24 hours in pictures, 2 April 2026

Through the lens: The Citizen’s Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world.

The Artemis II crewed lunar mission lifts off from Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1, 2026. Four astronauts blasted off aboard a massive NASA rocket April 1 on a long-anticipated journey around the Moon, the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years. With an intense roar that reverberated far beyond the launchpad, the enormous orange-and-white rocket carried three Americans and one Canadian away from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at approximately 6:35 pm local time, according to an AFP journalist onsite. “We’re going to the Moon!” yelled a spectator. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

Catholic faithful carry an image of Jesus Christ in a procession during Holy Week in Caracas on April 1, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)

Yemeni demonstrators carrying weapons gather in Sanaa on April 2, 2026, during a protest against the Israeli parliament’s approval of a new death penalty bill for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks. The bill would make the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank found guilty of intentionally carrying out deadly attacks deemed “acts of terrorism” by an Israeli military court. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP)

Members of the Spanish Legion carry a statue of the Christ of the Good Death to the Maria Auxiliadora church during a Holy Week procession in Ronda, southern Spain, on April 2, 2026. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)

People use boats on Chidorigafuchi, one of the moats around the Imperial Palace, to look at the cherry blossoms in full bloom in Tokyo on April 2, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Pope Leo XIV performs the “Washing of the Feet” during the mass of the Lord’s Supper at St. John Lateran archbasilica in Rome, on April 2, 2026. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP)

This aerial view shows a car driving past Jacaranda trees at the Chapultepec Park in Mexico City on April 1, 2026. (Photo by Carl de Souza / AFP)

A bird flies as steam rises from a lake in Chapultepec park in Mexico City on April 2, 2026. (Photo by Carl de Souza / AFP)

A displaced girl cuddles her cat at the entrance of a tent at an unofficial camp for displaced people on Beirut’s waterfront area on April 2, 2026. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel to avenge the killing of the Iranian leader. Israel has responded with broad strikes across Lebanon and a ground offensive. (Photo by Joseph EID / AFP)

Iraqi women light candles in memory of the victims of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Lebanon during a rally in support of Iran in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on April 2, 2026. The US embassy in Baghdad warned on April 2 that pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq may attack the city in the coming one or two days. Iraq has been dragged into the war between the United States, Israel and Iran, with strikes targeting both US interests and pro-Iran groups in the country. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

The April full moon, also known as “Pink Moon” is pictured behind the weathercock atop the Church of the Three Kings (Dreikoenigskirche) in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany early on April 2, 2026. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

Catholic faithful hold colored tape tied to a statue of Jesus Christ as they take part in a mass at the San Antonio de Padua church, ahead of a procession known as “Jesus Nazareno of the tapes,” during the Holy Week in Cartago, Costa Rica on April 1, 2026. (Photo by Ezequiel BECERRA / AFP)

A Ugandan police officer monitors access as residents and parents gather at the entrance of the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school following an attack on children in Kampala on April 2, 2026. Four children were stabbed to death on April 2, 2026 at a kindergarten in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, police said. The male suspect gained access by posing as a parent before attacking the children, who local media reported were aged between two and three. (Photo by Badru Katumba / AFP)

A boy attempts a free kick as he plays football with his friends at a beach in Praia, Cape Verde, on April 1, 2026. (Photo by PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP)

Growing team leader and plant specialist Martin Einchcomb poses for a picture with Tulips in the Master Carpenter’s Court during a photocall for the Hampton Court Palace Tulip Festival in south west London on April 2, 2026. The annual festival runs from April 3, to 26, transforming the former grounds of Henry VIII’s home into a dazzling show of colour. (Photo by Justin TALLIS / AFP)

MORE PICTURES: Nature photography at its best

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