Predictable

Shaik A Free Man – Shabir Shaik is a free man. A parole supervision committee investigation yesterday cleared him of assaulting a man at a mosque in Durban. He has also been cleared of violating his parole conditions. Correctional Services regional commissioneer Mnikelwa Nxele said there was no evidence to support the allegation of assault by Mohammed Ismail, who refused to give evidence before the parole committee. [The New Age]

Prince William Calls NZ Quake Damage Unbelievable – The devastation caused by last month’s earthquake in New Zealand’s second-biggest city, Christchurch, took Prince William by surprise on Thursday. The second in line to the British throne toured the central area of the city, which is still closed to all but rescue workers, to see at first hand the impact of the magnitude 6.3 quake which struck on Feb 22, killing at least 166 people. “The scale of it is unbelievable, it really does bring it home to you to see a building like that, it’s just so sad,” [Reuters]

Opposition figures arrested in Bahrain – Security forces have arrested several senior opposition figures in Bahrain as a crackdown on anti-government protests in the Gulf state intensifies. The crackdown began on Wednesday morning with a raid on Manama’s Pearl Square, which has housed the protesters’ base camp over the past month. Soldiers and riot police used tanks, tear gas, water cannon and helicopters to drive out thousands of protesters. [ABC]

Japan Tries Desperate New Measures At Plant – Japanese authorities embarked on desperate new measures to avert full-scale meltdowns at a quake-battered nuclear plant Thursday, dispatching helicopters to drop tons of water on the reactors and readying water cannons to cool a spent-fuel pool that an American official said was responsible for “very significant radiation levels.” [LA Times]

Orania Founder Carel Boschoff Dies Of Cancer – The ANC has noted “with regret” news of the death of Orania founder Professor Carel Boshoff, who died at the age of 83 yesterday, spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said. “Our condolences go to his family, friends, relatives and the community of Orania,” he said in a statement. Earlier, the Freedom Front Plus paid tribute to Boshoff, who reportedly died of cancer. [The Witness]

Blood Money Buys CIA Contractor Freedom – In a surprising move today, Pakistan officials released an imprisoned CIA contractor charged with shooting two would-be robbers to death at a crowded intersection in the eastern city of Lahore at the end of January. The American, Raymond Davis, seems to have been freed after the payment of “blood money.” Under Sharia, victims’ relatives can pardon the accused after the payment of money or goods in kind. [Daily Beast]

This Is The Actual Sound Of The Japan Earthquake, Captured Underwater – This thundering is the actual sound of the Japan 9.0 earthquake, recorded in real time by the deep ocean hydrophone network of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology in Hatsushima—on March 11, at 14:45 local time. Go ahead, you know you want to. [Gizmodo]

Leopard Kills Woman On TV Shoot – A leopard not previously thought to be dangerous has killed a member of a German television crew making an episode of a popular series in Namibia just outside Windhoek. The 46-year-old woman, who has not been named, was part of a team preparing an episode of Um Himmels Willen (For Heaven’s Sake), a light-hearted and long-running series set in and around a Bavarian nunnery. Sure, why not? [News 24]

Microsoft: IE9 Downloaded 27 Times Per Second – Internet Explorer 9, which was released Monday, was downloaded 2.35 million times in the first 24 hours it was available, according to Microsoft. The beta version of this iteration of the browser was downloaded only 1 million times during the first day of its availability. For the final version of IE 9, that’s almost 98,000 downloads per hour, or 27 downloads per second, however you want to look at it. People obviously insist on punishing themselves. [mashable]

Web Users Bury Yahoo For Botched Nate Dogg Obit Photo –  Yahoo mistakenly ran a photo of rapper Warren G atop the obitituary for Nate Dogg, who died today at the age of 41 following two strokes in recent years. The Yahoo error led to an onslaught of tweets, including some that suggested Yahoo should have Googled the image of Nate Dogg instead of using Yahoo Image Search. Tweeter @shanselman wrote: “You can’t trust the news. Yahoo FAIL.” Others used less family friendly wording. Blind. [Network world]

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