Hayden Panattiere and her close mate in Heroes, season 4

Hayden Panattiere’s lesbian kiss in Fourth season of Heroes – TV producers have ways and means of boosting ratings – and this is one of them. In this sneak preview, Hayden Panettiere, aka Claire Bennet, in seen in the throes of a lesbian kiss with co-star Madeline Zima, who plays her room-mate Gretchen. It will feature in the fourth season of the cult TV series, Heroes, which returned to U.S. screens last month. [dailymail]

ZA News launches – There are no sacred cows and no punches held as local and international politicians and celebrities get turned into frightfully lifelike latex puppets inspired by South Africa’s most famous cartoonist: Zapiro. Given voices by topline South African impressionists and comedy talent, the puppets are manipulated by a team of skilled handlers to act out the wickedly funny sketches that comprise each edition of this parody of TV news. [zanews]

Tech Mergers and Acquisitions Coming Back – While economists and investors fret over rising unemployment and fears of a double-dip recession, investment bankers and corporate lawyers are practically giddy over a recent surge in mergers and acquisitions activity in the tech sector, replete with limos, late dinners and potentially fat fees. [time]

Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is secretly … Jewish? – The world’s most famous Holocaust denier, might actually be Jewish, according to a bombshell report published on Saturday. Ahmadinejad’s family apparently changed its name from Sabourjian, a Jewish name meaning “cloth weaver,” when it converted to Islam after his birth. Blind. [telegraph]

10 Most Expensive Streets on Earth – Via Suvretta, St Moritz, Switzerland comes in at number six. But if you want to buy a house on this beautiful slopes, you’d better get your pocketbook ready. With prices at $45,000 per sq/m, Via Suvretta doesn’t come cheap. Interestingly, the Via Suvretta is the only street on the list that saw prices rise this past year – a solid 18%, in fact, reports The Wealth Bulletin. Who came in at number one? [nydailynews]

African Bishops Reckon Obama is a Sign From God – African bishops attending a Vatican meeting are speaking about the election of Barack Obama in divine terms – putting them very much at odds with many of their US counterparts. Archbishop Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle of Accra, Ghana said on Wednesday that there was “a divine plan behind” Obama’s election. “It’s like the biblical story repeating itself,” he told journalists, citing the Old Testament figure Joseph who, after being sold into slavery in Egypt ends up becoming a top official. Just wait till these guys meet the TBG. [news24]

Tom Cruise Enrolls at Harvard – Tom Cruise has played idealistic lawyers in “A Few Good Men,” “The Firm” and “Jerry Maguire.” On Monday Cruise joined a classroom of bright-eyed and budding Esquires at Harvard Law School for a lecture from his actual attorney Bert Fields. [thresq]

The National Organization for Women has sharply criticized comedian David Letterman (really??), accusing him of promoting a hostile, uncomfortable work environment. “The latest Letterman controversy sheds new light on the widespread objectification of women in the blah blah blah.” Tell me about it! You should have seen me in London at 21 as the online marketing manager of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (non-fiction) – I was, quite literally, AWESOME! [cnn]

Tiger Woods is NOT a billionaire. Last week, Forbes reported that Tiger Woods was the first athlete to earn $1 billion. One problem, though: Woods says he doesn’t have that much money. At a Presidents Cup news conference Tuesday, a reporter asked Woods directly about the Forbes report. God how emboerrissing. [golf.com, funnily enough]

Thugs attack two transvestites… who turn out to be cage fighters wearing fancy dress – Two thugs who attacked what they thought were a pair of transvestites picked on the wrong men – when their intended victims turned out to be cage fighters on a night out in fancy dress. Dean Gardener, 19, and Jason Fender, 22, singled out the two men walking along a street in wigs, short skirts and high heels. [dailymail]

[thanks dion, griff, paul]