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Huge hats and saffron strands: Africa's top shots

Natasha BootyBBC News

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

News imagePERS-ANDERS PETTERSSON / GETTY IMAGES Models wait backstage wearing huge hats and clothing featuring the same green-and-purple print.PERS-ANDERS PETTERSSON / GETTY IMAGES
Models showcase the designs of Londeka Buthelezi-Ndaba on Saturday...
News imagePERS-ANDERS PETTERSSON / GETTY IMAGES A model wearing a multicolour, multi-textured coat in South African summer cools herself with a hand-held fan.PERS-ANDERS PETTERSSON / GETTY IMAGES
Cape Town Fashion Week is a yearly event...
News imagePERS-ANDERS PETTERSSON / GETTY IMAGES Three women smile, two of them are raising champagne flutes.PERS-ANDERS PETTERSSON / GETTY IMAGES
Which attracts people from all over.
News imageJIHED ABIDELLAOUI / REUTERS A man carries a straw basket full of vivid purple flowers.JIHED ABIDELLAOUI / REUTERS
Tunisian farmer Faiza Hamdaoui harvests saffron flowers in the north of the country on Monday.
News imageMAHMUD TURKIA / AFP Women wear ornate golden necklaces and rings. On their fingers they have brown-red henna patterns.MAHMUD TURKIA / AFP
Libyan women display their henna designs in Tripoli on Friday.
News imageCEM OZDEL / GETTY IMAGES Soldiers dressed in red stand to attention and present their swords at a ceremony in Thiaroye Camp.CEM OZDEL / GETTY IMAGES
On Sunday in Dakar, servicemen and women commemorate the Senegalese riflemen killed by the French troops they had served in World War Two. France has for the first time admitted that a "massacre" took place, but disputes the number of dead.
News imageCEM OZDEL / GETTY IMAGES People marching down a road wearing voluminous costumes of different colours.CEM OZDEL / GETTY IMAGES
On the same day in the same city, Dakar Carnival continues.
News imageSIMON MAINA / AFP A man and woman stand next to their wedding guests under the shade of a tree and next to a wooden cabin.SIMON MAINA / AFP
Newlyweds Mr and Mrs Nunulu pose with friends and family in Namibia's capital, Winhoek, on Saturday.
News imageDANIEL BELOUMOU OLOMO / AFP A man shows an open cocoa pod the farm in Ebebda.DANIEL BELOUMOU OLOMO / AFP
Cocoa prices are rising in Cameroon, which is good news for the chief of Ebebda village Bruno Ebassa and others who work at his farm.
News imageGERALD ANDERSON / GETTY IMAGES A smiling man and woman stand next to a painted wall, carrying their cans of paint.GERALD ANDERSON / GETTY IMAGES
Kenyan graffiti artists flex their skills on Saturday...
News imageGERALD ANDERSON / GETTY IMAGES An artist spray-paints a large mural of a man wearing blue sunglasses.GERALD ANDERSON / GETTY IMAGES
These murals are in the capital city, Nairobi.
News imageKIM LUDBROOK / EPA Stilt-walker Andile Sohe (32) and Miss Preteen Orange Farm, Thando Mbatha (7) pose for the camera.KIM LUDBROOK / EPA
Orange Farm Carnival kicks off on Sunday...
News imageROBERTA CIUCCIO / AFP Boys dressed in pink trousers and gold hats stand together.ROBERTA CIUCCIO / AFP
Organisers say the event aims to revive the spirit of Ubuntu...
News imageROBERTA CIUCCIO / AFP People parade in bejewelled masks and large bird effigies.ROBERTA CIUCCIO / AFP
And promote positive social change.
News imageRIJASOLO / AFP A lemur of the Lemur Catta or Maki type, a species of lemur endemic to Madagascar, is locked in a wooden crate.RIJASOLO / AFP
A lemur is repatriated to Madagascar on Sunday after investigators busted an international pet-trafficking network.
News imageYUI MOK / PA WIRE Two people place their hands near the giant egg in dramatic fashion. YUI MOK / PA WIRE
Two days earlier in the UK, this object - described by salespeople as a centuries-old elephant-bird egg from Madagascar - is displayed at Christie's auction house.
News imageLUISA NHANTUMBO / EPA A man walks down the street with a Hulk mask and a dummy rifle.LUISA NHANTUMBO / EPA
A demonstrator wears a Hulk mask and a dummy rifle on Wednesday in Mozambique's capital city...
News imageLUISA NHANTUMBO / EPA Teenagers in school uniform jog and chant.LUISA NHANTUMBO / EPA
Students also joined the protests against October's election results.
News imageOLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP A woman walking past a bus wears the country's national flag on her her and her T-Shirt.OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP
As election day nears, vendors flog flags and other trinkets in Ghana's capital city, Accra.
News imageWARREN LITTLE / GETTY IMAGES A meerkat and her pup are pictured on day one of the Nedbank Golf Challenge 2025.WARREN LITTLE / GETTY IMAGES
Meerkats nestled in the grass on Thursday get a free view of South Africa's Nedbank Golf Challenge.
News imageEMMANUEL CROSET / AFP A woman stands among the burnt remains, surrounded by smoke and bare trees.EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP
On Monday, people living in the Jakwa informal settlement near Johannesburg are bereft after a fire ripped through at least 300 of their homes.
News imageANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP US President Joe Biden (R) reacts to dancers as he walks along the tarmac.ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP
Dancers greet US President Joe Biden as he touches down in the Angolan city of Catumbela on Wednesday. According to some reports he appeared to fall asleep at one of the meetings he attended in the country.
News imageBENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP A tall, elegant woman in a red dress smiles on the red carpet.BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP
Trailblazing South Sudanese supermodel Alek Wek attends the 2024 Fashion Awards in London, the UK.
News imageSTEPHANIECARDINALE / CORBIS A woman in a sequinned black dress smiles for the camera.STEPHANIECARDINALE / CORBIS
On Tuesday, French-Algerian singer Camelia Jordana poses at Marrakech International Film Festival in Morroco.
News imageMARVELLOUS DUROWAIYE / REUTERS A cyclist passes illuminated Christmas lights.MARVELLOUS DUROWAIYE / REUTERS
And on Friday, a man cycles past Christmas lights on Victoria Island, an upmarket neighbourhood in Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos.

From the BBC in Africa this week:

News imageGetty Images/BBC A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News AfricaGetty Images/BBC

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