PICTURES: The state of the world revealed in World Press Photo 2026 winners

[RedViking]

PICTURES: The state of the world revealed in World Press Photo 2026 winners | The Citizen

The 2026 Contest winners are the best of the 57 376 photographs entered by 3 747 photographers from 141 countries. Here we bring you a selection of some of the award winning images.

www.citizen.co.za

Mr Wong cries out in anguish as fire engulfs the Tai Po housing complex he calls home. Moments earlier, he phoned his wife, who was trapped in the building, and they exchanged what would be their final words. Hong Kong, 26 November 2025. A massive fire at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Tai Po claimed 168 lives, becoming Hong Kong’s deadliest fire since 1948. While no official cause has been reported, investigations by Hong Kong authorities found that bamboo scaffolding, construction netting, and flammable Styrofoam boards on windows acted as accelerants for the fire, trapping residents inside. More than 2,000 firefighters were involved in rescue efforts, killing one and injuring twelve. Picture: Tyrone Siu, Reuters

 

[RedViking]

Professional hunters shoot a family of elephants identified for culling. Sango Wildlife Conservancy, Savé Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe, 23 October 2025. In 2025, the government of Zimbabwe authorised the culling (killing for the purpose of population control) of 50 elephants in the Savé Valley Conservancy. This decision followed a 2024 cull of 200. Authorities say the growing population has surpassed what the land can sustain, worsening human-wildlife conflict as drought drives elephants searching for food and water into closer contact with people. Wildlife organizations dispute claims of overpopulation and condemn culling. They have raised concerns including the fracturing of elephant social structures, and the trauma inflicted on surviving animals, which could increase aggression toward humans. Picture: Halden Krog, for Daily Mail

 

[RedViking]

Young dancers from the Joburg Ballet School backstage at the Soweto Theatre during their year-end performance. Soweto, South Africa, 7 December 2025. The photographer explains: “In apartheid South Africa, ballet was the preserve of white culture, inaccessible to people of color. Today, the Joburg Ballet School offers subsidized training to children from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, with locations in Soweto, Alexandra, and Braamfontein. Parents describe seeing their children learn ballet as something they never thought possible.” Picture: Ihsaan Haffejee, for GroundUp

 

[RedViking]

Fire and smoke engulf Singha Durbar after protesters stormed and set the government complex alight during violent demonstrations. Kathmandu, Nepal, 9 September 2025. A government ban of 26 social media platforms on 4 September 2025 was the breaking point for Nepal’s youth. On 8 September, thousands took to the streets, part of a generation of young people around the world refusing to accept systems that perpetuate corruption, unemployment, and economic hardship. Within two days, 76 people were dead, most of them young demonstrators killed by police. Thousands more were injured. On 9 September, following Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s resignation, protesters stormed and set fire to Singha Durbar, the historic complex at the heart of Nepal’s government. Picture: Narendra Shrestha, EPA Images

 

[RedViking]

A female polar bear feeds on a sperm whale carcass in the polar pack ice north of the Norwegian archipelago, Svalbard. 82° North, International Waters, 8 July 2025. Polar bears are primarily seal predators, but as ice retreats in the summer and hunting becomes harder, they increasingly rely on opportunistic scavenging. Near Svalbard, the ice-free season has lengthened by 20 weeks in the last 30 years. Sperm whales typically avoid ice-covered polar waters, so this carcass was a rare sight. Scientists speculate that after dying, the male sperm whale drifted north, carried by winds and currents. The photographer spent two days observing the scene from a small boat, capturing it by drone to reveal a scale difficult to grasp from sea level. Picture: Roie Galitz

 

[RedViking]

A wild giant panda is captured by a camera trap in the Wanglang National Nature Reserve. Sichuan, China, 11 November 2025. Picture: Rob G. Green, National Geographic Society, Henry Luce Foundation,

Alhaja Abdallah, a displaced woman from Bara, shows her scars from a fire at Al-Mohad camp. Paramilitary forces have set multiple displacement camps ablaze. Picture: Abdulmonam Eassa, for Le Monde


Ghita Jhiate manages her unruly stallion. Long forbidden by her father to participate in Tbourida, she finally realized her dream of riding alongside pioneer Zahia Aboulait in 2025.
Picture: Chantal Pinzi, Panos Pictures


Edith Magomere Ingasiani and her daughter Blessings Iminza (9), at their home. Blessings was born in Saudi Arabia without a birth certificate.
Picture: Kiana Hayeri, for The New York Times


Bride Jamaica Aguilar prepares to enter the flooded Barasoain Church for her wedding.
Picture: Aaron Favila, Associated Press

 

[RedViking]

Palestinians climb onto an aid truck as it enters the Gaza Strip via the Zikim Crossing in an attempt to get flour, during what the Israeli military called a “tactical suspension” in operations to allow humanitarian aid through.
Photographer: Saber Nuraldin

 

[RedViking]

Abdelatif Daham Al Hummada (right) sits with his sons and nephew on the street outside their heavily damaged home, where the family often sleeps, in Deir al-Zour, Syria.
Photographer: Nicole Tung VII Photo, for The New York Times

 

[RedViking]

Valeria Syniuk (65) sits near her badly damaged home. She was asleep when a Russian missile destroyed the building opposite hers. Kyiv, Ukraine
Photographer: Evgeniy Maloletka Associated Press

 

[RedViking]

A Ukrainian soldier, code-named “Trader,” of the Achilles drone strike
battalion, prepares FPV drones for attack missions on Russian positions in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine.
Photographer: David Guttenfelder The New York Times

 

[RedViking]

An overwhelmed police officer leans over near the bodies of Boris and Sofia Gurman. The Gurmans, who were just
weeks away from their 35th wedding anniversary, were killed during the Bondi Beach Terror Attack in Sydney, Australia while attempting to disarm one of the shooters.
Photographer: Edwina Pickles The Sydney Morning Herald

 

[itareanlnotani]

PICTURES: The state of the world revealed in World Press Photo 2026 winners | The Citizen

The 2026 Contest winners are the best of the 57 376 photographs entered by 3 747 photographers from 141 countries. Here we bring you a selection of some of the award winning images.

www.citizen.co.za

View attachment 1902603

Mr Wong cries out in anguish as fire engulfs the Tai Po housing complex he calls home. Moments earlier, he phoned his wife, who was trapped in the building, and they exchanged what would be their final words. Hong Kong, 26 November 2025. A massive fire at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Tai Po claimed 168 lives, becoming Hong Kong’s deadliest fire since 1948. While no official cause has been reported, investigations by Hong Kong authorities found that bamboo scaffolding, construction netting, and flammable Styrofoam boards on windows acted as accelerants for the fire, trapping residents inside. More than 2,000 firefighters were involved in rescue efforts, killing one and injuring twelve. Picture: Tyrone Siu, Reuters

Not so much the bamboo scaffolding. More the non flameproof construction netting, and the highly flammable Styrofoam boards on windows acted as accelerants for the fire.

 

[dualmeister]

Wang Fuk Court

 

[rustypup]

Thanks for this.

2 days sober and now I need a drink or 10.

 

[shooter69]

View attachment 1902605
Professional hunters shoot a family of elephants identified for culling. Sango Wildlife Conservancy, Savé Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe, 23 October 2025. In 2025, the government of Zimbabwe authorised the culling (killing for the purpose of population control) of 50 elephants in the Savé Valley Conservancy. This decision followed a 2024 cull of 200. Authorities say the growing population has surpassed what the land can sustain, worsening human-wildlife conflict as drought drives elephants searching for food and water into closer contact with people. Wildlife organizations dispute claims of overpopulation and condemn culling. They have raised concerns including the fracturing of elephant social structures, and the trauma inflicted on surviving animals, which could increase aggression toward humans. Picture: Halden Krog, for Daily Mail

Jeez humans are savages