In a setback for the Belgian government, an advisory body on Tuesday suspended a Cabinet-ordered closure of part of the cultural sector — saying that new coronavirus restrictions imposed on theaters are unreasonable.

Under new restrictions that took effect Sunday, movie houses, concert halls and art centers were ordered to shut their doors. Some stayed open in protest. The order came despite the assessment of the scientific committee advising the government that going to such places poses no extra risk to public health.

In an emergency procedure, the Council of State ruled that measures concerning theaters were “not proportionate,” and didn’t provide enough motives to “understand why going to cultural sector performance venues was particularly dangerous for public health.”

The Council of State is an advisory body that has legal powers to overturn government decisions it considers unlawful.

The ruling came after a member of a production company launched an urgent appeal against the government decision to ensure that an end of year play could go ahead in suburban Brussels. It’s expected to impact on the entire sector.

The minister for culture in Belgium’s French-speaking region, Benedicte Linard, welcomed the verdict, and posted that “the closure of theaters is lifted. There’s no point in waiting for a new (Council of State) ruling to reopen cinemas.”

The ruling, which the Council of State described as “provisional,” came after representatives of Belgian actors, performers and cinema operators had criticized the government’s decision, describing it as baseless, unfair and disproportionate.

Six men will go on trial in Germany next month over their alleged role in the spectacular theft of 18th-century jewels from a Dresden museum in 2019, a court said Wednesday.

The Dresden state court said that the trial will open on Jan. 28, according to local media. The suspects, German nationals aged 22 to 28, are accused of organized robbery and arson. Court dates are scheduled through the end of March.

Prosecutors say that the men are responsible for the break-in at the eastern city’s Green Vault Museum on Nov. 25, 2019, and the theft of 21 pieces of jewelry containing more than 4,300 diamonds, with a total insured value of at least 113.8 million euros ($129 million).

They allegedly laid a fire just before the break-in to cut the power supply for street lights outside the museum, and also set fire to a car in a nearby garage before fleeing to Berlin.

Searches so far have not yielded the missing treasures. Prosecutors said in September that the suspects, who are all in custody, had not responded to the accusations against them.

The Green Vault is one of the world’s oldest museums. It was established in 1723 and contains the treasury of Augustus the Strong of Saxony, comprising around 4,000 objects of gold, precious stones and other materials.

Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, who won a prestigious prize this year for courageous writing, has been detained, his lawyer has confirmed.

The reason for his arrest is unclear, but he has recently been scathing about President Yoweri Museveni and his son Lt-Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba on social media.

He described the general as “obese” and said “the Musevenis have imposed enormous suffering on this country”.

They have not yet confirmed Rukirabashaija’s arrest but his lawyer Eron Kiiza said he was being held by the police crime intelligence agency in a suburb of the capital, Kampala.

Kiiza added that he has not been able to gain access to the author, and he had not yet been charged.

In his last social media post before he was taken away on Tuesday, Rukirabashaija wrote: “I’m under house arrest. Men with guns are breaking my door. They say they’re policemen but are not in uniform. I’ve locked myself inside.”

Rukirabashaija won this year’s Pen Pinter Prize’s International Writer of Courage award.

He is best known for The Greedy Barbarian, a satirical novel which describes high-level corruption in a fictional country, and Banana Republic: Where Writing is Treasonous, an account of the torture he was subjected to while in detention in 2020.

President Museveni, 77, has been in power in Uganda since 1986, and there has been long-standing speculation that he was grooming his son – a powerful figure in the military – to succeed him.

The opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party has condemned Rukirabashaija’s arrest, urging that he be freed.

The African entertainment industry is about to receive a significant facelift in its fortunes and outlook, a signal that the great cultural renaissance that has long been the promise of the continent is finally about to be realised.

The Del York International Group has signed on with one of the biggest movie studios and theme park design developers in the world to partner it to develop a major film city project in Lagos.

According to reports from several international news outlets, Del York and Storyland Studios signed the deal to develop the project in a location called Epe in partnership with the Lagos State Government.

Lagos is undisputedly Africa’s business capital with an estimated 20 million people living in the city, the siting of the new film city will most likely dramatically improve the economic potential of the state if not tourism throughout the region.

The film city project is being described as a place where creatives can live, work, and learn and is proposed as an all-in-one facility that will commingle the best in leisure and theme park facilities with that of film making and industry capacity building.

The promoters have included multiple sound studios, backlot sets, water tanks, workshops, and production offices alongside a theme park setting that includes rides, tourist attractions, movie museums, and a walk of fame.

The President of Del York International Group, Linus Idahosa who is also the founder of the Del-York Creative Academy, said, “The continent’s burgeoning community of creatives have long been inspired through the magic of film and television, spiriting themselves into worlds they never thought possible but curtailed by their immediate circumstances.

With this agreement in place, we can finally realise that purpose-designed infrastructure that will match the dreams and most expansive imaginations of creatives on the African continent”.

The Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Storyland Studios Mel McGowan was quoted as saying “We’re excited to be part of the further development of Nigeria’s incredibly prolific and rapidly-growing film industry.

The Lagos film city concept is a cultural, creative ecosystem that will be a catalyst not only for the country of Nigeria but for Africa”.

Construction of the multimillion-dollar facility is scheduled to start in early 2022.