In the past week or so we got to see photos of Prince Harry of Wales celebrating his Queen grandmother’s official birthday in Botswana and chillin’ with his big brother Prince William and soccer stud David Beckham in Johannesburg, South Africa for the 2010 World Cup … but today we get to see a photo and video of Harry devoting his time to a more serious subject in the region. Prince Harry visited the minefields of Mozambique as a guest of The HALO Trust which is a non-profit organization that specializes in the removal of the hazardous debris of war (with a huge focus on mine bombs). Here is a photo of Harry touring one minefield in particular and the deets of his visit:

Prince Harry has paid a two day visit to Mozambique to visit minefields being cleared by The HALO Trust, a British Charity and the World’s largest demining agency. Prince Harry’s visit, which was privately organised by HALO, has focused on the impact of mines on the civilian population. On Sunday, The Prince met villagers and amputees who told him about their plight among the remaining mines – including meeting a boy who lost his leg 18 months ago while herding cattle. Prince Harry spent the night in the HALO deminers’ tented camp. The Prince was given a close-up demonstration of the process of humanitarian demining, as he observed a team undertaking mineclearance work, and was then himself given the first stages in training on HALO equipment and clearance techniques. Prince Harry detonated mines under the supervision of expert HALO deminers. Prince Harry’s visit took place in villages around the Cahora Bassa dam in Tete province, Mozambique. In this area, 10 villages straddle 17km of unfenced mine belts, placing hundreds of families within metres of some 30,000 mines. These mines were laid over 30 years ago, and they continue to have a devastating impact on children and adults alike. The mines prevent the farming of crops and the grazing of livestock among a rural community that ranks as one of the world’s poorest. There had been 48 mine accidents in the Cahora Bassa minefields before HALO intervened. In the area of Mozambique that Prince Harry visited, the terrain is unsuitable for the use of armoured mineclearance machines, and the density of mines so great that the most effective system of clearance is manual demining. Prince Harry observed deminers as they painstakingly used sensitive metal detectors and hand-tools to clear anti-personnel mines. The system provides the absolute “100 per cent” clearance needed to ensure that villagers can then safely use the land after HALO has finished its work. The terrible human impact of landmines, and the work of The HALO Trust in clearing mines, was brought to the world’s attention by Diana, Princess of Wales. The late Princess visited HALO projects in Angola in 1997. HALO’s Chief Executive, Guy Willoughby, said:

“HALO is delighted that Prince Harry has come out to support us in this quest to clear Mozambique of mines – a task we could complete in the next four years. By being with us in the field, and even personally destroying mines, he has learned something of the dirty, boring, dangerous work that HALO’s 7,700 staff undertake, day-in, day-out, in the World’s most mine-impacted countries. His mother was brilliant at getting the profile of the risk of mines globally recognised. Prince Harry clearly wishes to follow her magnificent example, and is supporting The HALO Trust in its mission.”

In the last month HALO cleared 925 mines from Mozambique, and 105,380 mines since starting work there in 1993. HALO employs 375 staff in Mozambique, though at its peak when finishing clearance of the four northern provinces HALO had in excess of 500 staff. Over 16 years HALO has had four staff killed in Mozambique. Globally since 1988 HALO has cleared over 13 million mines and items of unexploded ordnance.

It is absolutely insane to me that there are still huge chunks of land that are riddled with live mines where families live and children play. I cannot even imagine what life must be like to live in fear of inadvertently setting off a mine and triggering a deadly explosion. I have nothing but the utmost respect for The HALO Trust and the insanely important work that they do globally to try and defuse as many live mines as they can. That Prince Harry would lend his high profile stature to the cause just endears him even more to me. After the jump, watch a short video of Harry actually setting off a safe mine demolition in Mozambique this past weekend …

Last month we got our first look at Reese Witherspoon on the SoCal set of her new film Water for Elephants, which she is filming with actors Robert Pattinson and Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz. Today we get to check out a few new photos of Reese all by her lonesome riding around on horseback as she preps to film a new scene for the film … behold:

As you may likely already know, Water for Elephants is set in a traveling circus so it makes sense that Reese would be filming some scenes on horseback. It remains to be seen if her male co-stars (R. Pattz and C. Waltz) will also be required to pony up and do some horseback riding but it really looks like Reese feels right at home atop her steed. Her daughter Ava Elizabeth rides horses competitively so my guess is that little Ava got her love of horses from her mama. I’m not quite sure what is going on in this third photo but, yeah, Reese looks like she is having a great time.

[Photo credit: X17]

Zac Efron, who was spotted lookin’ all shirtless and wet in Hawaii HERE and HERE, is once again showing off his toned fit bod as he continues to enjoy his time in our nation’s 50th State. As you may recall, Zac made his way to Maui, HI last week so that he could attend the 2010 Maui Film Festival and collect the Shining Star Award … but it looks like he really wanted to stick around in town for a bit longer … an act of which I WHOLLY approve:

I’m gonna be completely honest … if homeboy wants to stay in Hawaii indefinitely, I’d be so ok with that. Considering the fact that Zac spends 92% of his time in Hawaii wearing less than 50% of his clothing, I say let him MOVE to Hawaii permanently. That sounds like a good idea, yes?

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Back in September of 2009 we saw the first photos from production and in October we got our first look at Seth Rogan in full costume on the SoCal set of his big screen adaptation of The Green Hornet. The film originally was going to be released this Summer but it was first pushed back to December of this year … and then again to January of next year. BUT, at long last, new promo images and the first trailer have been released to get us excited for the film’s release … behold:

Yahoo Movies has debuted the trailer for “The Green Hornet,” starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour, and Tom Wilkinson. In the film, Rogen plays Britt Reid, the son of LA’s most prominent and respected media magnate. He is perfectly happy to maintain a directionless existence on the party scene – until his father (Tom Wilkinson) mysteriously dies, leaving Britt his vast media empire. Striking an unlikely friendship with one of his father’s more industrious and inventive employees, Kato (Jay Chou), they see their chance to do something meaningful for the first time in their lives: fight crime. But in order to do this, they decide to become criminals themselves – protecting the law by breaking it, Britt becomes the vigilante The Green Hornet as he and Kato hit the streets. Using all his ingenuity and skill, Kato builds the ultimate in advanced retro weaponry, The Black Beauty, an indestructible car equal parts firepower and horsepower. Rolling in a mobile fortress on wheels and striking the bad guys with Kato’s clever gadgets, The Green Hornet and Kato quickly start making a name for themselves, and with the help of Britt’s new secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), they begin hunting down the man who controls LA’s gritty underworld: Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz). But Chudnofsky has plans of his own: to swat down The Green Hornet once and for all. “The Green Hornet,” written by Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and directed by Michel Gondry, opens on January 14, 2011 in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D.

Full disclosure … I’ve never liked The Green Hornet. I always preferred Green Lantern and Green Arrow more and well, the Hornet was always lowest on the totem pole. Because he seemed like a bootleg Batman (ie. a superhero without superpowers), I never really gave him a chance to win me over. When I heard they were making a movie I thought this would be my chance to appreciate the beloved classic hero. To be honest, I can’t say that I like Seth Rogan as The Green Hornet. Of course I’ll have to see the film to make a final determination but judging by the trailer alone … I’m still not impressed. Jay Chou as Kato might be the film’s saving grace — Christoph Waltz as the baddie deffo works in the film’s favor (Cameron Diaz, notsomuch). After the jump, check out the first trailer for The Green Hornet …