A ban on people moving around, brought in after 78 children were kidnapped from a school, has been lifted in North West Cameroon.

Journalist Peter Tah, who is in the region, has tweeted:

The children were released last night after two days in captivity.

It is still unclear who kidnapped them or why.

Prince Charles has spoken about the ongoing dispute over whose Jollof rice is best, only to side step the issue of revealing his own preference.

Speaking in Nigeria at the end of his West Africa tour, he said:

The last high-profile British person to dare to talk about Jollof rice was the chef, Jamie Oliver, who at least seemed to unite West Africans in condemnation of his own recipe.

We suspect that Prince Charles was briefed about the ongoing rivalry over the traditional dish made with rice, tomatoes and spices because he was so careful not to reveal his favourite.

There has even been a song written by a Ghanaian about how much she can't stand Nigerian Jollof rice.

The singer Sister Deborah explained in the Food Programme that the rivalry is a fun one - like a brother and sister who like each other in reality.

One-time Somali refugee Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, has been elected into the US House of Representatives.

Ms Omar, 36, migrated to the US as a teenager.

She beat Republican Jennifer Zielinski to win a seat to represent Minnesota.

Ms Omar and Michigan's Rashida Tlaib have become the first two Muslim congresswomen to be elected.

She has spoken about becoming one of two Muslim women elected to Congress in a night of historic firsts:

Image source, EVN

The head of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, Reverend Fonki Samuel, has told BBC Newsday that he is not concerned who was behind the kidnapping of the more than 70 schoolchildren from a boarding school in Bamenda.

He added that one of the three adults kidnapped with more than 70 schoolchildren from a boarding school was released with the children.

The principal of the school, a teacher and a driver were taken with the children on Sunday night.

Rev Samuel says the driver was released while the principal and the teacher are still in captivity.

• Read more on the BBC News website.

We are following the fate of the 79 schoolchildren who have been freed after being kidnapped

Journalist Peter Tah tweets that they are currently with the police and will meet with the regional governor soon.

We understand they have not yet been reunited with their families.

Mayeni Jones
BBC News, Lagos

The 79 kidnapped children kidnapped from their boarding school in western Cameroon have now been freed, officials say.

They are being questioned by the authorities who say they will shortly be reunited with their parents.

The students were kidnapped on Sunday night in the region's main city, Bamenda, along with the principal, school's the driver, and a teacher.

The three adults appear to still be in captivity.

It is still unclear who is behind the kidnapping but the government and English-speaking separatists have been blaming each other.

According to the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon, the children were abandoned in one of their buildings in the town of Bafut, about 24 km (15 miles) from Bamenda.

The students were abducted from the Presbyterian Secondary School in Bamenda by gunmen.

The church has revealed that this was the second kidnapping from the school in less than a week. On 31 October 11 boys were taken and then released. It’s also unclear who carried out that first kidnapping.

Today's African proverb:

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

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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 check in BBC News website.

A reminder of today's proverb:

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And we leave you with this photo of a trader in Zimbabwe's second largest city of Bulawayo selling vegetables.

BBC World Service

African Union soldiers in Somalia have been accused of killing four civilians in the capital, Mogadishu.

Witnesses say the soldiers opened fire on locals when their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb.

The incident happened in the Huriwa district in the north of the city.

On its Twitter account, the African Union mission said its convoy had come across explosions but made no mention of the shooting, alleged to have involved Burundian troops.

Relatives of the victims have called on the Somali government for justice, while dozens of angry demonstrators took to the streets of Huriwa.

Image source, AFP

Nigeria’s most expensive painting, Tutu, also known’s Africa’s Mona Lisa, was exhibited in the country's commercial capital, Lagos, for the first time since its disappearance over 40 years ago.

The painting which was found in a London flat in February, and auctioned for $1.5m (£1.2m) to an anonymous buyer, was the highest-valued work at the three-day ArtX Lagos fair, which ended on Sunday.

Tutu, by Nigeria's best-known modern artist, Ben Enwonwu, was painted in 1974 and appeared at an art show in Lagos the following year. It then disappeared until it re-surfaced in north London.

The painting is a portrait of Adetutu Ademiluyi, a grand-daughter of a traditional ruler from the Yoruba ethnic group.

It holds special significance in Nigeria as a symbol of national reconciliation after the 1967-1970 Biafran War.

The owners - who wished to remain anonymous - had called in Giles Peppiatt, an expert in modern and contemporary African art at the London auction house Bonhams, to identify their painting. He recognised Enwonwu's portrait.

"It was discovered by myself on a pretty routine valuation call to look at a work by Ben Enwonwu," said Mr Peppiatt.

"I didn't know what I was going to see. I turned up, and it was this amazing painting. We'd had no inkling Tutu was there. How it got there remains a bit of a mystery," Peppiatt said.

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

Scuffles have broken out in South Africa's parliament between the radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and other opposition parties after lawmakers exchanged slurs during a question and answer session with the president.

MP Agang Andries Tlouamma started the exchange of words when he insulted a member of the EFF using an expletive.

Prior to the open fist fight the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Chief Whip, John Steenhuisen, called EFF members “VBS looters" referring to alleged theft of money from the VBS bank.

EFF MPs reacted by calling him a “white racist". A brawl then ensued.

Videos of the exchange of words and the brawl have been shared on Twitter:

The house chairperson in parliament Thoko Didiza pleaded with the lawmakers to be orderly.

“None of us have the right to insult each other... Honourable members can you please allow me to run the house", a visibly angry Ms Didiza said.

President Ramaphosa was forced to take his seat as Ms Didiza suspended proceedings and called the sergeant of arms to stop the physical fights.

Proceedings later resumed with the president answering questions again but not before Ms Didiza ordered two opposition MPs to be removed from the house.

President Ramaphosa pleaded with the MPs to stop the race-based fights.

“We cannot go back to that horrible past that we have had... We are a non-racial democracy. However painful it may be. We cannot go back to that racism. We are one people," Mr Ramaphosa said.

Tomi Oladipo
BBC Africa security correspondent

Image source, .

No group has said it carried out Monday's kidnapping of 82 people, most of them students, in Cameroon's North-West region.

Cameroonian authorities blame Anglophone separatist militias - who have called for the closing of schools in Anglophone regions.

These militias have threatened anyone who defies their orders not to go to school.

A video of some of the children, believed to have been filmed by one of the kidnappers, has been circulating on social media.

In identical and seemingly rehearsed statements, the students each introduce themselves and mention that they were kidnapped by "Amba Boys" - the widely-used term to describe the separatist rebels.

An Anglophone group, the Ambazonia International Policy commission (AIPC), has cast doubt on the idea that the perpetrators are the separatists, noting that that the person recording the video appears to have a poor grasp of Pidgin-English, the language spoken widely in the Anglophone area of the country.

At one point, a voice in the background, which is believed to be of one of the kidnappers, says what sounds like "tu perds ton temps" - French for "you're wasting your time".

This has sparked speculation on social media that the kidnapping might have been staged to appear as if it was carried out by the English-speaking Cameroonians.

This kidnapping is the latest atrocity in this conflict where each side is blaming the other.

A South African opposition MP has caused laughter in parliament by suggesting that ministers be given so-called dumb phones to avoid what he called "embarrassing activities".

Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), was referring to a mobile phone video that has been widely shared of Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba masturbating.

Mr Ndlozi made the comments during the parliament's question and answer session with President Cyril Ramaphosa.

He said, displaying the phone, that "it cannot be hacked".

Mr Gigaba, who was in parliament, reacted to the comments by flashing his little finger.

The government minister, who has refused to resign over the scandal, has blamed South Africa's security services for hacking his phone.

Watch the moment below:

Opposition leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo are planning to meet in Geneva on Thursday to choose a joint candidate for the 23 December presidential election.

"All opposition heads will gather in Switzerland to attend a meeting to designate a joint candidate," one of the challengers, Freddy Matungulu, told AFP news agency.

Leading opposition figure Felix Tshisekedi would take part in the meeting, which would probably last for three days, his aide said.

Mr Tshisekedi has emerged as the front runner to clinch the opposition ticket after former Vice-President Jean Pierre Bemba and Moise Katumbi, the former governor of the mineral-rich Katanga province, were ruled out as candidates by election officials.

President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled the country since 2011, will not be take part in the election. His refusal to step down two years ago when his mandate ended sparked violence in the country.

The ruling People's Party For Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) has chosen Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a hardline former interior minister and loyalist to Mr Kabila, as its candidate.

Mbwana Samatta is one of the few Tanzanian footballers to make it in Europe. He has also been voted Tanzania's most influential young person.

He has already won the African Champions League but has his eyes on even greater prizes.

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka

Police in Zambia say they are holding 102 people that were arrested on Monday during a protest which was sparked by reports alleging that the government had sold a state-owned company to China.

The protesters, in the northern city of Kitwe, believed that the Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation Limited (Zaffico) was being sold to Chinese buyers. It is one of the leading employers in the city.

However, Zambia's minister of information tweeted that this rumour was not true:

Rumours of the Chinese taking control of Zambia’s state-owned assets are not new.

There have been reports that China took over both the state broadcaster, ZNBC, and a newly constructed airport in the capital, Lusaka, to recover loans given to Zambia.

The government has however denied these rumours.

Image source, ALLAN ATULINDA

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni ordered the recruitment of about 6,000 members of an armed security unit called Local Defence Units (LDUs).

Successful applicants are currently being trained to help the curb a crime wave including high-profile murders in the country.

Critics however have memories of the last time a civilian militia existed. Some of its members were accused of abusing their positions, and becoming criminals themselves.

LDUs are expected to patrol neighbourhoods, pass on intelligence to police, and give them back-up when they are dealing with criminal incidents.

Recruits are being promised a monthly salary of 200,000 Uganda shillings ($50; £40).

But will this new plan help deal with crime in the country?

Read the full story on the BBC website.

Pro-democracy activist Luc Nkulula, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, died in a fire at his home in June.

Nkulula, a fearless campaigner, had to put up with regular beatings and arrests, and his friends suspect the fire was started deliberately - an investigation blamed a faulty solar panel.

He helped found La Lucha, a group of young people fighting for a more democratic country.

But the authorities seem to stand in their way at every turn.

This film is produced by BBC Africa Eye.

Image source, CRTV

Cameroon's President Paul Biya has been sworn in for a seventh term.

The 85-year-old, who has ruled the country for 36 years, pledged to uphold the "integrity" and "unity" of the country in a ceremony overseen by parliamentary speaker Cavaye Yeguie Djibril.

Mr Biya secured 71% of the vote in the 7 October election but opposition parties said the election was marred by fraud.

The ceremony was clouded by Monday's kidnapping of 80 people, including 79 students, in a school in the restive North-West region.

The government and separatists - who are pushing for an independent state in mainly English-speaking areas - have been trading accusations as to who is behind the kidnapping.

More than 300,000 people have fled the violence in the North-West and South-West regions with some crossing the border into Nigeria.

The conflict started in 2016 after residents of the mainly Anglophone regions alleged that the French-speaking majority was discriminating against them in schools and courts.