By Andrew Osborn

LONDON |
Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:40am IST

LONDON (Reuters) – Marie Colvin’s final dispatch, published just three days before she and a French photographer were killed by shell and rocket fire, came from a bleak cellar packed with women and children cowering in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.

Relating the stories of those sheltering in what she called ‘the widows’ basement’, Colvin explained how she had made her way to the pulverised city by crossing into Syria from Lebanon via a secret smugglers’ route. The forces of President Bashar al-Assad had opened fire twice with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades on the car she used to get there, she said.

But the focus of her final article in Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper was not her own fate but that of the Syrian people.

“The scale of the human tragedy in the city is immense,” she wrote. “Everyone in the cellar has a similar story of hardship or death.” On all the Syrian civilians’ lips around her, she added, was the searing question: “Why have we been abandoned by the world?”

Born in Long Island, New York, in the mid 1950s, Colvin, was famous among her peers for her determination. A graduate of Yale University, she made it her cause to try to cover every war zone in the world during the last quarter of a century and, if possible, to get there first. She also had a reputation for exceptional bravery and for taking calculated risks.

Colvin began working for Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper in 1985 and went on to brave conflicts from the Middle East to Chechnya, taking big risks to expose the often hard-to-get stories of atrocities, injustice, and human suffering that some of the world’s bloodiest dictators would have preferred remained untold.

BLACK EYE PATCH

It was physically and psychologically bruising.

She was injured while reporting in the West Bank during the 1980s when a stone thrown through the window of a car hit her in the face and broke her nose. In Sri Lanka more than a decade later, a hand grenade that went off nearby left her without the use of her left eye.

Rather than get a prosthetic eye, she wore a piratical black eye patch over it. It was a decision that made her instantly recognisable in the world’s war zones and the patch became a symbol of her courage.

Her friends say she was always superb company despite constant exposure to trauma around the world. She revelled in mischievous humour and reeling off incredible anecdotes.

“As the tributes to Marie pour in, you’ll hear many amazing things about her,” Mark Franchetti, a Sunday Times colleague who has known her since 1995, told Reuters. “They’re all true. Not only was she truly the best and most fearless war reporter in British journalism of her generation, hands down, she was also a deeply special human being.”

Colvin set out her philosophy of war reporting in a memorial service for journalists killed in conflict zones in 2010.

“Craters. Burned houses. Mutilated bodies. Women weeping for children and husbands. Our mission is to report these horrors of war with accuracy and without prejudice,” she said.

She made it clear she knew the risks.

“We always have to ask ourselves whether the level of risk is worth the story,” she told the audience at St Bride’s, the journalists’ church on London’s Fleet Street. “What is bravery, and what is bravado?”

“In an age of 24-7 rolling news, blogs and twitter, we are on constant call wherever we are. But war reporting is still essentially the same – someone has to go there and see what is happening,” she said.

A resident of West London, Colvin cut a glamorous and life-affirming figure, equally at ease mingling in London high society as she was hunkering down among refugees. Blessed with a rich contacts book that she often exploited to devastating journalistic effect, she was a doyenne of the small international war reporters’ fraternity.

Her fearless approach won her a clutch of awards.

Among them was the Woman Journalist of the Year prize at the 2010 Foreign Press Association in London, which she won for a story headlined “Swift and Bloody: the Taliban’s revenge”.

She also won the Courage in Journalism award from the International Women’s Media Foundation in 2000 for her behind-the lines work in Chechnya and Kosovo.

In one notable incident in Chechnya, she and a photographer found themselves trapped by Russian forces and pulled off a daring escape over the mountains to neighbouring Georgia.

Before she entered Syria to write what would turn out to be her last story, she told a friend that she had an “ominous feeling” about the dangerous assignment.

A chorus of tributes honouring her poured in from around the world on Wednesday. British Prime Minister David Cameron said her death was a sad reminder of the risks journalists take, Sunday Times editor John Witherow recalled that nothing ever seemed to deter Colvin, and Rupert Murdoch, her newspaper’s proprietor, called her “one of the most outstanding foreign correspondents of her generation.”

(Additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Peter Millership and Peter Graff)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INtopNews/~3/lKrAGhcezgI/syria-colvin-profile-idINDEE81L0K020120222

By Mirwais Harooni and Hamid Shalizi

KABUL |
Wed Feb 22, 2012 10:34pm IST

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed for calm on Wednesday after officials said at least six people were shot dead and dozens wounded in protests over the burning of copies of the Koran, Islam’s holy book, at NATO’s main base in the country.

The U.S. embassy said its staff were in “lockdown” and travel had been suspended as thousands of people expressed fury over the burning, in protests that flared for a second day in several cities.

It was a public relations disaster for U.S.-led NATO forces fighting Taliban militants ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.

The U.S. government and the American commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan apologised after Afghan labourers found charred copies of the Koran while collecting rubbish at the sprawling Bagram Airbase, about an hour’s drive north of Kabul.

The apologies failed to contain the anger. Afghans took to the streets again, chanting anti-American slogans and some raising white Taliban flags in the capital.

Karzai urged security forces to try to protect civilian lives and property.

“Protests are the right of people but I ask my countrymen to avoid violence,” he said in a statement, urging people to wait for the outcome of investigations into the burnings.

Winning the hearts and minds of Afghans is critical to efforts to defeat the Taliban. Similar incidents in the past have caused deep divisions and resentment among Afghans towards the tens of thousands of foreign troops in their country.

Seven foreign UN workers were killed during protests that raged across Afghanistan for three days in April 2011 after a U.S. pastor burned a Koran in Florida.

A senior Afghan security official, citing reports from police, told Reuters that Western security contractors working at a U.S. military camp in Kabul opened fire on protesters and wounded several.

Witness Rahimullah, 17, said his brother, Ghafar, 23, was shot by one of the contractors in the right leg when he was throwing stones during the demonstration.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said it had ordered an investigation into the shooting.

“As a result of shooting at protesters by foreign guards at Camp Phoenix, one person was killed and 10 others were wounded,” the ministry said in an emailed statement.

Later, wounded protesters along the busy Jalalabad road on the fringe of Kabul said Afghan police had fired on them.

CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES

Twenty-one people, including 11 policemen, were wounded in the capital, said Mohammad Zahir, head of Kabul police’s crimes unit. They included the city police chief, Ayoub Salangi, who was hit in the ankle by a stone.

In Parwan province, home to Bagram, four people were shot dead by Afghan police and 10 were wounded while attacking offices, provincial officials and the interior ministry said.

A protester was shot dead by police in Logar province, east of the capital, the governor’s spokesman said. Hundreds protested in front of the governor’s office. Some threw stones.

Critics say Western troops often fail to grasp the country’s religious and cultural sensitivities. Muslims consider the Koran the literal word of God and treat each book with deep reverence.

Demonstrations by as many as 2,000 people broke out as word of the Bagram find spread.

Police said most injuries were caused by flying stones and sticks hurled by protesters. Demonstrators had charged police lines and nearby military bases at a protest on the edge of Kabul, burning tyres and smashing vehicles and building windows.

Protesters shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Karzai” as black smoke rose over a large demonstration on the outskirts of the snowy Afghan capital.

“When the Americans insult us to this degree, we will join the insurgents,” said Ajmal, an 18-year-old protester in Kabul.

Demonstrators set fire to part of a housing compound used by foreign contract workers. A Reuters witness said the fire damaged part of a guesthouse at the Green Village complex, where 1,500 mostly foreign contractors live and work.

Outrage also spilled over in the Afghan parliament, where several members shouted “Death to America” inside the legislative chamber.

The protests spread to several cities.

In Jalalabad, to the east, some protesters burned U.S. flags and also shouted “Death to America”. Others set ablaze fuel tankers near the city’s airport.

Demonstrators praised the leader of the Afghan Taliban, the secretive Mullah Mohammad Omar, screaming “Long live Mullah Omar!”, Reuters witnesses said. Five people were wounded, the governor’s spokesman said.

In neighbouring Pakistan’s largest city Karachi, around 100 Islamic seminary students protested against the Koran burnings.

“Pakistan’s government should summon the American ambassador and demand an apology. And if he doesn’t apologise, he should be kicked out of the country,” said Abdul Basit, a protest leader.

Others took a harder line.

“No forgiveness for the descrators of the Koran,” a section of the crowd shouted. “Only death.”

(Additional reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman in KABUL and Imtiaz Shah in KARACHI; Writing by Rob Taylor; Editing by Michael Georgy and Ron Popeski)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INtopNews/~3/iNtBMEB9kVo/afghanistan-korans-deaths-idINDEE81L0B520120222

By Jordan Riefe

LOS ANGELES |
Wed Feb 22, 2012 10:54pm IST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Oscar week kicked off Tuesday night at a celebration of this year’s nominees for live action and short films, who are among the least-known of the 2012 Academy Award contenders but no less important to the movie industry.

Brad Bird, two-time Oscar winner for “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille,” hosted the event in front of a packed house at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The movies were screened and their makers discussed the art form that can launch a filmmaker’s career and provide a break for veterans from the commercial grind of making studio-backed feature films.

“Short film is an art form in itself and there are certain topics that I believe can only find their audience if they’re done well in short film. A feature film is something totally different, said Stefan Gieren, producer of nominated live action short, “Raju.”

Ten films were screened in all, each of the five nominees from the best animated short category followed by the nominees in the best live action group.

Among the animated shorts, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” a paean to the healing power of books, was partially inspired by Hurricane Katrina after it devastated the hometown of New Orleans filmmaker William Joyce.

“In the aftermath of Katrina, the whole city of New Orleans was sort of gray,” Joyce told a packed house at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. “It had lost its color and we found drifts of books washed around in the detritus of the storm.”

Other animated short film nominees include “Dimanche/Sunday” by Patrick Doyon of Canada, “La Luna” by Pixar Animation’s Enrico Casarosa, “A Morning Stroll” by the UK’s Grant Orchard, and “Wild Life” by Canada’s Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby.

The live action nominees include “Pentecost” by Ireland’s Peter McDonald, “Raju” by German Max Zahle, “Time Freak” from New Yorker Andrew Bowler, “Tuba Atlantic” a film school thesis by Norwegian Hallvar Witzo, and “The Shore” by “Hotel Rwanda” director Terry George.

“It was a chance to talk about reconciliation in Northern Ireland in a way that was specific,” said George’s daughter, Oorlagh who produced the movie about boyhood friends in Belfast reuniting after 25 years. “We shot in our backyard. This is a home movie, my aunt did the costumes, my mom cooked the food.”

While short films were once typically shown in movie theaters ahead of the features advertised on movie marquees, currently they mostly play at film festivals.

But as part of an Oscar-themed package, all 10 nominees were released yesterday on iTunes in 56 countries, and they are currently playing in 138 theaters and video on demand, making this selection of Oscar shorts the most watched in history.

“We have grossed through yesterday over a million dollars,” proclaimed the Academy’s Tom Boone who projected a total tally of $1.7 million, an unprecedented figure spurred by both a digital and Internet resurgence of the short form.

“They can make digital copies in a much easier fashion and get distributed in theatrical venues,” Bird told Reuters. “And there’s nothing better than being in the dark with a bunch of strangers looking at a giant big screen!”

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INentertainmentNews/~3/v8-Ey3FOz8Y/oscars-shorts-idINDEE81L0IK20120222

Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:54am IST

(Reuters) – Bill Clinton had his saxophone, but President Barack Obama can sing the blues.

Obama lent his voice to a White House jam featuring Mick Jagger, B.B. King, Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy on Tuesday during a celebration of blues and its influence on modern pop culture.

After wowing crowds in January by singing a line from Al Green’s classic hit “Let’s Stay Together” at a Harlem fundraiser, the U.S president sang a verse of “Sweet Home Chicago” in the all-star finale of a TV special taped at the White House.

“We were trying to get you to help us sing. I heard you singing Al Green,” blues guitar legend Guy hollered to Obama on Tuesday. “So you started something. You got to keep it up now. You can do it.”

Taking a microphone handed to him by Rolling Stones frontman Jagger, a smiling Obama sang a solo verse of “Sweet Home Chicago” before handing back to the band.

The performance was part of a PBS television special marking Black History month that will be broadcast on February 27 as “In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues,” the public broadcaster said.

Obama’s blues solo recalled Clinton’s saxophone playing appearance in 1992 on the “The Arsenio Hall Show”, which was credited with boosting his presidential campaign.

Obama’s brief rendition of “Let’s Stay Together” in January helped increase sales of the 1971 Al Green classic by 490 percent in the following week, according to Billboard magazine, and the YouTube video has been viewed more than 7 million times.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INentertainmentNews/~3/rd8novy2_qM/obama-blues-idINDEE81L0K920120222

LOS ANGELES |
Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:08am IST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Lindsay Lohan got high marks from a Los Angeles judge at her penultimate progress hearing on Wednesday, as she entered the “home stretch” of her probation after being convicted for theft last year.

“The probation officer is pleased with your progress. You seem to be getting your life back on track and that’s what we all hoped for,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner told Lohan.

“It was never our goal to just put people in jail, we like to see…change, and I think we’ve all seen that,” she said.

The “Mean Girls” actress, 25, wore a mint green form-fitting dress to her third progress hearing for her five-month court-ordered community service and therapy sessions sentence.

Lohan must complete 14 more days of community service at the Los Angeles County morgue and five more therapy sessions before her final hearing scheduled on March 29.

If she completes all her requirements by then, her probation from a 2007 drunk driving case in Beverly Hills will end, and her formal probation stemming from her theft charge will be downgraded to summary probation, under which Lohan will no longer need to check in with a probation officer.

“After March 29, all you have to do is obey all laws, stay out of trouble, move on with your life,” Sautner said.

Until then, the actress is only allowed to leave California for work purposes.

Lohan is scheduled to host U.S. comedy sketch show “Saturday Night Live” on March 3, a much-anticipated comeback for the actress, who last hosted the show in 2006 at the peak of her career.

The actress rose to fame as a likable child star of Disney movies such as “The Parent Trap” and comedies such as “Freaky Friday,” but has made numerous trips to rehab and jail since 2007.

Lohan admitted stealing a $2,500 gold necklace from a jewelry store in Venice, California in January 2011, and was sentenced to 480 hours community service.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy: Editing by Jill Serjeant)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INentertainmentNews/~3/W4H0fTcbIvk/lindsaylohan-idINDEE81L0KV20120222

By Michelle Martin

LONDON |
Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:06am IST

LONDON (Reuters) – London Fashion Week shook off its traditional image as a mere playground for quirky emerging talent with a display of grown-up elegance for the autumn/winter 2012 season that had leaders of the global fashion pack singing the British capital’s praises.

By the close of the shows, top British designers such as Paul Smith, Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton and Burberry’s Christopher Bailey had presented catwalk collections which more than suggested that the “edgy” London of yesteryear had matured into a sleek and sophisticated luxury powerhouse.

“We used to come here and think it’s all going to be eccentric and street chic and actually it’s incredibly grown up, polished and sexy, glamorous clothes so it’s a global stage now — it’s wonderful,” U.S. Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour told Reuters on the sidelines of the shows.

London has always been overshadowed by New York, Milan and Paris on the fashion map, and often derided by critics as the “capital of quirk”, despite spawning industry stars such as Stella McCartney, McQueen and Vivienne Westwood as well as leading global luxury labels such as Burberry and Mulberry.

Military styles, bright prints, furs and quintessentially English looks dominated the catwalks, while bejewelled, sequined and embroidered creations also featured prominently this season.

Many of the collections included panelled creations. Belstaff delivered tailored leather jackets with armour type panelling. Burberry sent panelled trenchcoats down the runway and Peter Pilotto dressed his models in figure-hugging stretch dresses slashed with mesh panels.

Designers accentuated the female figure by nipping coats and jackets in at the waist to create an hourglass silhouette — Burberry used colourful bows to achieve this look while McQ from Alexander McQueen chose leather military-style belts with gold buckles.

Sasha Wilkins, founder of the successful LibertyLondonGirl.com fashion blog, said the British capital now competed on equal footing with its rival fashion capitals.

“We seem to have got to the point where London can properly take its place on the world stage,” said Wilkins, a former Wall Street Journal executive style editor.

And the city’s place on the fashion map is likely to become more prominent this summer thanks to a “great halo effect” that the Olympic Games will bring, British Fashion Council chairman Harold Tillman told Reuters.

QUINTESSENTIALLY ENGLISH

Traditional English fabrics like felts, velvets, tweed and tartan found favour with designers who sought to overturn London’s reputation for young creativity, avant garde trends and edgy designs by opting for elegant tailored creations.

Burberry creative director Bailey combined country and town styles at a show packed with celebrities including Kate Bosworth, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and the British Prime Minister’s wife Samantha Cameron.

His models sashayed down the runway in quilted jackets, peplum skirts and tiered fringe dresses teamed with brogue lace-up angle boots before a clap of thunder was heard and water emulating rain gushed down the sides of the transparent marquee in which the event was hosted.

Vivienne Westwood also championed the British cause with her Red Label collection which saw tattooed models don tweed suits, baggy jodphur-like trousers and tailored creations inspired by tribal prints.

“Britishness is just a way of putting things together and a certain don’t care attitude about clothes. You don’t care, you just do it and it looks great. What we do always looks British even if we’re inspired by Africa or the North Pole or whatever,” Westwood said.

HIGH DRAMA

At McQ, military chic ruled supreme — creative director Sarah Burton, who designed the wedding dress Kate Middleton wore for her wedding to Britain’s Prince William last year, sent models down a runway carpeted with autumnal leaves in khaki coats and suits featuring large pockets and big metal buttons with shiny leather lace-up stiletto boots.

Flared strapless tartan dresses with sheer sleeves, lacy tops, delicate embroidery and appliquéd velvet flowers showed a softer, more feminine side in a dramatic show which saw model Kristen McMenamy, clad in a bridal ivory gown, sign her soul away to the devil in a wooden hut in a forest.

Stella McCartney also staged an extravagant spectacle, wowing the audience with magic tricks, models dancing on tables, a jazz band and a vegetarian dinner as she showcased bright marbled patterns, floral prints and gathered puffy skirts.

“It’s London, it’s Britain. It’s celebrating everything that is bold and irreverent about being a British brand,” McCartney told Reuters about her inspiration for the opulent collection.

After presenting a Renaissance-inspired collection of fluffy fur hats, bright print dresses with oriental flower patterns and richly embroidered and beaded sheer evening gowns, British designer Alice Temperley said London had become a very exciting place to be as people realised a lot of businesses in the British capital were actually very scalable.

“It’s not just about the new generation, there are people coming through that are obviously very creative and very inspiring and what London is renowned for, but it’s also about people who have good businesses that can and do sell globally,” she said.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin; additional reporting by Li-mei Hoang and Ethan Bilby, editing by Paul Casciato)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INentertainmentNews/~3/R07RJ0cIZgM/fashion-britain-london-idINDEE81L0ME20120222

LOS ANGELES |
Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:50am IST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Bankrupt Eastman Kodak Co EKDKQ.PK is having its named yanked from Sunday’s telecast of the Oscars, the president of the group that gives out the awards said on Wednesday.

“It will be live from the Hollywood and Highland Center in Hollywood, California. That’s what the landlord has asked us to do and we’re going to do it,” said Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, in an interview with a Los Angeles television station.

The announcement comes after much speculation as to whether the once-dominant film manufacturing and photography company would keep its name on the Oscar theater after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization earlier this year.

Kodak signed a $74 million deal in 2000 for naming rights the 3,400-seat theater in Hollywood that is home to the Academy Awards and also houses a production of Cirque du Soleil.

The Oscar deal was an enormous marketing opportunity for Kodak’s brand because the Academy Awards annually is the second most-watched event on TV behind football’s Super Bowl. Last year’s telecast was viewed by 37.6 million people.

But under bankruptcy law, the company was able to reject the remainder of its 20-year commitment, and sought to have its name removed from the theater immediately. The building’s owner, CIM Group, objected initially, saying it was unfair for Kodak to remove its sign before the Oscars.

The CIM Group declined to comment Wednesday on the Academy’s decision to not include the Kodak name in this year’s awards.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INentertainmentNews/~3/3dS9YkwLk0c/oscars-kodak-idINDEE81L0M620120222

LOS ANGELES |
Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:13am IST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Judy Garland’s ruby red slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” have found their way home.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said on Wednesday it had acquired one of the four known surviving pairs of the iconic shoes made for the 1939 movie, with the help of Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg.

The shoes, regarded as one of the world’s best-known film props, are believed to have been worn by Garland’s character Dorothy when she clicked her heels three times to return to Kansas from the fantasy land of Oz near the end of the movie.

The slippers were previously due to be sold by Los Angeles auction house Profiles in History in December, with an estimated selling price of $2-$3 million. But auction house officials said they did not sell at that time.

The academy, which organizes the annual Oscar awards, said that DiCaprio and Spielberg had headed a group of “angel donors” to purchase the shoes for a museum planned by the academy.

Academy officials declined to say how much was paid. A pair of red test slippers for “The Wizard of Oz” from the Hollywood collection of actress Debbie Reynolds sold for $612,000 in May 2011.

“Leo’s passionate leadership has helped us bring home this legendary piece of movie history,” added academy chief executive officer Dawn Hudson. “It’s a wonderful gift to the Academy museum project, and a perfect representation of the work we do year-round to preserve and share our film heritage.”

DiCaprio, star of “Titanic” and “Inception”, donated money from his own foundation. Other donors included Spielberg and former Warner Bros. and Yahoo! Chairman Terry Semel.

The shoes, marked #7 Judy Garland, are said to be the most pristine of the four pairs of slippers known to exist. One pair is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C., one is in private hands and another was stolen from the Judy Garland museum in Minnesota.

The academy and the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts announced plans in October to establish a museum to display movie-related treasures.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INentertainmentNews/~3/QxMRr1TqZDU/wizardofoz-rubyslippers-idINDEE81L0MK20120222

By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES |
Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:30am IST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The late Whitney Houston was unable to oust Adele from the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, and the British singer’s “21″ replaced “The Bodyguard” as the longest running No. 1 album by a woman.

Boosted by her six Grammy awards and performance comeback, Adele’s “21″ saw its biggest sales week yet in 52 weeks on the U.S. chart, selling 730,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan.

That gave Adele her 21st week at the top spot, beating the record held by Houston with her 1992 “Bodyguard” album. “21″ which features hits like “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You” has now sold more than 18 million copies worldwide since its release in February 2011, Adele’s Columbia Record label said.

The 23 year-old singer and songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album, “19,” which sold 87,000 copies.

Houston’s songs also saw a huge sales rise following her death in a Beverly Hills hotel on February 11 and a touching tribute by Jennifer Hudson at the Grammy awards on February 12.

Seven of Houston’s albums re-entered the Billboard chart this week, led by “Whitney: The Greatest Hits” compilation at No. 2, selling 175,000 copies. Her self-titled album sold 17,000 to take the 37th spot.

Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” single took the No. 2 spot in the Billboard Digital Songs Chart.

GRAMMY BOOST

The Billboard 200 album chart reflected a Grammy-influenced boost for other artists.

Pop singer Bruno Mars, who was nominated for six Grammys but went home empty-handed, still saw his album “Doo-Wops Hooligans” notch the No. 8 position, boosted by his retro-inspired uptempo performance of “Runaway Baby” at the Los Angeles awards show.

His album was followed by Grammy’s best country album winners Lady Antebellum’s “Own The Night” at No. 9 and newcomers The Civil Wars, who picked up two Grammy awards, rounded out the top 10 with “Barton Hollow.”

Country singer Jason Aldean, Rihanna, British band Coldplay and country group The Band Perry all saw their albums climb the top 20.

Katy Perry, who stormed back defiantly in her first big public performance at the Grammys after husband Russell Brand filed for divorce in December, saw her new single “Part of Me” notch the top spot on the Billboard Digital Songs chart, with 411,000 downloads.

Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” and “Set Fire to the Rain” took No. 3 and No. 4 on the Digital Songs chart respectively.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INentertainmentNews/~3/Qr3S8x0hpX4/adele-whitney-chart-idINDEE81L0KK20120222

Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:03am IST

REUTERS – International Business Machines (IBM.N) is gearing up to take a chunk of the growing Internet security market by applying its data analytics to help companies and organizations fight cyberattacks.

IBM said on Wednesday that its QRadar Security Intelligence Platform allowed it to analyze real-time data feeds from more than 400 different sources.

QRadar identifies abnormal activity by combining known threats and hackers’ methods with real-time analysis of the traffic on the corporate IT infrastructure, the company said.

For example, IBM said, it can detect when multiple failed logins to a database server are followed by a successful login and access to credit card information, followed by an upload to a questionable site.

Many corporations have been unable to create a security defense system because they have cobbled together technologies that are not integrated, creating a patchwork approach with loopholes that hackers can exploit, IBM said.

“Trying to approach security with a piece-part approach simply doesn’t work,” said Brendan Hannigan, general manager at IBM Security Systems.

IBM is betting that a broadbased approach will appeal to companies and organizations looking to prevent threats before they happen.

“These attacks don’t come out of the blue,” Hannigan said. “No one walks into a bank and walks out with the crown jewels in one fell swoop.

“They will spend a enormous amount of time and put in place the mechanisms to get the info they want,” he said, “and obviously they try to hide their trail and not set off security events.”

Hannigan said IBM’s X-Force threat feed monitored 13 billion security events per day, and “that could flag behavior from teams of attackers that may access networks through stealth means.”

Organizations are struggling to defend themselves against an onslaught of ever-evolving data breaches, such as theft of customer and employee information, credit card data and corporate intellectual property, IBM said.

Defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) have been among the high-profile victims of cyberattacks. Others include Google Inc (GOOG.O), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc (NDAQ.O).

U.S. FBI Director Robert Mueller said recently that cyberattacks against government agencies and businesses would surpass terrorism as a danger to the United States.

That translates into an information security market that, according to research firm Gartner, will grow to $71 billion by 2015 from $55 billion last year.

In response, IBM organized its security portfolio into a security systems division last year and beefed it up with the acquisition of Q1 Labs in October.

The company said 7,000 customers used its security products.

Shares of IBM were up 0.3 percent at $194.05 in afternoon trading.

(Reporting by Nicola Leske in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INtechnologyNews/~3/uRMpWvCO9no/ibm-security-idINDEE81L0JS20120222