At Least 19 Killed In Tanzanian Mine Collapse

Group of miners resting near a gemstone mine in the city of Arusha, northern Tanzania, on March 30, 2008, after it flooded during heavy rains ©Simon Maina (AFP)

The collapse of an illegal gold mine has killed 19 people in northwest Tanzania, a senior police official said on Friday. The accident occurred on Thursday night at Kahama district, Shinyanga region, near Acacia Mining's licensed Bulyanhulu gold mine which is majority-owned by Canada's Barrick Gold Corp. The bodies were recovered on Friday.

"The small-scale miners were buried alive after the tunnels they were digging collapsed. All the bodies have been recovered," Justus Kamugisha, Shinyanga region's police chief, told Reuters by telephone. 

He said police had asked for help from Bulyanhulu gold mine in the search for survivors.

Unsafe and unregulated illegal mining is widespread in Tanzania, which is Africa's fourth-largest gold producer after South Africa, Ghana and Mali.

PHOTOS: Running A Half Marathon Through One Of The World's Most Crowded And Chaotic Cities

Photo 1: Egyptian runners participate in Cairo's annual Half Marathon in the Heliopolis district in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, April 17, 2015; Photo 2: An Egyptian volunteer holds a placard with a message of encouragement to support passing runners.

Young Egyptians are once again organizing on social media and taking to the streets of Cairo by the hundreds every Friday, not to protest injustice or clash with police, but to enjoy long runs through one of the world's most crowded and chaotic cities. Runners take advantage of Cairo's empty streets during the Muslim holy day of Friday, when traffic is sparse. There are precious few spaces to run and private clubs that are suitable for running are prohibitively expensive for many.

On a recent Friday morning around 300 young people gathered at a central square, a small fraction of the 2,500 that had signed up for the event on Facebook, but a reasonable showing for an event held at 7:00 a.m. on a weekend. Organizers with bullhorns led the crowd of young men and women -- many wearing headscarves -- in a warm-up, and then they took off, flooding a four-lane road and occasionally parting before honking taxis.

Contraceptive Pills ‘Shrink’ Part Of Brain Influencing Emotions — Study

Reuters / Srdjan Zivulovic

California scientists have discovered contraceptive pills may change the structure of their users’ brains, eventually leading to anxiety and depression.

The new finding adds to quite an array of previously known side effects, including headaches, mood swings, nausea, blood clots, breast, liver and cervical cancer.

‘Everybody’s Been Stung!’ Millions Of Bees Released After Seattle Highway Crash (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Screenshot from youtube.com video

Firefighters had to spray millions of angry bees with foam and water, after a semi-truck overturned on an interstate on the outskirts of Seattle early on Friday.

“Everybody’s been stung,” Sergeant Ben Lewis of the Washington State Patrol told local TV stations at the scene.

FALLOUT OF 2015 POLLS: Jonathan Under Pressure To Sack IGP

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

There were indications yesterday that the Presidency is unhappy with the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, for alleged security and protocol breaches.

Some forces in government have started mounting pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan to drop the IGP, but the President was said not to be interested in taking any disciplinary action against Abba. However, findings indicate that perhaps Jonathan has made up his mind to leave the fate of the IGP to the incoming administration.

US Family Wins Back Seized Gold Coins That Could Be Worth US$80M

Ten rare 1933 St Gaudens whose provenance was recently disputed in Federal Court (Image source: www.carmelstampandcoinshop.com)

A Philadelphia family has been awarded the rights to 10 rare gold coins (NOT PICTURED) possibly worth US$80 million or more after a U.S. appeals court overturned a jury verdict.

U.S. Department of the Treasury officials insist the US$20 Double Eagles were stolen from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia before the 1933 series was melted down when the country went off the gold standard.

Prosecutors say Joan Langbord and her sons cannot lawfully own the coins she says she found in a family bank deposit box in 2003. A jury in 2012 agreed.

But the appeals court ruling Friday returns the coins to the Langbords because U.S. officials didn't respond in time to the family's claim for the seized property.

A Treasury spokeswoman has no immediate comment on the ruling.

POWER TRANSITION: “Portent of Ill-Will” Speculations And Why APC May Reject Proposed May 28 Handover Date

Buhari, President-elect (L) and Osinbajo, Vice President-elect (R)

GRAPHITTI NEWS had reported on the disquiet and concerns among stakeholders over the unnecessary “innovation” the Jonathan Administration wishes to introduce with the proposal to handover on May 28 rather than May 29 as appropriate.

As the day of transition approaches, the speculation over the real motive of Jonathan Government grows. There are strong undercurrents in various quarters and nobody has embraced the purported explanation of wanting to reserve May 29 we can reserve May 29 for “the incoming government” and for Democracy Day proffered by the Minister of Information after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting last Wednesday.

Conspiracy theorists have now shifted their speculative machine into high gear.  

Now a Punch newspaper investigation is adding gristle to the speculation feedmill.

Gebrselassie Aiming For Sixth Manchester Win

Ethiopian distance star Haile Gebrselassie has broken 37 world records and won two Olympic 10,000m titles (Image source: gomulti.co.za)

Haile Gebrselassie, one of the all-time great distance runners, will be aiming to win the 10,000 metres Great Manchester Run road race for a sixth time when he competes at this year's event on Sunday, May 10.

Organizers confirmed Friday the 41-year-old Ethiopian, who has broken 37 world records and won two Olympic 10,000m titles, would be taking part in this year's edition on the street course in Manchester, north-west England.

Burundi Police Fire Tear Gas At Anti-Government Protestors

Police in Burundi fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters calling for the president not to run for a third term © Esdras Ndikumana (AFP)

Police in Burundi on Friday fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters calling for the president not to run for a third term, as tensions rise in the central African state. Opposition parties are concerned at incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza's expected bid to seek a third term in office, despite the constitution stating that a president can only be elected twice.

Around a thousand opposition activists attempted to gather in the centre of the capital Bujumbura, but police blocked their way, briefly arresting several.

AFRICA'S EXPLOITATIVE "TRADITIONS": Malawi's Forced Sex Camps Hurt Girls As Much As Child Marriage: Campaigner

Grace Mwase, 14, may look like a child, but her community sees her as an adult because of a sexual initiation she attended at age 10. (Photo: Beenish Ahmed; Image source: The Atlantic)

The custom in Malawi of sending girls to sexual initiation camps is just as harmful as child marriage and must end if the nation is serious about protecting girls' rights, a teenager who escaped being a child bride said. Memory Banda, 18, said the tradition of early sexual initiation, seen as a way of preparing pubescent girls for marriage, was forcing girls to have sex and exposing them to the risk of HIV infection.

Air Traffic Controllers Suspend Crippling Strike

Air traffic controllers have suspended a crippling strike, but warn it could be reinstated if their demands are not met ©Pius Utomi Ekpei (AFP)

Air traffic controllers on Friday suspended a strike that had grounded all domestic flights, but warned that a more damaging work stoppage would be launched next week if their demands were not met.

"The strike was a warning strike," said Yakubu Dati of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). "Normal flights have now resumed," he told AFP.

EBOLA OUTBREAK: Ebola-Hit West Africa Unveils US$8 Bln Recovery Plan

Guinean President Alpha Condé (Image source: telegraph.co.uk)

The three West African countries devastated by the Ebola crisis unveiled a US$8 billion regional recovery plan on Friday and asked for urgent international support to rebuild their healthcare systems, feed their people and create new jobs.

Calling it a Marshall Plan like the post-World War Two recovery for Europe, the leaders of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone said they need half the money within two years. Their urgent priority is to finish wiping out the deadly virus that has claimed over 10,000 lives and to support economic recovery.