Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
U.S. Naval Academy freshmen take part in the annual Sea Trials at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, USA, 13 May 2025. The trials test physical and mental conditioning over 14 hours and are modelled on similar U.S. Marine courses. Picture: EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER
A Volkswagen employee checks an ID.3 automobile on the final station of the electric cars production line at the Volkswagen Glaeserne Manufaktur (Transparent Factory) in Dresden, Germany, 14 May 2025. Picture: EPA-EFE/FILIP SINGERUS actor and producer Tom Cruise poses during a photocall for the film “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 14, 2025. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)Anabela Rungo is pictured outside the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on May 14, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa. The mother of former Miss South Africa finalist Chidimma Adetshina, is accused stealing someone’s identity and also of acquiring her citizenship status and citizen documents, passport and ID through fraudulent means. (Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)Margaret Fatyela (C), 78, reacts after being crowned the winner of the Sukuma Mbokodo Support Group’s Elderly Beauty Contest in Thokoza on May 13, 2025. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP)A protester clashes with riot police in Santiago de Veraguas, Panama, 13 May 2025. Protests in Panama continue in their third consecutive week, with more violent clashes between police and protesters. The protests are in rejection of several initiatives promoted by the government of Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, including a controversial social security reform. Picture: EPA-EFE/Bienvenido VelascoPeople dressed in traditional Qing dynasty clothes walk past a Nike store in Beijing, China, 14 May 2025. After a tariff truce between the U.S. and China was agreed upon on 12 May, the U.S. will lower its maximum tariff rate on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent, with a 10 percent baseline levy plus a fentanyl-specific 20 percent levy. China will cut its 125 percent tariff on American goods to 10 percent, starting 14 May. Picture: EPA-EFE/WU HAOCity workers dump election campaign posters at a sorting facility in Marikina City, Metro Manila, Philippines, 14 May 2025. Regions around the country began clean-up operations to dismantle and collect campaign materials that spread throughout communities leading up to the 12 May midterm elections, as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) continues its canvass of nationwide votes for some 18,000 national and local government positions. Picture: EPA-EFE/ROLEX DELA PENAStudents from abroad have “gat,” a traditional Korean hat, put on during the traditional Korean coming-of-age ceremony at Yeungnam University in Gyeongsan, South Korea, 14 May 2025. Picture: EPA-EFE/YONHAPPalestinians walk past a destroyed bus at the site of an Israeli airstrike outside the European Hospital the previous day, in the east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 14 May 2025. According to the Civil Defense in Gaza, at least 11 Palestinians were killed. More than 52,900 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, since Israel launched a military campaign in the strip in response to a cross-border attack led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on 07 October 2023, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 250 taken hostage. Picture: EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED SABERThe sun sets over the Atlantic ocean in Misty Cliffs, Cape Town, South Africa, on May 13, 2025. Misty Cliffs is a small coastal village nestled within the Cape Peninsula’s Table Mountain National Park, about an hour’s drive south of Cape Town. Known for its dramatic scenery and frequent ocean mist the area lies between Scarborough and Kommetjie, along the scenic M65 coastal road. It forms part of a protected conservation area, with strict development regulations to preserve its pristine natural environment. The village is flanked by steep cliffs and the wild Atlantic Ocean making it a popular destination for surfers, photographers, and nature lovers. Its limited infrastructure and low population density contribute to its quiet off-the-grid appeal. Picture: Matrix Images / Nic BothmaPeople gather to watch a procession carrying Buddha relics as part of the Vesak celebrations in Hanoi, Vietnam, 13 May 2025. The Holy Relics, which were brought from India to Vietnam for the first time, are displayed for Buddhist devotees to worship in public expositions in Ho Chi Minh, Tay Ninh, Hanoi, and Ha Nam from 2 to 21 May. Picture: EPA-EFE/LUONG THAI LINHA view of the mural honouring the Centenary Celebrations of Afrikaans in Bo-Kaap on May 13, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa. Created by acclaimed street artist Nardstar (Nadia Fisher), the mural commemorates 100 years of Afrikaans as an official language in South Africa. The artwork serves as both a visual celebration and a cultural reminder of the language’s deep-rooted history in the Bo-Kaap community. (Photo by Gallo Images/ER Lombard)A model walks the runway during the Bianca Spender fashion show at Australian Fashion Week 2025 in Sydney, Australia, 14 May 2025. Picture: EPA-EFE/BIANCA DE MARCHIAn interior view of the ruins of the Officers’ Club on Alcatraz Island, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area under the U.S. National Park Service, in San Francisco, California, USA, 13 May 2025. Alcatraz, known for its layered history as a Civil War fortress, military prison, and the site of the American Indian Red Power movement, is most famous for housing a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963. Earlier this May, President Trump announced plans to reopen and expand the prison to house what he described as “America’s most ruthless and violent offenders,” directing multiple federal agencies to explore converting the site into a detention facility for immigrants. Picture: EPA-EFE/JOHN G. MABANGLO
