Best photos of April 26: Funeral of Pope Francis to ancient city of Palmyra

The National picks the most striking images from around the world

The coffin of Pope Francis is placed on the ground in St Peter's Square for his funeral, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo / Andrew Medichini)

At Senso-ji temple in Tokyo, in the Nakizumo or a baby-crying sumo contest, two wrestlers hold a baby each and a referee makes faces and loud noises to make them cry to determine the winner based on the loudest baby. The ritual is believed to aid the healthy growth of the children and ward off evil spirits. Reuters

People swim and relax on Lido beach in Mogadishu, Somalia. Getty Images

Workers from the Panama Metro company walk at the tunnel construction site that will cross under the Panama Canal, considered one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the country, as part of Line 3 of the metropolitan transport system in Arraijan, about 10 km west of Panama City AFP

A residential building in Faridabad district of India's Haryana state, is engulfed in smog on April 26. AFP

A dog sits patiently as a vote is cast at an early voting centre in the suburb of Eastlakes in the division of Kingsford Smith before the Australian federal election on April 26, 2025 in Sydney. Getty Images

San Francisco Giants' Jung Hoo Lee swings at a pitch by Texas Rangers pitcher Robert Garcia, which struck Lee out, during the ninth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco on Friday, April 25. AP Photo

Black-winged stilts feed in the marshes of Hawizeh, which straddle the border with Iran, in southeastern Maysan province on April 25. AFP

North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and daughter Kim Ju-ae attend the launch of a newly-built destroyer at Nampho Dockyard on April 25, the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army. EPA

The ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra, a Unesco World Heritage Site east of Homs, central Syria, on April 25. The ancient city suffered heavy damage over more than a decade of Syria's civil war and at the hands of ISIS extremists who pillaged the area for artefacts to sell on the black market. EPA