Media-Whore D'Oevres



"Sixteen rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza on Thursday, and the Israeli Air Force carried out its first strike in Gaza in nearly a week, hitting a rocket launcher, the Israeli military said. The upsurge in violence followed the killing by Israeli undercover troops of four Palestinian militants in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday. That attack shattered a five-day lull in hostilities and threatened Egyptian efforts to mediate a cease-fire." (NYTimes)

"Eddie Murphy has revealed the real reason he doesn't want to have anything to do with his 11-month-old daughter Angel by Spice Girl Mel B - because he believes she trapped him into having a baby. The Nutty Professor star claimed 32-year-old Mel insisted she was on birth control, and revealed they only had sex three times, according to a US report. 'What was supposed to be a casual relationship ended with her having his baby and taking him to court for millions,' a source told The National Enquirer." (Thisislondon)

"Natalie Imbruglia has found love with Richard Branson's son Sam, just months after splitting from her husband of four years. We can reveal the Aussie singer has been cosying up to model Sam -- who at 23 is 10 years her junior." (3AMGirls)

"IFC threw a coveted party on Austin's way popular 6th Street Tuesday night touting their June release of 'Heavy Load' and celebrating SXSW. Bands Yo La Tengo and My Morning Jacket drew 700 people who snatched up the 400 wristbands for the event, which was as one can imagine -- packed." (Indiewire)

"U.S. wine auction houses are charging ahead this season with buzzworthy sales, despite the global economy's gloomy outlook. They're counting on recession-proof top Burgundies and first-growth Bordeaux to keep prices climbing, and they're targeting far-flung venues to expand the buyer base. To add excitement, they're bringing out more single-cellar sales from famous collectors and special preview tastings.Tomorrow at 5 p.m. in New York, right before Christie's holds its first evening sale of the year, the house is pouring 12 vintages of first growths, including 1982 Lafite, for a paltry $125." (Bloomberg)

"Consequently, a generation of younger Muslims in particular has become restless with the debilities of Indian secularism and attracted to more immediate methods of asserting political identity, including militancy (albeit for only a few). In the past few months, a noticeable feature of Muslim-related militancy has been the number of violent acts aimed at targets within the Muslim community. In particular, a number of Sufi shrines - distinguished for the non-denominational character of their devotees and for their popularity even with non-Muslims - have been bombed by Islamist militants. The regionalisation of Indian politics is also contributing to Muslims' sense of political alienation. For example, Muslims in India's largest state, Uttar Pradesh, now face some delicate political choices. Following the demise of the Congress Party in the 1980s, they had largely supported the Samajwadi Party (SP) of Mulayam Singh Yadav, making common cause with the middle-ranking Other Backward Castes (OBCs) who comprise the SP's main constituency. But, during the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh state assembly election in February 2007, rifts began to appear." (Janes)