24 hours in pictures: Diwali celebrations, Matlala at Madlanga Commission 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 Vusimuzi Matlala reacting during his appearance at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria, students lighting earthen lamps during Diwali celebrations in India, a man holding a human skull during Bolivia’s Festival of the Natitas, and a woman laying flowers at a memorial in Krakow following a deadly shooting. These are some of the compelling images from South Africa and around the world. (For best view, click on image for fullscreen) Students from a Hindu religious school light earthen lamps in front of Mani Mandir during the celebrations to mark Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Varanasi on November 8, 2026. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP) Vusimuzi Matlala reacts at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry at Brigette Mabandla Judicial College on November 09, 2026 in Pretoria, South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa established the commission to investigate and report on the veracity, scope, and extent of the allegations made on 6 July 2025 by KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi that South Africa’s criminal justice system was compromised. (Photo by Gallo Images/Alet Pretorius) A robot is displayed at the China Pavilion during the 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) at the Antalya COP31 Venue in Antalya, Turkiye, on November 9, 2026. The Nov. 9-20 conference brings together world leaders, ministers, negotiators, scientists and civil society representatives to discuss emissions reductions, climate adaptation and financing. (Photo by Rasit Aydogan/Anadolu via Getty Images) A woman lays flowers at a makeshift memorial in Slawkowska street next to the Main Market in Krakow, Poland, a day after a gunman opened fire, killing six people and wounding around a dozen others in the historic centre of Poland’s city of Krakow, on November 8, 2026. A 24-year-old Polish national opened fire at random on November 7, 2026 in the heart of Krakow’s historic centre, in what Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk called an act of “terrorism”. A British national was among the dead in Poland’s second city, according to police. And among the 15 wounded were nationals from Austria, Britain, Germany, Portugal and Russia, authorities told the PAP news agency. Three more bodies were later found at the suspect’s home in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, around 150 kilometres (95 miles) northeast of Krakow. Police said they were his parents and a sister. (Photo by Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP) A fire dancer is seen training in the park during a power outage in Kyiv, Ukraine on November 8, 2026. (Photo by Danylo Antoniuk/Anadolu via Getty Images) A woman gestures in front of a 14-meter-tall statue of Pope Leo XIV, created by sculptor Rafael Gutierrez, and located on the Pacific coast in Callao, Peru on November 8, 2026. Pope Leo XIV will visit Peru over a 12-day trip, including Uruguay and Argentina, from November 6 to 16, 2026. (Photo by ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP) Members of various motorcycle groups salute during a Hells Angels Poppy Day event at the South African National Defence Forces (SANDF) Apex Military base in Brakpan, east of Johannesburg on Sunday November 8, 2026 at the annual Hells Angels Poppy Day event. Annually, Poppy Day is remembered on November 11, and honours military and civilian servicemen who lost their lives during World War I, World War II, as well as subsequent conflicts. (Photo by Kevin SUTHERLAND / AFP) “Hachiko” attends the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph on Whitehall in central London on November 8, 2026. Remembrance Sunday is an annual commemoration held on the closest Sunday to Armistice Day, November 11, the anniversary of the end of the First World War and services across Commonwealth countries remember servicemen and women who have fallen in the line of duty since WWI. (Photo by Leon Neal / POOL / AFP) Passengers sit atop a train as it arrives amid dense smog in Lahore on November 9, 2026. (Photo by Arif ALI / AFP) Attendees and defense industry representatives gather at the Bamako Exhibition and Fair Center (FEBAK) during the opening of BAMEX 2026 in Bamako, Mali, on November 9, 2026. Jointly organized by the Malian Ministry of Defense and the Turkish defense firm The Peak Defense, the exhibition serves as a key regional platform for defense and security collaboration across Africa, bringing together international military delegations and industry leaders. (Photo by Cem Genco/Anadolu via Getty Images) A light shines through a kissing gate as fog covers the Cheshire countryside on November 09, 2026 near Knutsford, United Kingdom. Yesterday, the Met Office, the British meteorological authority, issued a “yellow” warning due to dense extending across much of England and eastern Wales until 11:00 GMT today. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) People take part in an Elizabeth Holmes look-alike contest in Los Angeles, California, on November 8, 2026. Holmes is a lead figure in the documentary “You Can See Everything”, co-directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. The film follows the Theranos founder and her family for a month before she began an 11-year prison sentence in 2023 for fraud and conspiracy, after making lofty promises about innovations in medical testing, on which she failed to deliver. (Photo by Caroline Brehman / AFP) A view of the damaged train as seven passengers were killed and 112 people injured Sunday after several passenger train cars derailed and overturned in Ayat, Giza Governorate, Egypt, on November 8, 2026. Train services in both directions on the Cairo-Aswan railway line were temporarily suspended following the accident. (Photo by Mohamed Elshahed/Anadolu via Getty Images) An aerial view shows snow-covered meanders winding through the landscape along the Kars-Ardahan border, creating scenic winter views, on November 8, 2026 in Kars, Turkiye. (Photo by Cuneyt Celik/Anadolu via Getty Images) The venue featured stands from various countries and participants wearing traditional attire during the opening of the 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) at the Antalya COP31 Venue in Antalya, Turkiye, on November 9, 2026. The Nov. 9-20 conference brings together world leaders, ministers, negotiators, scientists and civil society representatives to discuss emissions reductions, climate adaptation and financing. (Photo by Ozge Elif Kizil/Anadolu via Getty Images) Students release balloons as they wave flowers at the Independence Monument during a ceremony marking Cambodia’s 73rd Independence Day celebrations in Phnom Penh on November 9, 2026. (Photo by TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP) Carnaval members perform on the track ahead of the start of the Sao Paulo Formula One Grand Prix at the Jose Carlos Pace racetrack, aka Interlagos, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 8, 2026. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP) A man holds a Natita (human skull) at the entrance of the General Cemetery during the traditional Festival of the Natitas in La Paz on November 8, 2026. During the ‘Natitas’ celebration thousands of Bolivians venerate human skulls, sometimes those of relatives, by decorating them with flowers, hats, and candles and then keep them in their homes for the rest of the year to protect them with their supposed powers and beneficial occult forces, according to Andean tradition. (Photo by AIZAR RALDES / AFP) Women in medieval costume display white truffles during the 27th World Alba White Truffle Auction at the Grinzane Cavour castle, near Alba, northwestern Italy, on November 8, 2026. (Photo by Marco Bertorello / AFP) MORE PICTURES: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 captures the wonders of the natural world