Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
Mourners grieve as they gather to pray for Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the second day of funeral ceremonies at the Grand Mosalla in Tehran on July 5, 2026. Prayers were held July 5 over the casket of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the second day of funeral ceremonies that have drawn huge crowds to pay their final respects in Tehran. Khamenei ruled the Islamic republic from 1989 until he was killed aged 86 in an airstrike on the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28. (Photo by AFP)A kid plays on water-soaked pavement around an open fire hydrant at sunset in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City on July 2, 2026, during a heatwave. Blistering temperatures and humidity gripped swaths of the United States on July 1, with the worst yet to come for the densely populated East Coast as the nation co-hosts the World Cup and prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday. “Heat dome” conditions — in which high-pressure systems trap warm air like the lid on a pot — persisted over the Midwest and South and were moving east, with some 46 million people under heat alerts. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)Fireworks light up the Brooklyn Bridge during the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks celebration in New York City, on July 4, 2026. (Photo by Leonardo MUNOZ / AFP)A tall ship sails past the Statue of Liberty during Sail 4th 250 in New York, on July 4, 2026. Millions of Americans celebrated the country’s 250th birthday on Saturday — a landmark celebration that comes at a time of deep political division, with a president determined to put his stamp on the festivities. Washington’s traditional fireworks display on the National Mall — lined with monuments celebrating the nation’s Founding Fathers — has been super-sized, and is being touted as the biggest ever. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)A white peacock is pictured at the National Zoological Gardens in Dehiwala near Colombo on July 3, 2026 marking the zoo’s 90th anniversary. (Photo by Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)Grant Williams of the Springboks goes over for a try during the Nations Championship match between South Africa and England at 10bet Ellis Park on July 04, 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Johan Orton/Gallo Images)An Impi warrior (Zulu warrior) enters the pitch at the beginning of the rugby Nations Championship match between South Africa and England at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg on July 4, 2026. (Photo by PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP)A Springbok supporter in action during the Nations Championship match between South Africa and England at 10bet Ellis Park on July 04, 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Johan Orton/Gallo Images)The 60-foot high faces of (from left to right) U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln are seen carved into the granite at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 03, 2026 in Keystone, South Dakota. Trump is holding a rally and fireworks show at Mount Rushmore, kicking off a weekend of 250th Independence Day celebrations across the country. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Lava and pyroclastic flows erupt from the summit of Mount Merapi during an eruption, as seen from Ngori Hamlet, Central Java, on July 3, 2026. (Photo by DEVI RAHMAN / AFP)Community members dance as they run past police vehicles during a gathering outside the Olievenhoutbosch police station in Centurion on July 4, 2026. Community members gathered outside the Olievenhoutbosch police station to protest what they described as inadequate police action against undocumented migrants. Protest leaders handed a memorandum to police and issued a seven-day ultimatum, saying community members would go door to door to remove undocumented foreign nationals from the township if their demands were not addressed. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)Jockey Richard Fourie rides “Note To Self” after winning the 2026 edition of the Durban July horse race in Durban on July 4, 2026. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)Models present creations by local designers during a fashion show at the 2026 edition of the Durban July horse race in Durban on July 4, 2026. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)Dancers from the Joburg Ballet, and singers from the University of Johannesburg Choir perform The Bacchae: An African Choral Ballet, 2 July 2026, at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein. The production is an African interpretation of the classic Greek tragedy, combining choral performance, dance and theatre to bring the ancient story to life. The show runs until 12 July. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen
