48 hours in pictures, 23 August 2026

This handout photograph taken and released on August 21, 2026 by the Cantonal Police of Graubunden (Kantonspolizei Graubunden) shows a fire that broke out in a building in the small town of Thusis, eastern Switzerland. A fire that broke out overnight on August 21, 2026, in a building in the small town of Thusis, in eastern Switzerland, left eight people injured and five missing, according to local police, who were alerted shortly after midnight. (Photo by Handout / Kantonspolizei Graubünden / AFP)

Activists demonstrate and remember corruption whistleblower Babita Deokaran, 23 August 2026, in Mondeor, Johannesburg, on the fifth anniversary of her murder outside her home. Organised by the Ahmed Kathrada foundation and supported by various groups, flowers were laid outside her home, with the Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia also attending. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen

Activists demonstrate and remember corruption whistleblower Babita Deokaran, 23 August 2026, in Mondeor, Johannesburg, on the fifth anniversary of her murder outside her home. Organised by the Ahmed Kathrada foundation and supported by various groups, flowers were laid outside her home, with the Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia also attending. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen

Panda twins Lotti (L) and Leni discover their birthday cake made of vegetables, on August 21, 2026 at the Zoological Garden (Berlin’s zoo) as Berlin’s Panda twins celebrate their second birthday. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

General View during the Castle Double Malt Greatest Rivalry Tour match between South Africa and New Zealand at 10bet Ellis Park on August 22, 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Floris van Schouwenburg/Gallo Images)

A man holds a candle during an event to thank for the humanitarian help received after a 7.4 earthquake in Quibdo, Colombia on August 21, 2026. The powerful earthquake that killed hundreds of people in western Colombia caused $9.57 billion in economic losses, President Abelardo de la Espriella said on August 18, issuing a preliminary estimate. (Photo by ESTEBAN VEGA LA-ROTTA / AFP)

Hindu devotees take part in Garba, a traditional Gujarati folk dance performed in a circle to devotional music, during centenary celebrations at the Saptah Mandir Hindu temple in Durban. The celebrations marked 100 years commemorating a century of Hindu faith, culture, tradition and community service. Picture: Rajesh Jantilal

Girls wearing traditional clothes smile at each other as they dance during the Ashenda celebrations at the Addis Ababa Convention Center, in Addis Ababa, on August 22, 2026. Several hundred women, dressed in traditional garments and wearing traditional hairstyles, gathered at the Convention Center in the Ethiopian capital to celebrate Ashenda, a festival that takes its name from a tall grass that women and girls tie around their waists and that originated in Tigray. It is also celebrated in the neighbouring Amhara Regional State, as well as in neighbouring Eritrea, a former Italian colony that was annexed by Ethiopia from the 1950s until it gained independence in 1993. Between 2020 and 2022, a devastating war raged in Tigray between troops of the Tigrayan rebel authorities, drawn from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and federal forces, which were backed by local militias and the Eritrean army. (Photo by Marco Simoncelli / AFP)

Smoke and a fire ball rise during an Israeli strike, carried out after the military warned Palestinian residents to evacuate the area of al-Zawayda, in the central Gaza Strip, on August 23, 2026. Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip killed three people on August 23, including a child, rescuers said, while the Israeli military said it had targeted a “terrorist” in one strike. An airstrike killed two people in the town of Al-Zawayda, including a four-year-old child named Muhammad Abdel Salam Taha, according to the civil defence rescue service, which operates under Hamas authority.The health ministry in Gaza said on August 23, that the overall death toll since the war broke out on October 7, 2023 now stands at: 73,420, adding that 1,286 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10. (Photo by Eyad Baba / AFP)

African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa arrives at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on 22 August 2026 to address ANC members during the announcement of mayoral applicants and candidates for metros and district municipalities ahead of the 2026 local government elections. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen

A cosplayer dressed as Hatsune Miku attends Anime NYC 2026 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York on August 22, 2026. Anime NYC 2026, the largest anime convention on the East Coast, brings together fans from around the world for four days showcasing the best of Japanese pop culture. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

A carcass of a bird is seen lying on the ground in Chennai on August 22, 2026. (Photo by R.Satish BABU / AFP)

uMkhonto weSizwe war veterans make their way to Riverside Park in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, on 23 August 2023 to listen to President Cyril Ramaphosa address ANC supporters during the party’s manifesto event. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen

A woman visits a hill of petunia in full bloom at Mother Farm theme park in Futtsu city, Chiba Prefecture on August 22, 2026. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)

Cosplayer and overall winner of the cosplay competition Yvonne Chockey poses for pictures with fans while cosplaying as Angewomon, a character from the popular Digimon anime series, during the Otamatsuri convention in Nairobi on August 22, 2026. Enthusiasm for the cosplay world is growing in Kenya, where more than 4,000 people attended the Otamatsuri convention in the capital on August 22, 2026. The annual gathering, held since 2019, brings together fans of anime, video games and manga and culminates in a cosplay competition.The event is a parade of characters from manga series such as One Piece and Naruto, among others, whose character arcs inspire cosplayers with themes of “perseverance” and “rebirth”, they explain, while noting that their community is still often misunderstood in Kenya. (Photo by Luis TATO / AFP)

This aerial view shows volunteer Joselyn Valladares, painting the U.S.-Mexico border wall in tribute to the mothers of disappeared persons as part of an Amnesty International campaign to raise awareness of missing people and the families searching for them, in Playas de Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, on August 22, 2026. (Photo by Guillermo Arias / AFP)

Humanoid robots walk in procession at the opening of the 2nd World Robot Games at National Speed Skating Oval on August 22, 2026 in Beijing, China. The games, that feature hundreds of humanoid robots competing in track and field, tennis, boxing, football, working skills among many others, runs from August 22-26th. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

This view shows damage in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, Venezuela, on August 21, 2026, two months after earthquakes of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 struck the area. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)

Dancers from the South African contemporary ballet company WGRUV perform in a production titled Highlights: Tracing the Line, 20 August 2026, at the UJ Arts Centre in Johannesburg. The production will run till 23 August and then move to Cape Town, showcasing a programme of contemporary and neo-classical works by internationally recognised choreographers alongside original creations by WGRUV founders Holly and Lex Gruver. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen