WRITER-DIRECTOR Oliver Stone is hot and bothered. Literally.

He is hot because his television interview is being taped in the outdoor cafe at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts Asia in Kay Siang Road.

SYDNEY - ACTRESS Daryl Hannah will sail for the inhospitable South Ocean on Wednesday as part of a campaign to stop Japanese whalers from slaughtering the giant animals, organisers said.

Hannah, best known for her role as a mermaid in the 1984 hit 'Splash', will be part of the militant Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's annual campaign to find, track and impede the whaling ships.

NEW YORK - COLDPLAY was the hottest iTunes album download this year: Its Viva la Vida was crowned the best-selling album of 2008, while Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love was named the top-selling single.

Coldplay's CD has sold more than 2 million copies since its release in June, and has sold more than 500,000 copies digitally - most of which was through iTunes, according to the band's representative. ITunes does not release its sales figures, its spokesman said in releasing its list on Monday.