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Africa’s largest film festival opens in Burkina Faso amid security fears

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Despite fears of insecurity amid jihadists attacks, Africa’s largest film festival tagged FESPACO, opened successfully in Burkina Faso and is gradually gathering momentum, according to the organisers of the event.

The weeklong FESPACO which is holding in Ougadougou, the capital of the violence-prone West African country, is aimed at offering hope and a symbol of endurance after years of political strife and Islamic extremist attacks, which killed thousands of people and displaced nearly two million.

“We only have FESPACO left to prevent us from thinking about what’s going on,” a Burkinabe actress, Maimouna Ndiaye, who has four submissions in this year’s competition, said at the opening ceremony.

“This is the event that must not be canceled no matter the situation,” Ndiaye said.

More than 15,000 people, including celebrities from Nigeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast are expected in Ouagadougou for FESPACO, which is Africa’s biggest film festival launched in 1969.

In this year’s edition, over 1,300 films were submitted for consideration and 100 have been selected to compete from 35 African countries and the diaspora, including movies from Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Among the nominations is top Burkinabe director and producer, Apolline Traore, whose film “Sira”, which is considered a front-runner in this year’s competition, portrays the sufferings of Burkinabes in the long years of strife occasioned by insurgents linked to the Islamic State and the Al-Qaeda groups.

“The world has painted Burkina Faso as a red country. It’s dangerous to come to my country, as they say. We’re probably a little crumbled but we’re not down,” Traore said.

Culture

DRC authorities arrest six over break-in at Lumumba’s Mausoleum

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Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) say six people have been arrested over a break-in and vandalism at the mausoleum of the country’s assassinated independence leader, Patrice Lumumba, in Kinshasa, the country’s capital.

The police had announced the six arrests late Wednesday and said they were still looking for two more suspects.

Interior Minister, Jacquemin Shabani, said in a statement that during the break-in which occurred on Monday, a case containing a single gold-capped tooth, the only part of the former leader that remained after his assassination, was broken by the vandals.

“We assure that the relic is secure and it is protected,” the minister said, without offering more information.

The return of Lumumba’s tooth from former colonizer Belgium in 2022 had been celebrated around Congo, with the tooth taken around the vast country so people could pay their respects.

Lumumba is widely hailed as the nationalist activist who helped end colonial rule in the DRC and went on to become the country’s first prime minister and was seen as one of Africa’s most promising new leaders, but he was assassinated within a year in 1961.

His body was dismembered and dissolved with acid in an apparent effort to keep any grave from becoming a pilgrimage site.

For many in Congo, Lumumba is a symbol of the positive developments the country could have achieved after its independence but instead, it became mired in decades of dictatorship that drained its vast mineral riches.

A military coup toppled Lumumba, who was arrested, jailed and later killed. His assassination, blamed on separatists, cleared the way for the rise of Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled the country he later renamed Zaire for decades with support from Western powers until his death in 1997.

His one remaining tooth was kept by the Belgian police commissioner who oversaw the destruction of his body.

The tooth was returned to Congo after the visit of Belgium’s King Philippe, who expressed regrets for his nation’s abuses in Congo when it was a Belgian colony.

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Miss SA opens up on why she withdrew from Miss Universe pageant

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Reigning Miss South Africa 2024, Mia le Roux, has opened up on the reasons behind her withdrawal from the Miss Universe pageant which was held in Mexico, where Nigeria’s Chidinma Adetshina was the first runner-up.

While narrating her experience in a video she shared on social media on Wednesday, le Roux said her body was taking so much physical strain.

“Hello everyone, I’m back in South Africa and wanted to reach out to you all. Thank you so much for all of your kind wishes, your support and prayers,” she said in the video.

“I wanted to be transparent with you and share my story. A lot of you would’ve seen the video that I made about vertigo, while I was in Mexico at Miss Universe.

“Vertigo is a condition where it feels like you are dizzy and there’s a sense of the world spinning around you. It’s very intense and can cause major issues with your imbalance.

“Mentally I was very strong, I was ready, but physically, my body was taking strain. I had to even seek medical help in Mexico City. And even after the medical help, my condition still wasn’t improving.”

She added that during the preliminary rounds of Miss Universe, she had continued to push herself but her vertigo intensified and it became unmanageable.

She stated that while she was waiting backstage, she fell repeatedly and couldn’t stand up without support and was not in a position to safely walk on stage.

“It was not easy. As I was not doing it just for myself but for all of you in South Africa,” she said.

“I will continue to serve as your Miss South Africa, to support and uplift those who come after me. With my unbreakable spirit and an exciting year ahead, I will keep fighting for myself and for everyone with dreams and passions. I am so proud to still be your Miss South Africa,” she added.

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