Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
We bring you a visual snapshot of the day’s news events, featuring cosplay at Comic Con Africa in Johannesburg, participants marching in the Soweto Pride March, the aftermath of a deadly shooting at a tavern in Wedela on the West Rand, and Ethiopian Orthodox believers marking the Meskel festival in Addis Ababa. These are some of the compelling images from South Africa and around the world.
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Burnt-out vehicles stand outside Dora’s Tavern in Extension 3, Wedela, in the West Rand District of Merafong, 26 September 2026. It is alleged that patrons were drinking inside and outside the tavern when suspects arrived and opened fire on those outside before entering the tavern and continuing to shoot at patrons inside. The suspects were reportedly armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen
A man pulls a woman on an inflatable boat through flood waters in the Bang Kapi district of Bangkok on September 27, 2026. Thousands of Bangkok residents awoke in shelters on September 27 after flooding triggered by days of heavy rain in the Thai capital inundated homes and roads, with some starting to dry out their homes and belongings. (Photo by Chanakarn LAOSARAKHAM / AFP)
Participants take part in the Soweto Pride March on September 25, 2026 in Soweto, South Africa. The march, under the theme, “iSango leNkululeko – Our Heritage” highlights community safety, access to justice, social cohesion, and equal constitutional rights while honoring victims of hate crimes. (Photo by Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo)
Pope Leo XIV arrives in his Papamobile (popemobile) to Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris to preside the Solemn Vespers on September 25, 2026 as part of his four days visit to France. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)
A cosplayer poses for a photograph, 25 September 2026, at Comic Con Africa, at the Joburg Expo Centre in Nasrec. Comic Con is one of Africa’s largest pop culture, fantasy and gaming festivals, bringing together fans of comics, films, television, gaming, cosplay and related entertainment, attracting exhibitors, creators and enthusiasts from across Africa and beyond. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen
Cosplayers pose for a photograph, 27 September 2026, at Comic Con Africa, at the Joburg Expo Centre in Nasrec. Comic Con is one of Africa’s largest pop culture, fantasy and gaming festivals, bringing together fans of comics, films, television, gaming, cosplay and related entertainment, attracting exhibitors, creators and enthusiasts from across Africa and beyond. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen
A prize-winning guinea pig is draped with a winner’s ribbon during the New Zealand National Guinea Pig Show in Taupo on September 26, 2026. The annual event brought together breeders, exhibitors and judges from New Zealand and overseas to compete across a range of guinea pig breeds and classes. (Photo by Ben STRANG / AFP)
Japanese shodo artist, lecturer and author Kamari Maeda performs Japanese calligraphy, 26 September 2026, at the Wits Origins Centre in Braamfontein, in a heritage exchange with the Embassy of Japan. Shodo has been practiced in Japan for 1 500 years. Artists use specially prepared black ink to write in controlled artistic brushstrokes that reflect a meditative state. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen
Ethiopian Orthodox believers dressed in traditional white clothing hold lit candles at dusk during Meskel celebrations at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa on September 26, 2026. The Ethiopian Meskel celebration is an annual religious holiday in the Ethiopian Orthodox church that commemorates the discovery of the True Cross in the fourth century by the Roman Empress Helena. (Photo by Solan Kolli / AFP)
Shree Krishna Nepal (L) and his brother Lok Nath Nepal stand in front of their washed-out house in the aftermath of the August 26 flash floods, at Belkotgadhi in Nepal’s Nuwakot district on September 25, 2026. The Himalayan nation suffered one of the worst catastrophes in its history late last month when a tsunami-like flood, triggered by a high-altitude glacial mountain collapse along the Nepal-China border, cut a swathe of destruction. More than 1,400 people died, 6,000 are still missing, and the economic devastation runs in the billions of dollars. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP)
A local resident pulls a fire hose through tall grass and dense peat as he helps battle a raging wildfire in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra province on September 25, 2026. Low visibility caused by persistent forest fires has hampered both commercial air travel and aerial firefighting operations across the province. (Photo by AL ZULKIFLI / AFP)
Devotees carry an idol of the Hindu deity Ganesha for immersion in the Arabian sea, during the ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ festival in Mumbai on September 25, 2026. (Photo by Pratik Chorge / AFP)
South African music icon Thandiswa Mazwai performs at the Conga Stage in Sandton, Johannesburg, 26 September 2026, during the final day of the 27th edition of the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival. The 2026 festival took place on 25 and 26 September and has grown from an audience of about 2,000 to more than 36,000, providing a platform for international and local artists to perform together and collaborate on various projects. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen
Worshippers and volunteers rest on benches at the Shrine of our Lady of Lourdes, during Pope Leo XIV’s visit in Lourdes southwestern France, on September 27, 2026 on the third day of his trip to France. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)
China’s Yan Langyu competes in the final of the men’s trampoline gymnastics event during the 2026 Asian Games at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium in Nagoya, Aichi prefecture on September 27, 2026. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
A red sky from the morning sunrise is pictured above a cross-channel Ferry in the English Channel, seen from the Port of Dover in south east England on September 25, 2026. The yearly arrival of tens of thousands of migrants aboard small boats has become highly contentious in Britain, relentlessly seized upon by the hard-right, fuelling growing anti-immigration sentiment, even though data on September 24 showed that 18,565 people had arrived via the route so far this year, down 42 percent year-on-year. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)
Military police officers march during a graduation ceremony at the Center of Improvement and Training of Soldiers (CFAP) at Sulacap neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 25, 2026. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP)
German runner Thorsten in a Brandenburg Gate costume takes the start of the 52nd edition of the Berlin Marathon in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 2026. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
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