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Africa's week in pictures: 24-30 September 2021

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A selection of the best photos from the African continent and beyond.

News imageAFP Organizers clean the Great Mosque of Touba during the Grand Magal of Mourides in Touba on September 26, 2021, the largest annual muslim pilgrimage in Senegal, with hundreds of thousands making the pilgrimage each year.AFP
On Sunday the Great Mosque of Touba is lovingly cleaned...
News imageAFP Pilgrims enter the mausoleum in the Great Mosque of Touba during the Grand Magal of Mourides in Touba on September 26, 2021, the largest annual muslim pilgrimage in Senegal, with hundreds of thousands making the pilgrimage each year.AFP
It is the holiest site for Senegal's Mouride Islamic sect...
News imageAFP Pilgrims leave the mausoleum in the Great Mosque of Touba during the Grand Magal of Mourides in Touba on September 26, 2021, the largest annual muslim pilgrimage in Senegal, with hundreds of thousands making the pilgrimage each year.AFP
And hundreds of thousands of believers make the pilgrimage each year.
News imageEPA Grooms prepare a pure-bred Arabian horse to be presented to visitors of the annual sale, organized by the National Foundation for the Improvement of The Horses Breed (FNARC) at the National stud farms of Sidi Thabet, Tunisia, 24 September 2021. A total of 50 pure-bred Arabian horses were on sale this year. The FNARC, the former Establishment of the National Stud farms from in 1913, is now a Tunisian public institution created in 1988; the National stud farms of Sidi Thabet, dating back to 1866, are spezialized in breeding the Tunisian Arabian horses.EPA
An Arabian purebred horse is beautified in Tunisia on Friday...
News imageEPA A pure-bred Arabian horse looks from its stable box prior to the start of the annual sale, organized by the National Foundation for the Improvement of The Horses Breed (FNARC) at the National stud farms of Sidi Thabet, Tunisia, 24 September 2021. A total of 50 pure-bred Arabian horses were on sale this year. The FNARC, the former Establishment of the National Stud farms from in 1913, is now a Tunisian public institution created in 1988; the National stud farms of Sidi Thabet, dating back to 1866, are spezialized in breeding the Tunisian Arabian horses.EPA
A total of 50 were up for sale at a national event in the town of Sidi Thabet.
News imageReuters A monitor lizard catches an insect at Ngulia Safari Lodge, Tsavo West National Park, Kenya.Reuters
On Friday in Kenya's Tsavo West National Park, a monitor lizard eyes up its next meal.
News imageEPA Liberian boys play soccer on a dusty pitch at Mount Barclay community, a suburb of Monrovia, Liberia, 25 September 2021.EPA
While in Liberia on Friday, these boys in the capital city of Monrovia keep their eyes on the ball.
News imageEPA Single leg amputee Simo Mdudu of South Africa hits off the tee during the Cape Town Disabled Golf Open on the King David Mowbray Golf course in Cape Town, South Africa, 27 September 2021. Postponed for two years due to covid-19 the Cape Town Disabled Golf Open is one of the top disabled golf tournaments in the world. People suffering from any kind of physical disabilities including arm and leg amputees, hemiplegics, paraplegics, stroke victims, blind, and deaf people that are able to grip the club with at least one hand and hit the ball can compete.EPA
Simo Mdudu takes to the turf on Monday, at the Cape Town Disabled Golf Open.
News imageReuters Commuters walk on the Likoni floating bridge connecting the mainland and the island easing traffic on the ferry services to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mombasa, Kenya, September 29, 2021.Reuters
On Wednesday Kenyan commuters cross a floating bridge linking Mombasa island with the town of Likoni.
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News imageEPA Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg (L) and Ugandan climate justice activist Vanessa Nakate (R) attend the conference "Youth4climate: driving ambition Italy 2021" in Milan, Italy, 28 September 2021.EPA
The day before, Ugandan environmental activist Vanessa Nakate (R) attends the Youth4Climate summit alongside fellow campaigner Greta Thunberg in Italy...
News imageReuters Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate of the Rise Up Movement addresses a news conference after meeting with Italy"s Prime Minister Mario Draghi during a preparatory meeting ahead of the COP26 climate summit, in Milan, Italy, September 30, 2021Reuters
On Thursday, the 24-year-old Ugandan addresses reporters after her meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. "It's time for polluters to pay... no more empty promises," she tells delegates at the summit that same day.
News imageEPA Parents shopping for school supplies at a school supplies fair in Cairo, Egypt, on 28 September 2021. New academic school starts on 9 October 2021.EPA
The new school year is around the corner in Egypt, where this family shops for stationery on Tuesday.
News imageEPA People walk in Khan al-Khalili bazaar in old Cairo, Egypt, 27 September 2021, as the world marks the United Nations (UN) World Tourism Day.EPA
The day before, people walk through the Khan al-Khalili bazaar in old Cairo...
News imageEPA A general view of the complex of Sultan Qalaun in the historical street of Elmoez Lideen Ella in Old Cairo, Egypt, 27 September 2021, as the world marks the United Nations (UN) World Tourism Day.EPA
Other sites, including the complex of Sultan Qalaun, are also celebrated as part of UN World Tourism Day.
News imageReuters Supporters of the African National Congress (ANC) sing as they hold the LGBTQ flag during the launch of an election manifesto at the church square in Pretoria, South Africa, September 27, 2021.Reuters
On the same day in South Africa's capital Pretoria, supporters of the governing ANC sing and wave the LGBT rainbow banner at the party's manifesto launch for next month's local elections.
News imageAFP A picture taken on September 28, 2021 shows hundreds of followers of the Nazareth Baptist Church of the Ebuhleni group also known as the Shembe Church led by Mduduzi "Unyazi Lwezulu" Shembe. - Followers took part in a "peace walk" in Durban to show support for Mduduzi. In 2016, Vela of the Thembezinhle faction, was declared by the Durban High Court as the legitimate successor to the late church's leader Vimbeni Shembe. Since then Mduduzi has launched a number of failed appeals in various courts. However. his followers since him as their chosen leader. The Shembe Church is the oldest independent indigenous Church in Southern Africa.AFP
The next day in the coastal city of Durban hundreds of members of the Shembe Church, said to be the oldest independent indigenous church in southern Africa, march in support of the man they see at its rightful heir and leader - Mduduzi "Unyazi Lwezulu" Shembe.
News imageEPA South African actress Thuso Mbedu poses on the the red carpet on arrival for the opening gala of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California, USA, 25 September 2021. The museum is set to open to the public on 30 September 2021.EPA
South African actress Thuso Mbedu takes to the red carpet in Los Angeles on Saturday, at the newly opened Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
News imageAmensisa Negera/BBC Woman holding a candleAmensisa Negera/BBC
The next day thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians mark the annual Meskel festival in the capital, Addis Ababa...
News imageAFP An Orthodox devotee stands in front of a bonfire as policemen stand in the back during the celebrations of the eve of the Ethiopian Orthodox holiday of Meskel, that commemorates the discovery in the fourth century of the True Cross by the Roman Empress Helena, in the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on September 26, 2021.AFP
The national holiday marks the traditional finding of the cross that Jesus was crucified on, and festivities culminate in the lighting of a huge pyre in Addis Ababa's Meskel Square.

All pictures subject to copyright.