U.N. refugee agency names Jolie envoy
After a decade of promoting refugee causes around the world, Angelina Jolie has been promoted.
The United Nations refugee agency has elevated the Hollywood star from being a good will ambassador to a special envoy, a role that will see her represent the organization at the diplomatic level to governments and diplomats.
It is the first time the U.N. refugee agency has named a special envoy, said its spokesman, Adrian Edwards.
“Her work does go substantially beyond what we would typically see as being the normal role of a good will ambassador,” Edwards told reporters in Geneva.
Jolie has jetted the world on behalf of the organization over the past 10 years, making high-profile visits to refugee camps in Iraq, Haiti and Pakistan, among other places.
Jolie’s new position will focus on the complex crises that result in the mass displacement of people, such as in Afghanistan and Somalia. In addition, on special occasions she will represent the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres.
The Band’s Helm is close to death
Levon Helm, a former key member of The Band, is in the final stages of his long battle with cancer, according to a message posted Tuesday on the 71-year-old musician’s website by his family.
Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998, and the illness reduced his voice to a whisper. But he still continued to sing on albums and at rollicking concerts at his Woodstock, N.Y., home.
Helm lent his distinctive Southern voice to classics like “The Weight” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”
Guitars stolen from Petty recovered
Police in Southern California announced Tuesday that the five guitars stolen from Tom Petty and his band at a soundstage in Culver City have been recovered.
Police arrested Daryl Emmette Washington, of Los Angeles, a private security guard at The Culver Studios lot.
Police Chief Don Pedersen said the break in the case came when the suspect pawned one of the guitars at a Hollywood pawn shop for $250.
Pedersen described the stolen guitars as collectively worth $100,000.
The birthday bunch
Actress Barbara Hale (“Perry Mason”) is 91. Actress Hayley Mills is 66. Actor James Woods is 65. Actor Rick Moranis is 59. Actor Eric Roberts is 56. Actress Jane Leeves is 51. Comedian Conan O’Brien is 49. Actor Eric McCormack is 49. Actress Maria Bello is 45. Actress Melissa Joan Hart is 36. Actress America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”) is 28. Actress Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”) is 23.