Image source, Reuters

Three children have drowned in a flooded illegal mine in South Africa's northern Limpopo province, police say.

The parents of the three boys, aged between seven and nine, began looking for them when they failed to return home on Sunday evening, police spokesman Captain Mamphaswa Seabi was quoted by the local News24 site, external as saying.

"They searched the area and proceeded to the illegal mine hole which was filled with water due to the recent rains that fell in the area.

"On arrival, they were met by the sight of their children's clothes next to the 'dam' and started anticipating that the worst might have happened," Mr Seabi said.

The distraught parents contacted police, and the bodies of the children were later retrieved from the site , he added.

Elias Hordofa
BBC Afaan Oromoo

The deaths of 28 hippos at a game park in Ethiopia is suspected to have been caused by an anthrax outbreak or toxic algae, the director of the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority has told BBC Afaan Oromoo.

Kumera Wakjira added that he had never seen wildlife die on a such a huge scale in Ethiopia.

Photos on social media show dead hippos in a river at the Gibe Sheleko National Park, which opened in 2011.

See earlier post

Image source, Reuters

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's spokesman has hit back at a Catholic bishop who accused him of "sleeping on duty as the commander-in-chief".

During an Easter address, the Bishop of Yola Diocese, Stephen Mamza, criticised Mr Buhari's government for allegedly failing to stop the rising wave of violence, including abductions and banditry.

“We are really in a dilemma. We [Nigerians] are feeling that we don’t have protection. From all indications, there is nothing being done. There have been calls from all over the country. Look at what is happening in Zamfara State; look at what is happening in Benue periodically, in Nasarawa State and now in Adamawa," he said.

Mr Buhari's spokesman Garba Shehu said the bishop had broken with the tradition of staying above party politics.

“Sadly, one of the realities of today’s Nigeria is that it easy to blame President Buhari for the violence all around us. Community leaders are too scared to blame the warlords and the sponsors of killings we live with because they fear for their own lives," he added.

Read: Buhari in profile

Six Kenyan women bikers, known as The Throttle Queens, have been riding across East Africa to raise awareness about road safety.

Road accidents in the region are a serious problem, claiming scores of lives every year.

Pot-holed and narrow urban roads are as dangerous as the highways on which most drivers break all the traffic rules.

Thankfully, the bikers have made it safely to Rwanda, the last country on their itinerary.

So what was the journey like? Njeri Mwangi, is one of them and BBC Newsday's Shaimaa Khalil spoke to her:

Malawi is due to spearhead a large-scale trial of what has been termed the world's first malaria vaccine to give partial protection to children.

The RTS,S vaccine trains the immune system to attack the malaria parasite that is spread buy mosquito bites.

Smaller trials earlier showed that nearly 40% of the 5-to-17-months-olds who received it were protected, external.

BBC Newsday's Lawrence Pollard spoke to Dr David Schellenberg, who has been working on the development of the vaccine with the World Health Organization in Geneva:

Ugandan pop star turned opposition lawmaker Bobi Wine has condemned his brief arrest on Monday, saying he was treated "like a terrorist" but he will not intimidated from continuing his "war" against President Yoweri Museveni's "dictatorship".

Policemen with batons and riot shields forced Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, out of his car as he was making his way to a concert at a venue south of the capital, Kampala.

They also fired tear gas to disperse his fans.

A police spokesman for Kampala, Patrick Onyango, told AFP news agency that Bobi Wine was apprehended because police wanted to "talk to him... so that he and his team learn to respect the law".

Bobi Wine, seen as a potential challenger to Uganda's long-serving ruler in the next election, was later driven home, Mr Onyango added.

Addressing his supporters, Bobi Wine said: "I was arrested like a terrorist. They broke my hand and pushed me in a vehicle. Stand firm, we are winning this war. Each day that passes helps our resolve to end dictatorship."

A video of his arrest was put up on his Twitter account:

Read: The pop star seeking 'people power'

Image source, Getty Images

About 28 hippos have been found dead at the Gibe Sheleko National Park in south-western Ethiopia, a park official has said.

The animals died between 14 April and 21 April, external, park head Behirwa Mega told the state-linked Fana Broadcasting Corporate.

The cause of the deaths is still being investigated.

In 2017, about 100 hippos died following an anthrax outbreak at the Bwabwata National Park in Namibia.

And an anthrax outbreak caused the deaths of a least 10 buffaloes about two weeks ago at Kenya's Lake Nakuru National Park.

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