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OTTAWA (AFP) - The Toronto International Film Festival, which opens in September, will showcase movies about the origins of WikiLeaks, the rise of Nelson Mandela, and slavery in America, organizers announced Tuesday. North America's largest film festival opens in six weeks, with fiction taking a backseat to movies about actual events. Bill Condon's "The Fifth Estate," starring Benedict Cumberbatch as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will kick off the 38th edition of the festival. "This dramatic thriller based on real events reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century's most fiercely debated organization," a statement said. The film chronicles the beginnings of WikiLeaks and asks "the defining question of modern time: what are the costs of keeping secrets in a free society - and what are the costs of exposing them?" The film also stars David Thewlis, Stanley Tucci, Lau...

Lagos - Amb. Mokgethi Monaisa, Consul-General of the South African High Commission in Nigeria, on Sunday urged Nigerians to join in prayers for former South African President, Dr Nelson Mandela’s quick recovery. Monaisa in Lagos, said that South Africans were “earnestly praying” for their former president’s recovery, and would also need the prayers of the Nigerian people. ``As we all know, our former president is in hospital right now. South Africans are holding special prayer sessions for him, because we cannot afford to miss him. [caption id="attachment_279534" align="alignnone" width="412"] File photo: Nelson Mandela[/caption] ``We are also calling on our Nigerian brothers and sisters, to join us in praying for his quick recovery. We know that Nigerians and the rest of the world also hold him in high esteem. ``We believe that Nigeria and South Africa are close allies. So we need to jointly pray for him to live for many more years,” he said. The envoy s...

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - A day after turning 95, Nelson Mandela was Friday visited by fellow peace laureate, archbishop Desmond Tutu, who praised him for continuing to inspire the world even from his sickbed. "We have a special gift in a man who can unite not only South Africa but the world, even from his sickbed," Tutu told journalists outside a Pretoria hospital where the anti-apartheid icon is critically ill. [caption id="attachment_404882" align="alignnone" width="412"] South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu (R) and staff from the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy hold up a poster wishing Nelson Mandela a happy birthday at the Marconi Beam Public Primary School in Cape Town on AFP PHOTO[/caption] Tutu said he found Mandela asleep but managed to hold his hand. "He inspired us to become a great country and the world to become compassionate," he said. Tutu also read the messages of support posted by the public on the wall o...

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - US President Barack Obama paid warm tribute to South Africa's Nelson Mandela for his 95th birthday on Thursday, which the anti-apartheid icon will spend in hospital recovering from a lung infection. Obama's message came as Mandela's youngest daughter Zindzi said her father was making "remarkable" progress, and as admirers around the world prepared to honour the former South African president's legacy with a wave of charitable acts. [caption id="attachment_379050" align="alignnone" width="412"] *Obama[/caption] Obama, who visited South Africa last month but was unable to see Mandela because of his illness, was fulsome in his praise of the former statesman, referring to him by his clan name, Madiba. "Our family was deeply moved by our visit to Madiba's former cell on Robben Island during our recent trip to South Africa, and we will forever draw strength and inspiration from his extraordinary example of...