"But Maybe Not That Well" International Justice Works

In recent days, President Barack Obama has applauded efforts to bring former Serb Gen. Ratko Mladic and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi before international courts.

It's another indication his administration is more willing than its predecessors to promote the role of international justice in prosecuting those accused of gross human rights abuses. But don't expect the U.S. to sign up to the International Criminal Court anytime soon.

The ICC prosecutes individuals accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes of aggression and genocide. It was set up at an international conference in 1998 and came into being in 2002. Since then, 115 states have ratified the treaty though the United States, Russia, China and Israel are not among them.

Its very existence has long been a combustible issue in the United States. President Clinton signed the treaty establishing the ICC on January 3, 2000 the last day it was open for signature. But at the same time he said he would "not recommend that my successor submit the treaty to the Senate" saying "the United States should have the chance to observe and assess the functioning of the court before choosing to become subject to its jurisdiction."

In Libyan Mountains Rebels Battle Gadhafi Forces

In Libyan Mountains Rebels Battle Gadhafi Forces

Over the past two days, Moammar Gadhafi's forces have unleashed their biggest attack yet against one of the mountainous rebel strongholds in western Libya, according to one of his former generals.

Haji Usama, as he is known to the rebels, was once a top commander in Gadhafi's forces. He spent decades in the Libyan army including a tour of duty in neighboring Chad, and now commands in Zintan, population 40,000.

Today, he hates that his former commander in chief regards him as a terrorist.

Haji Usama says that early Thursday morning about 150 of Gadhafi's infantry troops -- supported by about 40 vehicles, including long range "Grad" rocket launchers and heavy, long-range machine guns -- began an attack on three fronts near Zintan.

Zintan sits about 90 miles southwest from the capital of Tripoli, and is at the eastern tip of a 170-mile long ribbon of rebel held mountains stretching westwards from the Tunisian border.

The trim, gray-bearded rebel commander says he's never seen such an attack here before. Gadhafi "has never used infantry like this" -- normally he shells from a distance, he says.

He says he took immediate action, dispatching what he called a brigade of men to cut off Gadhafi's advance. A brigade he said consisted of "hundreds of fighters," but he declined to give exact numbers.

So far, the fighting has cost him dearly: one rebel killed and three injured, including one in critical condition.

Deep, fresh trenches in the stark red sand here are testimony to the battle rebels say they are ready to fight should Gadhafi's forces manage to break through. So far they have not and confidence among the rebels, if not high, is certainly up.

Some of the fighters seen returning from the front lines crammed in the back of open top pickup trucks late Friday appeared remarkably young -- a few appeared to be school age. Among them, only a handful of weapons, a few hunting rifles and old bolt-action shot guns.

Haji Usama admits many of his fighters are young, but he says "they are keen and determined to fight for their freedom."

He believe that Thursday's attack was to regain control of the nearby town Rayayan.

He says the east of Rayayan "declared their support for the rebels a month ago." The rest of the town is loyal to Gadhafi and his former head of internal security, Nasar al Mabout, whom Haji Usama claims lives there.

Gadhafi's forces simultaneously attacked on three fronts, to the north of Zintan firing Grad rockets at the east of Rayayna, and attacking to the southeast and to the east of Zintan, Haji Usama.

In previous battles, Haji Usama says, Gadhafi's artillery forces have taken over homes in Zuwail al Bagul and simply shelled from a distance. The latest attack is different.

Since the raids began at dawn on Thursday, Haji Usama says he has lost contact with rebels in Rayayan with the exception of one commander who managed to make the dangerous journey to Zintan after his house was destroyed in the shelling.

As dusk fell Friday the shelling that could be clearly heard and seen from the roof tops of Zintan earlier abated before picking up with sporadic barrages of fire shortly before 10 p.m.

The rebels say the night-time shelling is simply to terrorize Zintan's residents into fleeing. "Some have," he says, but most are staying to brave out the battle they fear is far from over.

The Tree Of Life

The Tree Of Life. The story of a Midwestern family in the 1950's. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

Release Date: May 27, 2011
Director by: Terrence Malick
Starring: Brad Pitt
                Sean Penn
                Jessica Chastain
Genre: Drama

The Tree Of Life Trailer

For 7th Day Despite 1 Day Ban On Demonstrations Spaniards Protest

A Thousands of Spaniards protested on Saturday in disobedience of a court approved forbid on demonstrations the day before Sunday's local and municipal elections.

The largest crowds, for a seventh straight day, were in Madrid and Barcelona, but there were also protests in Valencia and smaller cities, protest organizers and Spanish news media reported.

Overall, reports indicated that tens of thousands took to the streets across the nation, which is struggling with a 21% unemployment rate, the highest in the euro zone.

The ruling Socialist Party's candidates are widely expected to suffer deep losses to the conservatives, according to recent polls. The Socialist government did not immediately order the police to move in to disband the demonstrations.

"What we are going to do is comply with the law," Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told reporters Friday.

Yet Rubalcaba, who is also deputy prime minister, added that the police would not be there to create even more problems than already exist in the streets.

Spain's supreme court rejected an appeal late Friday to overturn the electoral board's order banning demonstrations on Saturday. Authorities insist that the day before elections in Spain should be free of political messages and campaigning, for a so-called day of reflection.

"Please don't bother us. We are reflecting," read a large advertisement held by demonstrators in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol plaza on Saturday.

The protests against Spain's political and financial establishment started on May 15.

To sustain them, the protesters have erected a extensive tent city in the plaza, with a kitchen, a painting workshop to shake out protest placards, a communications office to answer media inquiries and even a day care nursery.

Young people dominated the protests on Saturday but there were also families with young children strolling through the encampment, senior citizens and many people who have jobs but say they're concerned about the nation's future, which has a 42% jobless rate for people ages 15 to 24.

"Everybody here is a volunteer and everything started very small but we got organized very fast and it started growing very fast," said Juan Lopez, a protest spokesman who's an internet technology manager who is currently unemployed.

"You just can see how well one of our best committees, which is the infrastructure committee, work. They made all this in just four days," Lopez said, pointing to the bustling encampment.

Economist Fernando Fernandez of the IE Business School said, "The government does not want to have any sort of violence taking place the day prior to the elections. This would have a very large political cost and electoral cost."

Sofia de Roa, a spokeswoman for the protesters, said Friday, "People want to participate. This is a fiesta of democracy."

The protests gained momentum in the closing days of the campaign and captured considerable news media coverage. All major parties have acknowledged them.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in an interview with SER radio on Friday that voters ultimately will decide whether and how much change will be made.

On Sunday, voters in Spain's 8,000 cities and towns will elect mayors, along with 13 out of 17 regional presidents and parliaments. The results are expected to be a bellwether for national elections, which must happen no later than March 2012.

"It's just before elections when the Spanish politicians usually hear the voice of the people," Lopez said. "Now on Monday, we have to see how this develops and what the answer is. The best case scenario, which is the one we would like, is that they will come down here as citizens to hear us, and to make a new and better Spain, a new and better democracy with all of us are together."

The protesters indicate they will maintain the demonstrations after the elections on Sunday.

47 Percent Pamper In Oral Sex Regularly

When asked whether you've ever had sex with two or more different people within the same day:

Of the 2,089 readers who voted,
61 percent affirmed that they never have.
25 percent affirmed that they haven't, but wished they could.
8 percent affirmed that they have on occasion and enjoyed the experience.
4 percent affirmed that they have, but only once.

When asked whether you've ever indulged in sex with two or more partners together:

Of the 738 readers who voted,
69 percent affirmed that they never have.
23 percent affirmed that they haven't, but wished they could.
5 percent affirmed that they have, on more than one occasion.
Less than 1 percent affirmed that they have only once and it's an experience they regret.
Less than 1 percent affirmed that they don't remember, because if it's happened then they were very drunk at the time.

When asked for your take on oral sex:

Of the 1,899 readers who voted,
47 percent affirmed that they indulge in it regularly.
32 percent affirmed that they indulge in it occasionally, just to spice things up.
5 percent affirmed that they indulge in it occasionally but have no liking for it they do it because their partners enjoy it.
14 percent affirmed that they never indulge in oral sex as they find it disgusting.

Transformers 3

Transformers 3. The Autobots Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide and Sideswipe led by Optimus Prime, are back in action, taking on the evil Decepticons, who are determined to avenge their defeat in 2009′s Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. In this new movie, the Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a perilous space race between the U.S. and Russia, and once again human Sam Witwicky has to come to the aid of his robot friends. There are new characters too, including a new villain in the form of Shockwave, a longtime Transformers character who rules Cybertron while the Autobots and Decepticons battle it out on Earth.

Release Date: July 1, 2011
Director by: Michael Bay
Written by: Ehren Kruger
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Ken Jeong, Patrick Dempsey, Alan Tudyk, John Turturro
Genre: Science-Fiction Action Adventure

Transformers 3 Dark Of The Moon Teaser Trailer

A Panda Hater Confessions

In China, one of the world's oldest pandas dies, while another shows signs of possible pregnancy.

And here in the Hong Kong newsroom, I without doubt they get asked for my reaction.

You see, I'm known as the resident "panda hater." Go ahead, flog me with bamboo. I have long held the view that the giant panda is the Kim Kardashian of the animal world. It has big eyes, curves in the right places, and is ever photogenic. It gets by on its good looks alone, while more deserving animals (the Yangtze River crocodile, hello??) are simply ignored by the world's animators and toy makers.

I say unfair!

Not only that, the panda behaves in ways that are simply counter sensitive to staying alive. It eats bamboo when its body is not adapted to digest it. It rarely mates and requires human intervention to prolong the species so much so that zookeepers have resorted to screening "panda porn" to persuade mixture.

Many others have refused to pander to the panda, including wildlife expert Chris Packham who said they "should be able to die out" and the Animal Review which gives the giant panda an "F" for "occupying valuable zoo space while bringing little to the table."

I have shared their disaste, and paid the price for it. Over the years, I've received gifts of panda candy, panda toys and "I heart panda" buttons from friends and colleagues all with the intent to wind up the hater in me. My Operations Supervisor made sure to give me a full Jing Jing, the panda mascot from the 2008 Beijing Games described as "charmingly naive and optimistic."

I strung the plush diva up in my kitchen as an ironic tchotcke.

And then, I became a mother.

When my daughter was 6 months old, I caught her searching for the wavering panda in the kitchen. Twelve months later, she would point at the full doll say "panda" in both English and Chinese. I eventually took Jing Jing down and handed it over to my little one. The tchotcke became her friend.

I decided to take her to Hong Kong's Ocean Park to visit its panda habitats. Sure enough, the pandas were a no show. They were simply too occupied sleeping in the backroom to stroll out and let a 2 year old take in all their fluffy fabulousness. My toddler, along with another young visitor, were in tears. And I sensed the panda hate starting to rise again.

But then, it appeared. A giant panda wandered straight toward us and sat down, just two meters away, to eat its bamboo breakfast. My daughter started to describe its eyes, ears and actions. She was captivated. I was captivated. That damn panda made my heart melt.

I am no longer a "panda hater." But I should admit, I do feel a tinge of pride when my daughter asks to see the Asian alligator instead. I want her to be a brave girl who is willing to venture beyond the cuddly and yet willing to admit, yep, that was cute.

In Tsunami Hit Japan Justin Bieber Lifts Spirits

You've likely heard the expression, "politics makes weird and wonderful bedfellows." In Tokyo, at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence, the saying came to life as teen heartthrob Justin Bieber, the American and Canadian ambassadors to Japan and nine children from the tsunami ravaged region of Japan gathered in a small room in front of the international press.

The 17 year old Canadian pop star walked into the room with the children and squeezed onto a sofa with them. The girls and boys, all representatives of some of the hardest hit communities in northeastern Japan, shyly peered at Bieber as he made small talk with them.
The singer asked one of the girls "How old are you?."
She replied "17,".

"Things can get better and things will get better," Bieber told the children, as cameras clicked all around him. "There can only be good times to come from this and my prayers go out to all of your families."

The U.S. Embassy says the pop star had originally requested to perform a concert in the tsunami region, but that proved impossible, given the level of the disaster. So it helped arrange a 45 minute meet and greet in front of the media, hoping it would lift the spirits of the children in the region. But U.S. Ambassador John Roos also hoped it sent a message to a wider audience.

"Events like Justin Bieber's visit to Japan not only elevate the spirits of young people in Japan but are an important contribution to the message to the world that Japan is safe to visit and open for business," said Roos.

Outside the U.S. Ambassador's Residence a group that Bieber was more used to greeting held vigil. Two dozen pre-teen girls, clutching Justin Bieber posters and books, screamed at each car that entered and exited out of the residence.

"We love you Justin!" they called out, followed by high pitched screams.

A van, with heavily darkened windows, pulled out of the residence.

"That's him, that's him!" screamed a girl, who had made that same accusation at three other cars. But no matter. Her friends screamed and chased the van half-way down the block, while security guards at the U.S. Embassy tried to herd the girls onto the sidewalk. The guards looked frustrated, not sure how to contain the girls who scurried outside the residence like ants.

It was, for sure, not a typical day at this government building.

"I'm the same age!" he exclaimed.

Bieber, well practiced at smiling naturally as dozens of camera flashes blinded him, tried to get the tsunami victims to relax and talk through an interpreter. But the children were typically shy Japanese schoolchildren. They didn't silly laugh or even seem all that visibly excited to be with one of the world's biggest media sensations. They occasionally stared at the news cameras, unable to hide the awkwardness of being part of this media event.

One of the public information officers at the U.S. Embassy said he wasn't quite sure how many of them were fans of Justin Bieber, a singer who is quite popular in Japan, but not at the level of some of Asia's better pop stars. Their teacher, however, was outwardly filled with glee, smiling and laughing as they all gathered for a group photo.

A boy read a letter he wrote to Bieber, saying thank you for sharing his time with them. The boy said he was from Otsuchi, a town where half of the city was completely leveled. He bent and looked pleased.

Kung Fu Panda 2

Kung Fu Panda 2. Floating Golf Course The film continues the adventures of Po the Panda (Jack Black) and and his friends known as the Furious Five Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. This time the story follows Po who, whilst in search of other pandas, happens across a group of bandits. Gary Oldman will voice a character called Peacock who helps Po on his way but is more than he seems.

Release Date: May 26, 2011 Nationwide
Director by: Jennifer Yu Helson
Starring: Jack Black-Master Po
                Angelina Jolie-Master Tigress
                Jackie Chan-Master Monkey
                David Cross-Master Crane
                Lucy Liu-Master Viper
                Seth Rogen-Master Mantis
Genre: Action Adventure Sequel Family Kids Animation 3D
MPAA Rating: PG for sequences of martial arts action and mild violence

Kung Fu Panda 2 Movie Trailer Official

Floating Golf Course Has Underwater Tunnels Planned For Maldives

Normally those hitting the links try to avoid water hazards, but designers of a new floating golf course are hoping golfers actually want to start surrounded by one.

Plans are already underway to build an 18-hole course 250 miles off the southwest coast of India, among the islands of the Maldives. The course will consist of a series of floating platforms that contain two to three holes each, built by world-renowned floating technology company, Dutch Docklands.

No, you won't have to swim to each platform  they'll be connected to one another and surrounding hotels by clear underwater tunnels, similar to those you'd find at an aquarium.

Unlike other floating islands and resorts guzzling energy off the coast of Dubai, course developers call their project a "scarless development" which will have a zero carbon footprint on the Maldives ecosystem. To do so, developers are banking on the islands' sunny locale near the equator to generate energy through floating solar blanket fields. Developers will also employ sustainable techniques to desalinate and cool water.

Because the Republic of the Maldives' highest point of elevation is only 7.5 feet above sea level, the island nation is expected to be significantly impacted by the rising sea-levels associated with climate change. As such, Maldivian president, Mohamed Nasheed has been a staunch investor and activist for carbon-neutral developments.

In 2009, he pledged the Maldives islands would be carbon neutral within the decade. That same year, to publicize the threat climate change poses on his nation, Nasheed presided over the world's first underwater cabinet meeting where participants donned scuba gear and gathered around a desk on the the sea floor.

Nasheed has also announced that he's looking to purchase new land in other countries to resettle Maldivian refugees potentially affected by climate change. To fund those efforts, the government is looking to further boost revenues from the nation's largest economical contributor: tourism.

Managed by Troon Golf, the $500 million floating golf course project anticipates doing just that: bringing a wealth of ecological tourism and investment to the Maldives. The project is due to be completed by 2015.

Stray Poodle Bird Of Prey Snatches, 'Rescues'

Stray Poodle Bird Of Prey Snatches, 'Rescues'

If you're a small dog, you'd probably think that being rushed by a bird of victim and whisked into the sky wouldn't be the best thing that ever happened to you.

So you've gotta hear the story of May the toy poodle.

May plopped onto the grounds of a British Columbia nursing home May 2. The nurses at Shorncliffe Nursing Home in Sechelt found the creature in very poor condition, with deep gouges on her back and multiple broken ribs, according to the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The deep gouges told rescuers how she got there: clutched in the talons of a bird of victim. The dog had no identification and other maladies that led rescuers to believe she was a get lost.

“In addition to the scratch marks on her back and the broken ribs she sustained from the fall, all of her nails were so long they had grown into her paw pads and her teeth were badly decayed. We don’t know how long she had been wandering without care, but she was obviously very neglected. It’s sarcastic, but this bird may have saved her life,” Shannon Broderick, branch manager of the Sunshine Coast branch of the BCSPCA, said on the organization's website.

Shelter workers named the poodle May because of the day she was found.

“It’s an absolute miracle that she survived, and we want to do everything we can to help her,” Broderick said.

A local veterinary hospital took care of May's broken ribs and torn paw pads, but the SPCA is seeking donations to cover approximately $3,500 (U.S. $3,580) in dental work.

The Hangover Part II

The Hangover Part II Trailer Hits. Full trailer debuts for the upcoming comedy, starring Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms. See the movie trailer, photos and poster for the comedy sequel ‘The Hangover Part II’. In the follow-up to the record-breaking hit comedy ‘The Hangover’, Phil (Cooper), Stu (Helms), Alan (Galifianakis) and Doug (Bartha) travel to exotic Thailand for Stu’s wedding.

Release Date: May 26, 2011
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director by: Todd Phillips
Screenwriter: Todd Phillips, Scot Armstrong
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Mike Tyson, Liam Neeson, Jamie Chung, Paul Giamatti
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sequel
MPAA Rating: Not yet rated





In “The Hangover Part II,” Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug (Justin Bartha) travel to exotic Thailand for Stu’s wedding. After the unforgettable bachelor party in Las Vegas, Stu is taking no chances and has opted for a safe, subdued pre-wedding brunch. However, things don’t always go as planned. What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happens in Bangkok can’t even be imagined.

The Hangover Part 2 – Movie Trailer (Flash)

The Hangover Part 2 – Teaser Trailer (Flash)

Charged With Attempted Rape IMF Chief Jailed On Rikers Island

The head of the powerful International Monetary Fund will spend the next few days in an 11 by 13 foot cell at New York's Rikers Island jail complex a far cry from the $3,000 a night luxury suite where he allegedly chased a housekeeping employee naked down a hallway and sexually assaulted her.

Dominique Strauss Kahn, a man who has helped bail out desperate countries in need of cash, was himself denied bail Monday by a Manhattan Criminal Court judge.

A haggard-looking Strauss-Kahn who had been a presumptive front runner for the presidency of France was denied bail in a New York courtroom on Monday. By the end of the day, the 62-year-old was "settled" in at the East River compound, said a New York Department of Corrections spokesman who declined to be named.

Strauss Kahn's next court appearance is scheduled for Friday. Until then, he will have no contact with other inmates because he is considered a high profile detainee, the spokesman said.

His new neighbors include 14,000 men and women who have been accused or convicted of a host of crimes committed in New York City.

Just a few days earlier, Strauss-Kahn was staying in a posh suite at the Sofitel hotel replete with its own foyer, conference room, hallway and living room. Police said the IMF chief was naked when he allegedly tried to lock the 32 year old hotel employee in the suite and force himself on her Saturday.

NATO Strikes Government Buildings Libyan Official

The crowds in Tripoli gathered Tuesday morning outside two burning buildings the aftermath of what a Libyan official said were NATO airstrikes on government facilities.
Spokesman Musa Ibrahim said the buildings housed the Ministry of Popular Inspection and Oversight a government anti-corruption body and the head of the police force in Tripoli. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Earlier, the sounds of two explosions and jets pierced through the night sky.
Some people ventured outside in the early morning hours to inspect the damage. Others, including a crowd of young men carrying a large portrait of Moammar Gadhafi and waving the country's green flag, marched in front of the buildings chanted slogans of support for the Libyan leader.

The documents were spread over the grounds of the ministry building. Ibrahim told reporters that in the last few days, the ministry had put together corruption files against leaders in the Libyan opposition's Transitional National Council. He said the files "fortunately survived."

Ceiling Drama Starts Today Debt

Monday's the day: The federal debt will hit its legal limit and Congress doesn't plan to do anything about it.

That leaves Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a spot of a bind. It now falls to him to jump through jewels every day to keep the world's largest economy from defaulting on its legal obligations.

Geithner told Congress that he estimates he has enough legal hoop-jumping tricks to cover them for another 11 weeks or so.

But then he said that's it. If lawmakers don't get it together by Aug. 2, the United States will no longer be able to pay its bills in full.

The rhetoric about whether to raise the maximum and under what conditions has been loud, insensitive and, at times, misleading. frustratingly, it's far from over.

Told To Stand Trial On Sodomy Charge Malaysia's Anwar

A Malaysian court on Monday ordered opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to enter his defense to sodomy charges after judgment that there was a case to answer.

Anwar is being tried in the Kuala Lumpur High Court for allegedly sodomizing a former male political aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in June, 2008.

The judge, Zabidin Mohamad Diah, told a packed courtroom that he found Mr. Saiful to be a trustworthy witness.

"His evidence was trustworthy," he said.

The judge concluded: "I find the prima facie case…has been made out against the accused. Therefore, the accused is called to enter his defense."

Sodomy is an offence punishable by up to 20 years' prison in Malaysia.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Anwar said: "It does not come as a surprise the judge gave this judgment but what is clearly awful is that he virtually prejudged the case ... I think therefore it makes the position of the defense very precarious so in my initial discussions with the legal team we have decided to go all out to defend."

Anwar has repeatedly claimed that the trial is an attempt by the government to end his political career, an allegation the government has consistently denied.

One of Anwar's lawyers, Sankara Nair, said the defense was "discontented" by the judge's ruling.

"We feel that this would have been a case of outright acquittal because in our opinion there was no case to answer," he said.

Outside the court, Anwar was greeted by hundreds of supporters, who chanted "Reformasi" or reformation, and crowded around the politician.

This is the second time Anwar, 63, has been tried for sodomy. In 1998, Anwar, a former assistant prime minister, was convicted of sodomy and jailed for six years before a court overturned his conviction in 2004.

The trial is scheduled to resume on June 6, with Mr. Anwar expected to take the witness stand.

Hero Inspires Movie Tunisia's Revolutionary

 

Hero Inspires Movie Tunisia's Revolutionary 

Mohamed Bouazizi the Tunisian fruit and vegetable seller who inspired uprisings across the Arab world when he set himself on fire is to be the subject of a movie.

Bouazizi was an unlicensed fruit and vegetable seller trying to make a living amid desperate economic times in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid. When police tried to stop him trading he turned his despair into protest by setting himself on fire.

Now, Tunisian movie producer Tarak Ben Ammar plans to make a feature film about the life and death of Bouazizi.

Ben Ammar, who was shooting his latest film starring Antonio Banderas and Freida Pinto in Tunisia when the revolution started, said he was approached by Bouazizi's family after they were inundated by worldwide media.

He said: "They really approached me. They were so surrounded by media and people who came to exploit them that they called the only Tunisian producer internationally well-known I ask for advice, so I protected them.

"I took them away from the village where they lived and I put them in a house not far from where I am to protect them, and together we thought 'What film should be done?'"

He said he would donate all revenue from the film to the family for a fund to help other young people like Bouazizi.

Ammar said: "He is a hero without wanting to be a hero. We make this film to show that there are so many other Bouazizis out there that we don't know their name."

And he added: "This was a just a young man. He was not an educated man and he was living off selling vegetables and fruits. He, like many others, was the symbol of miscommunication, of corruption, of bureaucracy, of a political system that would not listen to their youth when they needed a help.

"Since he was a young boy he always helped his family, he was always the one caring for everybody else."

Ammar, 61, is nephew of Tunisia's first ever President Habib Bouguiba. He is also one of the Arab world's best-known movie producers, involved in films including "Life of Brian" and "Hannibal Rising."

He said he wanted to make sure Bouazizi was remembered by future generation as a hero who gave his life to inspire others to push for change.

"We need a symbol of hopefulness, even though in his demolition of his own life he woke up a nation, which then woke up another nation, which then woke up another nation," he said.

"In the Christian world, Catholics believe that Christ gave his life for the sins of humanity, of other men. Certainly I don't pretend that Bouazizi is compared to Christ, but what I mean is that he gave his life so that we woke up."

Ammar was filming "Black Gold" a movie depicting family rivalries among Bedouin tribes in the 1930s, when oil was discovered in the region in January, when the events began that led to the downfall of president Zine el Abedine Ben Ali.

At the time, CNN's Inside the Middle East team was also on the set shooting a documentary about the making of the film. As the CNN team left to report on the uprising elsewhere in the country, the film's crew and cast continued to work, even when they rioting spread to the nearby town of Hammamet.

On the set, there were about 40 Tunisian actors working alongside the foreign leads, including Banderas and Pinto, 250 Tunisian crew members and 50 foreign crew members.

Ammar said: "The mood was very emotional, the solidarity that came about."

He said, despite being offered the chance to leave, the film's foreign actors were determined to keep filming.

"They were living a peaceful revolution in a country that had greeted them, welcomed them, that they loved," he said.

Ammar added that people from villages surrounding the studios came out to protect them from any violence.

He said: "Two thousand of these young men and women came and protected the studios and the cast from ultimate private army of Ben Ali who were looting and creating violence."

Ammar said he was now optimistic for the future of Tunisia, but that it would need investment from Europe, America and wealthy Arab countries, such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

He said: "I am very positive, because this country had the courage to throw an autocrat out without violence, without destroying the country, without burning."