People - Here, There and Everywhere
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Fuller wants Zizou for LA Galaxy
HAVING planted David Beckham at LA Galaxy, super-agent Simon Fuller is now trying to persuade football legend Zinedine Zidane out of retirement to join his former Real Madrid 
team-mate in the US soccer team. Fuller, who brokered Beckham's $10m-a-year deal, has made a similar offer to the controversial French star, who was sent off in the World Cup final for head-butting Italy's Marco Materazzi.
While Galaxy insiders say Zidane is playing hard to get, if anyone can coax him into signing the deal it is Fuller: after orchestrating the Spice Girls and creating Pop Idol, the multi-millionaire agent-manager is used to having his own way.
Mitterand's girl causes controversy
SINCE SHE was exposed as the secret illegitimate daughter of French ex-president, Francois Mitterrand, Mazarine Pingeot has seemed determined to make up for 
lost time in the shade.
Now she has caused a stir by basing her third novel on the case of a Frenchwoman accused of murdering three newborn babies after concealing the pregnancies. Veronique Courjault's husband found two babies in the freezer when they lived in South Korea; his wife allegedly confessed later to the earlier killing of a third baby in France. She stands trial next year.
Defending the privacy of two older children, the Courjaults' neighbours in Chinon, western France, want the book, The Doll Cemetery, banned. "Mazarine doubtless appreciated being left in peace during her childhood and should show the same respect," said a petition organiser.
July 27: Peter Gabriel, Isaac Hayes, Ben Taylor play at the WOMAD festival, Charlton Park, Wiltshire
July 27: Sophie Anderton (above) and Chantelle Preston attend the launch of the Brown Cow Boutique, West Regent St, Glasgow
July 27: Faithless, Basement Jaxx, Carl Cox, David Guetta, Sasha are among acts performing at the Godskitchen Global Gathering, Long Marston Airfield, Warwickshire
July 28: 50 Cent, Alesha, Akon appear at Medfest 2007, Nicosia, Cyprus
Laurie David's new enthusiasm
THE RECENT separation of Larry David, fabulously wealthy co-creator of Seinfeld and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and his wife Laurie has been the subject of relentless speculation in Hollywood.
Most people thought the rift was due to Laurie (above, with husband) - a producer on Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth - becoming more and more consumed with environmental issues. But new reports suggest the end of their marriage was more (Continued below ad)
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(Continued from above ad) like something out of Desperate Housewives than Seinfeld.
Laurie, 49, appears to have become infatuated with her 44-year-old building contractor, Bart Thorpe, who was supervising renovations on the Davids' 76-acre property on Martha's Vineyard. Thorpe apparently left his wife and daughter earlier this year and moved into a barn on the property, known locally as 'Camp David'.
Described as "a shirtless hunk" in one breathless account and as "a hottie but dumb", Thorpe has since been spotted holding hands with Laurie David. "Bart is so besotted he doesn't know which end is up," says a neighbour. "He thinks Laurie David is the greatest person in the world. He says she's single-handedly saving the planet. It's sad."
Larry David has moved in with his actor friends Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen who live nearby. Locals are not only upset that Laurie may have split up a well-liked local family, they are also furious about the endless building work the green activist has been involved in on her property. A blogger on Ecorazzi - 'the green gossip site' - complains: "The trucks and pollution stop only when Mrs Carbon Sasquatch is here for her summer vacation."
Blair's baffling guest list
Tony Blair's expenditure during his final 18 months as PM is coming to light - and raising eyebrows. Not only did he spend more than £1.6m on flights for his 'farewell tour' (dubbed 'Vanity Blair', after it was discovered Vanity Fair were accompanying him),
he also wined and dined a bewildering array of minor celebrities at his country retreat, Chequers - at the taxpayer's expense, naturally.
The list of guests includes
such notables as Charlotte Church (below) and her rugby-playing partner Gavin Henson, TV personalities 
Kirsty Young, Lorraine Kelly, Richard Madeley and June Sarpong, and radio DJ Vernon Kay.
"Many of the names on this list reveal the frivolity and celebrity-obsessed nature of the Blair administration," said Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb. "The Government has been [guarding the details] as though they were a state secret."
Alarm rings as Beyonce tumbles
R 'n' B DIVA Beyonce took a spectacular fall down a flight of steps during a concert in Orlando, Florida - and carried on singing. During a high octane rendition of her song Ring the Alarm, the bootylicious singer tripped on her long, red coat, lost her footing, and tumbled heavily down the stairs. "It looked painful, but she was instantly back on her feet," said one fan.
"It hurt so bad," Beyonce commented after the show, before requesting. "Don't put it on YouTube!" They did.
Moss gathers a Rolling Stone
AFTER HIDING out in the house of celebrity hairdresser James Brown after her break-up with Pete Doherty, supermodel Kate Moss has now taken herself for some 'quiet time' with one-time hellraiser Ronnie Wood. While Kate used to party hard with the aging Rolling Stone - in 2004, he went into the Priory after a boozy night with Kate and his wife Jo, in which he ended up crawling under the table and biting their ankles - now she has turned to him for some gentle R&R.
"Kate was delighted to be invited to go and stay with the Woods at their house in Kingston," says a friend of Moss. "Ronnie used to drink eight pints of Guiness and two bottles of vodka a day, but now that he is on the wagon he is a steadying influence, and is happy to help Kate calm down, and forget about Pete." Doherty, meanwhile, is said to be spending his time in a West London garage, in the company of ten kittens.
German actor Ulrich Muehe (below), the star of Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others, has died at the age of 54 from stomach cancer... A member of the jury at TV star Chris Langham's sex charge trial wept when images of child porn were shown... Langham denies all charges... Harry Potter author JK Rowling says finishing the final novel sent her into a deep depression...
Lindsay Lohan (above) said yesterday "I did not do drugs, they're not mine," after being busted for alleged drink-driving and possession of cocaine... At members' club Shoreditch House, artist Tracey Emin surprised fellow guests by taking off her clothes, and jumping into the rooftop pool in her underwear...
Facebook face-off
LAWYERS for the three former Harvard students who accuse Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea, were warned by a judge yesterday: "Dorm room chit-chat does not make a contract."
However, Boston district court judge Douglas Woodlock delayed a ruling, saying he needed more information. The three men - as reported here yesterday - want Facebook closed down and its assets transferred to their lesser-known site, ConnectU.
