Image source, KWS

Kenya’s wildlife authorities say they have had to intervene, external to save some wild animals affected by a prolonged drought in parks and other areas in the country.

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) says it has been drilling boreholes and filling water pans after water sources, including seasonal rivers, dried up.

It has also been providing wild animals with food supplements such as hay in some parks.

Veterinary doctors have been moving around the parks to identify sick and weak animals to treat them, as well as conducting post-mortem on carcasses, KWS says.

It however says that the “significant rainfall” in Kenya over the last few days will be a relief for many herbivores that have been affected by lack of water and foliage.

For months now, wild animals have been dying in their hundreds and herders have reported many losses of their livestock from the biting drought that has hit countries across East Africa and Horn of Africa states.

The UN’s World Food Programme on Tuesday said parts of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya have been experiencing the driest season in 40years.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

At least five people have been killed and 19 others seriously injured in a blast in Taraba state in north-east Nigeria.

The explosion on Tuesday evening occurred at a bar in Iware, a busy commercial centre near the state capital, Jalingo.

Police spokesman Abdullahi Usman said one suspected attacker had died, but it wasn't clear whether he was a suicide bomber.

Eyewitnesses said the explosive was inside a bag that was hidden at the bar.

Iware is a major market town where traders from different parts of the country buy and sell livestock and foodstuffs.

In 2012, three suicide bombers on motorcycles rammed the convoy of a local police chief. At least 11 people including the attackers died in the blast, which was blamed on Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Taraba state borders Adamawa state in the north-east and neighbouring Cameroon. It had previously been spared the insurgency plaguing Nigeria’s north-east.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

A Nigerian military helicopter has crashed in the northern city of Kaduna.

Military sources say two pilots were on board the training aircraft when it came down on Tuesday evening.

The cause of the crash and the fate of the pilots are still unclear.

Kaduna state is considered the epicentre of attacks by armed gangs that have killed hundreds of people and forced thousands to flee their homes.

Kidnapping for ransom has also become commonplace across the state.

In the past year, at least four Nigerian military aircraft have been involved in deadly crashes, including one that killed the country’s army chief and a dozen other soldiers.

The authorities have not made public details of investigations into previous accidents.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

A female athlete has been found murdered in Iten - the Kenyan town where the Olympic runner, Agnes Tirop, was killed six months ago - police say.

Damaris Muthee Mutua, who was born in Kenya but had Bahraini citizenship, was 28.

They are searching for her boyfriend, an Ethiopian athlete who police say is a key suspect.

Iten is home to a training base for long-distance runners.

Tirop's killing there last October shocked the country. Her husband remains in custody and denies murder.

Correction 22 April 2022: We have removed an erroneous reference to Mutua being stabbed to death. An autopsy found she was strangled

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Coco shares her experience of living with albinism in Nigeria.

The government says plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda will deter the work of people smugglers.

Mohamed Salah's Egypt face a difficult path to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, while holders Senegal also discover their qualifying opponents.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team, but we'll be back on Wednesday morning.

Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our African proverb of the day:

And we leave you with a photo, from the Easter weekend, of women from the Legio Maria of African Church Mission holding candles while praying in Nairobi, Kenya:

Image source, AFP

The Russian embassy in Ethiopia has responded, after dozens of young men gathered outside its compound in Addis Ababa this week saying they wanted to help in the Ukraine war effort.

There had been rumours of soldiers being recruited.

"We would like to inform that the embassy does not accept any applications for recruitment in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation," a statement posted on Twitter said.

The embassy did however express gratitude to the Ethiopian government for "the support extended to the Russian Federation at the United Nations during voting on Ukraine-related resolutions".

Ethiopia was among countries that missed a UN session to vote on a resolution on the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Some 17 African countries abstained in the vote.

Image source, AFP

Two Nigerian universities are fighting over Afrobeats star, Rema, as both want him to attend their institutions.

It comes after the 21-year-old, whose real name is Divine Ikubor, tweeted that he has not started university yet because of an ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over how teaching staff are paid.

The strike started in February.

Bowen University, which is private and unaffected by the strike, tweeted: "ASUU can’t delay you if you’re enrolled in Bowen University.", external

Rema then alerted the prestigious University of Lagos, locally known as Unilag, saying that he has other offers, to which they jokingly replied that they had given him admission and he should not let anyone change his mind. They also told him to "calm down", referencing once of his songs.

Rema has since started a Twitter poll asking fans which university they think he should attend.

Rema currently has five songs in Nigerian Apple Music's top 40, and is well known for his hit track Dumebi, which has more than 59 million Spotify streams.

Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC News, Monrovia

Liberia's President George Weah has ordered a second post-mortem on the body of a 25-year-old woman, Princess Cooper, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances in eastern Monrovia in March.

Ms Cooper's body was reportedly located near the property of a wealthy businessman.

Princess’s death sparked street protests last week with people furious over the government's alleged delay in investigating.

But police have insisted they are looking into the case properly.

The president’s intervention comes after the girl’s family rejected outright the outcome of an examination conducted by a team of newly trained state pathologists, who reported she had died of tuberculosis-related natural causes.

Under public pressure, President Weah instructed the justice minister to work with the family in identifying pathologists of their choice to conduct a second autopsy.

There has been growing insecurity in Liberia, with reports on social media about the disappearances of citizens.

Last year President Weah asked citizens to protect themselves by installing CCTV cameras at home, in a country where electricity is almost non-existent.

Image source, Getty Images

Nigerian film fans have taken to social media to congratulate Nollywood icon, Rita Dominic, on her wedding day.

Pictures have been posted on Instagram showing the bride in traditional Igbo clothing ahead of the ceremony.

Dominic, 46, is a veteran of the Nigerian film industry and has starred in countless movies.

Her husband, Fidelis Anosike, is a publisher, according to local media.

The wedding is taking place in the south-eastern Imo state, according to Nigeria's Vanguard news website, external, and is being attended by several of her famous colleagues like Joke Silva, Uche Jombo, Kate Henshaw, and Ini Edo, the site reports.

Online fans had warm words.

"Congratulations Rita Dominic. My childhood was fun with you on my everyday screens. May God bless your union", one person wrote., external

"It's never too late to find love", another person wrote. , external

The Bishop of Chelmsford referenced her own experiences as a refugee in her letter to Priti Patel.

Student Adewale made his dream of owning a motorbike a reality after converting his own bicycle.

Yvette Cooper says the plan to send asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda is a distraction from partygate.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, EPA

Victims of a rubbish tip landslide in Mozambique's capital Maputo in 2019 have been protesting in front of the city council headquarters to demand that the authorities pay the rent for their temporary housing, as they await promised new homes.

Residents say they have not received their allowance for four months, putting them at risk of eviction during the rainy season.

The government had promised to pay the victims’ rent until their permanent homes, which are under construction, are completed.

The landslide at the Hulene garbage dump, about 6.2 miles (10km) from Maputo city, crushed homes and killed at least 17 people.

Less than 50 of the about 300 families affected have so far been re-housed.

The home secretary praises the UK government's record in helping people fleeing persecution and conflict.

People have taken to social media to mourn Karen, Aphour, a former Ghanaian civil servant, who died in the US after getting into a fight with her brother over household chores.

Police in Evanston in the state of Illinois have charged Ms Aphour's 26-year-old brother with first degree murder.

Prosecutors say , externalhe admitted to stabbing his 30-year-old sister after they got into a dispute over "routine household chores".

"Rest well my dear Karen Aphour. We are really going to miss you," Sanusi Uthman wrote on Facebook., external

Ms Aphour was a graduate student at Illinois' Northwestern University, according to her Linkedin.

She previously worked as an administrative assistant at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana.

The authorities issue a warning after a video alleged to involve schoolchildren goes viral.