Amazigh New Year and vodún cheer: Africa's top shots

SOURCE | 1 year ago

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A selection of the week's best photos from across the African continent and beyond:

OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP A man smiles and lies on top of a huge mound of fluffy, picked cotton. OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP

On Monday, 31-year-old Ange Gnacadja rests on cotton harvested in Soclogbo, Benin.

KHALED DESOUKI / AFP People in running gear and with numbers attached to their chests jog on a road. Hot-air balloons rise in the background. KHALED DESOUKI / AFP

It's time for the Egyptian Marathon on Saturday in Luxor.

FETHI BELAID / AFP A man dressed in loose clothing shows off his moves while others watch seated. FETHI BELAID / AFP

The next day in Tunisia's capital city Tunis, dancers compete at the Juste Debout international contest.

ESA ALEXANDER / REUTERS A person dives from a springboard during a hot summer day at Sea Point swimming pool in Cape Town, South Africa, January 10, 2025. ESA ALEXANDER / REUTERS

This diver in Cape Town throws shapes on a hot Saturday in South Africa.

ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT / AFP A woman wearing a tasselled red, green and yellow headdress smiles. ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT / AFP

Monday marks the start of the year 2975 for members of north Africa's Amazigh communities...

JALAL MORCHIDI / EPA Women play tambourines and sing. JALAL MORCHIDI / EPA

Celebrations in the Moroccan capital of Rabat include fashion shows and musical performances.

AMANUEL SILESHI / AFP A man rides a motorbike along a road that is scarred with huge cracks across it. AMANUEL SILESHI / AFP

Earthquakes in the north of Ethiopia leave huge cracks in the road, causing this man trouble as he transports goods on Sunday.

MARCO LONGARI / AFP A women dressed in a trilby, shirt and chef's waistcoat smiles infront of luxurious wallpaper and lighting. MARCO LONGARI / AFP

Renowned chef Georgiana Viou - pictured on Sunday - trades a Michelin-starred restaurant in France for her new venture in Benin, called Restaurant L'Ami.

OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP People wearing matching clothing sing and dance in procession. Behind them is a pink wall which is painted with symbols in turquoise and black. OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP

Also in Benin days earlier, Vodún worshippers approach the palace of King Kpodégbé Lanmanfan Toyi Djigla...

MARCO LONGARI / AFP A person dances in circles wearing a huge swirling costume of long purple tassels, MARCO LONGARI / AFP

Swirling zangbetos in an array of colours are a familiar part of Vodún festivals...

MARCO LONGARI / AFP A man dressed in white poses for a portrait in a darkened room. MARCO LONGARI / AFP

Meanwhile this Vodún worshipper pauses for a portrait at the Mami Wata Temple in Ouidah.

LEON SADIKI / GETTY IMAGES A woman pickets the mine in Stilfontein with a sign that reads: '"Stilfontein is the next Marikana". LEON SADIKI / GETTY IMAGES

KIM LUDBROOK/EPA A man in tattered clothing is stretchered away. KIM LUDBROOK/EPA

Left without food and supplies for weeks on end, many of the survivors were emaciated and had to be stretchered away from the site because they were too weak to walk.

JOSPIN MWISHA / AFP People stand crowded into a darkened makeshift home. They have very few belongings. Many are children. JOSPIN MWISHA / AFP

This boy and the many people and families around him are among more than 100,000 people who have fled their homes in Masisi, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in the past week alone because of deadly violence between M23 rebels and the army. Despite the cost of human misery, minerals from here are found in smartphones sold the world over.

PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP A general view of water bottles with stickers on of Mozambique President-elect Daniel Chapo. PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP

Slick choreography for the inauguration of Mozambique's new president, Daniel Chapo, includes the handing out of refreshments featuring his portrait...

ESTEVAO CHAVISSO / EPA A woman draped in the Mozambique flag squares up to a line of armed policemen and shouts slogans near the Independence Square during the inauguration of Mozambique's fifth president, Daniel Chapo, in Maputo. ESTEVAO CHAVISSO / EPA