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On Thursday 8th March, ForeignStudents.com held a very special event with Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer, and Patrick Shervington MBE, Chairman of the Cobra Foundation. Both spoke to a crowd of students and distinguished guests at International Student House (ISH) as part of India Week.

The Malaysian student who was the victim of one of the most shocking videos to come out of the London riots last year has hit the headlines again this week, after his attackers were sentenced to prison.

In August 2011, twenty-year-old Ashraf Rossli was caught up in the riots in Barking, East London. He was punched to the floor, suffering a broken jaw in the process, before apparently being helped to his feet by one of the rioters. However, as he was standing groggily, another man opened up his rucksack and helped himself to Ashraf's mobile phone and PSP games console.

Attackers Sentenced

The two assailants who rifled through Ashraf's bag were found to be John Kafunda, 22, and Reece Donovan, 24. Both were convicted of robbery last week, before being sentenced this morning. Kafunda was jailed for four years and three months, whilst Donovan received a five-year sentence. Ashraf gave evidence in court, describing:

The coffee chain Starbucks has been running a promotion this morning, offering anyone a free latte. We went to our local branch to check it out (we love a freebie) and who should be there serving, but comedian Jimmy Carr.

He was a barista for the day, helping the staff out on what is probably going to be their busiest day of the year. We caught a quick word with him, and as you can see from the video above, he thinks ForeignStudents.com is "bloody marvellous".

Free coffee and a celebrity endorsement? Not a bad start to the day.  

As part of Foreign Fridays, we explore a different country each week through its most unusual, amusing and odd facts. If you want your country to appear, then simply get in contact with us either in the comments below or through Facebook or Twitter.

This week it is the turn of the Iceland:

On 1st March, Iceland celebrates Beer Day in celebration
of the end of beer prohibition in 1989.  

When you think of prohibition, you probably think of the speakeasies and and gangsters of 1920's America. However, the US wasn't the only place that introduced prohibition near the start of the 20th century. In Iceland in 1915 all alcohol was made illegal after the population voted in a referendum.

The movie awards season reached its grand finale last night, with the 84th Academy Awards, or as we know them, the Oscars. As an evening traditionally filled with huge stars, long speeches and few surprises, it didn't disappoint.

The big winner was silent film The Artist, which took home Best Picture, Actor and Director. Predictably, Meryl Streep won Best Actress for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, meaning she joins an elite group of actors to have won three Oscars. The other success story of the evening was Martin Scorsese's Hugo, which claimed 5 awards, mainly for its sound and visuals.

With few surprises, there is little point reeling off all the details about each winner. We've done it all before after the Golden Globes here, and the Baftas here. Instead simply enjoy having a look at some beautiful people and check out the full list of winners below: