24 hours in pictures: Award-winning Life After Fire display, Johannesburg water protest and more

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 visitors admiring the award-winning Life After Fire botanical display at Lifestyle Home Garden in Johannesburg, residents protesting over a week without drinking water in Kensington, Humboldt penguins at London Zoo getting into the Halloween spirit, and a motorcyclist taking children to school across a stream of cold lava from Mount Semeru in Indonesia. These are some of the compelling images from South Africa and around the world. (For best view, click on image for fullscreen) Kensington resident Charmaine Partridge carries empty water bottles as community members picket for water at the corner of Albertina Sisulu and Queen streets in Kensington, Johannesburg, 29 October 2026. Residents say they have been without drinking water for the past seven days. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen Humboldt penguins swim during a photocall to promote Halloween, at ZSL London Zoo in central London on October 29, 2026. (Photo by Henry Nicholls / AFP) Visitors admire the Life After Fire display at Lifestyle Home Garden in Randpark Ridge, Johannesburg, 29 October 2026. Designed by South African landscape designer Leon Kluge and artist-gardener Tristan Woudberg, the botanical installation won a gold medal and the prestigious Best Exhibit in the Great Pavilion award at the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. Inspired by wildfires in the Western Cape, the display features indigenous fynbos, proteas and charred branches to illustrate how fire plays a vital role in the regeneration of the region’s unique plant life. The award-winning display is available for public viewing at Lifestyle Home Garden. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen Members of the Armed Forces escort a band as an exhibition of 100 years of operational uniforms from the Duxford Museum is displayed at Liverpool Street station on October 29, 2026 in London, England. The Royal British Legion’s annual London Poppy Day raises money for the Armed Forces community ahead of Remembrance Sunday. (Photo by Alberto Pezzali/Getty Images) A Muslim woman reads the Koran at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on October 29, 2026. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP) A man riding a motorcycle takes children to school across a stream of cold lava flow from Mount Semeru at Jugosari village, Lumajang, East Java, on October 29, 2026. (Photo by HAYU YUDHA / AFP) Tourists climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge behind the roofs of the Sydney Opera House on a spring day in Sydney on October 29, 2026. The roofs of the iconic building are also called ‘sails’ or shells’, and are covered in over one million tiles. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP) A farmer wades through a waterlogged paddy field after Cyclone Arnab’s landfall on the outskirts of Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada district on October 29, 2026. Ferocious winds and torrential rain lashed India’s southeastern coast after a cyclone made landfall on October 28, killing at least three people before the storm weakened, officials said. (Photo by Noah SEELAM / AFP) Officers standing next to the cars that are going to be handed over at the official handover of over 1,087 new vehicles to strengthen SAPS capacity at SAPS Academy on October 29, 2026 in Benoni, South Africa. The handover aims to improve police response times, increase police visibility, and boost operational mobility for crime-fighting efforts. (Photo by Gallo Images/OJ Koloti) A man rows a boat in the Dal Lake, during sunset in Srinagar on October 29, 2026. (Photo by TAUSEEF MUSTAFA / AFP) A view of the show ‘Dance of the Horses: Flame of Resurrection’ is seen at the Manzikert Performance Center as part of the 13th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of Turkic States at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkiye on October 29, 2026. (Photo by Ercin Erturk/Anadolu via Getty Images) Floral mannequins representing Gladys Russell (L) and Maud Breton (R), inspired by HBO’s Emmy-nominated series “The Gilded Age” are displayed during the Fleurs de Villes THE GILDED AGE exhibition at Greystone Mansion & Gardens in Beverly Hills, California, on October 28, 2026. The exhibition features floral designs created by local florists and runs through November 4. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) Brad Binder of South Africa riding a Red Bull KTM Factory Racing in the paddock at Sepang Circuit on October 29, 2026 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo by Gold & Goose Photography/Getty Images) Opposition lawmakers light flares and set off smoke bombs during a session of Albania’s parliament in Tirana on October 29, 2026, as they sought to disrupt a vote and accused Albania’s Prime Minister of downplaying ongoing anti-government protests. The demonstrations, which began in mid-October with students demanding better support for education and Prime Minister’s resignation, have repeatedly descended into clashes with police. (Photo by Adnan Beci / AFP) MORE PICTURES: Cosplayers, gaming and pop culture take centre stage at Comic Con Africa