George Clooney to visit UN Thursday

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. actor George Clooney, recently appointed U.N. Messenger of Peace, will visit the U.N. Headquarters on Thursday for the first time since he was named to the new post by U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Jan. 18, according to a U.N. statement released on Wednesday.

Accompanied by his parents, Clooney is to meet with Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, who will present him with the U.N. Messenger of Peace certificate and dove pin, as is the tradition with all newly-designated messengers.

Clooney will speak to a meeting of troop contributors, during which Assistant Secretary-General Lute will brief member states on the joint African Union-U.N. Hybrid operation in Darfur, Sudan, the U.N. Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad and the U.N. Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Following that meeting, Clooney will take part in a press conference to speak on his recent visit to Darfur, Chad and DRC, where he accompanied Lute on her recent technical mission.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has designated American filmmaker and actor George Clooney as a UN Messenger of Peace, the UN chief's spokeswoman said Friday.

Clooney will join eight other internationally renowned individuals as messengers to raise global awareness of the world body's ideals and activities, with a special focus on UN peacekeeping efforts, Michele Montas said. Full story

BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Fading Fabio -- the one-time romance novel cover boy -- says he has too much self-respect to appear on "Dancing With the Stars," "The Surreal Life" and "MTV Cribs," but continues to show no respect at all for George Clooney and little knowledge of English language idioms.

He just can't seem to get over his lack of physical prowess during a Beverly Hills restaurant row with Clooney that happened last November. Clooney allegedly used the "B-word" to describe several of Fabio's female friends he mistakely assumed were taking his photo. Fabio asked for an apology and received a shove instead. Full story

BEIJING, Nov. 21 -- George Clooney says paparazzi should respect the rules of the road.

The 46-year-old actor admonished photographers while riding his motorcycle in Los Angeles on Friday with his girlfriend, Sarah Larson, Clooney spokesman Stan Rosenfield told The Associated Press on Tuesday.