Hollywood Actress and campaigner Angelina Jolie is a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Angelina Jolie's humanitarian work has taken her to refugee camps in Russia, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The Oscar-winning hollywood actress has urged governments to do more to help refugees and has campaigned extensively for the UN refugee agency.

What more does she think can be done to aid refugees worldwide? What are the worst affected areas she has visited? What has made the biggest impression on her in her role as goodwill ambassador?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie answered a selection of your questions via e-mail. Her responses appear below. You also put your questions to her on our global phone-in programme Talking Point on 20 June 2004.
Click here to watch the programme

Nadil Sanghar, Mombasa, Kenya:
What was the deciding factor for you to take on an active role in assisting refugees?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
The deciding factor was having spent time with refugee families. They continue to inspire and teach me. They are amazing survivors.

Emiko Harada, Singapore:
Why did you choose to help out the UN's refugee agency when there are so many other UN agencies and causes to support?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
I sat up a few nights reading everything I could about the different aid groups and projects. I was shocked when I read about 20 million people under the care of UNHCR and how they are the most vulnerable people in the world. I felt refugees were something I should have known about. I was then determined to tell others about it.

Maria Saldanha, Rome, Italy:
How has being a goodwill ambassador for UNHCR changed your life?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
It has given me a life filled with purpose. Who are we if we are not useful to others?

Gibril Njie, Glasgow, Scotland:
What should be done by both the countries where refugees hail from and of course the richer and powerful nations to avoid people becoming refugees?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
In countries where people have to flee their homes because of persecution and violence, political solutions must be found, peace and tolerance restored, so that refugees can return home. In my experience, going home is the deepest wish of most refugees.

Rich and powerful nations need to be more fully invested in finding solutions for refugees, both through financial support for refugee operations and by placing solutions for refugees higher on the international political agenda. The rich nations could also do more, faster, to seize development opportunities to make sure that fragile solutions and peace are sustained in places like Afghanistan.

Chris Prior, Wellington, New Zealand:
Has the worldwide refugee problem improved in the last 10 years?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
In terms of numbers, yes. In 1992 there were 18 million refugees and today there are about 10 million refugees in various parts of the world. In addition there are tens of millions of people displaced within their own countries because of persecution, violence, and war.

 
Statistics tell only part of the story - behind the figures are families struggling to survive on minimal assistance
There are also thousands of others who have recently returned home who need help in rebuilding their communities. There is still a huge job to do in finding lasting solutions for vulnerable families. Statistics tell only part of the story. Behind the figures are families struggling to survive on minimal assistance.

This will be the case until solutions are found. In some countries, conflicts have been resolved, refugees have gone home, solutions have been found. But new crises keep erupting, creating new refugee populations. And some refugee situations have simply continued for years with no resolution in sight. All those lives in suspension, for years and years.

Duane Quek, Singapore:
What was your initial reaction when you first visited a refugee camp?

Stella Pahinis, Barcelona, Spain:
What is the most difficult part when you first visit a camp? How do the refugees react towards you?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
When they come to you with desperate eyes and pleading hands and express all they have lost. They tell you their fears and concerns for their children. The most difficult part is not having a solution and for them to feel helpless.

Prakash, Geneva, Switzerland:
What is the biggest problem faced by refugees and how do you believe it should be addressed?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
The biggest problem could be the hostility, negative stereotyping, misperception and in some cases, downright racism faced by refugees. The mistaken negative perceptions about refugees often result in a cascade of concrete problems for them including anti-refugee legislation, abuse of refugees' human rights, severe drops in donations for refugee operations, and even brutal behaviour toward them.

Rob Poole, Lund, Sweden:
I have often felt that the voices of those representing refugees go unheard in the din of international politics. Do you believe this is changing? What has been your biggest frustration?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
This is linked to the previous question. A lot of people hold negative views about refugees without bothering to know the facts. It seems that increasingly, in some countries, being tough with refugees and asylum seekers has become part of the political game. In some places it's an election issue and in all the noise the refugee situation becomes distorted, and those of us trying to talk about the realities are drowned out.

Lorik, Mitrovica, Kosovo:
Are political solutions the only way to solve refugee problems?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
At the end of the day, yes. Without political solutions, on some level, the problems that created refugees like persecution and war, continue to rage. Even if military intervention makes a difference in some situations, it still has to be followed up with a political solution.

 
Negative stereotyping, hatred and violence can be fought by spreading awareness
Some element of political change and agreement is always required, at whatever level - community, state, international - before refugees can feel safe to go home or other solutions can be found. But other refugee problems, like negative stereotyping, hatred and violence can be fought by spreading awareness.

Andre Muberangabo, Quebec, Canada:
I'm a Rwandan who grew up in a refugee camp in Burundi. The UNHCR enabled me to go to school. Do you encourage refugees you meet to return home if it's possible?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
In many cases it is not safe to return home. But of course, when it is, I believe the future of your country and your people need you. So yes, I encourage many people to go home.

Diep Nguyen Thi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam:
Do you think your work brings concrete success or is it only symbolic?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
Fortunately I have seen concrete success. For example I was very vocal about a particular camp that was going to be closed, forcing many people back into danger. I fought with others and it was not closed. In other cases I have seen schools, homes and wells built that I funded. But the most rewarding aspect are the letters I receive from young people from around the world who want to tell me they are joining the fight to help others, and that they will educate themselves and do what they can. They give me more hope for our future.

Muhammed, Iraq:
Are you planning to visit Iraq?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
I tend to go to areas that need attention - forgotten emergencies. So I don't feel I can be useful there at the moment. My next trip will be to the border of the Sudan.

Shakir Wakil, Kabul, Afghanistan:
Will you visit Afghanistan?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
Yes, I feel the media has shifted focus to Iraq and I want us all not to forget the promises made. The needs of the people of Afghanistan and the long commitment to help properly rebuild the country should be met.

Nirmala, Nepal:
What do you think can be done about the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, where the government hasn't been able to look after its own people?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
I haven't been there. I don't have the necessary background to comment on this complex situation, but will be looking into it.

James Clarke, Kigoma, Tanzania:
You expressed dismay over the food shortages faced by refugees at the Lugufu camp in Tanzania. What do you think should be done, so that these refugees, many of whom have suffered so much already, get enough food?

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie:
It's a simple equation - when funding runs out, food rations are cut. Refugee operations are under-supported by the international community and refugees are not a popular cause with private donors either. So sometimes refugees have to go without essentials like enough food, clean water, shelter from the elements, not to even mention things like healthcare and education. Part of my job as goodwill ambassador is to draw attention to the many hidden refugee emergencies, and human tragedies that you will not find in the headlines.

Rumors about a forthcoming interview with Jennifer Aniston for US magazine Vanity Fair said the actress confessed that the real reason for divorcing Brad Pitt was because he was cheating on her.

A source told America's New York Post newspaper about the upcoming interview: "She has said she did want babies with Brad and that starting a family wasn't the issue.
The issue was Brad cheated".

Aniston is also said to be furious over the recent photos featuring Brad and Angelina posing together as husband and wife, reports Femalefirst.

The source added: "She is appalled by the 'family photos' coming out in magazines"

NEW YORK (Bloomberg) – Judging from all the tabloid stories and gossip columns, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie hit it off quite nicely during the filming of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” their new film about a handsome suburban couple who just happen to be paid assassins assigned to kill each other.Their chemistry is evident on the screen. Despite its faults and there are plenty, including too much cartoonish violence, too many whiplashing plot twists and a story that runs out of steam long before the movie ends – “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” has undeniable star power and sex appeal.
Pitt and Jolie may not be the best thespians on the planet, but they’re certainly two of the best-looking. And while they try to blast each other into oblivion in the movie, they obviously share fonder feelings in real life.
Their on-screen dynamic is crucial because, as the title implies, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” is essentially a two-person film that examines the philosophical question: “Can a couple that slays apart stay together?”
In this case, the answer is yes, though only after repeated efforts to end the marriage with a bang – the kind caused by machine guns, high-powered rifles, bazookas and other weapons of mass destruction.
Their relationship, as relayed in flashbacks from a therapist’s couch, starts out peacefully when they meet in Bogota while on separate search-and-destroy missions. Blissfully ignorant that they share the same profession, John and Jane immediately click and end up dancing a sultry tango in a thunderstorm before heading to bed. Astaire and Rogers never looked so good.
Eventually, the Smiths marry and settle down in a posh New York suburb where they keep their true identities secret as he commutes to a phoney engineering job and she serves dinner every night and fusses over the drapes.
Not to be confused with Ozzie and Harriet, the Smiths go about their business of killing for dough with ruthless efficiency: John breaks up a friendly poker game by gunning down all the participants, while Jane dresses up like a dominatrix and pleasures her customer with a whip before breaking his neck.
Trouble arrives when they’re both assigned to kill the same person in a desert near the Mexican border. Jane fires away at John, who retaliates by demolishing her hideout with a shoulder- fired missile. Soon, they discover they’ve been assigned by their rival agencies to eliminate each other by whatever means necessary.
The resulting mayhem includes flying knives, smashing cars, an exploding elevator and enough gunfire to please Charlton Heston, not to mention a no-holds-barred wrestling match that would do Hulk Hogan proud.
It’s all in good fun, of course. Brad and Angelina gleefully mug for the camera and deliver pun-filled dialogue, such as this exchange when they return home after their shootout in the desert. “Honey, I missed you,” John deadpans. “I missed you, too,” Jane replies.
At no time does the story seem remotely believable or particularly original, though that’s beside the point. (The hit- man-loves-hit-woman angle was covered by Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner in “Prizzi’s Honor,” and the warring couples theme has been around forever, from “Adam’s Rib” with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn to “The War of the Roses” with Turner and Michael Douglas.)
Doug Liman (“The Bourne Identity”) directs with frantic pacing, but the movie works primarily because the two stars appear to genuinely like each other and want to share that good feeling with the audience.• “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” from 20th Century Fox, is currently showing at the Liberty Theatre in Hamilton.

If Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have indeed transferred their on-screen romance off-screen and transformed into a singular entity known (at least on "Jimmy Kimmel Live") as Brangelina, who could blame them?

After watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith, it would seem physically impossible for any human being with eyes and a pulse to resist falling in love with either of them or both of them at the same time.

These people are frighteningly beautiful individually and have insane amounts of combustible chemistry together. They could have sat there and read the phone book for an hour and 50 minutes and it would have looked hot especially in the warm, sensuous tones that envelop them in director Doug Liman's film.

But they don't just sit there. Far from it. They fire an arsenal of high-powered weapons (often at each other), fling a variety of knives and other sharp objects (a favorite activity of Jolie's in real-life, too) and blow stuff up real good.

Because Mr. and Mrs. Smith isn't just a romance, and it isn't just a comedy, though the banter in Simon Kinberg's script is sufficiently snappy. It is, at its core, a big, mindless action movie - a high-tech "The War of the Roses." So checking your brain at the multiplex door is a good idea, because it will prevent you from being distracted by just how flawed the film's premise is.

It will keep you from thinking thoughts like, if John and Jane Smith are truly super-duper secret assassins who are using each other as a cover to protect their identities, wouldn't each of them have thoroughly investigated the other before they got married and realized who their intended was? Or have they been blinded by the tequila, moonlight and explosions that overwhelmed them on the night they first hooked up in Bogota?

See, you can't let these thoughts creep into your head. You just gotta go with it, and everyone involved makes that easy to do, at least until the very end, when the movie culminates in a deafening, overlong (though elaborately choreographed) shoot-out inside an IKEA-type home decorating store. By then, the movie has worn out its welcome mat.

But Liman continues to show a knack for crisp pacing, even as his movies have gotten larger. Mr. and Mrs. Smith combines the infectious energy of his smaller, earlier films (Swingers, Go) with the complexity and scope of The Bourne Identity, his first foray into action flicks three years ago.

Here, John and Jane live an antiseptic life with a beautiful home, two cars and no sex. (The film begins and ends with the couple sitting side-by-side in cushy chairs, looking straight into the camera and answering questions during a therapy session. It's an amusing framing device but one that begs its own question: Since both husband and wife are spies and the marriage is a sham, which of them would have bothered suggesting counseling?)

Anyway, their relationship provides a clever twist on the conventions of sedate suburbia. She wears a frumpy apron to cook dinner, which is ready every night at 7; he comes home, pulls on a cardigan sweater and fixes himself a drink. They engage in distracted discourse over the new curtains she bought.

Sometimes, though, they sneak out at night under the guise of "work." Jane puts on a dominatrix get-up and heads into Manhattan to snap her latest victim's neck. John weasels his way into a back-room poker game and fires off a few effortless rounds to fulfill his mission.

It's only when both are assigned the same target (Adam Brody from "The O.C.," typically smart-mouthed as an up-and-coming spy himself) do they each realize whom they've been lying next to in bed every night. That epiphany sets up the film's subtlest, most suspenseful scene - a dinner that's more verbal ballet than quiet meal at home and forces each Smith to try and bump off the other.

John gets moral support from his co-worker and only real friend, played by Vince Vaughn, who's essentially doing the same high-strung, fast-talking thing he's done in nearly every film he's made since Liman's Swingers 10 years ago. It's familiar but effective. Jane's only friend (Kerry Washington) is a member of her all-female posse of amazonian secret agents - a nice touch, and one that's apropos for such a strong woman herself.

But to address the question, "Can you actually see Brad and Angelina falling in love on screen?"- the answer is: It's hard to tell amid all the noise and destruction. It's indisputable fun trying, though

HOLLYWOOD Actress Angelina Jolie says she fell in love with Brad Pitt while they filmed Mr. and Mrs. Smith but denies she stole Pitt from actress Jennifer Aniston.

I have always developed deep ties with actors who have played alongside me, Jolie told World Entertainment News Network. I always fall in love.

Angelina Jolie said grueling gun-training sessions for the movie about married assassins brought her close to Pitt.

If you're armed, you need to trust that person. We developed a good understanding, Angelina Jolie said.

Angelina Jolie, the lead actress, however, denied she stole Pitt from Aniston, who split with Pitt in January and filed for divorce in March.

Billy Bob Thornton told in a recent interview with Esquire magazine that having sex with Angelina Jolie is not such a big deal and he doesn't understand why Jolie was voted last year the world's sexiest woman.

"Sleeping with Angelina Jolie is like '****ing the couch", Bob Thornton said. "Sex doesn't have to be with a model to be good."

"Sometimes with the model, the actress or the sexiest person in the world, it may literally be like ****ing the couch."

Billy Bob Thornton , The director-turned-actor, who had three years of marriage with the sexy actress before splitting in 2002, has claimed that love-making with "sexiest person in the world" need not necessarily be satisfying  and fun.

"Don't count out the average-looking woman, or even maybe the slightly unattractive woman, or the really unattractive woman. There may be this swarthy, little, five-foot-two stocky woman who just has sex written all over her," he added.

Rumours of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt having an affair on the sets of Mr and Mrs Smith might after all be true, with her revealing that she develops deep ties with her co-actors while filming.

"I have always developed deep ties with actors who have played alongside me. I always fall in love," The Sun quoted her as saying.

Angelina and Brad practised shooting together for their roles as killers, and she says that it is natural that trust and understanding  normally develops between costars in  trying conditions. "If you're armed you need to trust that person. We developed a good understanding," she was quoted as saying.

 Pitt, Jolie weave web of fun intrigue

The most important thing about Doug Liman’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith is that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie truly do have great on-screen chemistry and their interaction keeps your attention on the film for almost the entire two hours that it’s unfolding (or unraveling, depending on your perspective).

Certainly, much of Simon Kinberg’s script seems either implausible or ridiculous, and the body count in this supposed “dark comedy” makes the average martial arts flick seem like a morning TV show. From the opening segment when Pitt plows through a trio of heavies and Jolie takes time out from dominatrix duty to casually snap a guy’s neck, this couple kills people with almost scary calm and precision.

John and Jane Smith are an ultra-bored suburban couple trying to keep their romance going while working as spies for different agencies. They’ve somehow been able to maintain a relationship and separate identities and agendas throughout the length of their marriage, which is a matter of much debate itself.

But then both Smith family members get instructions that have them going to some arcane location in the Southwest. When they arrive, it turns out that each one is the other’s target. Now they must decide whether to kill each other or remain together and possibly end up being killed by their employers.

The film also contains the obligatory chase scene and romantic encounters, plus some occasional interplay with cast members like Vince Vaughn and Kerry Washington to provide some change-of-pace scenery and conversation.

Still, the film totally rests on Pitt and Jolie, who do an effective job with rather meager tools. Comparisons to the great romantic comedy teams of the past are misguided because those duos were usually in much better written and conceived properties than this one. Indeed, it’s a tribute to this duo’s appeal as actors and willingness to stretch themselves that Mr. and Mrs. Smith rises beyond the level of either throwaway action vehicle or clichéd romantic yarn.

Sure, no one truly believes that these two are the cold-blooded killing machines that they portray, but the audience can accept the notion that they would stand by each other no matter what they later discovered. They root for them and finally cheer when it seems that they’ve at least persevered, if not triumphed. It may not make you fully accept the happenings in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but unless you hate the couple, you’ll probably enjoy them.
 By Ron Wynn

Event draws attention to needs of 17 million refugees worldwide

A global call for the safety and protection of 17 million refugees arose from Washington June 15, echoing with tribute to the courage of people who flee war, violence or discrimination in search of safety and hope for a better future.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) opened a five-day recognition of June 20's World Refugee Day with a Washington ceremony, bringing both diplomatic and cinematic star power to the event.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and film star Angelina Jolie shared a stage during a ceremony hosted by the National Geographic Society. Rice came to the event as chief diplomat for a nation that offers resettlement to more refugees each year than any other - 53,000 in 2004, and a projected 55,000 in 2005. Jolie serves as goodwill ambassador for UNHCR and, in that role, has traveled to remote areas in more than 15 nations, meeting and encouraging refugees and the people who assist them.

Rice said the United States has a "deep and abiding" commitment to the protection and assistance of refugees. "Communities across our country have opened their doors and their hearts to refugees helping them to begin new lives in safety and in freedom," she said.

The United States provided almost $700 million for overseas assistance to refugees and conflict victims in 2004. It provided additional hundreds of millions of dollars in global food aid, much of which flowed to refugees and displaced persons.

In recognition of World Refugee Day, Rice said the United States renews its pledge "to keep the hope of the world's refugees alive."

Jolie, who has represented the cause of refugees for almost four years, noted the more than 50,000 refugees resettled in the United States in 2004. "I'm certain among these 50,000, you'll also find some of the best and brightest of America's future," she said.

While acknowledging those success stories, Jolie also said, "There are 17 million whose futures are still uncertain. Refugee Day is the day we make sure they aren't forgotten."

In front of this crowd of almost 400 refugee activists and supporters, a movie star and a diplomat were not the most riveting figures on the National Geographic stage. The crowd offered its longest and loudest ovations to Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager who provided protection for more than 1,000 refugees during Rwanda's genocide in 1994. His story was the subject of the acclaimed 2004 film Hotel Rwanda.

As the crowd offered its tribute to Rusesabagina, so did the secretary of state. "Paul, you have shown us what true courage is in the face of evil," said Rice, speaking directly to Rusesabagina, who sat just steps from her across the stage. "When Rwanda sank into genocide, you, a hotel manager, found the courage to shelter over 1,200 refugees from certain death, putting your own life in great jeopardy. This story should give us all the courage to rise to the moral challenges that come our way."

UNHCR presented Rusesabagina with the World Refugee Day Humanitarian Award, jointly presented to Terry George, the director-producer of Hotel Rwanda.

Despite this admiration, Rusesabagina was humble about his role, calling himself not a hero but a husband and father who tried to do the right thing at a time when he was "absolutely certain" that he would not survive the 100 days of violence.

"The streets swam with blood. People [were] in despair, they had no food, no shelter. They were terrified, fearing for their lives, and the lives of their loved ones. The fortunate ones became refugees, because others were killed," Rusesabagina said.

Rusesabagina was one of the fortunate ones, who became a refugee in Belgium, a fate that was also cruel, he said, because "all your plans, goals and objectives vanished."

With those memories, Rusesabagina echoed Jolie in calling World Refugee Day a time to remember all those who suffer this plight whether in Sudan, Burundi, Somalia, or hundreds of other places.

"We need to give our fellow men and women hope. We need to reach out to them now so that we do not see a Hotel Darfur 10 years from now," Rusesabagina said.

LOS ANGELES The coupling of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" propelled the action-spy story to the top of the box office.
The assassin tale debuted with 51 (m) million dollars in ticket sales. It comes amid a tabloid fury of speculation that the two stars are romantically linked.

Last weekend's top film, "Madagascar," slipped to second place with 17 (m) million dollars. The last installment in the "Star Wars" saga was third, with a total so far of 332 (m) million dollars.

At number four is "The Longest Yard," followed by "Sharkboy and Lavagirl." The family action yarn opened in the fifth spot.