LOL, OMG And ♥ Added To The Oxford Dictionary – The stalwart bastion of language, the Oxford English Dictionary, will now include ♥ and LOL as real words worthy of etymological recording. Other words added include the formidable OMG. As they say, ‘words” like these “are strongly associated with the language of electronic communications,” and have entered the mainstream because of how easy they are to use. [huffpo]

World Shuns Japan Food Imports – Australia, Canada and Singapore joined a list of countries shunning Japanese food imports on Thursday as radioactive steam wafted anew from a disaster-struck nuclear plant, straining nerves in Tokyo. The grim toll of dead and missing from Japan’s monster quake and tsunami on March 11 topped 25 000, as hundreds of thousands remained huddled in evacuation shelters and fears grew in the megacity of Tokyo over water safety. [mail&guardian]

Liz Taylor Gave Instructions To Be Late For Her Own Funeral – The Hollywood legend was laid to rest at the Forest Lawn celebrity cemetery outside Los Angeles, where less than two years ago she attended the funeral of her long-time friend, pop icon Michael Jackson. “The service was scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm, but at Miss Taylor’s request started late,” said a statement by her publicist released after the closed-door service had finished. “Miss Taylor had left instructions that it was to begin at least 15 minutes later than publicly scheduled – She even wanted to be late for her own funeral” it added. Fab! [afp]

Libyan Rebels Request Guns And Ammunition – Libyan rebels desperately need arms and ammunition from foreign countries – especially weapons to knock out tanks – to bolster their struggle against Muammar Gaddafi, a rebel military spokesperson said on Thursday. But they do not want foreign advisers or troops to intervene on their behalf, said Colonel Ahmed Bani, an air force officer who has joined the rebels based in the eastern city of Benghazi. [reuters]

Allies Are Split On Libya Goal And Exit Strategy – Having largely succeeded in stopping a rout of Libya’s rebels, the inchoate coalition attacking Gaddafi’s forces remains divided over their military campaign’s ultimate goal and exit strategy. The US all but called for Gaddafi’s overthrow from within and France has gone further, recognizing the Libyan rebels as the country’s legitimate representatives. But other allies have balked, leaving the campaign’s objective ill defined for now. [newyorktimes]

Beijing Bans Luxury Ads In A Bid To Tighten Wealth Gap – After Google’s plans to pull out of China, could luxury brands be next? Though China’s luxury consumption is luring the global luxury brands to focus on this burgeoning luxury market, a recent change in China’s advertising policy issued by the Beijing administration for Industry and Commerce might upset the international luxury brands. The new advertising policy bans the use of words like “supreme,” “royal,” “luxury” or “high class” in a bid to bridge the increasing wealth gap in the Chinese economy. [bornrich]

Massmart: State’s Request Will Hurt Business – Retailer Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM], in which Walmart wants to buy a controlling stake for $2.3bn (R16.5bn), said on Thursday a government request for Walmart to use mostly domestic suppliers would hurt business. “We are fully supportive of local manufacturing but it would be disruptive of the competition process championed under the Competition Act to impose local procurement targets on one retailer to the exclusion of its competitors,” said CEO Grant Pattison. [fin24]

Johnny Depp To Star In Ricky Gervais Sitcom – He was the butt of some controversial sparring at the Golden Globes for his role in “The Tourist,” but Johnny Depp doesn’t seem to have taken Ricky Gervais’s high-profile ribbing to heart. The star of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchises is confirmed to appear in Gervais’s upcoming BBC2 sitcom “Life’s Too Short,” according to a post on Gervais’s blog. [reuters]

Nobody Needs A Tablet, So Why Are We Gobbling Them Up? – Apple’s iPad is just one year old, and more than 15 million customers have voted with their wallets. The tablet is officially mainstream. But just what is a tablet good for? It’s not a complete replacement of a PC and it’s not a necessity for anyone who carries around a notebook or a smartphone. At best, it’s a “tweener” device. For a product category that didn’t exist (except in niche form) a year ago, it’s surprising how well the tablet is doing. [wired]

Crazy White Boy To Launch Latest Single On Friday Morning 2ov Radio Show – Local group Crazy White Boys‘ single ‘Love You Better’ was the fastest song ever to go to number 1 on the 5FM charts. 2oceansvibe Radio has managed to secure the exclusive launch of their new single – which will be released today live on air on Seth & Bruce’s Friday show at around 11am. Make sure you tune-in online or using our madly popular mobile app (16,000 app downloads so far). Get it all at [2ov.fm]

The 2011 Rolex Explorer II – The Rolex 216670 Explorer II marks the 40th anniversary of the original Explorer II. The case is enlarged to 42mm and houses the new Rolex caliber 3187 which is entirely designed and manufactured by Rolex. The Caliber 3187 includes recent Rolex innovations such as Paraflex shock absorbers and parachrom hairspring. [luxuo]

Pastor Fired After He Challenges Existence Of Hell – The pastor of a rural United Methodist church in North Carolina wrote a note on his Facebook page supporting a new book by Rob Bell, a prominent young evangelical pastor and critic of the traditional view of hell as a place of eternal torment for billions of damned souls. Two days later, Holtz was told complaints from church members prompted his dismissal from Marrow’s Chapel in Henderson.. Damn you! [associated]

Elton John Sings For Liz Taylor – Reginald Dwight (AKA Elton John) paid tribute to the late Elizabeth Taylor during his concert in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Wednesday night. John told the crowd that it was “a sad day because today I lost a friend and you lost a hero,” also noting that they both were huge advocates of AIDS awareness and prevention. Elton sang “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” and stated, “God bless you, Elizabeth. God knows how we’re going to replace you. This is for you and your beautiful memory and for all of the people you helped and saved.” [celebgoss]

Man Finds $9 Million Lotto Ticket JUST In Time – A year ago, Przyborski was putting his tax papers into a file. Somehow the Lotto ticket he bought at his neighborhood 7-Eleven slipped into the folder, said Lottery spokesman Tracy Owens. Przyborski didn’t even miss it. It wasn’t until he reopened the file this month to do his taxes that he found the ticket: 5-20-31-34-50-51. Przyborski contacted an attorney, who in turn called the Lottery on March 15 to claim the prize, Owens said. [chicago]

Madonna’s Charity Fails In Bid To Finance School – A high-profile charitable foundation set up to build a school for impoverished girls in Malawi, founded by the singer Madonna, has collapsed after spending $3.8 million. Its executive director, who is the boyfriend of Madonna’s former trainer, Tracy Anderson, left in October amid criticism of cost overruns for the school – which included expenditures on salaries, cars, office space and a golf course membership, free housing and a car and driver for the school’s director. [nytimes]

R1.3 Billion Euromillions Lottery Jackpot Rollover Today – I doubt anyone needs to be reminded that the R1.3 Billion lottery jackpot is happening today. Make sure you buy your tickets safely and securely online. If you do that then there is a chance you will be able to buy yourself a private jet in a few days time. And an island. You will also be one of the richest people in the country. If you don’t buy the ticket, then there is no way that any of that will be possible. Fact. [2oceansvibelottos]

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