Leonard Cohen show to benefit Israel, Palestinian peace groups sells out in less than a day

September 30th, 2009 Will and Jada Pinkett Smith to host Nobel concertOSLO, Norway — American rap artist and actor Will Smith and his wife, the actress Jada Pinkett Smith, will co-host this year's Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, organizers said Wednesday. The Dec. 11 show — a day after the award ceremony — will feature performances by Wyclef Jean, Toby Keith, Donna Summer, Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi as well as Amadou & Mariam, a blues and jazz duet from Mali.

September 30th, 2009 Novelist Leonard to receive PEN USA awardLOS ANGELES — Novelist Elmore Leonard will receive PEN USA's lifetime achievement award at a December ceremony. Leonard, 83, has written over 40 westerns, crime novels and mysteries, including "The Bounty Hunters," ''Road Dogs" and "Cuba Libre." Many of his books — notably "Out of Sight," ''Get Shorty" and "Be Cool" — have been made into films.

September 21st, 2009 JERUSALEM - 'The Simpsons' are heading to Israel in an upcoming episode of the popular animated cartoon that will be screened in 2010. And their tour guide is going to be comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

September 19th, 2009 Poet/performer Cohen recovering from collapseMADRID — Leonard Cohen is recovering after collapsing onstage while on tour in eastern Spain, his music company said Saturday. The veteran poet and performer has been released from hospital after suffering from a stomach complaint, Doctor Music Concerts said in a statement.

September 19th, 2009 Leonard Cohen recovers from collapseMADRID — Leonard Cohen is recovering after collapsing onstage while on tour in eastern Spain, his music company said Saturday. The veteran poet and performer has been released from hospital after suffering from a stomach complaint, Doctor Music Concerts said in a statement.

September 17th, 2009 WELLINGTON - Late Beatles member John Lennon and Yoko Ono's world famous bed-in for peace is set to be recreated in Nelson, 40 years after the couple staged it Amsterdam and Montreal. The re-staging of the famous couple's stint in bed to promote peace will take place on September 21, on the steps of Nelson's Christ Church Cathedral.

September 10th, 2009 JERUSALEM - Spanish balladeer Julio Iglesias recently gave his first performance in Israel since 1998. The show was the first of the two concerts at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv and the 65-year-old was dressed in his trademark sleek black suit, vest and tie.

September 2nd, 2009 JERUSALEM - Madonna tagged Israel as the "energy capital of the world" as she won hearts of 50,000 fans with her performance in Tel Aviv. The Queen of Pop, who last took to the Israeli stage in 1993, arrived in the country for two concerts as part of her 'Sticky and Sweet' world tour.

August 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Pink Floyd star Roger Waters has lent his voice to a new short film 'Walled Horizons' that focuses on the hardships of Palestinians living in the shadow of Israel's controversial separation barrier. The rocker narrates the 15-minute film, which was made to mark the fifth anniversary of the International Court of Justice's opinion that the barrier's meandering route through the occupied West Bank is illegal.

August 7th, 2009 Barenboim concert for 'Arab capital' JerusalemGENEVA — Maestro Daniel Barenboim brought his troupe of young Arab and Israeli classical musicians to Geneva on Friday for a concert dedicated to the late Palestinian-American academic Edward Said and the contentious choice of Jerusalem as this year's "Arab Cultural Capital." In a news conference that featured the iconoclastic Israeli conductor's usual combination of humor and gravitas, art and politics, Barenboim said his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra offered another way of examining ideals of justice, humaneness and understanding that are often lacking in the Middle East conflict. The 10-year-old orchestra founded by Barenboim and Said includes Israeli and Palestinian musicians, as well as performers from Arab countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, and non-Arab states Turkey and Iran.

July 28th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Brit actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has had to tighten security around himself and Australian partner Isla Fisher, after he received threats from a terrorist group over his film 'Bruno'. Palestinian militia coalition the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades says it is "very upset" at featuring in the movie, in which 37-year-old Cohen appears as a gay fashionista.

July 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Sacha Baron Cohen's latest movie, Bruno, has taken his comic antics to the Middle East, but his jokes have not gone down too well with his Israeli and Palestinian victims. Bruno is a fashion reporter, a fictional gay character portrayed by Baron Cohen, whose goal is to become the biggest Austrian celebrity since Hitler.

June 18th, 2009 LONDON - Brit comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has posed naked as Bruno for the cover of GQ magazine. The picture shows Cohen wearing nothing as he sits posing with a coiffed and highlighted fringe and pout, reports the Mirror.

June 16th, 2009 Baron Cohen _ as Bruno _ poses nude on cover of GQNEW YORK — Sacha Baron Cohen strips down as his alter ego — Austrian fashionista Bruno — for the July cover of GQ magazine. According to the magazine, Bruno is the first subject to appear fully naked on the cover.

June 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Rapper Eminem walked out of the MTV movie awards after comedian Sacha Baron Cohen landed on his lap with his naked backside. The rapper had just performed a medley of new hits and was sitting in the audience when Cohen, playing his Austrian fashion expert character Bruno, flew overhead in a dove outfit, chanting, "Ich bin Bruno.