Pop diva Whitney Houston was expected to be buried Sunday after an emotional farewell during which Hollywood stars, music greats and loved ones praised the "sweet miracle" of her talent.

She will be buried in suburban Westfield, New Jersey, next to her father, John Russell Houston, who died in 2003.

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie said Saturday the world should intervene to stop the violent crackdown in Syria and condemned powers that have vetoed a U.N. resolution against the regime.

"I think Syria has got to a point, sadly, where certainly some form of intervention is absolutely necessary," Jolie told al-Jazeera Balkans in an interview shown on the channel's Internet site.

"War Witch", a Canadian film about a child soldier played by a girl who until recently lived on the streets of Kinshasa, broke out as a strong contender at the Berlin film festival Friday.

The last of 18 pictures in competition, "War Witch" by Kim Nguyen drew an enthusiastic reception ahead of a gala prize ceremony Saturday where the jury president, British director Mike Leigh, will present the Golden Bear top prize.

"Twilight" heart-throb Robert Pattinson stars as a 19th century Parisian social climber who sleeps his way to the top in "Bel Ami", a role he told the Berlin film festival reminded him of today's reality TV stars.

Trading in his brooding vampire for the role of an ambitious bon vivant, Pattinson's character Georges Duroy seduces the most powerful women in the French capital, played by Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Shimmering like a sea creature, a model wearing glittering green paint, a full-length skirt and a few strategically-placed feathers took to the catwalk Friday on the first day of London Fashion Week.

Lacking the big names of rivals New York, Paris and Milan, LFW sells itself as the place to see the cutting edge of fashion, and the show by Fyodor Golan, winners of last year's prestigious Fashion Fringe award, was a classic example.

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie on Friday attended Croatia's premiere of her directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey", a wartime love story situated in neighboring Bosnia.

Unlike in Sarajevo, where Jolie attended a gala showing of her film before several thousand people on Tuesday, the Croatian launch was more intimate, in a movie theatre to some 500 VIP invitees.

Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder will sing at the private funeral of Whitney Houston on Saturday in what promises to be a very musical service.

Publicist Kristen Foster also confirms that invitations went out to Houston's ex-husband, Bobby Brown; her co-star in "The Bodyguard," Kevin Costner; and Oprah Winfrey.

Aerialists, acrobats and contortionists from Cirque du Soleil are among the guests at this year's Academy Awards.

The three-minute performance at the Oscars on Feb. 26 will be among the international troupe's biggest yet, said Cirque du Soleil special events director Yasmine Khalil, featuring more than 50 artists. Most Cirque shows employ 75 to 80 artists over two hours, she said.

Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal will wield the sword of Zorro in a futuristic version of the classic story about the masked crusader, according to the film industry magazine Variety.

Unlike previous versions, the new movie, "Zorro Reborn," will not take place during Spanish colonial times in California or Mexico.

Carnival frenzy is sweeping Brazil as the South American powerhouse prepares to launch a week of sizzling samba dancing, glittering parades, and unabashed merry-making.

Over the next days this racially diverse country of 191 million people will come to a standstill for the pre-Lent bacchanalian festival that is its most popular holiday.