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Filipino Farmers Group Wants Jolie To See Plight

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 8, 2007

Angelina Jolie's help is being sought by a left-wing Filipino farmers group that wants to call attention to thousands of rural people who have been displaced by increased military operations.

The Farmers' Movement of the Philippines wants the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to send the 32-year-old actress - a goodwill ambassador since early 2001 - to look into the rising number of internal refugees in the country.

The farmers group wants Jolie to witness "the real situation of internally displaced people in the country," officer Willy Marbella said in a statement Friday.

More than 10,000 people have been forced to leave their homes this year because of increased military actions and threats, he said.

The military blames insurgents for the problem. It is battling communist rebels, who have been fighting for a Maoist-led state for 39 years, and the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front that has been struggling for two decades for self-rule in the southern Philippines.

Fox Says No Contest In DUI Case

Vivica A. Fox on Friday became the latest celebrity to enter a plea deal with prosecutors to settle a drunken driving case, authorities said.

The actress and former "Dancing With the Stars" contestant pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of driving with a blood-alcohol level more than .08, said Frank Mateljan, spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney.

A Superior Court judge sentenced Fox to three years' probation and ordered her to enter a 90-day alcohol education program. She also must pay a $390 fine, Mateljan said.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped a charge of misdemeanor driving under the influence, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail.

A call to Fox's attorney, Richard Hutton, was not immediately returned.

Fox, 43, was stopped in March in the San Fernando Valley after her 2007 Cadillac Escalade passed a California Highway Patrol car, according to a highway patrol report. She failed a series of sobriety tests, the report said.

Unique Gift For Unique Artist

In New Zealand, Elton John has received a specially made bird-feather cloak for his many visits to Maori communities.

"It's the Maori equivalent to an Academy Award" and means the 60-year-old British singer is an honored member of the Ngati Te Whiti sub-tribe, group chairman Peter Love said Friday in a statement.

The cloak was "gifted as recognition of the enjoyment Sir Elton John's music has given to Maori over the years and his loyal continuance to return to Aotearoa to entertain," he said. Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand.

John was given the Korowai cloak at a concert Thursday night. He played before 15,000 people in the regional city of New Plymouth, the traditional home of the Ngati Te Whiti, Love said.

The traditional cloak has bird feathers woven into a fine flax mat and is held across the shoulders with a drawstring. Modern cloaks often use colored and white hen feathers because many native bird species are classified as threatened.

Today's Birthdays

Actor David Carradine is 71. Rock singer-musician Gregg Allman is 60. Actress Kim Basinger is 54. Rock musician Phil Collen (Def Leppard) is 50. Country singer Marty Raybon is 48. Actress Teri Hatcher is 43. Singer Sinead O'Connor is 41. Actor Matthew Laborteaux is 41. Actor Dominic Monaghan is 31.

Source: The Associated Press

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