Good News

BULLETIN 11 March

Good afternoon, here is your Good News:

# The Ungasali Annual Storytelling Festival in Pretoria has extended participation for this year to G20 countries. The theme is Youth Echoes: Shaping Global Futures Through Stories. The festival, which blends traditional and contemporary storytelling with live music and theatre, will be held at Freedom Park on Saturday. Freedom Park CEO Jane Mufamadi told the SABC the festival is significant in promoting heritage and social cohesion:

# The Nelson Mandela University will celebrate the 20-year body of work of Gqeberha-born filmmaker and disability rights activist Shelley Barry on Thursday. Barry is the founder and director of Twospinningwheels, a production company dedicated to exploring new cinematic languages and giving marginalised voices access to filmmaking. The university says as a strong advocate for independent production companies, Barry emphasises storytelling that transcends profit-driven motives or box-office trends.

# The newly launched Boundless Soweto Campus is aiming to empower unemployed youth with globally recognised artificial intelligence and fourth industrial revolution skills. The state-of-the-art digital tech education hub is funded by Boundless Group, a collective of four companies that are looking to address South Africa’s socio-economic challenges. The group’s managing director, Sipho Claassen, told Newzroom Afrika it is important to equip young people with the necessary skills to thrive in the digital economy:

# Qatar Airways is enhancing global connectivity with additional flights to key destinations around the world, including in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The airline will increase its weekly flights from Maputo to Durban from five to seven, while Dar-es-Salaam to Kilimanjaro will jump from three to seven. Qatar, 2024’s world’s best airline, will also increase weekly flights to London’s Heathrow Airport, Amsterdam, Madrid, and Damascus, among other destinations.

# And finally: Grammy-award-winning rapper Doechii has been named Billboard’s 2025 Woman of the Year. Past recipients include Madonna, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, SZA, and Billie Eilish. In January, she won her first-ever Grammy for her 2024 album, Alligator Bites Never Heal, in the best rap album category. Doechii skyrocketed in popularity with her viral hits No Scrubs and Denial is a River. The 26-year-old will be honoured at the annual Billboard Women in Music event in California at the end of this month.

Stay tuned for more news………….