Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
Activists carrying roses and banners stage a protests over a strike on a girls’ elementary school during the U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran, in front of the Israel and U.S. embassies in Seoul, South Korea, on March 13, 2026. (Photo by Hwawon Ceci Lee/Anadolu via Getty Images)A woman and child brave the rain along Holy Street in Newclare, west of Johannesburg, 12 March 2026. Picture: Nigel Sibandas/ The CitizenVisitors walk through the installation “Infinity Mirrored Room – The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe” during a preview for an exhibition of the work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne on March 12, 2026. In 2026, the Museum Ludwig in Cologne will dedicate a major exhibition to the legendary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. The exhibition takes visitors on a journey through Kusama’s entire oeuvre with over 300 works, from her first drawings from around 1934 to the present day. Yayoi Kusama was born on March 22, 1929 and is now nearly aged 97. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP)A local pastor gestures during a protest march in Durban on March 12, 2026. The protestors demanded the protection of religious freedom opposing the proposed measures by the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) to tighten oversight of churches. The demonstration takes place amid an ongoing national debate over the regulation of religious institutions, following allegations that some organisations exploit congregants through questionable financial practices and claims of miracles or faith healing. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)A great blue heron is seen at Crissy Field near the Golden Gate Bridge during warm weather in San Francisco, California, United States on March 11, 2026. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)Soldiers of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) recover a generator left behind by artisanal miners, during a patrol in Randfontein on March 12, 2026. South Africa deployed soldiers for a year to provinces struggling to quell rampant crime and illegal mining, according to a mission plan presented to parliament on March 4, 2026. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment last month, calling organised crime the “most immediate threat” to South Africa’s democracy and economic development. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)Racegoers mark ‘St Patrick’s Thursday’ with an Irish them, on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse, in Cheltenham, western England on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP)A person stands with hands clasped in prayer in front of the commemorative display window at Seiko House, formerly known as the Wako Building, in Tokyoâs Ginza district, Japan, on March 11, 2026, during a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. (Photo by David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)A view of destruction following the Israeli attack on makeshift tents in Ensar area of Gaza City, Gaza on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea/Anadolu via Getty Images)A schoolgirl holds up a poster of Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei during an anti-US and Israel demonstration in Baghdad on March 12, 2026. Air strikes killed at least nine Iran-backed fighters in Iraq on March 12 near the Iraqi-Syrian border, two senior security officials told AFP. The Middle East war, which was triggered on February 28 by American-Israeli attacks on Iran, is hampering the global economy’s supply of oil and weakening production capacity. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)A tourist takes a selfie with almond blossoms in an orchard at the Badamwari Garden in old downtown Srinagar on March 12, 2026. (Photo by TAUSEEF MUSTAFA / AFP)A jockey reacts after competing in the first race of the day, on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse, in Cheltenham, western England on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP)(From R) Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe’s rider Aleksandr Vlasov, Movistar Team’s Ecuadorian rider Jefferson Cepeda and Movistar Team’s Italian rider Lorenzo Milesi cycle in a breakaway during the 5th stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race, 206.3 km between Cormoranche-sur-Saône and Colombier-le-Vieux, on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)A member of the People’s Armed Police salutes delegates as they leave on buses after the closing session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People on March 11, 2026 in Beijing, China. China’s annual political gatherings, which includes the CPPCC and the National People’s Congress (NPC), are known as the Two Sessions, and convene leaders and lawmakers to set the government’s agenda for domestic economic and social development for the year. It is expected to finish on March 12th. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)Fans watch Ferrari’s team members during pit stop practice ahead of the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
