Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
A combine harvests winter barley on a field near Sabile, Latvia, 25 July 2025. Winter barley, which is traditionally the first grain ready for harvest in Latvia, has matured similarly to last year, but the lack of sunshine and constant humidity in June has raised concerns about the overall quality of the grain. Picture: EPA/TOMS KALNINS
Ukrainian servicemen carry coffins during a farewell ceremony for twelve soldiers who died in Russian captivity, in Lviv, Ukraine, 25 July 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. The soldiers were part of the 24th Mechanized Brigade, and were killed in January 2024, according to the Lviv City Council. Picture: EPA/MYKOLA TYSA Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officer searches a man while conducting a raid at an illegal informal settlement near Sandton on July 25, 2025, during a joint operation in an effort enforce the city’s bylaws. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP)The peloton rides through Beaufort during 19th stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 93.1 km from Albertville to La Plagne, France, 25 July 2025. Picture: EPA/MARTIN DIVISEKSouth Africa’s Tony de Zorzi (C top) holds the Test Mace during a homecoming parade through South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma’s home town Langa, near Cape Town on July 25, 2025 after South Africa won the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship at Lord’s Cricket Ground. (Photo by RODGER BOSCH / AFP)Richard Wagner mini figures by artist Ottmar Hoerl stand in front of the Opera house prior the opening of the 114th Bayreuth Opera Festival (Festspiele), in Bayreuth, Germany, 25 July 2025. The Richard Wagner festival opens with the opera ‘Meistersinger von Nuernberg’ and runs until 27 August 2025. Picture: EPA/RONALD WITTEKCity Power workers remove illegal electricity connections in Tshepisong on July 25, 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. This follows the cancelation of yesterday’s planned operation after a joint safety assessment by the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) and Public Order Policing (POP) concluded that the environment in Tshepisong was volatile and and posed serious risk to the operational team. (Photo by Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo)Two men inspect a fish they caught on the bank of the Moscow River against the backdrop of the main building of Moscow State University in Moscow, Russia, 25 July 2025. Picture: EPA/YURI KOCHETKOVFilipino coastguard personnel view a run-aground cargo ship in Navotas city, Metro Manila, Philippines, 25 July 2025. The Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported on 25 July that the death toll from the combined effects of over a week of storms was recorded at 25 and more than a million families are affected as Tropical Storm Co-May battered the northern part of main Philippine island, Luzon. Picture: EPA/FRANCIS R. MALASIGAn image made with a drone, bathers soak in the sun at the closed Kings Beach in Swampscott, Massachusetts, USA, 24 July 2025. With extreme high temperatures and high humidity levels projected to return in the coming days to the region, over 30 beaches remain closed by the Health Department in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to due elevated bacteria levels or a harmful cyanobacteria bloom. Picture: EPA/CJ GUNTHERA Hellenic Air Force CL-215 firefighting aircraft is stranded at sea due to engine failure during a water scooping operation in Vrachati, Corinthia, Greece, 25 July 2025. The firefighting aircraft was stranded at sea due to engine failure after making a landing off the shore of Vrahati, Corinth, to refill its water tanks. According to initial information from the fire department, the hydroplane’s engine broke down, and it was unable to take off again after landing. The plane, which was participating in an operation to contain a wildfire in Feneos, has remained on the surface of the water, and its two crew members are safe. Picture: EPAArtist Roe, decorated with plush puppets, queues up for the first Pop Mart store selling Labubu toys in Berlin, Germany, 25 July 2025. Labubus are collectible plush toys and characters in the series ‘The Monsters.’ Picture: EPA/CLEMENS BILAN
