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 weekend’s news events, featuring a fire burning along the Costa Verde cliffs in Lima, teams putting their homemade creations to the test at the Red Bull Box Cart Race in Sandton, the aftermath of an alleged Israeli settler attack in the occupied West Bank, and thousands marching in Cape Town in solidarity with Palestine. These are some of the compelling images from South Africa and around the world.
(For best view, click on image for fullscreen)
This aerial view shows smoke rising from a fire on the Costa Verde cliffs in the Miraflores district of Lima on October 4, 2026. (Photo by Ernesto BENAVIDES / AFP)
Palestinians inspect burnt cars and olive trees at a scrapyard following an attack allegedly carried out by Israeli settlers in the village of Ayn Yabrud, northeast of Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on October 4, 2026. Violence has flared in parallel to Israel’s offensive in Gaza in response to the massive Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians including beatings, vandalism and arson averaged six a day in the first half of the year, according to the United Nations, with Israel facing mounting international criticism over the rise in Israeli settler violence. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
Team As Majita compete in the Red Bull Box Cart Race, 4 October 2026, in Sandton, Johannesburg. The event sees teams design and build their own homemade, gravity-powered carts before racing them down a course featuring obstacles, ramps and challenging turns. Judging also takes into account the creativity of the carts and the teams’ performances. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen
Egrets are seen at a beach with a wind power plant in the background in Sri Lanka’s Mannar on October 2, 2026. (Photo by Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)
Controversial South African televangelist and Incredible Happenings Ministries leader Pastor Mboro joins residents and religious leaders outside the Kempton Park Police Station in Ekurhuleni, 3 October 2026, to protest against gender-based violence and femicide following the murders of 12 women in the area. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen
A demonstrator wearing a sticker reading “Fuck AI – Use your skills!” takes part in a protest march against the construction of new data centers in Rho, near Milan, Italy, on October 3, 2026. Protesters are calling for a moratorium on new data center permits and a halt to ongoing projects, citing concerns over their impact on electricity consumption, noise, heat and the local environment. (Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP)
People in traditional dresses take part in a ‘Garba’ practice session ahead of the Hindu festival of Navaratri in Ahmedabad on October 4, 2026. (Photo by Shammi MEHRA / AFP)
Thousands of people at the mass march for Palestine in Sea Point on October 03, 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. The group is advocating for an immediate end to the conflict, total self-determination for Palestinians and to reject the normalization of violence and occupation. (Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)
Graffiti artist Sihle Mbongwa, known as Fly One, takes part in painting a gender-based violence (GBV) awareness mural on the exterior walls of Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto, 3 October 2026. The community-led initiative aims to raise awareness of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) and brings together 30 local mural artists, community members and political leaders, including ANC Greater Johannesburg Regional Chairperson Loyiso Masuku. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen
An activist against human trafficking and gender-based violence holds a banner during a 5km walk along the promenade in Durban, 3 October 2026, under the theme “One Voice, One Fight: End Human Trafficking”. The walk was organised by the Umgeni Community Empowerment Centre (UCEC), with support from students of Durban University of Technology (DUT) and several partner organisations. It formed part of a day of awareness activities, including talks, food vendors and community events. Picture: Rajesh Jantilal
A dachshund wearing a costume takes in the Paris Sausage Walk on the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris on October 4, 2026. (Photo by Lou BENOIST / AFP)
Members of the Alexandra Field Band run off the field after their performance at the Field Band Foundation’s National Championships at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on October 3, 2026. (Photo by ILARIA FINIZIO / AFP)
(LtoR) Denmark’s Mikkel Norsgaard Bjerg, Mads Pedersen and Peter Hansen, followed by Monaco’s Victor Langellotti, the Netherlands’ Jardi van der Lee, Spain’s Pau Miquel Delgado and Austria’s Michael Gogl compete in the men’s elite road race of the UEC European Road Cycling Championships between Ljubljana and Sencur, on October 4, 2026. (Photo by Jure Makovec / AFP)
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Manager of Cape Town Lungelo Mbandazayo at the unveiling of proposals for the completion of the Foreshore Freeway Bridge on October 02, 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. The City of Cape Town is advancing plans to finish the long-standing bridge to nowhere that has stood incomplete since 1977. (Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)
Indigenous people from the Kambeba tribe travel on a boat from Tres Unidos Indigenous community to vote in Sao Sebastiao community, in rural Manaus, Amazonas State, northern Brazil, during the presidential election on October 4, 2026. Brazilians head to the polls in a highly polarized presidential election between incumbent leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -seeking a fourth presidential mandate- and right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who emerged as the leading figure of the conservative movement following the conviction and imprisonment of his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro. (Photo by Michael DANTAS / AFP)