Image source, Getty Images

Ending famine required ending fighting.

That's the conclusion of Alex de Waal's article in the New York Times asking why there was not a famine in Ethiopia during the recent drought even though it was the worst in three decades.

The executive director of the World Peace Foundation visited the country both last month and during the infamous 1984 famine.

He was pleasantly surprised in last month's visit:

This was in stark contrast to his visit in 1984. And he is confident what was behind the difference - there is no civil war:

Read the editorial in the New York Times, external.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

The latest racism row in South Africa, involving a white judge, has raised many uncomfortable questions - top of the list being how many other judges harbour such prejudiced views, despite the fact that they are supposed to see all people as equal before the law.

Many South Africans on social media are calling for her to be sacked, and legal experts say her comments could open the way for convicted black people to appeal against her rulings.

Racism on social media is becoming a common feature in South Africa, and some analysts say the time for a frank conversation tackle the problem has come.

The rainbow nation, formed in 1994 to signal the end of racial conflict, seems to be coming apart at the seams. 

Can it be rebuilt or will the situation get worse?

Image source, ENCA

Read more on the BBC Online story.

In Rwanda, the funerals are already taking place for some of those who died in the weekend's landslides caused by heavy rains, the BBC's Yves Bucyana reports.

Fifty-three people were killed in all, with 34 dying in one incident in Gakenke, north of the capital, Kigali.

Work is under way to clear roads that were submerged in mud by the landslides.

Sarah Keith-Lucas
Broadcast Meteorologist, BBC Weather

Many parts of East Africa, including Kenya, are experiencing their wettest time of year in April and May as the inter-tropical rain-belt moves north across the region.  

These rains are known as the ‘long rains’ and often leading to seasonal flooding.

The duration and intensity of these rainfall events can be influenced by several interactions between the oceans and the atmosphere.  

One of these such interactions is El Nino, which has been particularly strong over the past six months and can be linked with heavier rainfall in East Africa.  

Another, ocean-atmosphere interaction that has an impact on rainfall amounts in the region is something known as the Madden Julian Oscillation, external (MJO).

Over the past few weeks, we have seen a strengthening in the MJO in the Indian Ocean, which in turn has led to an enhancement in the rainfall across East Africa.

Abdinoor Aden
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Kenya's opposition supporters and their leaders, led by former prime minister Raila Odinga, are marching to the electoral commission's headquarters.

They have vowed to maintain their protests until senior officials including the chairman step down before the next general elections, expected in August 2017.

We reported in our 10:54 post that police riot vans had come out in force in anticipation to the protests.

Poaching in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga national park has turned into a war in which heavily armed militia target gorillas.   

The Chief Warden told BBC Newsday what this means for his rangers:

"On average, we’ve tragically lost one of our staff, per month, in the past few years.” 

Listen to Emmanuel de Merode's full interview:

South Africa's unemployment rate has hit 26.7% - it's highest level since the current survey began in 2008, the Reuters news agency reports.

The government Twitter account has been tweeting some of the figures:

The economy shed 355,000 jobs in the first quarter of this year, Business Day newspaper reports, external.

South Africa's economy is struggling to grow and the IMF is predicting that GDP will increase by 0.6% this year.

A six-storey extension to a shopping centre has collapsed in the Kenyan city of Mombasa. 

Kenya's Red Cross has tweeted the details:

The BBC's Ferdinand Ormondi has taken these pictures of the collapse:

But he shows the front of the building - called the Nyali Centre - has not been affected:

This comes after another building collapsed at the end of last month in the capital, Nairobi, and killed at least 42 people.

While we don't know the reason for these buildings collapsing yet, a civil engineer who has studied collapsing buildings told us a few common reasons.

One reason is that cheaper concrete appropriate for a one-storey structure is used on much heavier buildings.

Read why buildings collapse on the BBC News website.

Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC Africa, Monrovia

Police in Liberia have dispatched a team to the western coastal city of Robertsport to investigate the presence of a ship that was beached and abandoned in the city more than a week ago.

Police spokesman Sam Collins says their team have already reached the abandoned vessel, Tamaya 1, but the circumstances of the abandonment are still being investigated.

Local people are quoted in the media as saying the entire crew jumped off the vessel and sped away in a smaller boat.

Image source, Preston Veteran Gayflor

Police riot vans have been getting ready for planned protests demanding members of Kenya's electoral body are sacked:

The opposition and a section of religious leaders want commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) out of office before 2017 polls on allegations that some officials are linked to corruption. The electoral body denies this claims. 

Almost a fortnight ago, similar protests were violently dispersed by anti-riot police in Nairobi. 

Thomas Fessy
BBC News, Dakar

Authorities in Mali say they have arrested a man suspected to be linked to a number of jihadi attacks in the country and neighbouring Burkina Faso. 

Yacouba Toure is suspected to be one of the main commanders within the southern branch of Ansar Dine, one of the Islamist militant groups linked to al-Qaeda that controlled the northern part of the country for ten months between 2012 and 2013.  

Mr Toure is also alleged to be one of the main suppliers of weapons to extremists in southern Mali. 

The authorities say the man was living in a neighbourhood near the airport of the capital, Bamako.

Image source, Reuters

Today, people are discussing year-old comments from a white South African judge, which have just resurfaced, talking about rape and black people.

And 2016 seems to be the year of social media racism rows:

• January - a white South African woman describes black new year's eve revellers as "monkeys" on Facebook
• April - a Facebook post by a black activist, external of a message he left for a white waitress saying: 'We will give tip when you return the land'
• April - retired cricketer Jacques Kallis said on Twitter, external that he was embarrassed to be South African after the sports minister complains of a lack of transformation in cricket

Image source, AFP

Landslides caused by heavy rains killed at least 49 people in Rwanda over the weekend, the Reuters news agency reports the government as saying. 

Downpours brought down 500 homes from Saturday night into Sunday morning, officials added. 

The rainy season has been heavier than normal this year across East Africa.

At the end of last month a building collapsed after heavy rain in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, and killed at least 42 people.

The Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) has announced the death of Jeanine Christelle Djomnang on Sunday.

The 26-year-old goalkeeper collapsed during her warm-up before a Femina Stars Ebolowa match in southern Cameroon, and was rushed to hospital.

Fecafoot says initial reports suggest she died of a heart attack but it is now awaiting formal medical report.

The news comes less than 48 hours after the death of Cameroon international Patrick Ekeng in Romania.

Djomnang complained of chest pains as she prepared to take on Louves Minproff Yaounde in the Cameroon elite league and died on her way to hospital.

Read more from BBC Sport.

Image source, AFP

A highly-anticipated trial set to begin today in Tanzania for a woman accused of smuggling 706 tusks worth $2m (£1.6m) has been postponed.

The case, about an alleged ivory smuggling network, involved a prominent Chinese businesswoman, Yang Feng Glan, who has been nicknamed the Ivory Queen.

According to the court records, Ms Yang managed a criminal racket that killed elephants in protected game areas and then collected the tusks to be exported and sold in the Asian markets.

Her lawyer says he denies all charges.

Her court case has been delayed until 23 May. The prosecutors said the file is still with the director of public prosecution.

#MabelJansen is the top Twitter trend in South Africa according to Trends24, external as people discuss what Judge Mabel Jansen said about rape and black people.

Image source, Trends24

In a public discussion on Facebook she appears to suggest that rape is part of black culture (see 09:03 post).

In a private conversation on Facebook messenger, which has been circulated, she goes further.

Judge Jansen says her comments have been taken out of context, but many South Africans on Twitter have been quick to express their outrage.

A white South African judge is at the centre of a racism row over comments she made on Facebook.

The comments about the incidence of rape amongst black South Africans were made by Mabel Jansen in a Facebook discussion last year started by Gillian Schutte.

The judge said:

Business Day, external newspaper reports that Ms Schutte says she is now publicising the remarks because of the recent condemnation of comments made by a black activist to a white waitress.

The judge says that her comments have been taken out of context and "referred to specific court cases", Business Day adds.

Image source, Reuters

A suicide car bomb at the traffic police headquarters in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, has killed at least two officers on Monday, Somali police said.

The Somali Islamist militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility. 

One militant drove a car loaded with explosives and another tried to storm the police headquarters but was shot dead, Abdifatah Omar Halane, spokesman for the Mogadishu city administration told AFP news agency.

Al-Shabab frequently attacks military and civilian targets in its campaign to topple Somalia's government. 

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