Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
Actors dressed in ‘Pink guards’ costume attend a final fan event of the Netflix series Squid Game season 3, in Seoul, South Korea, 28 June 2025. Picture: EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
Wild horses during the traditional Rapa das Bestas festival celebrated in Mondonedo, Lugo, Spain, 29 June 2025. Every year, wild horses are rounded up in the hills and brought to a farmyard to be branded and have their hair cut during the festival. Several thousand people attended the event to watch young people overcoming horses without using ropes or sticks. In this edition, the event is held in a new ‘curro’ (the venue where it takes place) following the damage caused by vandals last year. Picture: EPA/ELISEO TRIGOVincent Tshituka of South Africa during the Qatar Airways Cup match between South Africa and Barbarians F.C at DHL Stadium on June 28, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)Models light up the runway at Gateway’s Hollywoodbets Durban July Preview Fashion Show, showcasing bold fashion and flair ahead of the big race day. Shoppers, designers, and VIPs were treated to a dazzling evening of music, movement, and couture at Durban’s premier retail destination at the Gateway Theatre of Shopping in Durban over the weekend. The race is to take place at the Grenville race course in Durban this Saturday. Picture: Rajesh JantilalThis aerial view shows unemployed people queue to submit the Department of Unemployment and Labour work seeking registration forms at a centre in Chiawelo, Soweto on June 27, 2025, as they look to be added into the department’s data base. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP)Robot soccer players compete during the 2025 RoBoLeague World Robot Soccer League match at Beijing Smart Esports Competition Center in Beijing, China, 28 June 2025. Picture: EPA/WU HAOPatryk Dudek of Poland (blue) in action during the Speedway European Team Speedway Championship in Gdansk, Poland, 28 June 2025. Picture: EPA/Adam WarzawaNepalese farmers lie in muddy water in a paddy field on National Paddy Day in Jitpurphedi village, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, 29 June 2025. On this day, locally known as Asar Pandra, farmers begin the annual rice planting season and perform various festivities such as preparing rice meals with muddy water, mud being a symbol for a prosperous season. Picture: EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHAParticipants in action during the Office Chair Race World Cup (Buerostuhlrennen Weltmeisterschaft), in Olten, Switzerland, 28 June 2025. Picture: EPA/ANTHONY ANEXPeople participate in the 14th World Naked Bike Ride in Guadalajara, Mexico, 28 June 2025. The event takes place in more than 70 cities around the world, where cyclists ride naked on bicycles to highlight the vulnerability of pedestrians and cyclists to motor vehicles, as well as to promote the use of alternative modes of transportation. Picture: EPA/FRANCISCO GUASCOMinister Velenkosi Hlabisa visits Nomzamo and Ezimbuzini informal settlements in Kliptown as part of the “Winter Risk Awareness” campaign on June 28, 2025 in Kliptown, South Africa. The outreach aims to educate communities on disaster risk preparedness during winter, while highlighting the role of the G20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group in promoting safer, more resilient informal settlements. (Photo by Gallo Images/Fani Mahuntsi)Western Cape Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile visits Kanana informal settlement following the brutal killing of seven men who were gunned down while socialising on June 28, 2025 in a Gugulethu, Cape Town, South Africa. He is still expected to visit the families of the victims. SAPS has vowed that no stone will be left unturned as detectives from the Serious and Violent Crimes Unit investigate the deadly ambush. (Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)Kneecap fans carry Palestinian flags as they watch Kneecap perform at the West Holts stage during day four of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm near Pilton, Somerset, Britain, 28 June 2025. The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts 2025 runs from 25 to 29 June 2025. Picture: EPA/ANDY RAINMembers of the South African Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI+) community take part in a march throught the CBD during the annual Gay Pride Parade, as part of the Durban Pride Festival, in Durban over the weekend. Picture: Rajesh JantilalDA leader John Steenhuisendelivers an important address on the Government of National Unity (GNU) and issues an ultimatum to President Cyril Ramaphosa during a media briefing held at the Orange Hotel on June 28, 2025 in Cape Town South Africa. The address is expected to outline key demands, concerns around the direction of the GNU, and political consequences should the ultimatum not be addressed, marking a pivotal moment in South Africa’s evolving political landscape. (Photo by Brenton Geach/Gallo Images)‘The Herds’, a life-sized animal puppet group takes part in a photocall opposite Tower Bridge on June 27, 2025 in London, England. ‘The Herds’ is a touring public art performance of life-sized puppet animals designed to call attention to the climate emergency, symbolizing animals fleeing climate disaster. The puppets are visiting cities along their 20,000 kilometer journey, which set off from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic Congo on 9 April and plans to conclude in the Arctic Circle. ‘The Herds’ arrival in London coincides with London Climate Action Week, and is produced by ‘The Walk Productions’ – the same group of creatives behind ‘Little Amal,’ the larger-than-life puppet of a Syrian refugee child, which has has toured 18 countries as a symbol of human rights. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)(L-R) Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne attend the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project 2025 Block Party at Universal Studios Backlot on June 28, 2025 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Monica Schipper / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)Newly ordained hill tribe Buddhist novice monks hold saffron robes during the 60th annual mass ordination ceremony for hill tribe men and youngsters at Wat Benchamabophit Dusitwanaram, also known as the Marble Temple, in Bangkok, Thailand, 29 June 2025. A total of 196 hill tribe males “97 men and 99 boys” from northern Thailand were ordained as Buddhist monks and novices in the 60th annual mass ordination ceremony at Wat Benchamabophit in Bangkok. The event is part of a national project, launched in 1965, aimed at spreading the Buddha’s Dharma to promote knowledge, wisdom, social and mental understanding, and improve welfare for hill tribe communities. The ceremony marks the start of Buddhist Lent, which begins this year on 11 July, and also honors the Thai King’s 73rd birthday on 28 July. During Lent, monks remain in one place to meditate and pray, while laypeople may give up meat or alcohol and observe other ascetic practices. In Thailand, it is traditional for Buddhist men to become monks at some point in their lives. Picture: EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRITPeople attend the traditional ‘Battle of Wine’ in the town of Haro, La Rioja, Spain, 29 June 2025. Around 10,000 people took part in Haro’s annual Battle of Wine, an event in which more than 40,000 liters of wine were thrown among participants. Picture: EPA/VILLAR LOPEZAircrafts perform in the sky during the air picnic called ‘Odlotowe Suwalki Airshow 2025’ at the Suwalki airport, in Suwalki, Poland, 28 June 2025. Picture: EPA/Artur Reszko
