Ballet and bioluminescence: Africa's top shots

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

Two men in swimming shorts float on turquoise-colour waters. The banks have salt-encrusted edges. Image source, FAREED KOTB / ANADOLU / GETTY IMAGES
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Bathers float on salt lakes in the Siwa Oasis, north-western Egypt, on Monday.

A blue and black fish swims amid a bright violet seabed.Image source, TAHSIN CEYLAN / ANADOLU / GETTY IMAGES
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Further east the next day, bioluminescence is captured underwater in the Red Sea...

A hawksbill sea turtle swims amid a neon green background.Image source, TAHSIN CEYLAN / ANADOLU / GETTY IMAGES
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Bioluminescence is defined as the light that some living creatures emit from their bodies, often when disturbed by a predator or motion.

 Revellers line dance during the International Cowboy Day at Ngong race course. They wave cowboy hats and bandannas in the air.Image source, FREDRIK LERNERYD / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
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Hundreds of country music-lovers head to International Cowboy Day in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, on Saturday.

Three girls wearing white leotards and tutus stretch their arms out.Image source, PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
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On the same day, young ballerinas warm up at Mballet Dance Academy in South Africa's Thembisa township.

Ostriches walk in a field at sunset.Image source, GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
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In the same country days later, ostriches wander around a farm in Oudtshoorn.

Three men dressed in boubous, tall red hats and carrying batons, pose for a photograph next to a body of water.Image source, PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
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As the rainy season starts in Senegal, high priests from the Lebou community gather for a divination ceremony on Sunday. Known as satigues, they deliver predictions on events that may occur in the coming year.

Nigeria midfielder Rinsola Babajide run across the pitch with the national flag after winning.
Image source, ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
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On Saturday, Nigeria triumph at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, beating host nation Morocco 3-2 in the final.

A referee checks the positions of the hands of two armwrestlers. 
Image source, MARVELLOUS DUROWAIYE / REUTERS
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Contestants from Cameroon (L) and Nigeria get ready to take each other on at the Africa Armwrestling Championship in Abuja on Friday. Here the referee checks the position of their hands before the bout begins.

People dressed in white togas and Venetian ball attire stand on a moving float that has Greco-Roman columns in the background.
Image source, MOHAMED MESSARA / EPA
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The following day in Tunisia, people dressed as thespians wave from this float at the Aoussou Carnival in Sousse.

Police officers wearing riot gear and shield form a blockade on a road.Image source, AMPE ROGERIO / EPA
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Also on Saturday, police take to the streets of the Angolan capital where people have been protesting against a sudden hike in the price of fuel and other basic goods. To date, more than 1,200 people have been arrested over several days of demonstrations.

A man moves bags tied to the top of a bus as cargo.Image source, AFP via GETTY IMAGES
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Passengers on this bus returning to Khartoum on Monday are among the more than 12 million people who have been forced from their homes since Sudan's civil war began over two years ago. Famine and genocide, external have taken hold in parts of the country, according to the UN and US respectively.

People swim in the sea at sunset. A woman wearing an abaya and hijab can be seen in the foreground standing in the water up to her ankles.Image source, MAHMUD TURKIA / AFP / GETTY IMAGES
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And as the sun sets over the Libyan coast on Friday, people bathe in the sea off Tripoli.

From the BBC in Africa this week:

A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News AfricaImage source, Getty Images/BBC

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