Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
A picture taken with a fisheye lens of Mathieu van der Poel of Netherlands in action during the Cross Country Elite Men race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Les Gets, France, 31 August 2025. Picture: EPA/MAXIME SCHMIDMembers of the guard of honor prepare ahead a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, 01 September 2025. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez is on an official visit to Vietnam from 31 August to 02 September 2025. Picture: EPA/LUONG THAI LINHRelatives, survivors, and onlookers honor the 76 people who died in the devastating fire that gutted a high-density building in downtown Johannesburg two years ago, in Johannesburg, South Africa, 31 August 2025. The building, originally an office block from the 1950s, had been abandoned and later occupied by several hundred people in desperate need of housing. Eighty-eight people were injured during the fire that devastated the ‘hijacked building.’ To date, no reparations have been made for the victims’ families. Picture: EPA/KIM LUDBROOKSpain’s Crown Princess Leonor is seen at the General Academy of the Air and Space Force in San Javier, Murcia, Spain, 01 September 2025. Princess Leonor finishes her military formation at the General Academy of the Air and Space Force. Picture: EPA/Marcial GuillenAn activist waves the Palestinian flag as a boat carrying Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and activists, part of a civilian flotilla aiming at breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, leaves the port of Barcelona, on August 31, 2025. A flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists is due to leave from Barcelona on August 31, 2025 to try to “break the illegal siege of Gaza”, organisers said. The flotilla is expected to arrive at the war-ravaged coastal enclave in mid-September. (Photo by Lluis GENE / AFP)Phethe Simiao appears at Johannesburg High Court for sentencing on September 01, 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Phethe Simiao (25) pleaded guilty to kidnapping, raping and murdering six-year-old Amantle Samane. (Photo by Gallo Images/Luba Lesolle)Amantle Samane’s mother, Ntombizodwa Samane during the appearance of Phethe Simiao at Johannesburg High Court for sentencing on September 01, 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Phethe Simiao (25) pleaded guilty to kidnapping, raping and murdering six-year-old Amantle Samane. (Photo by Gallo Images/Luba Lesolle)People participate in a march from the Capitol to demand independence for Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 31 August 2025. Around 3,000 people marched through the historic streets of Old San Juan in support of Puerto Rican independence, an initiative that has also spread to several US cities, aiming to demand the island’s decolonization. Picture: EPA/THAIS LLORCAPeople cross a flooded area after the river Ravi overflowed in Lahore, Punjab province, Pakistan, 31 August 2025 (issued 01 September 2025). At least 33 people have died and more than 1.4 million people have been affected in Punjab province after heavy monsoon rains, melting glaciers, and water releases from Indian dams caused three rivers to overflow, triggering severe flooding and ‘exceptionally high’ water levels, officials said. Picture: EPA/SOHAIL SHAHZADA vendor sits behind bananas hanging at a market in Yangon on September 1, 2025. (Photo by Sai Aung MAIN / AFP)Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero cuts the ribbon to officially open Lilian Ngoyi Street, 1 September 2025, after the completion of the Phase 1 Rehabilitation Project. Lilian Ngoyi Street has been closed since July 2023 following an underground gas explosion that tore through several blocks, severely damaging infrastructure and disrupting businesses, transport routes, and daily life in the city centre. Picture: Michel Bega/The CitizenAn Iranian woman rides a bicycle next to a billboard displaying a picture of nuclear centrifuges and a sentence reading in Persian ‘Science is the power, and the Iranian nation will not abandon its religion and knowledge’ at the Enghelab square in Tehran, Iran, 01 September 2025. Picture: EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREHPlainclothes police officers hold sticks as they disperse protesters in front of the Bekasi Metro Police headquarters in Bekasi, West Java on September 1, 2025, amid clashes linked to a wave of protests that have spread across major cities, after footage went viral showing a police armoured vehicle hitting a motorcycle taxi driver during an earlier demonstration. (Photo by REZAS / AFP)Indonesian military personnel arrive at the National Monument (Monas) compound as they are deployed following violent protests in Jakarta, Indonesia, 01 September 2025. Government buildings and police vehicles were set on fire on days of violent protests across the country following the death of a motorbike-hailing driver at an earlier protest against the housing allowance for members of the parliament. Picture: EPA/MAST IRHAMA flag flutters by the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, 01 September 2025. The UK Parliament has returned from its summer recess. Picture: EPA/NEIL HALLArgentine-Spanish model Georgina Rodriguez attends the ‘Filming Italy Venice Awards’ during the 82nd annual Venice International Film Festival, in Venice, Italy, 31 August 2025. The film festival runs from 27 August to 06 September 2025. Picture: EPA/ETTORE FERRARI
