathing and the study of the Swasthani book, which is dedicated to the deities Shiva and Swastania. Picture: EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA
A member of the Up Helly Aa festival’s ‘Jarl Squad’ walks past a burning replica Viking longship in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Britain, 28 January 2025. Up Helly Aa festival dates back to the 1880s and celebrates Viking culture and heritage of the Shetland Islands. The event involves over one thousand torches used in processions by squads of costumed participants, known as guizers, who burn a Viking galley later in the night. Picture: EPA-EFE/TOLGA AKMENA dog-shaped ground drone walks during a test with drones designed for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, near Kyiv, Ukraine, 29 January 2025. Drones controlled by fiber optics can infiltrate enemy lines undetected by electronic warfare devices, and engage targets from outside the enemy’s line of sight. Picture: EPA-EFE/VITALII NOSACHTaxis take part in a slow march protest, claiming a limit on rising insurance costs, in Madrid, Spain, 29 January 2025. Picture: EPA-EFE/JAVIER LIZONChief Operating Officer of 4Racing Colin Gordon (left) and jockey Calvin Habib pose for a photograph at Turffontein, 29 January 2025, at the official launch of the 2025 Chamionships. The first leg of the SA Triple Crown and Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara will be run at Turffontein on Saturday with the staging of the R1-million Gauteng Guineas and the R750,000 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas, both Grade 2 races over 1600m on the Standside track. Picture: Michel Bega/The CitizenFootwear left behind by devotees floats on the water following a stampede during the Kumbh Mela festival near Sangam Ghat in Prayagraj, northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, 29 January 2025. A stampede took place early on 29 January during the Kumbh Mela religious festival at India’s Sangam Ghat Prayagraj worship site after barriers broke under the pressure of massive crowds, with dozens of casualties reported by local police. Picture: EPA-EFE/PRABHAT KUMAR VERMAA lion dance is performed inside a store as part of Chinese New Year celebrations in Yokohama Chinatown, near Tokyo, Japan, 29 January 2025. The celebrations of the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, which falls on 29 January 2025, are held in Yokohama Chinatown, Japan’s largest Chinatown. Picture: EPA-EFE/FRANCK ROBICHONArt work ‘La DS (Cornaline)’ by Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco, displayed at the exhibition ‘Politecnico Nacional’, at the Jumex Museum in Mexico City, Mexico, 28 January 2025. After almost two decades without exhibiting his work in Mexico, the exponent of Mexican contemporary art Gabriel Orozco returns to the Mexican capital with his exhibition ‘Politecnico Nacional’, which he considers “the most complete of his work” and which will open to the public on February 1 at the Jumex Museum. Picture: EPA-EFE/JOSE MENDEZA leopard and her cub spotted at Sabie River in the Kruger National Park and submitted by reader of The Citizen Trevor Barnett. Picture: Trevor BarnettJordanian military helicopters loaded with humanitarian aid for Gaza at a military base in Zarqa, Jordan, 29 January 2025. The mission is part of Jordan’s contribution to the humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on 19 January 2025. Picture: EPA-EFE/MOHAMMAD ALIA street vendor is seen selling hats in Joubert Park, 27 January 2025, with high-rise apartments visible in the background. Picture: Michel Bega/The CitizenPilgrims gather to take a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers, on the occasion of ‘Mauni Amavasya’ during the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj on January 29, 2025. A stampede at the world’s largest religious gathering killed at least 15 people with many more injured, a doctor at the Kumbh Mela festival in northern India told AFP. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)Anna Pezzetta of Italy performs in the Women Short Program at the ISU Figure Skating European Championships 2025 in Tallinn, Estonia, 29 January 2025. Picture: EPA-EFE/TOMS KALNINSA member of the M23 armed group stands guard on the Congolese side of La Corniche border crossing point between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda at Gisenyi, Rwanda, 29 January 2025. Members of the M23 have tighten their grip on Goma, the capital city of North Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Picture: EPA-EFE/MOISE NIYONZIMADancers perform during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations at Ditan Park, or Temple of Earth, in Beijing, China, 29 January 2025. The Chinese Lunar New Year, also called the Spring Festival, falls on 29 January 2025, marking the start of the Year of the Snake. Picture: EPA-EFE/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARESA photograph made with a drone shows the carcasses of several Canada Geese, Branta canadensis, lying on the ice at Hagar Pond in Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA, 28 January 2025. Several dead birds have been collected from the pond and although a recent outbreak of avian flu, H5n1, has been detected in Massachusetts, the CDC has only reported one recent human fatality in 2024. Picture: EPA-EFE/CJ GUNTHERAn activist from Ocean Rebellion stands as she wears a Scold’s Bridles—medieval torture device, during an action outside the Royal High Court of Justice, in central London, on January 29, 2025. (Photo by BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP)Firefighters work to extinguish a fire on an Air Busan airplane at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, 28 January 2025 (issued 29 January 2025). On 28 January the plane, bound for Hong Kong, caught fire during take off procedures at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, prompting all its passengers and crew members to evacuate. Picture: EPA-EFE/YONHAP/ HYUNG-JOO SON
