Phuza Thursday

26 May 2011

Twitter Prepared To Hand Over User Data - Twitter yesterday said it was prepared to hand over information identifying tens of thousands of people who have used the social-networking website to break privacy injunctions. Experts had previously assumed that people who breached gagging orders on Twitter were protected from legal reprisals because the website is outside the jurisdiction of British courts. [telegraph]

‘Magic Penis’ Killing Set For Trial Date – A trial date is expected to be set on Thursday for 12 people arrested in connection with setting a pastor alight after accusing him of using a magic penis to sleep with women. Malwane had been dragged from his one-roomed house and taken to a hill, where he was set alight. Malwane’s house was also burnt and his wife and daughter went into hiding. [news24]

Scott McCreery Wins American Idol – Lock the doors and turn the lights down low, America. The teenager with the baritone is your new Fox-crowned superstar. After four months and ten million “in it to win it!” pronouncements from Randy Jackson, “American Idol” named Scotty McCreery as the winner of season 10. The 17-year-old topped fellow teenager Lauren Alaina in the finale, winning the most votes out of the 122 million-plus cast. [msnbc]

DSK Moved To New Tribeca Pad - Former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has found new accommodation in Manhattan where he will await his upcoming sex assault trial under house arrest, shortly after a New York judge Wednesday approved the move. The Tribeca pad is described by the New York Post as a luxury three-story, 6,800-square-foot (630-square-meter), $50,000-a-month townhouse replete with bar, home theater, gym and steam bath and spa. [foxnews]

Zuma Likely To Raise Hammerl’s Death In Talks With Gaddafi - President Jacob Zuma is “likely” to ask Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi about repatriating photographer Anton Hammerl’s body when they meet next week. The Presidency said yesterday that Zuma “will stop over in Tripoli for a discussion” with Gaddafi on Monday in his role as a member of the African Union panel for the resolution of the conflict in Libya. [timeslive]

Kim Kardashian Is Engaged – Ring Cost $2Million – Kim Kardashian’s engagement ring (she is engaged to basketball star, Kris Humphries) is worth almost half as much as her Beverly Hills mansion. Sources close to the diamond have told TMZ the rock is valued at $2 million! The ring — designed by Lorraine Schwartz — features a 16.5 carat emerald cut center stone flanked by two 2-carat trapezoids … for a grand total of 20.5 carats. [tmz]

Lost Egyptian Pyramids Discovered By Space Archeologists – Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt. More than 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements were also revealed by looking at infra-red images which show up underground buildings. Initial excavations have already confirmed some of the findings, including two suspected pyramids. [bbc]

How Not To Toast The Queen: Obama’s Awkward Royal Gaffe - “Ladies and gentlemen please stand with me and raise your glasses as I propose a toast,” the president said, putting down his note cards and grabbing his glass. “To her majesty the Queen.” The president paused, the guests stood, and the orchestra prepared to play. But the president wasn’t done speaking. [abcnews+video]

Urgent Call For Compulsory Motor Insurance - The Short-Term Insurance Ombudsman’s “urgent” call for the introduction of compulsory third-party motor insurance in SA should be welcomed by all parties involved, as motorists who insure their vehicles are in effect overpaying on their premium by having to subsidise those who do not. [independent]

Austrian Politician Faces Legal Action For ‘Mosque Game’ - Austrian authorities have filed incitement charges against a right-wing politician for commissioning a video game that required players to target and stop mosques, minarets and muezzins as they pop up on a screen. The game – called “Moschee Baba,” German for “See ya, mosque” – was posted online and sparked widespread condemnation. [forbes]

California Launches Criminal Investigation Into Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Affairs - The Californian Attorney General will conduct what’s being termed an “inquiry” into former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s alleged misuse of tax payer funds to cover up sexual liaisons. The “Governator” was witnessed using California Highway Patrol officers and vehicles to ferry scantily-clad women in-and-out of his suite at the Sacramento Hyatt Regency where he and wife Maria Shriver often stayed. [radar]

Google To Unveil Mobile Payment System – Google Inc. plans to unveil a mobile- payment service today. The service will let consumers with specially equipped phones that run on Google’s Android operating system pay for goods and redeem coupons with their handsets. The technology is available on the Android-powered Nexus S from Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless operator. [bloomberg]

Pom Ex-Pats Revolt Over Denmark’s Marmite Ban – Sales of Marmite were halted by the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries because it violated regulations over vitamin-fortified produce. While yet to become a full-blown diplomatic incident (watch this space), the Marmite embargo has generated howls of protest among Brits. “What am I supposed to put on my toast now?” advertising executive Colin Smith, who had lived in Denmark for six years, told the Guardian newspaper. [cnn
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‘Take That’ Needs 14 Chefs – Take That are taking 14 chefs on the road during their ‘Progress Live’ tour. The British group – who have reformed for their first concert tour as a five-piece since 1995 – will be able to select meals from a plethora of cooks while travelling around Europe, with a staggering 1,100 restaurant-standard meals expected to be produced every single day. [yahoo]

3D Porn To Screen In America Theaters - “Sex & Zen 3D: Extreme Ecstasy,” a Cantonese-language film billed as the first major 3-D porn movie, has been acquired for theatrical release in North America by China Lion Film Distribution. An erotic costume drama adapted from the classical Chinese novel “The Carnal Prayer Mat,” “Sex & Zen 3D” broke “Avatar’s” opening-day box-office record in Hong Kong in April and has earned $1.1 million in six weeks of release in Australia, with a robust per-screen average there of $122,000. [latimes]

Belgian Burqa Ban Set To Become Law - Belgium was set Wednesday to become the second European Union country to enforce a ban on public wearing of Islamic face veils, as its senate failed to raise objections against the provision passed last month by the lower chamber of parliament. The Chamber of Deputies approved the so-called burqa ban law on April 28. The senate had 15 days to interfere with it, but declined to do so, the Belga news agency said, quoting sources from the Belgian Parliament. [mandc]

An Ass Like Pippa Middleton’s Is Achievable - Celebrity fitness instructor Mark Anthony claims a butt like Pippa Middleton’s can be achieved by walking differently. The exercise expert – who has counted ‘Harry Potter’ actress Bonnie Wright, glamour model Katie Price, and singer-turned-actress Billie Piper amongst his clients – insists there are small lifestyle changes that can be made in everyday life in order to achieve a perfectly-toned behind like the much-admired sister of Princess Catherine. [ukindependent]

Oprah Winfrey Emotional Goodbye – After a quarter of a century on television, the last original episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show has aired in the US. Speaking to the studio audience of 400, Oprah said: “Thank you, America. There are no words to match this moment. “You and this show have been the great love of my life. “This last show is really about me saying thank you … it is my love letter to you.” [skynews]

Thursday Is “Vote For Table Mountain” Day - Table Mountain is at the bottom of the final 28, in the running to be one of the new seven wonders of nature. Table Mountain needs YOU to vote at least every Thursday. We need 30 million votes to make the final 7.  You can vote on the website or by SMSing the word ‘table’ to 34874 (SMS cost R2). You can vote once on the website and as many times as you want on SMS. come on, gang, let’s do this thing!  [votefortablemountain.com]