Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
Workers renovate the “Thap Rua” (Turtle Tower) at Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi on July 23, 2026. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP)People search for bodies amid the rubble of a building in Caraballeda, Venezuela, on July 22, 2026, nearly a month after the June 24 earthquakes. The number of people killed in the powerful dual Venezuela earthquakes last month rose to 5,278, according to official figures updated on July 20, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)Visitors at OR Tambo International Airport observe planes and the runway from the viewing deck, 22 July 2026. According to FlySafair Chief Marketing Officer Kirby Gordon runway and air-traffic management capacity are now the low-cost carrier’s biggest operational constraints “principally at OR Tambo, where it shows up as departure delays and extended taxi times”. While FlySafair hasn’t delayed or cancelled planned route launches because of Air Traffic and Navigation Services, the limitations have become “a factor we now have to design our schedules around, which means we can’t always build the network we’d optimally like to,” Gordon indicated. Picture: Michel Bega/The CitizenThabelo Muvhango of Team South Africa bowls with partner (out of frame) Jacqui Janse van Rensburg against Paris Baker and Milika Nathan of Team Tonga during the Women’s Pairs Sectional first round match on day zero of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games at SEC Centre on July 23, 2026 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)Mohamed Surty (former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development) testifies at the Khampepe Commission Of Inquiry at Sci-Bono Discovery Centre on July 23, 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The inquiry was established to investigate allegations of political interference in the investigations of apartheid era crimes. (Photo by Gallo Images/Luba Lesolle)South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola (L) receives German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (R) ahead of their bilateral talks at the OR Tambo building in Pretoria on July 23, 2026. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP)Children cool off in a public water playground at a park in Edogawa district of Tokyo on July 23, 2026. On July 23, at least six places in Japan experienced 40C temperatures or hotter by early afternoon, while the mercury rose to 39.9C in three other locations. Japan introduced this year a new term to describe heat above 40C called “kokushobi”, which translates to “cruelly hot day”. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)A woman uses an umbrella to shelter from the sun in Tokyo on July 23, 2026. Tokyo recorded the most daily heat-related hospitalisations since 2010, emergency services said as Japan sweltered in a severe heatwave, with one person dead and four in a critical condition. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)Fans celebrate during the theatrical release of the film ‘Jana Nayagan’ starring actor and Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, in Chennai on July 23, 2026. (Photo by R.Satish BABU / AFP)General views of the Hospital View Housing Project in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, 23 July 2026. Around 500 housing units remain abandoned and incomplete after R87 million was spent on the project. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The CitizenA French Civil Security Canadair CL-415 aircraft flies past flames burning a forest surrounding Cotignac, southeastern France on July 23, 2026 during a wildfire. The fierce fire that struck the Var region and has burned across 2,500 hectares “remains stable” on July 23 morning, announced the Prefect of the Var, Simon Babre, who has authorised the 400 people who were evacuated to return to their homes to “enable the damage to be assessed”. Some 650 firefighters were still deployed in the Gros Bessillon area, a mid-altitude mountain range in central Var, one of France’s most forested departments. (Photo by Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)Members of the March and March movement gather around an escavator destroying a branch of the Living Waters Church International, teared down for allegedly belonging to a foreigner, during a weekly demonstration in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, on July 23, 2026. (Photo by MZINGENKOSI SIBANDA / AFP)Protestors during the march with Concerned Citizens, March and March and Dudula down Long street to Home Afairs in the pouring rain on July 23, 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. The groups are demanding stronger border enforcement, the removal of undocumented foreign traders, and addressing of community crime. (Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)This aerial view shows El Colorado ski resort located in Lo Barnechea, Santiago, on July 22, 2026, following heavy rains. Three people died and 76 were affected by a storm with heavy rains, swells, and winds that is impacting 10 of the country’s 16 regions, the government reported. (Photo by Javier TORRES / AFP)Chad le Clos of Team South Africa in action during a training session ahead of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games at Tollcross International Swimming Centre on July 22, 2026 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)A local resident walks along a mural depicting the Argentine football player Diego Maradona in the village of Staro Zhelezare on July 23, 2026. Since 2015, students from Poland have been gathering every summer in Bulgarian village of Staro Zhelezare to paint graffiti on the walls of the houses belonging to the village’s mere 400 residents. The themes of the paintings are often related to current events in world politics. (Photo by Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP)Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham (R) drinks a pint of beer with Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey (L) during a visit to the Hare Inn in Harlow, east of London on July 23, 2026. The UK government Thursday announced a tax cut for struggling pubs, clubs and live music venues as new Prime Minister Andy Burnham aims to ease the cost of living crisis. (Photo by Richard Pohle / POOL / AFP)Abseilers prepare to paint over Pam the Bird graffiti on Melbourne’s Bolte Bridge on July 23, 2026. The graffiti was spray-painted on one of the bridge’s 140-metre-tall pylons by alleged vandal Jack Gibson-Burrell and it is expected to take several days, taking 100 litres of surface preparation, primer and paint. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)Teachers march through Melbourne’s city centre to protest over pay and conditions on July 23, 2026. Tens of thousands of public school teachers went on strike following a pay dispute with the state government, closing or disrupting some 500 state schools. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)
