24 hours in pictures, 19 August 2025
Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.
Firefighters fight with the forest fire at Malhada do Rei, Pampilhosa da Serra, Portugal, 18 August 2025. Forest fires have burned in Portugal 185.753 hectares to date, causing two deaths, including a firefighter, and several injuries, most of them minor, and completely or partially destroyed primary and secondary residences, as well as farms, livestock operations, and forest areas. Picture: EPA/PAULO NOVAIS Humboldt penguins are weighed during a photo call for the annual weigh-in at London Zoo in London, Britain, 19 August 2025. Animals at the London Zoo are measured and weighed annually to check on their health and well-being. Picture: EPA/NEIL HALL Environmental protesters demonstrate, 19 August 2025, outside the head offices of Standard Bank in Rosebank as they protest against the actions of Total Energies in Africa. The protesters marched between Standard Bank and Total Energies claiming the French energy giant is involved in land grabs, displacement of local populations, and ecological devastation surrounding its energy involvement in Africa, including the East African Crude Oil Pipeline Project (EACOP). Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen A scaled model of the Statue of Liberty is displayed draped in a Ukrainian flag in the gardens of the French Embassy in Washington, DC, USA, 18 August 2025. European Leaders are at the White House in support of President Zelenskyy following President Trump's meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Anchorage, Alaska, USA, on 15 August 2025. Picture: EPA/YVES HERMAN / POOL A tourist dressed in a traditional Qing dynasty costume poses for a photo on a street in Beijing, China, 18 August 2025. The Great Qing dynasty was the last imperial dynastied of China from 1644 to 1911/12. Picture: EPA/WU HAO Members of the guard of honor prepare ahead a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, 19 August 2025. King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is on a state visit to Vietnam from 18 to 22 August. Picture: EPA/LUONG THAI LINH / POOL Funeral of the four year old Eldorado Park girl known as Baby Nikita at Don Mateman Hall in Eldorado Park, 19 August 2025, before going to her final resting place at Nasrec memorial park. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen E-hailing operators during a march to the offices of the Gauteng MEC of Transport and the Provincial Legislature to hand over a memorandum of demands on August 19, 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The group is calling for industry regulation, fair pricing to be set and other key changes. (Photo by Gallo Images/Luba Lesolle) Boatmen cross the waters of Dal Lake during rain in Srinagar, India, 18 August 2025. A heavy rain alert has been announced in Kashmir with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warning of more flash floods and landslides. The Meteorological Centre Srinagar also issued a fresh weather advisory for Jammu and Kashmir, predicting a wet spell in several districts of both Kashmir and Jammu divisions. Picture: EPA/FAROOQ KHAN Pigeons that are fed by Pierre de Wet outside Lincoln Centre in Blairgorie, north of Johannesburg, 17 August 2025. He has been feeding them for the past 20 years. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen Keshav Maharaj of South Africa reacts with team mates during the Australia v South Africa – ODI Series: Game 1 at Cazaly's Stadium on August 19, 2025 in Cairns, Australia. (Photo by) People watch as the Kiruna Church landmark is being moved on a specially designed trolley with 224 wheels at a speed of half a kilometer per hour in Kiruna, northern Sweden, 19 August 2025. The 40-meter-wide, 672,000-kilo wooden church has been placed on a wheeled trailer for its five-kilometre relocation to Kiruna's new town center on 19 and 20 August, due to the expansion of the iron ore mine. Picture: EPA/Fredrik Sandberg A tree near the grave of US musician Jim Morrison covered with chewing gum left by fans at Pere-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France, 18 August 2025. Pere-Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris, with around 70,000 graves and many famous people buried there. It receives more than three and a half million visitors each year, making it the most visited cemetery in the world. Picture: EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON
MORE: 24 hours in pictures, 18 August 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TimesLIVE
2 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Russia attacks important Ukrainian gas compressor station, say sources
Russia attacked a gas compressor station in eastern Ukraine that is important for getting gas into storage facilities for the winter heating season, two industry sources said on Thursday, part of an escalation of such strikes despite a US peace push. Ukraine has faced a serious gas shortage since Russian missile strikes earlier this year significantly reduced domestic production. In recent weeks, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian gas production and import infrastructure in spite of efforts by US President Donald Trump to end the conflict. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, but says energy systems and other infrastructure are legitimate targets because they help Ukraine's war effort. According to one of the sources, the compressor station attacked by Russia overnight ensures the delivery of gas from Ukrainian fields in the east of the country to storage facilities in the west where it is held for winter heating. The Ukrainian energy ministry said only that one of the country's gas infrastructure facilities had come under Russian attack overnight and that the damage caused was being assessed. "Yes, it affects gas injection," one of the sources said.
TimesLIVE
5 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Tens of thousands of European troops needed for Ukraine, union warns
European Nato leaders must not be naive when discussing a Ukraine peace force but face up to the reality that they would need to deploy tens of thousands of troops to the country for the long term, says the head of Germany's soldiers' union. US President Donald Trump is seeking to broker peace between Moscow and Kyiv but has ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have both spoken in favour of troop deployments in a post-war settlement as part of a coalition of the willing, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also signalling openness to German participation. Col Andre Wuestner, head of the German Armed Forces Association, on Thursday called on European leaders not to play down the military task but be honest about the challenges, even though any quick ceasefire seemed unlikely. "It won't be enough to have a handful of generals and smaller military units man a command post in Ukraine," Wuestner, whose organisation represents more than 200,000 active and retired soldiers, told Reuters. "From the very beginning, it must be made clear to Putin — and backed by international forces — that we are totally serious about security guarantees", he said. "Serious about supporting Ukraine, serious about securing a ceasefire, and serious about our response should Putin attempt another attack on Ukraine." A "bluff-and-pray" approach would be downright negligent and increase the risk of an escalation, the colonel warned. He estimated that each of the big countries in the coalition of the willing, such as Britain, France and Germany, would need to deploy at least 10,000 troops to Ukraine for the long run, posing a huge challenge to their already stretched and under-equipped forces. "The Europeans remain military dwarfs and are already struggling to meet the new Nato commitments they made at the last summit," Wuestner said. "Europe is still a long way from being able to defend itself independently." Therefore, there was an urgent need to finally speed up armament and strengthening the European pillar of Nato.
The Citizen
a day ago
- The Citizen
Top 10 stories of the day: KT Molefe denied bail
Here's your daily news update for Wednesday, 20 August 2025: An easy-to-read selection of our top stories. News today includes controversial businessman Katiso 'KT' Molefe will remain behind bars after his bid for bail failed on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Parliament's Police Portfolio Committee Chairperson Ian Cameron and two other DA members fell victim to an attempted hijacking in Cape Town. Furthermore, Kaya FM has suspended broadcaster Sol Phenduka with immediate effect. Weather tomorrow: 21 August 2025 Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected in all provinces except Gauteng and the Western Cape. There will be rough seas between the Western Cape and the Northern Cape, but conditions will be mostly warm nationwide. Full weather forecast here. Stay up to date with The Citizen – More News, Your Way. DJ Sumbody murder: Katiso 'KT' Molefe remains behind bars as bail denied Controversial businessman Katiso 'KT' Molefe will remain behind bars after his bid for bail failed on Wednesday. Molefe appeared in the Alexandra Magistrate's Court to hear the outcome of his bail application. Controversial businessman Katiso Molefe appears for bail application at the Alexandra Magistrate's Court in Johannesburg on 6 August 2025. Picture: Nigel Sibanda /The Citizen The alleged mastermind was arrested alongside three hitmen in connection with the murder of South African artist Oupa John Sefoka, widely known as DJ Sumbody. CONTINUE READING: DJ Sumbody murder: Katiso 'KT' Molefe remains behind bars as bail denied De Lille dissolves SA Tourism board – but Outa calls her decision 'disgraceful' Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille has dissolved the SA Tourism board with immediate effect over what she called unlawful decisions. De Lille informed the board of her decision on 19 August, following consideration of their written representations as to why the board should not be dissolved. Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille. Picture: Neil McCartney / The Citizen The minister said the board members neglected to address the crucial question of the legality of the process the board used when calling a special board meeting on 1 August, when the unlawful resolution was taken. CONTINUE READING: De Lille dissolves SA Tourism board – but Outa calls her decision 'disgraceful' Ian Cameron, DA colleagues escape hijack attempt in Philippi after police academy visit Parliament's Police Portfolio Committee Chairperson Ian Cameron and two other DA members fell victim to an attempted hijacking in Cape Town. It is understood that Cameron and his fellow DA colleagues Nicholas Gotsell and Lisa-Maré Schickerling were in one car when three unknown men attacked their vehicle with bricks, smashing at least three windows, on the corner of Eisleben and Govan Mbeki Road on Tuesday afternoon. Chairperson of the portfolio committee on police Ian Cameron. Picture: X / @ParliamentZA They were returning from an oversight visit to the police training college in Philippi East when the incident occurred. CONTINUE READING: Ian Cameron, DA colleagues escape hijack attempt in Philippi after police academy visit Increase in inflation of 0.5% expected, but could drift higher The inflation rate increased by 0.5% from 3% in June to 3.5% in July. Economists expected an increase and say it could drift higher towards the end of the year, although not much. However, they are divided about whether the Reserve Bank will cut the repo rate again this year. Jee-A van der Linde, senior economist at Oxford Economics Africa, says the sharp increase of 0.5% is due to municipal tariff increases but the overall inflation outlook remains favourable. He expects that headline inflation will drift to slightly above 4% by the end of the year. Picture: iStock 'There was a risk of an upside inflation surprise, as July is a high-survey month, with municipal tariff increases typically coming in higher than the headline rate. However, the latest outturn does not change our view of inflation, with the benign outlook still intact.' CONTINUE READING: Increase in inflation of 0.5% expected, but could drift higher Kaya FM suspends Sol Phenduka pending an internal investigation Kaya FM has suspended broadcaster Sol Phenduka with immediate effect. 'Kaya 959 confirms that presenter Sol Phenduka has been placed on suspension with immediate effect. This step has been taken pending the outcome of an internal process currently underway,' read a statement shared with The Citizen by Ian Bredenkamp, who handles PR for the station. Sol Phenduka has been suspended by Kaya FM pending an investigation. Picture: solphenduka/Instagram When asked about the reason behind the suspension and its duration, Bredenkamp said they would release a follow-up statement 'once the internal process is concluded'. CONTINUE READING: Kaya FM suspends Sol Phenduka pending an internal investigation Here are five more stories of the day: Yesterday's News recap READ HERE: Rand manipulation saga in ConCourt | Eldos' Nikita laid to rest | RIP Tendai Ndoro
