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The intervention of celebrities in humanitarian crises doesn't tend to be taken very seriously, but Angelina Jolie made a real impact last night when she met ministers including William Hague, Philip Hammond and Lynne Featherstone at the Foreign Office. A private screening of her new documentary, In The Land Of Blood And Honey, was followed by a discussion including other human rights workers specialising in war rape.

At the event, Hague announced the development of a new expert task force designed to enter global trouble spots and investigate alleged cases of rape. Although rape is often used as a weapon of war it is difficult to prosecute because there is usually a shortage of evidence, meaning that even after conflicts have ended, criminals go free. In addition to the new task force, the UK has pledged to use its G8 presidency next year to highlight the issue.

Jolie began working with the.

Angelina Jolie was in London this afternoon for a screening of her movie In the Land of Blood and Honey at the Foreign Commonwealth Office. She linked up with UK officials like Foreign Secretary William Hague, Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond, Minister of State Jeremy Browne, and Parliamentarians Lynne Featherstone and Alan Duncan for the political event. Angelina posed for a photo with Hague and, before the film started, spoke to about preventing sexual violence during conflict. The day of politicking and philanthropy came during a break from shooting for Angelina. She's in the UK to work on her Disney picture Maleficent, and her whole family is in Britain for the shoot. Angelina and fiancé Brad Pitt just celebrated Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's sixth birthday. Brad arrived back at their rented home in the English countryside fresh off a stint in Cannes. He went to the South of France solo to premiere Killing Them Softly.

Josh Dixon is half-African-American, half-Japanese, a Stanford graduate, adopted, and a likely Olympic gymnast. He also just came out publicly as gay in a great interview at Outsports. He says that being gay in the sport has been met with a shrug by his teammates, and we couldn't be happier to have a new out world-class athlete.

The list of records The Avengers broke this weekend is nearly endless, with $200.3 million in U.S. box office, the fastest film to reach $200 million, biggest domestic opening ever, and the highest Saturday ever. It's now pulled in $641.8 million worldwide, and has to help ease the pain of John Carter at Disney, sadly too late to save out studio head Rich Ross, who was fired last week.

In sad news, George Lindsay, most famous for playing Goober on The Andy Griffith Show, has passed away at the age of 83.

Wrestler and gay rights...

It may not sound like the most Christmasy of tales, but there's something so profoundly moving about Dreams Of A Life that we had to share a clip from the docudrama/drama-documentary with you this frosty e'en.Carol Morley's film played to rapt audiences at the London Film Festival earlier in the year and it's continuing to build buzz. It tells the story of Joyce Vincent, a vivacious wannabe singer who died in her bedsit in North London in 2003. Tragic but not unusual, you might think, except for the fact that no-one noticed. For three years.Morley's film seeks the get to the bottom of the story, mixing reconstructions of Vincent's life and talking-head interviews with her nearest and dearest. Well, relatively nearest and dearest.Popping up in this clip are her ex-boyfriend Martin Lister and Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, who also tried to get...

[brightcove]1315517813001[/brightcove] You can check out a world exclusive clip from documentary Dreams Of A Life, above. The film, aiming to provide something of a counterpoint to the usual syrupy Christmas fare on offer at this time of year, investigates the death of Joyce Vincent, who died alone in her North London bedsit in 2003. Her body wasn’t discovered for three years. In the clip, local news reporter David Gibbs, MP Lynne Featherstone and Vincent’s former workmates talk about the mysterious circumstances surrounding her...

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When the film-maker Carol Morley read that the skeleton of a young woman had been found in a London bedsit, she knew she had to find out more…

On 25 January 2006, officials from a north London housing association repossessing a bedsit in Wood Green owing to rent arrears made a grim discovery. Lying on the sofa was the skeleton of a 38-year-old woman who had been dead for almost three years. In a corner of the room the television set was still on, tuned to BBC1, and a small pile of unopened Christmas presents lay on the floor. Washing up was heaped in the kitchen sink and a mountain of post lay behind the front door. Food in the refrigerator was marked with 2003 expiry dates. The dead woman's body was so badly decomposed it could only be identified by comparing dental records with an old holiday photograph of her smiling. Her...

Christina Hendricks, or as we know her, alpha secretary Joan Harris from Mad Men, has fomented a significant spike in breast augmentations in the U.K.. According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, last year saw a ten-percent increase in the number of women having breast enhancements in the U.K., to a total of 9418. Hendricks, a natural blonde who began dying her hair red at the age of ten, said in September, "I was working my butt off on the show and then all anyone was talking about was my body." Liberal Democrats Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone, giving the official government imprimatur to Hendricks' body, said the thirty-five-year-old's size-fourteen hourglass figure is one all women should aspire to, rather than emulating thin models with unattainable bodies. "Christina Hendricks is absolutely fabulous. We need more of these role models," she said. One [...]...

With a starring vehicle like "Burlesque" to promote, Christina Aguilera's had to go back to getting a little dirty.

The New York Daily News reports that BBC.co.uk -- the network and country's TV-regulation body -- logged in over 1,000 complaints after the show's finale last Saturday. Apparently viewers didn't like how Xtina and her crew of scantily clad backup dancers were shaking and shimmying their goods while performing the title song from her new movie.

London's Daily Mail reported that complaining viewers thought the performance broke an Office of Communications (their version of the FCC) code protecting children from "unsuitable content" before 9 Pm. (The show aired between 7:00 and 9:00.) In light of the fact that as many as four million kids could have been watching, Lynne Featherstone, Britain's Equalities Minister, called the showpiece "a bit much."

Meanwhile, Christina told MTV.com at the U.K. premiere of "Burlesque,...

A 15 certificate for Made in Dagenham tells Stephen Woolley that, despite the growing violence of recent 12A films, bad language is still the final frontier at the BBFC

Over three decades of bewildering confusion, my personal relationship with the British Board of Film Classification – as exhibitor, distributor, producer and punter – has been turbulent, fraught and surreal. There seems to be no sign of that changing, even though the BBFC has finally decided to let the public speak; it has held various "consultations" and "in-depth discussions", and has concluded that the great British public want continuous, unmitigated violence, but won't stand for a bit of swearing.

For example, the violent Inception and The Dark Knight were granted 12A certificates, and Scott Pilgrim Vs the World is granted a 12A, despite the unending riot of comic-strip hacking, chopping and walloping of body parts. A 12A means anyone can attend, but kids under...

Actor Christina Hendricks, who was recently named ’sexiest woman in America’, has found herself unwittingly spearheading a campaign for curvier women. Christina’s vital statistics — 39D-30-39 — hark back to the 50s and 60s, when an hourglass figure was envied. Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat and Equalities minister, has called the Mad Men star an “absolutely fabulous” physical role model. “We need more of these role models. There is such a sensation when there is a curvy role model. It shouldn’t be so unusual,” the Mirror quoted her as saying. And Cosmopolitan editor Louise Court spoke of the actor’s “huge impact”, saying: ...

London, Sep 01 – Christina Hendricks, who was recently named ’sexiest woman in America’, has found herself unwittingly spearheading a campaign for curvier women.

With a shape that Jessica Rabbit would die for, Christina’s vital statistics – 39D-30-39 – hark back to the 50s and 60s, when an hourglass figure was envied, and certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat and Equalities minister, has called the Mad Men star an “absolutely fabulous” physical role model.

“We need more of these role models. There is such a sensation.

Melbourne, July 30 – Christina Hendricks usually leaves men speechless with her looks, but this time just her words did the trick.

According to News.com.au, when Ktla anchor Brian McFayden asked Hendricks about the moment she found out about the nomination, she replied saying that she was running her bath at the time – leaving the anchor agape.

The interview moved on, but the picture evidently lingered in McFayden’s mind.

Hendricks recently came under the limelight when British MP Lynne Featherstone described her as the ideal woman for young girls to emulate. (Ani)...

London, July 26 – Christina Hendricks, the “voluptuous” star of Mad Men, has been hailed as an “absolutely fabulous” physical role model, according to Lynne Featherstone, the Equalities Minister.

The Liberal Democrat minister’s comment came as Hendricks criticised the “overexposure” of skinny models, which she said was causing a crisis in “body confidence” among the young.

“Christina Hendricks is absolutely fabulous. We need more of these role models. There is such a sensation when there is a curvy role model. It shouldn’t be so unusual,” The Telegraph.

The country's royals have been embarrassed by the Duchess of York accepting cash for access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew, but many commentators Monday were unsurprised at what is only her latest gaffe.Sarah Ferguson, who divorced from Queen Elizabeth II's second son in 1996, apologised for a "serious lapse in judgement" Sunday after being secretly filmed striking a deal with an undercover reporter from the News of the World.In return for 500,000 pounds, she seemingly promised to introduce the reporter, posing as a businessman, to the prince, who is Britain's special representative for international trade and investment."I very deeply regret the situation and the embarrassment caused," she said, admitting that her financial situation was "under stress" but saying this was "no excuse for a serious lapse in judgment and I am very sorry".It is not the first time Ferguson has sparked controversy,...