24 hours in pictures, 16 July 2025
Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
US President Donald J. Trump responds to a question from the news media prior to boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 15 July 2025. President Trump will be speaking at an Energy and Innovation summit at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Picture: EPA/SHAWN THEW
The pack of riders (peloton) cycles past a sunflower field during the 11th stage of the 112th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 156.8 km starting and finishing in Toulouse, southwestern France, on July 16, 2025. (Photo by Loic VENANCE / AFP) Syrian security forces take aim from a rooftop position amid ongoing clashes in the southern city of Sweida on July 16, 2025. Damascus deployed troops in the predominantly Druze province of Sweida, after clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes killed scores of people, with Syria's defence minister declaring a ceasefire on July 15 in Sweida city, which government forces entered in the morning. (Photo by Bakr ALkasem / AFP) Children carry a paddle board at Malvarrosa beach in Valencia, Spain, 16 July 2025. The temperature is to reach up to 38 degrees Celsius in Valencia during the day. Picture: EPA/Biel Alino South Africa's swimmer Connor Buck (bottom) competes in the final of the men's 10km open water swimming event during the 2025 World Aquatics Championships at Sentosa Island in Singapore on July 16, 2025. (Photo by Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP) SoftBank Group Corp. Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during the event SoftBank World 2025 in Tokyo, Japan, 16 July 2025. SoftBank Group and OpenAI are moving forward with plans to offer generative AI-powered business automation services to major Japanese corporations. Picture: EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON Operation Dudula members outside Braamfischer Clinic checking the passports and IDs of migrant nationals on July 16, 2025 in Soweto, South Africa. It is alleged that Operation Dudula has been turning away foreign nationals from accessing health care services from public clinics. (Photo by Gallo Images/Fani Mahuntsi) The entrance to the New York Stock Exchange in New York, New York, USA, on 16 July 2025. Picture: EPA/JUSTIN LANE An aerial view of tourists enjoying the beach at a resort in Los Cabos, Baja California, Mexico on July 15, 2025. (Photo by Alfredo ESTRELLA / AFP) Army soldiers turn over a damaged car affected by flash flooding due to heavy rains in Zapopan, Jalisco state, Mexico on July 16, 2025. At least one minor died and dozens of homes and streets were flooded after heavy rains hit the municipality of Zapopan in western Mexico on Tuesday night. (Photo by ULISES RUIZ / AFP) Stray dogs roam at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, 15 July 2025 (issued 16 July 2025). Kabul's stray dog population is surging, posing threats to public safety despite long-term efforts, such as vaccination, sterilization programs, and even euthanasia due to rabies concerns. Picture: EPA/SAMIULLAH POPAL Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita receives South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma in Rabat on July 15, 2025. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP) A youth dives in the Tigris river to cool off amidst power cuts due to an extreme heatwave in Baghdad on July 15, 2025. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP) Activist from the Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation (ECOTON) and students put up an installation in the shape of a heart and lungs damaged by exposure to microplastics waste during a protest to raise awareness of the impact of single-use plastic on the environment and human health in Surabaya on July 16, 2025. (Photo by Juni KRISWANTO / AFP) Handout picture released on July 16, 2025 by the Public Defense Department of the State Police Commissioner in Iceland shows lava and smoke erupting from a volcano near Grindavik on the Icelandic peninsula of Reykjanes. A volcano erupted on Wednesday in Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula in the southwest, weather authorities said, the ninth eruption to hit the region since the end of 2023.
Broadcaster RUV reported that the nearby fishing village Grindavik had been evacuated, as had the Blue Lagoon, Iceland's famed tourist spot. (Photo by Handout / Public Defense Department of the State Police / AFP) German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) and Bavaria's State Premier Markus Soeder (2ndR hidden) watch traditional Bavarian 'Schuhplattler' dancers performing atop the Zugspitze mountain in Grainau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany, on July 15, 2025, prior to taking part in a meeting of the Bavarian state cabinet. (Photo by Michaela STACHE / AFP) City Power employees remove illegal conections at Crown Mines in Johannesburg, 16 July 2025. City Power and other law enforcement officers conducted a disconnection operation targeting illegal electricity connections focusing on a nearby informal settlement where illegal connections have compromised infrastructure and safety. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/ The Citizen Army personnel patrol a street on an armoured vehicle after Awami League party activists allegedly clashed with security personnel to rebuke a rally by the newly formed Jatiya Nagarik Party, or National Citizen's Party in Gopalganj on July 16, 2025. At least three were killed and a dozen others injured in Gopalganj on July 16, after a clash broke out between law enforcement agencies and alleged Awami League affiliates attempting to foil a programme by the National Citizens Party (NCP). (Photo by Anik Rahman / AFP) Alisha Lehmann of Switzerland and teammates in action during a training session of the Swiss women's national soccer team in Thun, Switzerland, 16 July 2025. Switzerland will face Spain in the quarter finals of the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 on 18 July. Picture: EPA/ANTHONY ANEX
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Trump, Xi might meet ahead of or during October APEC summit in South Korea, SCMP reports
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Lesotho's jockeys saddle up for mountain horse racing
MASERU - Swathed in vibrant woollen blankets against the biting winter chill, jockeys -- some no more than boys -- thundered down a dusty track carved between the undulating hills of the tiny kingdom of Lesotho. Spectators lining the ridges cheered on the riders as their horses sprinted down one of Africa's highest tracks, more than 2,200 metres (7,200 feet) above sea level. Horse racing in Lesotho, a country ringed by South Africa, is not just a sport; it is a cultural carnival where wagers are the real blood sport. AFP | Fredrik Lerneryd This weekend's edition in the village of Semonkong in central Lesotho carried extra weight; it was the premium fixture of the season and timed to mark King Letsie III's birthday. Preparations started before the crowd arrived, with the horses, also wrapped in blankets and balaclavas to keep warm, walked to the arena in song and dance, then brushed and fitted with weather-worn saddles for their races. Being 'focused' For many jockeys the track is a rare escape. AFP | Fredrik Lerneryd The country of around 2.3 million people ranks among the world's poorest, its rich mineral wealth overshadowed by sky-high youth unemployment and a troubling rate of suicide. The textile-dependent economy faces further gloom, with fresh uncertainty following tariffs announced by the administration of US President Donald Trump, who earlier this year mocked Lesotho as a place "nobody has ever heard of". The unspoken rule is that you have to forget all your problems or you will fall, jockey Tsaenh Masosa told AFP. "You have to be focused," said the 21-year-old hotel employee, layered in white, pink and blue jackets. Races stretch between 800 and 1,200 metres across a rugged mountain terrain that tests both the rider and horse. AFP | Fredrik Lerneryd Winners pocket up to 1,500 loti ($85) per race, a significant payday in Lesotho, where more than 36 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day, according to the World Bank. At the trackside, most bets are simple showdowns -- punters backing one horse to outrun another, rather than the overall race winner. There are no tickets or betting slips, just fistfuls of cash, tense stares and quick payouts as money changes hands the moment one horse edges out another at the finish line. Horses over football AFP | Fredrik Lerneryd Horses first arrived in Lesotho with European settlers in the 19th century, and over generations, crossbreeding gave rise to the sturdy Basotho pony -- mid-sized, tough and known for its endurance. These ponies, along with cross-breeds and thoroughbreds from neighbouring South Africa, now make up the racing stock. But beyond the track, horses remain part of daily life. In the mountains, they are still used to herd sheep and goats, or to reach remote villages where no roads go. AFP | Fredrik Lerneryd That deep connection runs through the culture. "All the people from Semonkong prefer horse racing to football," said 39-year-old maintenance worker Andreas Motlatsi Mojaje. On the dusty oval, Masosa is still chasing his first win. He has raced seven times, coming closest with a second-place finish, but that has not dulled his hunger.
