Sean Penn is to visit Israel as part of his work for humanitarian aid organisations.

The actor, who is on screen this year as the rock-star son of a Holocaust survivor in This Must be the Place.

The announcement follows a meeting involving Mr Penn and IOsrael's deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon in Los Angeles last week.

The Israeli soldier who was freed last October after more than five years of being a Hamas captive has visited the set of Homeland.

Gilad Shalit joined actors Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin in Jaffa where they were filming for the second series of the hit drama, which was inspired partly by the soldier's own story.

Homeland star Mandy Patinkin was the guest of honour at a peace conference in Jerusalem on Friday.

The actor, better known as his screen alter-ego CIA agent Saul Berenson, arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to film scenes for the second series of the hit drama.

He was spotted with Claire Danes, who plays Carrie Mathison, filming scenes near Jaffa over the weekend.

Sacha Baron Cohen walked the red carpet last night dressed as his alter-ego, Admiral General Aladeen, for the London world premiere of his latest film "The Dictator".

Veteran filmmaker Roman Polanski is to bring one of the most notorious cases of antisemitism to the big screen.

Mr Polanski is set to direct a film about The Dreyfus Affair, a scandal that erupted in 1890s Paris after a Jewish artillery officer, a graduate of the elite Polytechnic Grande Ecole, was arrested for spying.

Hairdresser to the stars Vidal Sassoon has died at the age of 84.

One of the best known hairdressers of all time, Mr Sassoon was made a CBE in 2009 for his services to the industry.

The stylist, who died at home in Los Angeles, made his name with his signature “five points cut”, a look that came to define the 1960s.

I have had that routine for nearly 10 years now. It is about the misunderstanding and ignorance of what is clearly a tragic and horrific situation. My comic persona is that of a man who speaks with great arrogance and authority but who along the way reveals his immense stupidity.

The U2 frontman Bono described Jerusalem as a "great city" in a note left at his hotel after a visit to Israel earlier this month.

The Irish singer was spotted at a Jaffa restaurant last week, but was in the country on a private visit and did not perform.

However, he did leave an artistic legacy, writing a short poem in the guest book of the historic King David Hotel in Jerusalem.

Mel Gibson’s attitude toward the Jewish community has come under scrutiny once again after a Hollywood screenwriter accused him of hating Jews.