(REUTERS – 8TH MAY) At the press conference for his new comedy, “The Dictator” on Monday (May 7) comedian Sacha Baron Cohen stays in character as General Aladeen.

Aladeen is Cohen’s outlandish role in the upcoming mockumentary film about the oppressive ruler of fictional Republic of Wadiya who is hellbent on keeping democracy at bay during his reign of terror.

Cohen entered the conference room at the Waldorf Astoria in New York as the General, surrounded by female guards, amidst chants of his name by actors posing as residents of Wadiya.

He started the conference by addressing the gathered journalists as “devils of the Zionist media” before launching into a little rant, followed by answers to questions.

“On behalf of my dear friend and doubles Tennis partner, President Assad of Syria, I want to thank theUnited Nations for their brave inaction over Syria. Thirteen months and still no Security Councilresolution. You guys are amazing. You have done next to nothing for the Syrian people. But remember — you can always do less,” General Aladeen told reporters at the outset.

Through the duration of the entire conference, Cohen did not break character as the General and poked fun at reporters whenever he could.

The apparent publicity stunt is not uncommon for Cohen, who has mastered promotion with other characters Borat and Bruno. Cohen’s first movie, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” was a major hit, picking $128 million (USD) from U.S. and Canadian moviegoer pockets in 2006. His next, “Bruno” was considered a flop at box offices with $60 million in domestic theaters.

When asked about his response to the Arab Spring, Cohen as the General lamented the uprising that had led to the downfall of several dictators.

“First Mubarak is shown the door. Now he and his mistresses must make do with the measly billion dollars he stole. Now, how are they supposed to eat out? And how are they supposed to go on vacation? And then they got poor old Muammar (Gaddafi). He and I were signed up to rent Miranda Kerr (a famous model) for next month and now he’s gone and I’m not going to get my deposit back,” he said.

As the dictator of Wadiya, his answers remained provocative and politically incorrect — a style that Cohen is well known for.

“Democracy is the worst, endless talking and everyone’s vote counts, no matter how black or crippled or female you are,” he told reporters as he explained why the dictatorship of Wadiya is more effective.

When asked who he would support in the 2012 U.S. presidential race, the General gave a mixed answer in which he deliberately mispronounced the name of presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney.

“In terms of getting into power in America, I would have to support the Democrats. If they can enable a Kenyan to become President, then why not Wadiyan? But if it was money that I was giving, I support and I give my full support to Mitchell (deliberate mispronunciation of Mitt) Romney. He has the makings of a great dictator. He is incredibly wealthy but pays no taxes. And it’s not much of a leap to go from firing people to firing squads. And from putting pets on the top of a car to putting political dissidents on the top of them,” he said.

Towards the end of the news conference, a reporter from E!, an American entertainment network, asked the General about the infamous incident earlier this year at the Oscars red carpet when Cohen, appearing as General Aladeen on the red carpet, spilled ashes on another E! presenter, Ryan Seacrest.

The General had then claimed he was carrying the ashes of recently departed North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il and purposely spilled them all over the black tuxedo of Seacrest.

The General explained the incident as, “I was showing him (Ryan Seacrest) that it was from South Korea, the urn was made from South Korea. I lift it up and then it accidentally fall on him. But you know they were not his ashes, his son, Kim Jong-un, he is so fat, he looks like he swallowed his father. And that is because he actually did. So it was the remains of the barbecue. But now you know that jacket is property of North Korea. So Seacrest better give it back.”

For more of The General’s antics, viewers can watch “The Dictator” which opens in the United States on 16th May.

(REUTERS – 8TH MAY) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday (May urged Pakistan to do more to make sure its territory is not used as a launchpad for militant activity, underlining the prickly relationship with a key ally in the war against insurgents.

Clinton made the comments during a joint news conference with Indian Foreign Minister Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna. India has repeatedly accused its nuclear-armed rival of dragging its feet on cracking down on militants operating on its soil.

“We look to the government of Pakistan to do more. It needs to make sure that its territory is not used as launching pads for terrorist attacks anywhere, including inside of Pakistan,” Clinton said.

Both Washington and New Delhi have sharply criticised Pakistan for not detaining Hafiz Saeed, who is suspected of masterminding a three-day rampage by gunmen on India’s financial capital, Mumbai, in 2008.

India is furious that Pakistan has not detained Saeed despite handing over evidence against him.

“Recent attacks in Kabul highlight, once again, the need for elimination of terrorist sanctuaries in the neighbourhood and the need for stronger action from Pakistan on terrorism, including on bringing to justice the perpetrators of Mumbai terrorist attacks. We also discussed our respective relations withPakistan,” said Krishna.

Saeed is believed to have founded Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the 1990s, the militant group whom Indiablames for the Mumbai attack. He denies any wrongdoing and links to militants.

After a reward was announced, Saeed last month taunted the United States by holding a news conference at a hotel just 40 minutes’ drive away from the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, calling the bounty “laughable”.

“The 166 people killed in Mumbai during that horrific terrorist attack in 2008 included six Americans, so as part of our ‘rewards for justice’ programme we have offered a 10 million dollars reward that could lead to the arrest or conviction of Hafiz Saeed for his role in those attacks. Our ‘rewards for justice’ offer demonstrates our seriousness in obtaining additional information that can withstand judicial scrutiny and that leads to arrest or conviction and brings the perpetrators and planners of the Mumbai attacks to justice,” Clinton added on Tuesday.

Islamabad and Washington have fallen out over the past year due to a raft of issues, notably American drone strikes on Pakistan from Afghanistan and a unilateral U.S. raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

The fact that bin Laden was hiding in a Pakistani garrison town was seized upon by India as proof thatIslamabad was dragging its feet on cracking down on militants.

Clinton also called for an increase in bilateral trade between the two countries.

“We have to continue expanding trade and investment between our countries. We have come a long way, when I first visited India in 1995, trade stood at 9 billion dollars and this year we expect to surpass 100 billion dollars. But I truly believe that there is much more potential to unleash, we should be working toward having one of the world’s largest trading relationships and we need to continue to reduce barriers and open our markets to greater trade and investments,” Clinton said.

U.S. exports to India have increased to more than 21 billion U.S. dollars in 2011 from less than 4 billion U.S. dollars in 2001, according to the Commerce Department.

India wants the private sector to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure over the next five years. TheUnited States wants a piece of the action and is encouraging domestic companies to invest in sectors such as road building, railways and energy.

(REUTERS – 7TH MAY) A non-profit organisation in the Gaza strip striving to improve the lives for deaf children and adults by providing education, health care, social services, and work opportunities has gone from strength to strength.

‘Atfaluna (our children) Society for Deaf Children’ was established in the Gaza Strip in 1992. 300 students attend classes ranging from nursery up until high school age.

Wala Ziyadeh teaches deaf children to read and write and says these skills will enable them to earn a living and contribute to society, instead of being treated as outcast in a country where work is increasingly becoming hard to come by, adding that the work itself is rewarding.

“I was really happy because here are my friends and the students who grew up with me, and the organisation developed to take in a large number of students, which (helps to) support me to develop my work as a teacher for the deaf,” she said.

The Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children has recently launched an Income Generation Program for deaf youth in Gaza, which is a four-year undertaking starting in January 2012, hoping to reach out to more young people looking for a way out.

Around 60 deaf workers are employed in the organisations’ workshops, producing high quality wood crafts and handmade embroidered items.

“The message of the organisation is to change the (idea of a) disability into a gift by making the students of this organisation able to carry out different activities that teach them and merge them in the society, and the third thing is trying to give them future opportunities to work,” said Sharhabil Al Zaeim, the headmaster of the deaf organisation.

The main aims of the project are to encourage older students to take up vocational training courses in the culinary arts; to provide employment opportunities for the youth and to encourage the employment of deaf women between the ages of 18-30 years old into the Jordanian workforce.

Al Zaeim, added that this project will effectively give deaf children the opportunity of a bright future; the chance to openly promote their skills and abilities and allow them to provide for themselves and their families. He also explained that the project will more importantly, help the deaf youth in the Gaza Strip in improving their self-esteem and confidence, allowing them to realise their own potential and equal contribution to the economy, with that of hearing members of society.

Locals and tourists alike have been impressed by the project. Tourists come from afar, searching for products created by talented students.

“I just find them amazing and this is why I wanted to come to Gaza Strip, because of the perseverance of people under pressure of all kinds of things and especially the handicapped,” Dona Taillerwest a tourist from America.

The craft shop sells a variety of items hand crafted by all ages, from delicate cross stitched throws and cushions, to wooden furniture and decorative items, finished to a quality which rivals their hearing colleagues.

(REUTERS – 7TH MAY) Hollywood’s summer movie season got off with a bang. “The Avengers” proved that five superheroes are better than one by bursting into the record books with a massive 200.3 million dollars in ticket sales over its opening weekend in North American theaters – that’s light years ahead of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows – Part 2,” which opened last year with 169.2 million. All in all, “The Avengers” has collected more than 641 million since it opened in international markets on April 25.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows – Part 2″ – which was released July 2011 – took in more than 1.328 billion dollars globally.

(REUTERS – 7TH MAY) The south of England may be gripped in drought, but dry weather was not evident on Saturday May 5 as the 2012 Lawn Mower racing season got to a muddy start in Billinghurst, West Sussex, as weeks of heavy rain drenched fields making driving conditions particularly challenging for competitors of the start of this years grass roots motorsport challenge.

The Ferraris or McLarens of this sport have names more often associated by the layman with garden centres: Atco, Webb or Westwood.

There are no team orders to be found here and mowers race on an even ‘grass playing field’ in that the machines are only allowed minor modifications.

For obvious safety reasons all the blades are removed for racing mowers.

The British Lawn Mower Racing Association has three categories, or classes of racing:

Group 2 – They look like a traditional lawnmower with seat attached

Group 3 – Those that look like a buggy

Group 4 – These look like lawn tractors

At each meeting the Championship race lasts between 10 and 15 laps and points are awarded for finishing position. A maximum of 25 points are awarded for a win.

From the outset the mud proved the main challenge for the racers and was a particular challenge if you approached a corner in a group vying for position as traction proved difficult. As the mowers churned up the mud the ‘racing line’ altered on every lap making the circuit unpredictable.

Competition is fierce in all three categories with winners looking to claim bragging rights as British Lawn Mower champions at the end of the season in September.

Battling it for top honours in Group 3 saw Dean Fuller (No 43 -) triumphant whilst in Group 4 Paul Lovettcut, or rather slid his way to victory.

The Grand Prix season is set to continue on the weekend of June 23/24.

(REUTERS – 7TH MAY) The trial of Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik entered its fourth week on Monday (May 7) – a week in which the court will hear the post-mortem reports on the victims of a youth camp massacre that left 69 people dead on Utoeya island.

Breivik admits killing eight people with a car bomb at government offices in Oslo, then gunning down 69 people, mostly teenagers, at an island summer camp of the ruling Labour Party, in what he has described as a counter-attack against multiculturalism.

Since the trial started on April 16, the focus had been on the events in Oslo, but on Thursday (May 3) the court’s attention turned to Utoeya.

Once the post-mortem reports have been heard, witness statements of 33 people who were injured on the island will take place.

On Utoeya, Breivik shot most of his victims several times, often using the first shot to take down his target, then following up with a shot to the head. His youngest victim was 14 years old.

Disguised as a police officer, Breivik managed to lure some of his victims out of hiding, saying help had arrived. Other victims jumped into the lake, where he shot them in the water. He later surrendered as “commander of the Norwegian resistance movement”.

The Oslo court has decided that the testimonies of witnesses and injured will not be broadcast on television. The ban also includes the forensic expert witness statements.

The testimonies concerning the events on Utoeya will last until the beginning of June.

(REUTERS – 7TH MAY) The Globe to Globe Festival continues to celebrate Britain’s most famous playwright with an Arabic-language adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Richard II” by Palestinian theatre group Ashtar.

The group is one of 37 companies from around the world to perform at the Globe theatre in London between April and June this year.

“The breadth of enthusiasm for Shakespeare is astonishing, we’ve got 37 different languages and different cultures coming here but there’s another 40 50 that you could have found, you could have come and brought productions of Shakespeare in the depth. I mean, we’re talking to countries who have been performing Shakespeare for three four hundred years, where kids study Shakespeare, where people have grown up on it, where revolutions have come and gone because of people’s inspiration that they’ve drawn from Shakespeare. He’s had a massive influence on the world that we live in today and this festival is just reflecting that,” said Dominic Dromgoole, artistic director at the Globe, the replica of Shakespeare’s original theatre.

Ashtar’s “Richard II” production which depicts the downfall of a prideful medieval king appears to bridge the gap between high political drama of the past and recent events of upheaval in the Middle East.

The production is written in classical Arabic and actors are wearing contemporary military uniforms resembling those of Arab dictators ripped from power last year by deadly revolutions.

According to the play’s director, Conall Morrison, however, Ashtar’s production is not about the Arab Spring per se and not bound by time or borders.

“Somebody said oh it’s about the Arab Spring, it’s not about the Arab Spring really, you know, we weren’t trying to make it so. It is about the dynasties and the regimes that the Arab Spring was against. You know Richard isn’t the worst despot in the world but you know he over taxes people, he is responsible for assassinations and so on but he is deposed and (Henry) Bolingbroke takes over. Basically what you have is one power elite sub-planted by another power elite and a lot of dynasties within that, fathers looking after sons and uncles looking after nephews and so on and that’s very, very connected with the Arab world, you know where dynasties try to replicate themselves,” he said.

In fact the original script and staging are left largely untouched in Ashtar’s performance.

But Palestinian actor Sami Metwasi, who plays King Richard II, admitted that he sometimes struggled not to let current political events influence his performance too much.

“We tried so hard not to compare or to get material from the Arab world what’s happening there but there’s a lot of similarities although it’s your history, it’s British history but it’s happening now in our region, so it was a bit challenging to not to try — to focus on the similarities of what’s happening now although it’s a contemporary setting for the play but we try to avoid because we didn’t want to be direct relating to what’s happening now in the Arab world,” he said.

The troupe, which is based in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, debuted the play about the despotic king in an open-air courtyard of a ruined eighth century palace in Jericho, one of the world’s most ancient cities.

Metwasi said he was pleased to have an opportunity to bring Shakespeare to an Arabic-speaking audience.

“The political situation in the region especially in Palestine made us focus more on real stories coming out from that region rather than taking from international work like Shakespeare unfortunately, although as an artist I’d be thirsty to work on Shakespearean work so, so yes we’re trying this is a good chance for us to do this play in Arabic which is not the native language of the work itself, the play.”

The festival has not been without controversy, however.

A group of leading British actors, directors and film makers had expressed in a letter their objection to the inclusion of Israel’s National Theatre, Habima, which is due to perform “The Merchant of Venice” in Hebrew later this month.

The letter, published in the Guardian newspaper, attacked what it called Habima’s “shameful” record of involvement with Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories and urged the Globe to withdraw its invitation.

Director Morrison said the group tried not to get involved into the debate about Habima.

“Every aspect of their existence is very, very politicised, what crops they can grow in their back garden is literally controlled by the military occupation and so on,” Morrison explained.

“So everything is connected into politics and into power and so on and that can indeed turn into kind of discussions will we have coffee or will we have tea, you know which to an outsider can be a little bit maddening you know that because Palestinians are in many respects disempowered that a lot of things then that go through kind of a lens of power politics you know. — But we didn’t spend time talking about (Israeli theatre group) Habima or something like that you know. The guys had stuff to get on with and that we told more of about politics in terms of this play. They brought their political experience and their awareness of all the different Middle Eastern regimes to bring to bear with this play, you know. These guys know what their situation is; they know what their relationship with Israel is they don’t need to discuss it too much you know.”

Globe to Globe is part of a wider World Shakespeare Festival as well as the London 2012 Festival that ties in with the summer Olympics. South Sudan, South Africa, Belarus and Afghanistan are some of the other countries represented.

Similar productions are also taking place in Stratford upon Avon, where an Iraqi theatre group is set to stage a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”.

(REUTERS – 6TH MAY) He works as the creative director for Louis Vuitton and runs his own eponymous label, but despite all the success and recognition fashion designer Marc Jacobs found time in his busy schedule to do his bit for future designers, nurturing them, supporting them, and most importantly, lending his name to the project “Designer for Tomorrow”.

On Thursday (May 3) evening the designer, who is famous for his tattoos and for sporting skirts at events, came to Berlin to open the exhibition “Designer for Tomorrow – Insights & Perspectives” which showed pictures of Jacobs accompanying the future designers for over a year in his role as patron of the project by photographer Claudius Holzmann. Jacobs has been involved with the project since 2011 in which future designers present their collections and are able to use the forum and the big name behind it as a stepping stone for the career. The New York designer will be on site several times in Berlin to guide the finalists through the early stages of the competition and the process of designing their first collection items. Jacobs is also part of the jury which will elect the next winner at the fashion week in Berlin in July 2012.

Jacobs told Reuters that he likes to be involved in the project because it is “very interesting, you know, very nourishing for me to meet a few of the young designers,” he said. “I think, perseverance, ambition, drive, sort of intelligence, all of that helps to make a designer successful.”

But the designer said that he is not worried in the least about nourishing the talent that might eventually de-throne him.

“No. I’m not afraid. I do my job and there is always room for new people and new ideas and new things,” the designer told Reuters. “And you know there’s a huge world out there and everybody has different likes and different interests and different tastes and I just do my thing and I’m one of many. And there’s room for many more.”

Jacobs said he has always been interested in design. His grandmother taught him to knit when he was a child, and at the tender age of 18 he enrolled at the renowned Parsons School of Design in New York. From then on the awards rolled in. In 1992, as an already well-known designer, Marc Jacobs received the ‘Womenswear Designer of the Year’ award for his efforts.

Marc Jacobs became the darling of New York’s fashion scene. Storming the fashion circuit with his own collection, he proved his talent for perfectly combining different styles. Even today, his aesthetic is defined by the combination of the apparently uncombinable. Opposites are his trademark.

The fashion critics rave about Marc Jacobs and his collections. In 1997, Louis Vuitton took notice of Marc Jacobs and named him as their creative director. Not long afterwards, Jacobs designed the first ever ready-to-wear line for the traditional French brand.

The well-established designer knows from his own experience how important it is to encourage young designers. For this reason he will continue to sponsor the fashion talent award “Designer for Tomorrow” by Peek & Cloppenburg as patron for the second year in a row. To the young designers it is not just a stepping stone for their careers but a privilege to work with Jacobs.

“I feel super privileged and it is the most emotional experience of my life, without doubt,” said 2012 finalist Leandro Kano from Seville. “Today is the most important day of my life.”

Ramil Makinano from London adds: “It’s amazing that Marc Jacobs basically acknowledges, basically gives you a little bit of support, and a little bit of encouragement, and a little bit of what do you call this … uplift, really. Yah yah!”

Siddhartha Meyer from Berlin said what many felt: “I didn’t really find it intimidating. I found it very inspiring,” he told Reuters, praising Jacobs. “I meet a very pleasant person, and I really liked to discuss my collection with him.”

(REUTERS – 6T MAY) British rockers Coldplay paid homage to the late Beastie Boys’ rapper Adam Yauch by singing the hip-hop group’s debut single “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” on Friday (May 4).

Lead singer Chris Martin played piano and sang on stage at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in an acoustic version of the normally aggressive, guitar and beat driven rap song.

Martin added an extra line to the end of the song “We’re sending all our love to the Beastie Boys”.

The video called “RIP MCA”, Yauch’s stage name, was on Coldplay’s website and has racked up 52,200 hits on YouTube as of 1745GMT on Saturday (May 5).

Yauch died on Friday after a battle with cancer. He was 47.

The Beastie Boys sold some 40 million records worldwide over more than 20 years. As time passed, Yauch branched into filmmaking and activism, helping raise money for various causes including efforts to help free Tibet from Chinese rule.

Yauch and Martin are both lauded for their support of human rights causes, including the non-governmental organisation Amnesty International.

(REUTERS – 6TH MAY) Egypt needs to do more to secure a $3.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, including gathering broad political support and identifying other sources to finance its funding gap of up to $12 billion, an IMF official said on Wednesday (May 2).

Masood Ahmed, IMF Director for the Middle East, told Reuters that Egypt still needed to do some work to finalize its economic programme.

When asked if he thought there was enough political support in Egypt for a broad economic programme, Ahmed said: “I think that process (of getting political support) is advancing but I do not think we are at the point yet where we could move forward.”

“There’s still more work to be done to close down those three areas,” he said, referring to the economic programme, political support and alternative financial sources.

“We are ready as soon as pillars are there for that programme to move forward relatively quickly,” Ahmed said after presenting the regional economic outlook in Dubai.

Egypt and the IMF are in discussions on a $3.2 billion loan programme, which Egypt had requested earlier this year but which had been opposed by the powerful Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party.

Egypt’s $236 billion economy has been laid low by 18 months of political turmoil.

Last week, parliament overwhelmingly rejected the army-appointed cabinet’s plan to cut state spending, hampering the government’s efforts to secure IMF help needed to avoid a fiscal crisis and potential currency devaluation.

“Egypt has pressing economic and financial challenges and that’s why we believe it is important to move forward now to finalize the content of the programme, to get support for it and to mobilize the financing for it,” Ahmed said.

The country’s finance minister said last week the government expected the Fund’s aid to start flowing from May.

The IMF is insisting that any agreement on financing is backed by Egypt’s government and political partners ahead of presidential elections later this month. This would ensure the deal would outlast the political transition following the polls.

The IMF expects Egypt’s inflation-adjusted economic growth to ease to 1.5 percent this year, which would be the slowest pace since a 0.3 percent expansion in 1992 and down from 1.8 percent in 2011. Its fiscal gap should widen to 10 percent of gross domestic product in 2012, from 9.9 percent last year.

Egypt has said it expects Saudi Arabia to deposit $1 billion at the Egyptian central bank by the end of April as part of a $2.7 billion package to support Egypt’s battered finances.

Egypt’s foreign reserves have tumbled by more than $20 billion to $15 billion during a year of political turmoil following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.

Ahmed also said the IMF would consider further aid for Yemen after approving a $93.7 million loan for the poorest country in the Arab world in April, which was aimed at addressing an urgent balance of payments deficit.

“It’s hard to say yet (what the financing needs will be)… But clearly the financing requirements for Yemento embark on the programme of expanding employment and the economy will be significantly larger than the current phase of how to stabilize the economy after the crisis,” he said.

Yemeni officials have previously said the public sector would play a key role in job creation as the country attempts to stave off economic collapse after 15 months of political turmoil that saw President Ali Abdullah Saleh forced from office.

“In that context, that they move to the medium-term strategy the IMF would also consider how to support and accompany them during that process, including by providing financial support over a longer-term period and with amounts that are likely to be larger than the amount, we had so far provided for the immediate stabilization,” he said.

“The fiscal situation deteriorated significantly, this year, we believe it will stabilize,” Ahmed said.

Estimates from the International Monetary Fund, analysed by Reuters, suggest the six Arab countries which experienced the most serious unrest in the Arab Spring - Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia andYemen - lost around $50 U.S. billion in output last year.

Egypt risks both a sovereign debt crisis and a balance of payments crisis this year. The government’s borrowing costs have been climbing as foreign investors pull out, forcing it to rely on local banks to finance its budget deficit.