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Revellers, swords and balloons: Africa's top shots

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

EPA A man with blue, red and white face paint smiles broadly at Cape Town's Tweede Nuwe Jaar festival - Saturday 4 January 2025EPA
Revellers flood Cape Town's streets on Saturday for Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Second New Year), a vibrant annual festival rooted in the South African city's slave history...
EPA A group of five people wearing white and green suits participate in the Tweede Nuwe Jaar festival - Saturday 4 January 2025EPA
Dressed as minstrels, people strum banjos and sing songs dating back to the 1800s...
Esa Alexander / Reuters A man wearing a white, red, and blue costume with an elaborate headgear poses in a split position with his tongue sticking out at the Tweede Nuwe Jaar festival - Saturday 4 January 2025Esa Alexander / Reuters
...bold dance moves are an important part of the festivities as well.
Nipah Dennis / AFP Ghana's new President John Mahama holds the state sword at his inauguration in the capital Accra - Tuesday 7 January 2025.Nipah Dennis / AFP
On Tuesday, John Mahama wields the state sword following his inauguration as Ghana's new president in the capital, Accra.
Khaled Desouki / AFP Multiple hot air balloons ascend into the sky in Egypt's southern city of Luxor - Thursday 9 January 2025.Khaled Desouki / AFP
Early Thursday morning, tourists in Egypt board hot air balloons in the southern city of Luxor.
Khaled Desouki / AFP A picture shows a newly-unearthed carved relief during a media event to announce new discoveries by an Egyptian archaeological mission at Queen Hatshepsut's Valley Temple in Deir El-Bahari on the Nile's west bank in Luxor - Wednesday 8 January 2025. Khaled Desouki / AFP
The day before, in the same city, newly unearthed archaeological discoveries at Queen Hatshepsut's valley temple go on display...
Ahmad Hasaballah / Getty Images A picture shows a newly-unearthed stone blocks during a media event to announce new discoveries by an Egyptian archaeological mission at Queen Hatshepsut's Valley Temple in Deir El-Bahari on the Nile's west bank in Luxor - Wednesday 8 January 2025. Ahmad Hasaballah / Getty Images
Over 1,000 decorated stone blocks were discovered.
Tony Karumba / AFP A Kenyan man is held by police officers in a vehicle for demanding the release of government critics abducted in the country - Monday 6 January 2025Tony Karumba / AFP
A Kenyan man is detained by police during a demonstration on Monday in the capital, Nairobi, demanding the release of government critics abducted in the country.
Marco Longari / AFP A man, standing, drizzles gin over a young person sitting on the floor, who is covered in red palm oil mixed with maize flour, giving it a golden hue at a ceremony at the at the annual Voodoo festival in Benin, Ouidah - Thursday 9 January 2025.Marco Longari / AFP
In Benin, a Kokou initiate - a devotee of the warrior god in traditional religion - is covered in red palm oil mixed with maize flour, while gin is drizzled over their head during a ceremony at the annual Vodun festival in Ouidah...
Marco Longari / AFP A person wearing a richly textured outfit for the at the annual Voodoo festival in Benin, Ouidah represents the visible manifestation of the spirit of departed ancestors - Thursday 9 January 2025.Marco Longari / AFP
An Egungun, a visible manifestation of the spirit of departed ancestors, visits the community during the festival which celebrates the country's Vodun heritage.

From the BBC in Africa this week:

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