Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
Australia’s artistic swimmer Margo Joseph-Kuo and Australia’s artistic swimmer Georgia Courage-Gardiner compete in the preliminary round of the women’s duet technical artistic swimming event during the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on July 18, 2025. (Photo by François-Xavier MARIT / AFP)
Mariot Hotel Chef Thabo Letshololo and other chefs prepare soup during the sixth annual Chefs with Compassion #67000 litres for Mandela Day at HTA School of Culinary Art in Johannesburg, 18 July 2025. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The CitizenSmoke and lava rise from a volcano eruption near Grindavik, Reykjanes, Iceland, 18 July 2025. According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, a magma flow has begun at the Sundhnuk crater range on 16 July. Picture: EPA/JAKOB VEGERFORSThai nationalists wave national flags during a protest rally outside the United Nations (UN) building in Bangkok, Thailand, 18 July 2025. The demonstrators are calling on the UN to launch an investigation into the Thai-Cambodian border crisis, after a landmine explosion injured three Thai soldiers during a patrol operation along the border with Cambodia on 16 July. Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have escalated following a brief military clash in May 2025, with both countries increasing their military presence along the border, and imposing measures against each other. Picture: EPA/NARONG SANGNAKYoungsters from the central Johannesburg community drink some water as they queue for food, while wearing their 67 Blankets For Nelson Mandela Day donations of scarves and beanies, 18 July 2025. The distribution forms part of the annual Nelson Mandela Day initiative. Scarves, knitted by volunteers across South Africa, were distributed at Port Plein Park and were available for anyone to help themselves. Picture: Michel Bega/The CitizenAlexandra youth at Artec Sports Stadium in Alexandra, 18 July 2025, where the Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans commemorated Mandela Day. The event was organised in partnership with the South African National Service Institute (SANSI) and the Guardian Angel Wildlife and Marine Trust. It will focus on the theme: “It’s Still in Our Hands to Combat Poverty and Inequity.” The commemoration serves as a tribute to President Nelson Mandela’s enduring legacy of service, justice, and unity, with an emphasis on youth empowerment, environmental action, and civic responsibility. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The CitizenA farmer works at a paddy field in the village of Bardwan, north of Kolkata, Eastern India, 18 July 2025. India is the second largest rice producer in the world. This year’s rice prices have increased by 20 percent compared to 2024, as well as the global market. Picture: EPA/PIYAL ADHIKARYKanwariyas, devotees of the Hindu god Shiva, carry holy water of the river Ganges during the ‘Kanwar Yatra’ pilgrimage in the sacred month of Sawan in New Delhi on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP)A woman walks past an apartment building at a newly built residential district in Moscow, Russia, 18 July 2025. Picture: EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOVMembers of the MK (uMkhonto weSizwe) political party gather as they march in support of the KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi during a rally in central Pretoria, South Africa, 18 July 2025. Mkhwanazi has accused South African Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of sabotaging an investigation into political killings by allegedly seizing 121 open case files in March and pushing to disband the team assigned to the probe. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa placed Mchunu on leave with immediate effect. Picture: EPA/KIM LUDBROOKAn aerial photo shows the banks of Butterley Reservoir which are partially revealed by a falling water level, near Oldham, northern England on July 18, 2025. Extremes in temperature and rainfall in the UK are becoming increasingly frequent, the nation’s meteorological service said this week in a report on Britain’s changing climate. Records were now being broken “very frequently”, said Mike Kendon, Met Office climate scientist and lead author of the Met Office’s State of the UK Climate report. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)Balloonists prepare a hot air balloon for takeoff during the 25th Aero Station King’s Cup, as part of the Segovia Hot Air Balloon Festival, in Segovia, Spain, 18 July 2025. The festival aims to highlight Segovia’s status as a ‘European City of Sport’. Picture: EPA/PABLO MARTIN
