Jolie visits refugees who fled Libya, Tunisia (AP)

LAMPEDUSA, Italy – Angelina Jolie traveled to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday to thank its residents for welcoming in the estimated 20,000 migrants who arrived after fleeing unrest in Tunisia and Libya.

Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, toured a migrant holding center, chatted with some refugees and then participated in a ceremony at Lampedusa's memorial for migrants lost at sea as part of commemorations for World Refugee Day on Monday.

"It is very hard to imagine looking out at this beautiful sea how many people have risked their lives and how many people have risked their children's lives and so many of them have lost their lives at sea," she said.

She thanked the residents who gathered for the ceremony for welcoming the migrants in and asked them to consider how "horrible" their lives must have been that they would risk everything for the chance of a better life in Europe.

"Can you imagine how it must feel to finally cross in" to Italy? she asked. "For the coast guard to save them and carry them to safety, save their children's lives and give them a chance to survive and to have a future, and what it means to them," said Jolie, wearing a plain black blouse and jacket.

U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres also was on hand to urge Europe to continue keeping its doors open to refugees. Italy's center-right government has begrudgingly accepted the migrants. It has also struck deals with Tunisia and the Libyan opposition to return those who don't qualify for asylum.

Guterres said the debate in Europe about immigration "doesn't correspond to the reality," given that the number of African migrants who have arrived in Europe is a fraction of the numbers who have gone elsewhere, such as Tunisia or Egypt.

"Obviously, for a small island like Lampedusa, to have such a large number of people coming is a huge pressure," he told reporters. "But for Europe as a whole, it is a drop in the ocean, and so I believe that with an adequate form of solidarity this challenge can be overcome."

Lampedusa, with a permanent population of 6,000, was overwhelmed this spring by waves of refugees fleeing the social uprising in Tunisia, with an estimated 20,000 arriving on the island, which is closer to Africa than mainland Italy. Boats continue to arrive from Libya, but eventually the refugees are transferred to holding centers elsewhere in Italy or sent back home unless they qualify for asylum.

Pope Benedict XVI urged countries to welcome refugees for as long as they need sanctuary in a message delivered Sunday while visiting the tiny republic of San Marino, itself founded in the early 4th century by a Christian refugee from Croatia.

"I invite civil authorities and every one of good will to guarantee a welcome and dignified living conditions for refugees until they can return to their countries freely and safely," Benedict said.

Yet as he spoke, members of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government heated up the anti-immigrant rhetoric during an annual rally of the xenophobic Northern League party near the northern city of Bergamo.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni drew cheers from the crowd when he boasted of the hardline policies he has pushed through to return migrants back to their home countries.

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Jolie visits refugees who fled Libya, Tunisia (AP)

LAMPEDUSA, Italy – Angelina Jolie traveled to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday to thank its residents for welcoming in the estimated 20,000 migrants who arrived after fleeing unrest in Tunisia and Libya.

Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, toured a migrant holding center, chatted with some refugees and then participated in a ceremony at Lampedusa's memorial for migrants lost at sea as part of commemorations for World Refugee Day on Monday.

"It is very hard to imagine looking out at this beautiful sea how many people have risked their lives and how many people have risked their children's lives and so many of them have lost their lives at sea," she said.

She thanked the residents who gathered for the ceremony for welcoming the migrants in and asked them to consider how "horrible" their lives must have been that they would risk everything for the chance of a better life in Europe.

"Can you imagine how it must feel to finally cross in" to Italy? she asked. "For the coast guard to save them and carry them to safety, save their children's lives and give them a chance to survive and to have a future, and what it means to them," said Jolie, wearing a plain black blouse and jacket.

U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres also was on hand to urge Europe to continue keeping its doors open to refugees. Italy's center-right government has begrudgingly accepted the migrants. It has also struck deals with Tunisia and the Libyan opposition to return those who don't qualify for asylum.

Guterres said the debate in Europe about immigration "doesn't correspond to the reality," given that the number of African migrants who have arrived in Europe is a fraction of the numbers who have gone elsewhere, such as Tunisia or Egypt.

"Obviously, for a small island like Lampedusa, to have such a large number of people coming is a huge pressure," he told reporters. "But for Europe as a whole, it is a drop in the ocean, and so I believe that with an adequate form of solidarity this challenge can be overcome."

Lampedusa, with a permanent population of 6,000, was overwhelmed this spring by waves of refugees fleeing the social uprising in Tunisia, with an estimated 20,000 arriving on the island, which is closer to Africa than mainland Italy. Boats continue to arrive from Libya, but eventually the refugees are transferred to holding centers elsewhere in Italy or sent back home unless they qualify for asylum.

Pope Benedict XVI urged countries to welcome refugees for as long as they need sanctuary in a message delivered Sunday while visiting the tiny republic of San Marino, itself founded in the early 4th century by a Christian refugee from Croatia.

"I invite civil authorities and every one of good will to guarantee a welcome and dignified living conditions for refugees until they can return to their countries freely and safely," Benedict said.

Yet as he spoke, members of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government heated up the anti-immigrant rhetoric during an annual rally of the xenophobic Northern League party near the northern city of Bergamo.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni drew cheers from the crowd when he boasted of the hardline policies he has pushed through to return migrants back to their home countries.

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Angelina Jolie visits Syrian refugees in Turkey (AFP)

GUVECCI, Turkey (AFP) – Screen idol Angelina Jolie Friday meet thousands of Syrians sheltered in Turkey in camps as other refugees began a hunger strike against curbs imposed by Turkish authorities.

The refugees in the Yayladagi camp began the protest after Friday prayers, hours before Jolie's visit as ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees at another camp, a source from a Syrian rights group said.

Inmates of the other camp at Altinozu, which houses some 1,400 people, cheered Jolie as she arrived, accompanied by a massive convoy of vehicles.

"Down with the Syrian regime," they shouted in Arabic. A banner put up at the camp's entrance in English said: "Goodness Angel of the World Welcome."

Crowds gathered on the balconies of nearby homes to catch a glimpse of Jolie, who is noted for her humanitarian work and paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan in March to visit refugee camps.

The refugees later formed a cortege behind a coffin bearing the inscriptions "The community of Arab States," and "the conscience of Russia and China," -- a reference to all the countries opposing a UN resolution condemning the repression in Syria.

They also held up banners calling Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad a "killer of children," and urging the world to protect the northwestern flashpoint town of Jisr al-Shughur, where an army crackdown has fulled an exodus to the Turkish border.

But the visit was overshadowed by the protest at the Yayladagi camp, which holds several thousand refugees and is one of five tent cities set up by the Red Crescent in Turkey's southern province of Hatay.

Turkish authorities have barred all outside access to the refugees staying in the camps.

"They are protesting the lack of visits, their inability to protest against the Damascus regime and the absence of outside contacts," said the anonymous source, a Syrian dissident based in Turkey.

The source also reported incidents of violence against refugees by Turkish guards.

Earlier Friday, Turkish authorities said the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey had reached 9,700 after 1,200 arrived overnight.

Authorities said the refugees receive three meals a day, hot water, and have access to household equipment like washing machines and televisions.

A mobile hospital for the lightly wounded has also been provided along with childcare and psychiatric help, authorities said.

The crackdown on protesters by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has killed 1,200 people and 10,000 others have been detained, according to rights groups and the United Nations.

Thursday, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would keep its borders open to Syrians fleeing the violence and supply humanitarian aid to the thousands of people massed just across the border in Syria itself.

Turkey has toughened its stance against Assad's government and said Syrian troops were guilty of atrocities.

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Mel Gibson visits kids at Guatemala hospital (AP)

GUATEMALA CITY – Mel Gibson talked with Guatemalan children born with deformities during a stop at a hospital Wednesday, a visit that was part of a community service sentence for battering his ex-girlfriend.

The Oscar winner's publicist, Alan Nierob, said Gibson has been in the Central American country for several days working with Mending Kids International, a children's charity.

Nierob said Gibson is spending more time working in Guatemala than the 16 hours of community service that a plea deal calls for him to perform.

Gibson pleaded no contest in March to a misdemeanor charge for striking former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva during a January 2010 fight, but did not admit guilt.

A judge approved his working with the charity, which the actor-director's estranged wife, Robyn Moore Gibson, once led. Mending Kids provides free surgery for children with cleft lips or spina bifida, a disorder in which the spinal canal and backbone don't close prior to birth.

Gibson, who wore a purple T-shirt with Mending Kids logo, said he has been coming to Guatemala the past 15 years to support the charity.

He spoke to reporters on the condition of not answering questions about his personal life. He is currently in a custody battle with Grigorieva.

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Bill Murray visits FDR's NY home for role in film (AP)

HYDE PARK, N.Y. – Academy Award-nominated actor Bill Murray has checked out Franklin D. Roosevelt's old upstate New York digs as he prepares for a turn as the former president in a film set on the eve of World War II.

The "Caddyshack" and "Ghostbusters" star spent several hours Sunday in Hyde Park, which is the setting for Richard Nelson's screenplay, "Hyde Park on Hudson."

The film centers on the June 1939 visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to FDR's Hudson Valley home. The movie is being directed by Roger Michell, who helmed "Notting Hill."

Laura Linney is cast as FDR's distant cousin Margaret "Daisy" Suckley, with whom the 32nd president had a close relationship. Filming starts next month. Release is scheduled for 2012.

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