Africa's year in pictures 2021: Giggles and coronations
A selection of the best photos from across the African continent this year:
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Priest light incense in the city of Gondor in January during Timket - the Ethiopian Orthodox feast which commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan.
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Also in January, final rites are performed for the former president of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, who died at the age of 73 in November 2020...
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While in Liberia, the New Year brings gifts and smiles as community leader Janet Sharty hands out popcorn, lollipops and biscuits to children.
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February sees Mayar Sherif make history by becoming the first Egyptian woman to win a main-draw match at a tennis Grand Slam thanks to her performance at the Australian Open.
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Also in February, feeding flamingos are reflected in the waters of Lake Magadi in Kenya's Rift Valley.
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Figuig, a brightly painted oasis town in the Atlas Mountains, brings colour to March...
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And days later in Spain, Yassine Balbzioui poses next to his work which is part of an exhibition exploring Moroccan art since 1950.
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Ethiopian Orthodox Christians in Israel celebrate on Palm Sunday...
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Meanwhile Francis Ngannou returns home to Cameroon to a hero's welcome, after becoming the new world champion of heavyweight mixed martial arts after his UFC bout in Las Vegas.
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In May as Egypt's temperatures soar, children in the outskirts of Cairo cool off by jumping into the River Nile.
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Meanwhile in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo hundreds of thousands of people are forced from their homes when Mount Nyiragongo erupts - and weeks later volcanologists and rangers pass ash-coated trees as they scale its slopes.
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June sees more power cuts in South Africa, where Cecilia Nkosi talks with her great-grandson Smangaliso at home in Soweto.
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Kitted out in traditional Harari clothes from eastern Ethiopia, these women attend the reopening ceremony of Addis Ababa's famous, and remodelled, Meskel Square.
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And this diamond, described as the third-largest of its kind ever found, is unearthed in Botswana.
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In July the Chadian actresses Rihane Khalil Alio and Achouackh Abakar Souleymane - who star in Lingui, The Sacred Bonds - take to the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival in France.
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Naledi Manyoni throws her daughter, Melokuhle, to strangers from a burning building following mass riots in South Africa against ex-President Jacob Zuma's imprisonment. Both mother and daughter emerged safely.
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In August, Egyptian diver Mohab Ishak takes to the springboard at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
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And in Nigeria, Prince Tsola Emiko is crowned the new olu, or king, of Warri.
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September marks the end of Niger's rainy season and the start of the Cure Salée festival - where 15-year-old Nobe Nobe from Ago, 17-year-old Djanje Haiballa from Fouduk and 28-year-old Veli Rabeo also of Fouduk - pose for individual portraits.
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Meanwhile, in Egypt, the cotton harvest gets going.
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Also in September, a lucky fan is serenaded on stage by Vegedream at the Anoumabo Festival of Urban Music (Femua) in Ivory Coast.
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After 10 years in power including a controversial third term, Guinean President Alpha Condé is detained and the military announces it is seizing power - releasing this photo to show who is in charge.
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In October Kenya's Diana Kipyogei triumphs in the Boston Marathon, in the US.
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The months was also marked the 90th birthday of South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, when artist Brian Rolfe restored a mural of the cleric in Cape Town after it was defaced by a racist slur. The Nobel laureate later died in December.
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November sees huge protests continue in Sudan demanding full civilian rule following the coup in October...
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While Guinea-Bissau's main stadium is the scene for the country's independence day celebrations.
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In December, a man and his bull queue for a ferry in The Gambia after presidential elections in which Adama Barrow won a second term...
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And Wizkid and Burna Boy bring the year to a close with an electrifying performance at London's O2 Arena.
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