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

A new study finds that caste plays a vital role in high rates of stunting in children in India.

Nigeria head five qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday, as Ghana are given a lifeline in their bid to reach Morocco.

More than 61,000 people have died in Khartoum state, where the fighting began last year, researchers say.

John Smyth, a known child abuser in the UK, went to Zimbabwe and set up Christian holiday camps.

Defender Baba Rahman has not ruled out returning to the Ghana set-up, but wants to concentrate on his fitness after several serious injuries.

Equatorial Guinea qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations without kicking a ball after Togo fall to a 1-0 defeat in Liberia.

South African FA president Danny Jordaan is alleged to have used the organisation's resources for personal gain between 2014 and 2018.

Up to 200 Russians are estimated to have arrived in the country in the recent past.

Morocco-born Abdelatif Benazzi wants to be new man in charge of global rugby, promising to tear up the sport's old order and tap into new markets.

Analyst Alex de Waal looks at how the US president-elect could deal with conflicts on the continent.

Fixing LED lights under surfboards could stop great white sharks from attacking, Australian scientists find.

Nations across the continent are eager to promote themselves as destinations for the curious visitor.

Eight teams are already assured of a place at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco - but who will fill the remaining 16 spots at the finals?

Navin Ramgoolam, 77, is appointed prime minister and begins his third stint in the job.

They are accused of hate speech as rights groups say the law is being used to restrict freedoms.

Dawit Isaak has been held without trial in an Eritrean prison for 23 years.

In an echo of the US, the current vice-president is up against an ex-president in the 7 December vote.

Hundreds of sex tapes featuring Baltazar Ebang Engonga, the nephew of Equatorial Guinea’s president, have flooded social media. Many of the women seen in the tapes are the wives and relatives of people close to the centre of power.

The scandal has shone an unflattering spotlight on the central African country, which is sometimes called “The North Korea of Africa”. Its President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been in power for more than four decades and controls the majority of the country’s radio and television outlets, which are heavily censored. Following the sex tape leak, “Equatorial Guinea” was the top trending term in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa - even surpassing interest in the US election at times.

BBC Monitoring journalist Ines Silva gives explains how the scandal unfolded. And activist and human rights advocate Nsang Christia Esimi Cruz discusses how the government could use the controversy to crack down on social media use in the country.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: William Lee Adams and Benita Barden Editor: Verity Wilde

Martha Koome says the recent allegations of corruption within the judiciary are based on misogyny.