Style and Focus News Bites

** Detroit Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez has created the Ordonez Family Scholarship Fund to benefit students in Southwest Detroit. Ordonez's family and the Detroit Tigers Foundation established the fund through the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.

Each year, one student from a southwest Detroit high school -- public, private or charter -- will receive a $2,500 scholarship for full-time study at any university nthe United States. the award is renewable for four years, witha total maximum value of $10,000. Applications are available at cfsem.org (Detroit Free Press).

** According to People Magazine, singer Lily Allen has suffered a miscarriage. Her rep asked that "her privacy be respected during this difficult time".

** Nordstrom Celebrates Black History Month With Exclusive Soul Music Compilation CD. In celebration of Black History Month, Nordstrom will sell an exclusive CD entitled "Immortal Soul-Essential Recordings from the Golden Age". The CD will be available in all Nordstrom stores and online at Nordstrom.com beginning February 1st for $24.95.

All after-cost proceeds from the sale of "Immortal Soul" will benefit three music education programs for youth in underserved communities. The benefiting organizations are Opus 118 Harlem School of Music in New York, Merit School of Music in Chicago and Scholarship Audition Performance Academy in Los Angeles (press release).

** Katie Leung best known for playing Cho Chang in the Harry Potter films will be featured in an upcoming episode of Poirot, one of Britain's longest running TV dramas. She will appear in the episode, "Cats among the Pigeons" which is an adaption of an Agatha Christie "Poirot" mystery novel. Katie will play 'Hsui Tai Wan', a pupil at a private all-girls school who helps the legendary sleuth (David Suchet) solve a murder at the school and the mystery of a kidnapped Middle Eastern princess. This will be Leung's first role since being cast in the HP films. The episode is scheduled to air sometime in April (Sunday Mail). Katie will also appear in the sixth upcoming Harry Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".

** ABSOLUT(R) Vodka Teams With Live Earth Film Series to Help Solve the Climate Crisis One Cocktail, One Person at a Time. Marking the first-ever national sales and marketing platform in the spirit brand’s history, the program, dubbed ABSOLUT Global Cooling(TM), encourages consumers to reduce the effects of global warming by offering simple steps they can implement in their daily lives.

The program encourages consumers at all touch points to get involved in Global Cooling by registering their ABSOLUT bottle or cocktail codes at http://www.absolut.com/GlobalCooling where they will have the opportunity to activate their eco-donation to one of three eco-charity partners. ABSOLUT will donate $1 per registered code for a bottle or cocktail of ABSOLUT, ABSOLUT Citron or ABSOLUT Mandrin to the three environmental nonprofits, providing proof that indeed every sip counts. For more information on ABSOLUT(TM) Global Cooling, please visit http://www.absolut.com/GlobalCooling (press release).

** The BBC is reporting that legendary chess player Bobby Fischer has died in Iceland. The Chicago-born Fischer, 64, died on Jan. 16 from an undisclosed cause.

** Natalie Portman has collaborated with a U.S. fashion firm to launch a range of vegan footwear. The Natalie Portman Collection - made in partnership with specialty shoe retailer Te Casan and the actress' stylist Kate Young - will feature 20 pairs of limited edition, hand-crafted designs that are completely animal-friendly, with a price tag of $200 each. The line will debut in stores February 1 with 100% of proceeds benefitting The Nature Conservancy, an organisation dedicated to protecting the environment.