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A plan to reintroduce rhino species to the Zinave National Park in southern Mozambique – which became extinct there 40 years ago - has been announced by the governments of Mozambique and South Africa.

The governments approved the reintroduction of more than 40 rhinos to a specially constructed high-security sanctuary within the 4,000 sq km (1,540 sq mile) park.

The rhinos will be translocated from South Africa over a period of one to two years.

The project to bring in the critically endangered black rhino and the near-threatened white rhino to the park is being spearheaded by the South African non-governmental organisation Peace Parks Foundation and the Exxaro Resources company, which is a coal and mining firm.

In 2002, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe entered into a treaty to establish the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, spanning over 100,000 sq km (3860 sq miles) and incorporating five national parks, including the iconic Kruger National Park.

Since 2016, a rewilding programme has reintroduced more than 2,300 animals representing 14 species – including buffalos, elephants and leopards - into the park.

The park was ravaged during the Mozambique civil war that ended in 1992 and subsequent poaching.

EPACopyright: EPA

Nigeria’s national emergency management agency, Nema, says mass burials are expected to take place Monday afternoon for dozens of victims of a huge explosion at an illegal oil refinery in the south-eastern state of Imo.

Head of operations of the agency in the region, Ifeanyi Nnaji, told the BBC that so far 110 people have been confirmed dead - including a pregnant woman.

About 70 others were wounded in the blast - some now in critical condition in hospitals.

Most of the victims including workers and people who had come to buy fuel were burnt beyond recognition.

Many families could not identify the bodies of their loved ones caught in the disaster.

The authorities say the mass burials are planned to take place near the scene.

The owner of the refinery has been declared wanted by the authorities.

It is still unclear what caused the explosion, which occurred on Friday night through Saturday morning in the Abaeze community of the Egbema area.

Read more:

• Nigeria in trauma after Imo refinery deaths - President Buhari

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The World Health Organization says it has identified more 100 people who came into contact with a new case of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It says they are being closely monitored for symptoms and vaccinations will start in the next few days.

Over the weekend the health authorities declared the third Ebola outbreak in Equateur Province since 2018.

A 31-year-old man who contracted the virus in the city of Mbandaka died.

DR Congo has experienced 14 outbreaks which have claimed thousands of lives.

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Togo's parliament has passed a resolution asking the government to make a formal bid for membership of the Commonwealth, a group of mainly former British colonies.

The country is already a member of the Economic Organisation of West African States (Ecowas) and the International Organisation of La Francophonie - a group of French-speaking countries that are mostly former French colonies.

"Togo is not leaving the Francophonie. It will only strengthen the English teaching programmes and reactivate other partnerships," the privately-owned Icilome news website quoted speaker of parliament Yawa Tsegan as saying.

The resolution, passed on Friday, asked the government to submit its application for Commonwealth membership at the bloc's next summit in Rwanda in June.

The West African nation embarked on the process of joining the Commonwealth in 2014.

Yoweri Museveni TwitterCopyright: Yoweri Museveni Twitter

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has held talks with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni in his first visit to the northern neighbour after tensions in 2019 led to border closures for three years.

A statement from State House Entebbe said the two leaders agreed to push for peace and stability in the region by addressing the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo through the East African Community bloc.

It said the pair held talks on Sunday.

Mr Museveni urged the regional bloc to address the insecurity in eastern DR Congo before the crisis there escalates.

Mr Kagame said it was important that all parties in the conflict are involved to solve the crisis once and for all.

Last week, Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, DR Congo and Rwanda agreed to deploy a regional force to fight rebel groups in the troubled region.

President Kagame was on a private visit to the country to attend a dinner in honour of Mr Museveni's son and commander of Uganda's land forces Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who celebrated his 48th birthday over the weekend.

Mr Museveni later tweeted photos of the dinner and thanked President Kagame for honouring the invitation "after years of not coming here".

AFPCopyright: AFP

The military in Mali says it has restored control at three bases in central Mali after they were simultaneously attacked by jihadists.

Six soldiers died and 11 enemy fighters were killed, according to a statement.

There has also been an attack in neighbouring Burkina Faso.

These four jihadist attacks show just how vulnerable the military forces are in the Sahel region.

As suicide bombers were driving cars packed with explosives into army bases in Mali's Mopti region, another jihadist group was killing soldiers and civilians across the border in the north of Burkina Faso.

In both countries soldiers seized power after accusing the elected governments of failing to deal with the jihadist threat.

The man now in charge of Burkina Faso - Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba - recently announced the setting up of local committees that are to try holding talks with the Islamist militants.

State House NairobiCopyright: State House Nairobi

Mourners are gathering at Kenya's parliament to view the body of the country's third post-independence President Mwai Kibaki, who died last week at the age of 90.

Mr Kibaki's casket, draped in the national flag, was earlier in the morning escorted by a military procession to parliament where it will lie in state from Monday to Wednesday.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is scheduled to preside over the public viewing at parliament.

Kenya's parliament which is currently on recess will have a special sitting on Wednesday to pay tribute to Mr Kibaki.

President Kenyatta declared a mourning period until Mr Kibaki's burial, with flags flying at half-mast.

The late president will be given a state funeral with full military honours.

Local broadcaster Citizen TV has tweeted footage of the casket's arrival in parliament:

Read more on Mwai Kibaki:

• Mwai Kibaki: The hope and disappointment
• Remembering Kenya's 2007-8 election violence

AFPCopyright: AFP

The United Nations has called for an investigation into the reported killing of at least 168 people in clashes in the Darfur region of Sudan.

The UN special representative Volker Perthes condemned the violence in Krink region of West Darfur, during which homes have been set on fire, hospitals attacked and goods looted.

Almost 100 more people were wounded in the violence, the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, an independent aid group, said.

Several non-governmental organisations said an individual dispute sparked the fighting between Arab nomads and members of the Massalit community in Krink.

There have been some reports that the Sudanese authorities deployed a notorious militia called the Rapid Support Forces, which was formerly known as the Janjaweed.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation and called for the injured and sick to be allowed to seek help.

The Janjaweed carried out widespread killings in the Darfur region two decades ago.

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The Kinshasa home of Congolese rumba legend Papa Wemba has been officially opened as a museum on the sixth anniversary of his death.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Culture Minster Catherine Kathungu said that people could come and listen to the music and see the photos and videos of the Congolese star as they toured the property.

The museum contains a variety of memorabilia like gold discs and ostentatious attire including top hats that the man known as the King of Rumba wore on stage.

The house - which is now owned by the government - will also host exhibitions and conferences and be home to a new recording studio, she added, according to a tweet from her ministry.

In 2016, Papa Wemba died at the age of 66 after collapsing during a concert in Ivory Coast.

Video from the performance showed him slumped on stage behind a group of dancers, before they rushed to his aid.

Born in 1949, Wemba, whose real name was Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba, began his singing career in religious choirs.

He helped modernise Congolese rumba music, with the genre that emerged - soukous - influencing music across Africa.

Last year, the UN's cultural organisation put rumba on its list of items of intangible cultural heritage.

Uganda JudiciaryCopyright: Uganda Judiciary

A Ugandan judge has survived a gun attack after his convoy was shot at on Saturday night, the authorities have said.

In a statement on Sunday, the judiciary said Judge Flavian Zeija and his team were not hurt during the shooting that took place at about 19:00 local time.

Judiciary spokesperson Jameson Karemani described the incident as an act of cowardice and said that the perpetrators would be brought to book.

The authorities have began an investigation into the shooting.

A number high profile individuals in Uganda have been targeted in recent years. Many of the cases remain unsolved.

In June last year, a minister survived an assassination attempt by gunmen on motorcycles in a Kampala suburb. His daughter and bodyguard were killed.

Others who have been shot dead under similar circumstances include a senior police officer, a chief prosecutor and an MP.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Suspected jihadists have carried out simultaneous attacks on three military bases in central Mali.

There are reports of the army fighting back after an explosion and gunfire were heard at the Sévaré base in the Mopti region.

The UN military force in Mali was asked to assist the army.

The number of casualties is not yet clear.

Mali has been in turmoil since 2012 when jihadists seized large parts of the north of the country.

France led an international operation to take back the territory.

But it's due to withdraw its soldiers over the next few months because of strained relations with the military leaders who carried out a coup a year ago.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Photographer Eduardo Soteras has been spending the weekend in the ancient Ethiopian town of Lalibela, where people have been marking the Orthodox Christian Easter.

He caught the ceremonies on the eve of Easter Sunday.

AFPCopyright: AFP

AFPCopyright: AFP

Lalibela is a UN World Heritage Site known for its churches which have been carved out of the rock.

The town was caught up in the Ethiopian civil war and was for a time occupied by forces from Tigray. It is now in the hands of the federal authorities.

AFPCopyright: AFP

AFPCopyright: AFP

Hundreds of UN peacekeepers from Ethiopia's Tigray region are refusing to return home from Sudan because of fears for their safety.

They had been deployed in Abyei - a disputed border region between Sudan and South Sudan.

When ties between Addis Ababa and Khartoum deteriorated, over a territorial dispute and as a result of Ethiopia building a dam on the River Nile, the peacekeepers were replaced last year by a multi-national force.

A UN spokesperson confirmed that some of them were seeking international protection in Sudan.

One of the Tigrayan peacekeepers said more than 500 of his colleagues were seeking asylum.

He said they would not be safe back home as a result of the 18-month long war in Tigray.

Last year another group of Ethiopian peacekeepers who had been deployed in Sudan's Darfur region also refused to return home citing fears of persecution.