Family of the late Marius Van Der Merwe's takes his coffin to its final resting place after memorial service at Medley House at Brakpan after he was killed, 17 December2025, he testified as Witness D before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and he was shot and killed outside his home in Brakpan, Gauteng. Picture:Nigel Sibanda/ The Citizen
Supporters of Tunisian President Kais Saied shout slogans durrig a demonstration on the 15th anniversary of the start of the 2011 revolution in Tunis on December 17, 2025. Supporters of Tunisian President Kais Saied demonstrated on December 17 marking the 15th anniversary of the revolution that provoked the Arab Spring, as rights groups accuse the leader of a crackdown on dissent in the North African country. (Photo by Mohamed KHALIL / AFP)A man displays traditional grass mats on the outskirts of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 17 December 2025. The centuries-old practice of making handwoven straw mats is steadily declining in the region, as inexpensive, machine-made alternatives flood local markets, forcing families long dependent on the craft to abandon it due to low returns and shrinking demand. Picture: EPA/FAROOQ KHANPeople walk through the San Francisco Botanical Garden, transformed into a glowing after-dark winter wonderland with ‘Lightscape,’ in San Francisco, California, USA, 16 December 2025. Lightscape is an immersive holiday kaleidoscope of color, light, and music along a one-mile landscaped trail. Picture: EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLOThe Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD7) is docked at Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the America on December 16, 2025 in Ponce, Puerto Rico. President Donald Trump administration is conducting a military campaign in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, deploying naval and air forces for what it calls an anti-drugs offensive. (Photo by Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP)Displaced Palestinians gather to receive donated food portions at a charity kitchen in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 17, 2025. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Wednesday that the overall death toll since the war broke out on October 7, 2023, now stands at 70,668. The US-sponsored ceasefire, in effect since October 10, halted the war that began after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But it remains fragile as Israel and Hamas accuse each other almost daily of breaches. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)This aerial picture shows a view of Kuwait City and its skyline as the sun sets on December 17, 2025. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP)Relatives of the deceased gather for funeral rites along the banks of the river Ganges at Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi on December 16, 2025. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)A person on horseback, silhouetted against the setting sun, rides at a public square in Sana’a, Yemen, 16 December 2025. Horse owners convene daily at al-Sabeen Square in Yemen’s capital, providing paid horseback rides to residents and visitors. Picture: EPA/YAHYA ARHABFarmers from the Jeunes Agriculteurs (JA, Young Farmers), Confederation Paysanne, and Coordination Rurale (CR) unions block a roundabout with a tractor bearing slogans reading in French “Stop massacre” and “don’t touch my cows” during a protest against the mass slaughter of cows to control the infectious bovine disease nodular dermatitis, also known as lumpy skin disease, in Carcassonne, southern France, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Matthieu RONDEL / AFP)A man rows a boat on the waters of Tchunte Kul, a tributary of Dal Lake, on a cold and foggy morning in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 17 December 2025. Kashmir has been witnessing dry weather conditions and rainfall deficit despite the start of winter. The local Meteorological Department forecasts generally cloudy conditions across Jammu and Kashmir, with light to moderate snowfall over higher reaches of the Kashmir division and light rain in the plains. Picture: EPA/FAROOQ KHANA man looks from behind an image of Saint Lazarus during the pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of San Lazaro in El Rincon, near Havana, Cuba on December 16, 2025. Every year in Cuba, pilgrims pray to Saint Lazarus for Catholics and to Babalu Aye for Afro-Cuban religions, asking for health, healing from illness, and prosperity amid the severe economic crisis affecting the island. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)A woman carries a shared bike in the Central Business District (CBD) area in Beijing, China, 17 December 2025. Picture: EPA/WU HAOA woman visits a bookstore in Beijing on December 17, 2025. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)Swimmers from different swim and surf clubs gather during a morning vigil in Sydney, Australia, 17 December 2025, for the victims of the Bondi Beach shooting. Australia is in mourning following an attack on the Jewish community’s Hanukkah festival celebrations on 14 December that left at least 16 people dead, including one gunman. Picture: EPA/MICK TSIKASFlags fly at half-mast on the first day of the third Ashes cricket Test match between Australia and England at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on December 17, 2025. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)
