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 a city hall employee cleaning graffiti in Lyon after cost-of-living protests turned violent, Candice Swanepoel taking to the runway at the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in Los Angeles, the aftermath of a Russian attack on a shopping mall in Kyiv, and former president Thabo Mbeki testifying before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as part of an investigation into alleged political interference in the prosecution of apartheid-era crimes. These are some of the compelling images from South Africa and around the world.
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Candice Swanepoel walks the runway for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2026 on October 18, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria’s Secret/AFP (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
A city hall employee removes a graffiti from the Bartholdi Fountain in Place des Terreaux, in Lyon on October 19, 2026 two days after riots and looting occurred on the sidelines of nationwide cost-of-living demonstrations. (Photo by OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP)
Suliman Carrim appears at Pretoria Magistrates Court to resume his bail application on October 19, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. Carrim was arrested at the OR Tambo International Airport. He is facing a charge of contravening the Commission’s Act for repeatedly failing to appear at the Madlanga Commission. (Photo by Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu)
President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Bana Pele Leadership Summit at The Galleria Arena and Conference Centre on October 19, 2026 in Sandton, South Africa. The summit aims to mobilise and strengthen collaboration among government, the private sector, civil society, communities and philanthropic organisations to accelerate progress towards universal access to quality early learning by 2030. (Photo by Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo)
Palestinian fisherman Muhammed al-Tum, 61, is viewed repearing fishing nets recovered from the rubble of his home destroyed in Israeli attacks, as he struggles to continue fishing along the coast of Gaza City, Gaza, Palestine on October 19, 2026. As Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip enter their third year, Palestinian fishermen continue to face severe challenges in making a living due to restrictions on access to the sea and a shortage of fishing equipment. (Photo by Saeed M. M. T. Jaras/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Former president Thabo Mbeki (right) testifies before the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry, also known as the TRC Cases Inquiry, in Johannesburg, 19 October 2026. The commission is investigating alleged political interference in the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen
Aftermath of the Russian attack on a shoping mall in Kyiv, Ukraine on October 19, 2026. (Photo by Danylo Antoniuk/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A commemoration ceremony is held to mark the 23rd anniversary of the passing of Alija Izetbegovic, the first president of independent Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Kovaci Martyrs’ Cemetery in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 19, 2026. (Photo by Denis Zuberi/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Runners clear a fence during The Back British Farming Handicap Steeple Chase at Plumpton Racecourse on October 19, 2026 in Plumpton, England. (Photo by Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images)
Kaylia Nemour of Team Algeria competes in the Women’s Uneven Bars Qualification during day three of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Rotterdam 2026 at Ahoy on October 19, 2026 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)
Students take part in a shaving foam fight on Raisin Monday at St Andrews University on October 19, 2026 in St Andrews, Scotland. Raisin Weekend is a historic and eccentric student tradition at the University of St Andrews in Scotland that takes place every October. Rooted in an informal peer-mentoring system, older students adopt first-year “academic children” and host them for a weekend of social gatherings and scavenger hunts. The celebration culminates on Raisin Monday, when first-years are dressed in bizarre, homemade costumes, handed humorous “receipts” or food bank donations to carry, and gather in St Salvator’s Quad for a massive, town-wide shaving foam fight. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola briefs the media after meeting with senior South African Police Service (SAPS) management at Tshwane Academy on October 19, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. This follows the withdrawal of charges linked to a controversial police health services tender worth hundreds of millions of rand. (Photo by Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu)
Geordin Hill-Lewis at the unveiling of a new election billboard in District Six on October 19, 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. The 2026 South African municipal elections will be held on 4 November 2026 across South Africa, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country’s nine provinces. (Photo by Gallo Images/Misha Jordaan)
This aerial view shows supporters of Brazil’s right-wing senator and Liberal Party (PL) presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro gathered on Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on October 18, 2026, ahead of the presidential election runoff. (Photo by Miguel SCHINCARIOL / AFP)
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