24 hours in pictures: Kyiv under attack, Heritage Day braai record attempt and more

We bring you a visual snapshot of the day’s news events, featuring smoke rising over Kyiv following a Russian air attack, thousands gathering at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria for a Guinness World Record braai attempt, hundreds taking part in a Gender-Based Violence solidarity walk in Cape Town, and KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli inspecting the scene of a mass shooting in KwaMakhutha, south of Durban. These are some of the compelling images from South Africa and around the world.

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Smoke rises above the city following an air attack in Kyiv on September 23, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine on September 23, 2026 accused Russia of increasing its targeting of civilian transport infrastructure after renewed attacks on petrol stations, shipping and railways left at least two dead. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP)

Hundreds of boats take to the Vaal River during the official opening of the Vaal River boating season on Heritage Day at Stonehaven in Vanderbijlpark, Emfuleni, 24 September 2026. The Spirit of Jen led the flotilla as it passes through the Stonehaven Bridge. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen

A Taiwan military 105mm wheeled armoured vehicle fires its main gun during a live-fire demonstration in Tainan on September 23, 2026. The domestically developed vehicle, equipped with a 105mm main gun, is currently undergoing operational testing and evaluation. (Photo by CHENG Yu-chen / AFP)

Participants take part in a Guinness World Record attempt for the most people braaiing simultaneously, 24 September 2026, at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria. Organisers were hoping for three thousand people to gather on Heritage Day at the event to fire up the coals, celebrate their culture, and braai some wors. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen

Participants take part in a Guinness World Record attempt for the most people braaiing simultaneously, 24 September 2026, at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria. Organisers were hoping for three thousand people to gather on Heritage Day at the event to fire up the coals, celebrate their culture, and braai some wors. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen

A worker paints the dome of the Federal Legislative Palace ahead of a session of Venezuela’s National Assembly in Caracas on September 23, 2026. Venezuela’s parliament approved a resolution on September 23 backing acting President Delcy Rodriguez’s participation in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), amid criticism over her political rapprochement with the United States. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)

Alpacas (Lama pacos) of breeders Arnold and Toni Luginbuehl family and Uli Lippl are being moved to the valley at sunrise during the traditional “alpabzug” in German or “desalpe” in French, a Swiss festival to mark herds coming in from mountain pastures, in Griesalp aera above Kiental on September 22, 2026. Around seventy alpacas were herded down to the valley before being loaded onto a livestock truck and transported to their winter farm located in Aeschi near Spiez, in the Swiss Bernese Oberland. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

A man crosses a pedestrian brigde in central Moscow on September 23, 2026. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)

People stand outside the Colosseum, which remains closed a day after a worker’s death on September 24, 2026. Andrea Moretti, 22, reportedly died after falling from a height while working on a new lighting installation at night on September 23, 2026. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP)

Hundreds of people protested at the One Billion Rising South Africa Solidarity Walk against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) on Heritage Day at Princess Vlei in Grassy Park on September 24, 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. The walk aims to stand in solidarity against the surging femicide crisis following the recent murders of nine women in Ekurhuleni and also to demand immediate governmental action. (Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)

Workers clean one of the historic lion sculptures on Pretoria’s Lion Bridge on 22 September 2026. The 1894 bridge is undergoing cleaning, restoration and minor maintenance as part of a Heritage Month initiative by City Property Administration’s Commercial Property Management team, in conjunction with local Arcadia City Improvement District and Tsotsoletso Managed Area. The project aims to preserve the landmark and uplift the surrounding heritage precinct, Pretoria. Picture: Jacques Nelles

The Premier of Kwazulu-Natal province in the colurful jacket is inspects a car belonging to one of the victims was set alight by unknown gunmen at the scene of a mass shooting in the Ziko area of KwaMakhutha, south of Durban, South Africa, September 23, 2026. Armed men stormed a home in the South African city of Durban and killed 11 people, the local government chief said on September 23. “The victims, among them a pregnant woman, were gathered in a house shortly before 11:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. Brasília time) on September 22 when the armed assailants entered the premises and opened fire,” Thamsanqa Ntuli, head of the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal, whose main city is Durban, told AFP. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)

Students conduct marching drills amid haze from forest and land fires at the courtyard of the Mujahidin Grand Mosque in Pontianak, West Kalimantan on September 23, 2026. (Photo by DITO / AFP)

A guest poses in the street outside the Fendi collection show during the Women’s Spring/Summer 2027 Milan’s fashion week, on September 23, 2026. (Photo by PIERO CRUCIATTI / AFP)

A worker unloads sharing bicycles from a truck along a street in Beijing on September 23, 2026. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)

Visitors ride a sight-seeing train (top) past a rice paddy grown in the shape of a map of China, using different coloured rice varieties, at a scenic attraction featuring rice art in Shenyang, in China’s northeast Liaoning province on September 22, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)

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