Mozambique presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane (C) looks on after returning from exile in Maputo, Mozambique, 09 January 2025. Mondlane has been outside the country since late October due to the disputed general election, which the opposition claims was rigged and led to protests. (Photo by Luisa Nhantumbo/EPA)





Supporters of Mozambique's main opposition leader Venancio Mondlane celebrate in Maputo on January 9, 2025, following the return of Mandlane to Mozambique. Mozambique's main opposition leader returned from more than two months in exile on January 9, 2025 saying he was ready to take part in talks over disputed election results that have led to weeks of deadly protests Mondlane, who claims the October 9 election was stolen from him, arrived at Maputo's main airport from an unknown location and was greeted by a large crowd of journalists He had called on his supporters to meet him on arrival but security forces restricted access to the airport. (Photo by Alfredo Zuniga/AFP Photo)





A Kokou initiate, a warrior god in the traditional religion of Benin, dances in the sacred forest in Ouidah, on January 9, 2025 during the first day of the Voodoo Festival. (Photo by Olympia de Maismont/AFP Photo)





A devotee pours powder on participants as they take part in the annual celebration of the Voodoo festival in Ouidah, Benin on January 9, 2025. (Photo by Charles Placide Tossou/Reuters)





Devotees perform as they take part in the annual celebration of the Voodoo festival in Porto-Novo, Benin on January 9, 2025. (Photo by Charles Placide Tossou/Reuters)





Devotees take part in the annual celebration of the Voodoo festival in Porto-Novo, Benin on January 9, 2025. (Photo by Charles Placide Tossou/Reuters)





Residents ride a tuk-tuk taxi along a road damaged by multiple earthquakes near the town of Kabanna, on January 12, 2025. Evacuations and displacement are underway in Ethiopia after a series of earthquakes rocked the remote north of the Horn of Africa nation. The earthquakes have damaged houses and threatened to trigger a volcanic eruption of the previously dormant Mount Dofan, near Segento in the northeast Afar region. (Photo by Amanuel Sileshi/AFP Photo)





Berber women and girls wearing traditional clothes attend a celebration on the occasion of the celebration of the Amazigh New Year 2975, in Rabat, Morocco, 14 January 2025. Amazighs are an ethnic group belonging to the Berber tribes. (Photo by Jalal Morchidi/EPA)





Supporters of opposition member Venancio Mondlane protest during the inauguration of the ruling Frelimo party's leader Daniel Chapo as Mozambique's newly elected President in Maputo, Mozambique on January 15, 2025. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)





Slum dwellers study by candlelight at their makeshift tents in Mathare, the second informal settlements in Kenya, Nairobi on January 15, 2025. In Kenya, an East African nation, over half the population resides in makeshift shelters. In Nairobi, the country's capital, the Mathare slum houses hundreds of thousands of people. Many children are forced to study at home due to financial challenges, including inadequate schools, poor infrastructure, and a lack of educational supplies. Without access to electricity or proper lighting, residents endure evenings in dimly lit tin homes. Despite these harsh conditions, children in Mathare strive to continue their education, often studying by candlelight. (Photo by Gerald Anderson/Anadolu via Getty Images)





Workers from Mines Rescue Services operate the mechanical cage that was used for rescue operations at the mine shaft, where rescue operations are now completed, as authorities say that no miners remain below ground after attempts were made to rescue illegal miners who have been underground for months, in Stilfontein, South Africa, on January 16, 2025. (Photo by Ihsaan Haffejee/Reuters)





Two Ethiopian Orthodox deacons look on as worshippers gather to pray during the celebration of the Ethiopian Orthodox Epiphany in Addis Ababa on January 19, 2025. Timkat is the celebration of Ethiopian Epiphany, one of the most important festivals in the Ethiopian Orthodox calendar. It commemorates the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River. (Photo by Amanuel Sileshi/AFP Photo)





Ethiopian Orthodox faithful blow traditional trumpets during the annual Epiphany celebration called “Timket” to commemorate Jesus Christ's baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, in Batu, Ethiopia, on January 19, 2025. (Photo by Tiksa Negeri/Reuters)





Congolese displaced fleeing the area of Minova board with their belongings boat leaving the port of Nzulo on January 21, 2025 to seek shelter in Goma. The Congolese army said on Tuesday that M23 fighters had made a “breakthrough” in the east of the country after the armed group seized Minova, a trading hub that supplies the city of Goma. The fall of Minova to M23 fighters backed by the Rwandan army further encircles the regional capital Goma in a conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. (Photo by Jospin Mwisha/AFP Photo)





A man, one of the last to evacuates Nzulo, struggles as he pushes his possessions on the back of his bicycle as he leaves the area, near Nzulo, on January 22, 2025. The M23 group which is fighting the Congolese army in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on January 21, 2025 seized Minova, a trading hub that supplies the city of Goma, security and local sources told AFP. Fighting is now taking place on several fronts around Goma and hundreds of thousands of people are displaced around the outskirts of the city, raising fears again about the city's fate. (Photo by Jospin Mwisha/AFP Photo)





A health worker attends to a newly-admitted patient with a suspected bullet wound at the CBCA Ndosho hospital following the intensification of fighting between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), in the town of Sake, near Goma, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Arlette Bashizi/Reuters)





People displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels make their way to the center of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sunday, January 26, 2025. (Photo by Moses Sawasawa/AP Photo)





A woman carries a mattress and other belongings on her head as she flees from Kibati, where fighting has intensified, towards the city of Goma on January 26, 2025. The M23 armed group has seized further territory in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and on Sunday was continuing to tighten its grip on provincial capital Goma, which is almost surrounded by fighting. (Photo by Jospin Mwisha/AFP Photo)





A Rwandan soldier inspects the weapons taken from surrendering members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) after crossing the border from Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to Gisenyi, Rwanda, 27 January 2025. Refugees have been crossing into Rwanda in search of safety as soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and M23 rebels continue to fight in the city of Goma. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has displaced 237,000 people in 2025. (Photo by Moise Niyonzima/EPA/EFE)





People who crossed from Congo wait for assistance in Gyseny, Rwanda, Tuesday, January 28, 2025, following M23 rebels' advances into eastern Congo's capital Goma. (Photo by Yuhi Irakiza/AP Photo)