Rihanna the new Madonna? In her own way

OPINION: In the music industry, there have long been comparisons to Madonna thrown around – a pop single here, a fashion look there – but to encompass the scope and success, and global fame of Madonna That’s another league entirely. Figures came out this week that Rihanna is now the most watched artist on YouTube, with her official channel RihannaVEVO reaching more than 3.47 billion views, nudging aside Justin Bieber who was considered the king of social media.

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Award for Fake movie withdrawn

A US film festival has withdrawn an award given to a British movie about a Gulf War veteran seeking justice after a London court jailed five people for making the movie as part of 2.8 million pound (NZ$5 million) tax scam. Tax inspectors were told that A-listers from Hollywood would be starring in a 19.6 million pound production that would be shot in Britain

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In Israel, the Shadow of a New Gaza War

Israeli officials say it so often they’ve taken to apologizing for using the example, acknowledging it’s become a clich: Israel and Hamas can lob shells into and out of the Gaza Strip indefinitely without risking actual war, the explanation begins. Each side wants to appear tough, and over four years the call and response has grown as delicately calibrated as a minuet.

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