Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
Four F-35s fly over the Washington Memorial during a kick-off celebration for the “Great American State Fair” on the National Mall in Washington, DC, June 24, 2026. The “Great American State Fair” will be held from June 25 to July 10, 2026, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of US independence. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP)Makgotso Mgiba, from alternative learning centre and beneficiary of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Timbuktu In The Valley, takes part in an activation, 25 Jun2 2026, at Fight With Insight’s gym at The Children’s Memorial Institute in Braampark, Johannesburg, during the official announcement of the FirstRand Foundation as a Country Patron of the Laureus Sport For Good Foundation. Fight With Insight is a beneficiary of the Laureus Sport For Good Foundation. Picture: Michel Bega/The CitizenStudents prepare to take university entrance exams at the Belgrade Fair in Belgrade on June 25, 2026, as Serbia endures a heatwave affecting much of southeastern and central Europe. At least 101 million Europeans were expected to experience temperatures of over 35C on June 25, 2026, in a punishing and increasingly deadly heatwave hotter than weather in parts of Africa. (Photo by OLIVER BUNIC / str / AFP)A Palestinians woman, a member of the Wazwaz family, arranges freshly picked Cucumis melo flexuosus or Armenian cucumbers into crates to send to market, in fields near the village of Qilqes, close to the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron on June 25, 2026. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)A Mexico fan arrives at the Mexico City Stadium in Mexico City on June 24, 2026 before the 2026 World Cup Group A football match between the Czech Republic and Mexico. (Photo by CARL DE SOUZA / AFP)Protesters react while being arrested by Kenyan police officers outside Parliament buildings during demonstrations marking the second anniversary of the deadly June 2024 youth-led anti-Finance Bill protests, which saw demonstrators storm Parliament, in Nairobi on June 25, 2026. Kenyan police put on a massive show of force on June 25 in a bid to prevent protests marking two years since a landmark Gen Z uprising. Thousands of Kenyans took to the streets in June 2024 against economic hardship and corruption, eventually storming parliament to force the cancellation of new taxes. (Photo by Luis TATO / AFP)Players fight during the final match of the Calcio Storico Fiorentino, a traditional 16th century renaissance ball game, between the Azzurri of Santa Croce and the Rossi of Santa Maria Novella, at Piazza Santa Croce in Florence on June 24, 2026. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)People stand near water hoses spilling water to provide relief from the summer heat as part of Cologne’s climate adaptation measures in Cologne, western Germany on June 25, 2026 during a heatwave in Europe. A heatwave sweeping Europe was starting to peak in Germany on June 25, 2026, with several open-air events cancelled and temperatures expected to top 40C through the weekend. Large parts of the country are already under “severe to extreme heat stress” with temperatures soaring to around 37C, the German Weather Service (DWD) said. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP)Youths jump into the Canal Saint-Martin during a heatwave in Paris in Paris on June 24, 2026. France experienced its hottest day ever recorded on June 24, 2026, surpassing the record set the previous day, according to national weather service Meteo-France. (Photo by Simon WOHLFAHRT / AFP)Rescue divers search for a missing victim on the morning after a cliff collapse, in Biarritz, south-western France, on June 25, 2026. A section of cliff collapsed in the French beach resort of Biarritz on Wednesday, killing one woman and leaving a diver missing, local authorities said. The collapse came at around 8:20 pm (1820 GMT) near the Miramar beach, which was packed with swimmers seeking respite from a punishing heatwave. (Photo by Philippe LOPEZ / AFP)A man stands next to a poster of a humanoid robot during the China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing on June 25, 2026. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP)This aerial photo shows containers at a port in Qingdao, China’s eastern Shandong province on June 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)Six-year-old Cody and nine-year-old Jason are watched by their mother as they play in a paddling pool in the street outside their home, in an eastern area of Leeds, northern England on June 25, 2026. The UK recorded its hottest ever June temperature on June 24 with the mercury rising to 36.1C in southern England, breaking the previous record of 35.6C set in 1976. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)A man carries a mattress past damaged residential buildings following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Caracas, on June 25, 2026. A twin earthquake that was Venezuela’s largest in over a century has killed at least 164 people and destroyed multiple buildings near the capital, where residents searched on June 25 for missing relatives. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)
