Two teachers have been killed in Burkina Faso after being kidnapped, the ministry of education has confirmed.

They were kidnapped on 11 March and buried on Tuesday.

The goal of the kidnappers was to scare the teachers into abandoning their posts in the region, according to a government source.

Both teachers were working in the town of Djibo, where teachers are regularly threatened.

In three areas affected by an upsurge in violence by Islamist militant groups in Burkina Faso, 1,111 out of 2,869 schools have closed in recent months.

These regions are in the north of the country that borders Mali and Niger where jihadist militants have operated for several years.

Schools have been targeted by the groups, who are opposed to Western education.

Read more: The country where it is too dangerous to go to school

Njie Enow
Yaounde, Cameroon

Image source, _

The coach of a Cameroonian first division football club, who was kidnapped on Tuesday, has been released.

A club official confirmed that coach Emmanuel Ndoumbe Bosso, who was abducted while driving to the Yong Sports Academy in Bamenda to supervise training sessions, is now with his family.

“There wasn’t any ransom paid and we don’t know why he was kidnapped. We believe pressure from the fans and the media played a huge role in our coach getting released,” said Yong Sports spokesperson Wanchia Cynthia.

Bamenda is in one of two English-speaking regions where secessionists have been fighting government forces for three years over what they say is discrimination against Anglophone citizens.

Read more on the BBC Sport website.

Habtom Weldeyowhannes
BBC Tigrinya

Image source, Yemane Gebremesekel/Twitter

An Eritrean sister and brother will compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for the first time after their stunning victories in Africa's premiere cycling championship.

Both Mosana Debesay and Mekseb Debesay won gold medals in the elite road race category at the annual African Continental Road Championships, which ended in neighbouring Ethiopia's Bahir Dar city on Tuesday.

Their younger brother, Yacob Debesay, also took part in the tournament, winning gold with his team-mates in the mixed relay and team trial time categories.

But Mosana Debesay's success was particularly historic - it opens the way for her to become the first woman to represent Eritrea in cycling at the Olympics.

Image source, Yemane Gebremesekel/Twitter

At the championship, Eritrea retained its reputation of dominating cycling in Africa, scooping the most medals - seven gold, eight silver and four bronze.

Ethiopia - its main rival - came second, with seven gold, five silver and two bronze.

A total of 14 countries took part in the championship, with South Africa, Rwanda, Algeria and Burkina Faso being the only other nations to win medals.

If you know Tigrinya, you can read more about Eritea's triumph on the BBC Tigrinya website.

BBC World Service

Image source, EPA

Zimbabwe says it's struggling to cope with the full impact of Cyclone Idai which has left thousands of people homeless in the east of the country.

The Minister of Defence, Oppah Muchinguri, has admitted the government failed to anticipate the magnitude of the Cyclone which also smashed into Malawi and Mozambique.

Medicines are reportedly running out and resources are stretched to breaking point, with rescuers in a race against time to reach survivors.

About 100 people are known to have died in Zimbabwe, while in Mozambique, the death toll stands at more than 200.

The UN says the storm has unleashed a humanitarian disaster across the three countries with more than 2.5 million people affected.

Tomi Oladipo
BBC Africa security correspondent

Image source, AFP

The rights group Amnesty International says US air strikes in Somalia have killed civilians in violation of international humanitarian law - an allegation the US denies.

Amnesty says, in a report, external, that in just five air strikes that it studied, 14 civilians were killed and seven more injured.

Under the presidency of Donald Trump the US air campaign targeting al-Shabab militants has intensified.

In 2018, the US conducted at least 47 air strikes in Somalia.

So far this year, its tally is more than half of that number. With each announcement, its Africa Command - or Africom - insists that there were no civilian casualties recorded.

But Amnesty says it has gathered photographic and eyewitness accounts that prove otherwise.

Among these was an air strike in November 2017 in which Africom says it killed several militants.

Amnesty’s findings say three local farmers were the victims.

The rights group concludes that such cases might constitute war crimes.

It adds that the victims’ families and communities have no effective means of reporting these incidents.

The US has denied the accusations. A spokesperson recently told the BBC that Africom exercises restraint to reduce the likelihood of civilian casualties.

Despite the increased air strikes, al-Shabab still controls large rural parts of central and southern Somalia.

Police in Kenya say they have arrested six people after seizing fake currency worth more than $20m (£15m) from a branch of Barclays Bank in the capital, Nairobi.

"The fake notes in 100 dollar denominations were recovered from the bank’s safe room," the Directorate of Criminal Investigations added in a tweet on its official account.

It also posted a picture of a safe box with cash:

Image source, DCI Kenya/Twitter

Among the six arrested on Tuesday were the alleged owner of the box, a "fake investor" and two bank officials, the DCI added.

In a statement, Barclays said a customer who held a personal safe deposit box at its Queensway branch had been "intercepted by police at the branch".

The customer had "concealed fake currency in his personal safe deposit box against bank rules and regulations", Barclays said, adding that it was cooperating with investigations.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.

Welcome back to BBC Africa Live where we will bring you the latest news from around the continent.

BBC Africa Live
Natasha Booty

That's all from BBC Africa Live for now. You can keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website.

A reminder of our wise words:

Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.

We leave you with this fashion shot taken by Gabonese photographer Yannis Davy Guibinga:

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Beira

Residents of Beira are trying to rebuild after Cyclone Idai ripped through the large Mozambican port city a few days ago - knocking down houses, churches and power lines.

Most of city has been damaged, and it remains cut off from the rest of the country.

Almost a fifth of the population is feared missing, and search-and-rescue operations continue across the region.

Image source, AFP

Firestone Natural Rubber Company, one of Liberia’s largest employers, says it will make 800 workers redundant.

It blames the “difficult decision” on the global fall in price of the commodity. It also says Liberia’s past “prolonged civil wars” and “high overhead costs” played a role.

Reuters news agency says Firestone’s parent company, Bridgestone Americas, signed a 99-year contract with the Liberian government in 1926.

Its plantation covers almost 200 sq miles, east of the capital, Monrovia, the agency reports.

Firestone has been accused of funding ex-warlord Charles Taylor between 1989 and 1992, external, through alleged "secret dealings" that allowed the company to stay in operation.

Firestone denies the allegations.

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The Islamist group al-Shabab has seized a military base in southern Somalia, which was until recently occupied by Kenyan troops.

Kenyan forces serving with the African Union force in Somalia have also withdrawn from another base in the area, near the Kenyan border.

Somali forces have also been leaving military bases in southern Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, saying they have not been receiving pay or rations.

The Somali prime minister, Hassan Khayre, said soldiers were being paid, but some were not on the payroll.

Al-Shabab continues to occupy large parts of southern and central Somalia, despite an intensification of US airstrikes.

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Nigeria's minister of education has warned that parents who refuse to send their children to school will be prosecuted.

Adamu Adamu said criminalising parents would help reduce the number of children not in education.

Many parents complain they lack the money to send their children school and instead send them onto the streets and into markets to hawk items.

The BBC's Jimeh Saleh says failure in the education system in recent years is due to a lack of government funding.

The United Nations children's agency, Unicef, says Nigeria is one of the world's worst countries for out-of-school children.

About 10.5 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years are not in school, and only 61% of 6 to 11-year-olds regularly attend primary school, the body says.

Unicef estimates that 60% of Nigerian children not attending school live in the north of the country, parts of which have been wracked by Islamist insurgency.

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi - who is yet to start a Premier League game - says he is "shocked" to have received his first England call-up.

It means the 18-year-old Londoner cannot now play for his parents' country of origin, Ghana, which he would have been eligible to represent.

Hudson-Odoi was brought into the England squad on Monday for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro.

He has played 19 games for Chelsea this season, scoring five times.

"It's been a crazy experience but I'm delighted," Hudson-Odoi said. "I thought the manager was joking."

He was with England's Under-21 squad, having received his first call-up at that level last week, when he was told he was being promoted to the senior squad by U21 manager Aidy Boothroyd.

Read the full story here.

Ashagre Hailu
BBC News Amharic, Editor

Unidentified gunmen have killed five people in the western town of Negjo, in Ethiopia's Oromia region, local government officials say.

They say the attack happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Two foreign nationals are among the victims of the attack, according to Oromia region's office of communication. But their nationalities have not yet been disclosed.

Local officials say they will release more information about the attack and the victims' identities at a later stage.

Peter Mwai
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Popular Kenyan televangelist James Ng'ang'a has been charged with threatening a TV journalist and incitement to violence.

The pastor denied the charges.

Mr Ng'ang'a was charged with threatening Linus Kaikai who works for the Royal Media Services which owns Citizen TV - one of the leading television stations in Kenya.

In a TV programme, the journalist had criticised religious leaders who exploit their followers.

Following this, a video was posted on social media of Mr Ng'ang'a which, the prosecution argued, implied that death would be desirable.

Local media reports in Cameroon say the head coach of a top football club has been seized in Bamenda by unknown kidnappers.

Emmanuel Ndoumbe Bosso is beloved of fans of Yong Sports Academy, having led the Bamenda-based team to victory in 2013's Cameroon Cup.

The city is in the restive Anglophone region where separatists have been leading an increasingly violent campaign to break away from the French-speaking majority.

You may also be interested in:

• Cameroon's Anglophone rebels
• Anatomy of a killing: Finding the soldiers who killed this woman
• Burning Cameroon: Images you're not meant to see
• More about Cameroon

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The United Nations says the storm that has just ravaged parts of southern Africa is possibly the worst weather-related disaster ever to hit the southern hemisphere.

Around 1.7 million people were in the direct path of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique. More than 900,000 were affected in Malawi.

UN officials said storm-surge floods up to six metres deep had caused incredible devastation over a huge area.

Aid workers fear the town of Buzi could be submerged completely in the coming hours as floodwaters continue to rise.

The storm also caused widespread damage in eastern Zimbabwe where nearly 100 people have died, and in Malawi.

Image source, AFP

Image source, The Daily Show

Comedian Trevor Noah, who hosts the satirical Daily Show in the US, has talked of his surprise at being invited to meet South Africa's president earlier this month.

"He was just very cool," the TV host has said since. "Just out of nowhere he was like: 'Trevor, what are you doing now?'"

President Cyril Ramaphosa then introduced him to parliament, calling the experience "one of the most surreal moments".

The comedian says Mr Ramaphosa had several jokes of his own, too. Watch the full clip:

BBC World Service

Algeria's new deputy prime minister says President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will hand over power to an elected president.

Speaking at talks in Moscow, Ramatane Lamamra said the opposition would be allowed to join the cabinet to oversee a presidential election.

Russia has warned against foreign interference in Algeria, which has been rocked by nearly a month of protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika seeking re-election.

Friday's protest in Algiers was the biggest in memory, the BBC's Mohamed Arezki Himeur in Algiers said. Families and people of all ages packed out the capital's boulevards.

Mr Bouteflika, who's been in office since 1999, has abandoned his bid for a fifth term in office and postponed next month's election.

He said a national conference would decide on political reforms and pave the way for a new president. But protesters want the ailing president to step down immediately.

You may also be interested in:

• BBC updates on events in Algeria

• Algeria country profile