Through the lens: The Citizen’s Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
We bring you a visual snapshot of the day’s news events, featuring the rare total solar eclipse casting parts of Spain into daytime darkness, wildlife veterinarians in Kenya treating an ailing elephant amid a mysterious illness affecting herds in Amboseli, and community members in Alexandra closing shops owned by foreign nationals during Operation Pan to Kasi. These are some of the compelling images from around the world.
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This handout composite image from NASA shows the progression of a total solar eclipse over San Millán de los Caballeros, Spain, on, August 12, 2026. People in Europe were able to see a total eclipse, while northern parts of the US were able to see a partial eclipse. (Photo by Bill INGALLS / NASA / AFP)
Spain’s swimmer Luca Hoek Le Guenedal competes during the final of the men’s 100m freestyle swimming event during the LEN European Aquatics Championships at the Olympic Aquatic Centre in Saint-Denis, northern suburbs of Paris, on August 12, 2026. (Photo by Sébastien BOZON / AFP)
This combination of pictures taken on August 12, 2026 shows the different stages of the total solar eclipse as seen from Lodoso, Burgos province. Millions of Europeans contemplated the sky in awe today during a rare total solar eclipse that plunged a swathe of Spain into an eerie daytime darkness. The shadow cast when the Moon covers the Sun began in Russia’s remote Arctic north at around 1700 GMT and continued in an arc through Greenland and Iceland. Spain is where most people viewed the total eclipse, which crossed the country diagonally from the northern Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea, where it vanished at around 1830 GMT. (Photo by Cesar MANSO / AFP)
March and March participants close shops owned by foreign nationals near Nobuhle Hostel, 13 August 2026, in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, during the Alexandra Community Operation Pan to Kasi. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen
A massive flower carpet comprising nearly 500,000 fresh blooms covers the historic Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, on August 13, 2026. Recreating Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic woodblock print ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’, the floral installation marks the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Belgium and Japan, drawing onlookers and visitors to the central square. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A girl observes the total solar eclipse as seen from the sea port of Tarragona, east of Spain,, on August 12, 2026. Millions of Europeans contemplated the sky in awe today during a rare total solar eclipse that plunged a swathe of Spain into an eerie daytime darkness. The shadow cast when the Moon covers the Sun began in Russia’s remote Arctic north at around 1700 GMT and continued in an arc through Greenland and Iceland. Spain is where most people viewed the total eclipse, which crossed the country diagonally from the northern Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea, where it will vanish at around 1830 GMT. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP)
A Palestinian boy rides a horse past the rubble of nearly two dozen shops that were demolished by Israeli bulldozers, citing the lack of a building permit, earlier in the day along the main road east of the Palestinian city of Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on August 12, 2026. Violence in the Palestinian West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023. All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which has been occupied since 1967, are illegal under international law. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
Veterinary officers from the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) attend to a male elephant lying on the ground after falling ill at Kitenden B Community Conservancy in Amboseli, Kajiado County, on August 12, 2026. On the ground, raising a cloud of dust, the elephant exhausts itself trying again and again to get back on its feet, in a futile effort that only causes it to spin endlessly in circles. Genghis Khan appears set to become the 20th elephant in Kenya’s Amboseli region to succumb to an as-yet mysterious illness.
Since the end of June, at least 19 elephants, mostly females or young animals, have died after displaying the same symptoms, notably partial paralysis preventing them from standing.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said at the end of July that it had detected a high concentration of cyanide in the carcasses, raising the possibility of pesticide poisoning resulting from the animals consuming fruit from surrounding farms. (Photo by SIMON MAINA / AFP)
A Count Binface replica model is seen setup at the side of a main road leading into Clacton during the by-election on August 13, 2026 in Clacton-on-Sea, England. The Clacton-on-Sea by-election was triggered by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage resigning his seat to seek voter “absolution” amid parliamentary scrutiny over an undeclared £5 million donation from a Crypto billionaire. In protest of what they called a political stunt, the main UK parties have boycotted the race, leaving a ballot paper of 33 opponents consisting of independents and fringe candidates. The absence of mainstream competition has positioned the satirical space-warrior candidate Count Binface as Farage’s primary, high-profile challenger. (Photo by Ben Montgomery/Getty Images)
People queue and buy ice blocks at production centers and retail points as a heatwave sweeping across Iraq, prompts residents to rely on ice to cool down and maintain daily life amid above-normal seasonal temperatures on August 13, 2026 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(COMBO) This combination of four pictures created on August 13, 2026 people looking through a self-made pinhole camera (top L) and through eclipse glasses to watch the partial solar eclipse in the landscape park Halde Hoheward in Herten, western Germany, on August 12, 2026. Millions of people turn their gaze towards the heavens on August 12, 2026 to witness one of nature’s greatest spectacles — a rare total solar eclipse — as it sweeps over mainland Europe to briefly turn day into night. In Germany, the sun will be between 84 and 90 percent obscured from shortly after 7:00 p.m. until just before 9:00 p.m. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP)
The moon passes over the sun’s horizon behind the Pyramide du Louvre, designed by Chinese-US architect Ieoh Ming Pei, during a partial solar eclipse in Paris on August 12, 2026. In France, the solar eclipse was not total – after the total solar eclipse of 1999 France will not see another total eclipse for another 55 years in 2081. (Photo by Simon WOHLFAHRT / AFP)
Attendees watch as the moon fully passes over the sun’s horizon during a partial solar eclipse at the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Paris on August 12, 2026. In France, the solar eclipse was not total – after the total solar eclipse of 1999 France will not see another total eclipse for another 55 years in 2081. (Photo by Simon WOHLFAHRT / AFP)
A Cruzeiro supporter with the club’s stars painted on the face looks on ahead of the first leg of the Copa Libertadores round of 16 football match between Brazilian teams Cruzeiro and Flamengo at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on August 12, 2026. (Photo by DOUGLAS MAGNO / AFP)
Roving entertainment is seen during the 2026 AFLW Round 01 match between the Hawthorn Hawks and the Melbourne Demons at Ikon Park on August 13, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
This aerial view shows a collapsed building after an earthquake in Cali, Colombia on August 12, 2026. Colombia’s government on August 12 declared three days of mourning for victims of an earthquake that demolished buildings in the west of the country, killing more than 200 people. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP)
Members of the Deokaran family unveil a monument to the late whistleblower Babita Deokaran, 9 August 2026, during the “Bringing Babita Home” unveiling ceremony at the Shri Mariammen Hindu Temple Society in Durban on Women’s Day. KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli (left) attended the ceremony. Picture: Rajesh Jantilal
A shooting star is pictured in Grossmugl, Austria, on August 13, 2026. (Photo by MAX SLOVENCIK / APA / AFP)