Angelina Jolie visits refugees in Iraq
Geneva - Angelina Jolie visited Iraq on Tuesday to meet with refugees and U.S. troops in the country.
Jolie, who is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, made the visit during a two-day trip to the region, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday.
The statement said the 32-year-old actress met with displaced Iraqis in neighboring Syria on Monday before crossing into Iraq for a few hours Tuesday "to see firsthand the plight of hundreds of thousands of families uprooted by the ongoing conflict."
"I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw attention to this humanitarian crisis and to urge governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners," the Geneva-based agency quoted Jolie as saying.
Jolie traveled to the Al-Waleed refugee camp on the Iraqi side of the border and spoke to some of the 1,200 Iraqis living there before visiting a contingent of U.S. troops in the area, the agency said.
Problems unlikely to harm Wilson's film future
Los Angeles - Owen Wilson's film future remains bright despite his apparent personal problems.
Hollywood insiders say that the 38-year-old actor, who was hospitalized Sunday after police responded to a report of an attempted suicide at his Santa Monica home, should continue to enjoy big-screen success.
His box-office track record - "Wedding Crashers" topped $200 million, "Cars" brought in almost $250 million - plus his on-screen image as an affable everyman who can charm the ladies while boozing with the boys has made him a favorite with both filmmakers and filmgoers.
"He's loved," Bernie Brillstein, a veteran Hollywood manager who worked with John Belushi and Chris Farley, said Tuesday. "It's serious, but it's a singular case. Anyone can have a bad day, a very bad day."
Could Wilson face the same potential producer alienation that threatens other troubled stars such as Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears?
"I don't think the studios will react that way," Brillstein said.
Singer's father-in-law asks fans to boycott her
London - Amy Winehouse's father-in law says fans should stop buying her records to force the singer to seek help for what he called a drug addiction.
Giles Fielder-Civil said he believed Winehouse and his son, Blake Fielder-Civil, had used cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin and were in "abject denial" about their problem.
"I think they believe they are recreational users of drugs and they are in control," Fielder-Civil told British Broadcasting Corp. radio Tuesday. "Clearly they are addicts."
He said fans should send a message to Winehouse "that her addiction and her behavior are not acceptable."
"Perhaps it is time to stop buying records," Fielder-Civil said. "It's a possibility, to send that message."
Winehouse, 23, has built her reputation on a soulful voice and a hard-partying image. Her most recent album, "Back to Black," topped the British charts and produced the hit single "Rehab."
Bo Diddley stable after heart attack
Gainesville, Fla. - Bo Diddley was in stable condition at a Gainesville hospital after suffering a heart attack, his publicist said Tuesday.
The 78-year-old singer-guitarist complained of dizziness and nausea during a routine medical checkup with his physician on Friday, said publicist Susan Clary.
She said Diddley was taken to North Florida Regional Medical Center in Gainesville where a stent was implanted to improve the blood flow to his heart. The hospital is near the musician's north central Florida hometown of Archer.
Clary said Diddley was in stable condition in the cardiac care unit after spending the weekend in intensive care. A hospital spokesman referred all questions to Clary.
"He is conscious," Clary said. "The situation is very serious."
In May, Diddley was hospitalized in Nebraska after suffering a stroke after casino performances in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He was soon transferred to Florida.
Jim Carrey raising awareness on YouTube
New York - Jim Carrey has made a straight-to-YouTube video. And it's not funny at all.
The 45-year-old actor-comedian - in rare serious mode - appears in a new public service announcement on behalf of the Human Rights Action Center and the U.S. Campaign for Burma. The goal: To free Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been confined by the Burmese government for 11 of the last 17 years.
"Even though she's compared to a modern-day Gandhi or Nelson Mandela, most people in America still don't know about Aung San," Carrey says in the filmed message, posted Tuesday on YouTube.
"And let's face it: the name's a little difficult to remember. Here's how I did it: Aung San sounds a lot like 'unsung,' as in unsung hero. Aung San Suu Kyi is truly an unsung hero."
Suu Kyi, who is under long-term house arrest in the city of Yangon, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent efforts to bring down the oppressive military regime that rules over the Southeast Asian country.
The regime has destroyed more than 3,000 villages in eastern Burma - forcing more than a 1.5 million people to leave their homes - and recruited more child soldiers than any other country in the world, Carrey says in his spot.
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