SA Photographer Taken Hostage In Libya – A South African photographer who worked at The Star newspaper, Anton Hammerl, has been taken hostage by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the GlobalPost news site reported on Thursday. Hammerl was taken hostage with three other foreign journalists while reporting on the outskirts of Brega. [news24]

Ozzies Want A Piece Of Allan Donald – It sounds almost unthinkable, but ‘White Lightning’ has revealed that Australia are also interested in his services as a bowling coach. The former leading bowler of the South African cricket team has revealed to Sport24 that he received a call from the Aussies hours after New Zealand offered him a new two-year contract. [supersport]

Facebook Is No Google-Like Oil Well For Online Retailers – Facebook is no Googloid money-making machine, at least not when it comes to online retailing, according to a new study from the market-analysis firm Forrester Research. The report looks at how retailers have used Facebook pages and the Open Graph protocol. It concludes that Facebook doesn’t drive sales for most retailers and that Facebook’s tools for businesses are no Google AdWords. [wired]

Africa’s Largest Undersea Internet Cable To Land This Month – News Thursday from mobile service provider MTN is that a new undersea telecommunications cable will land this month. The 14,000km West Africa Cable System (WACS) fibre optic line will link the continent’s Internet providers directly to the servers of Europe and boosting the bandwidth of the world’s least-connected region. [southafricamag]

Robert Pattinson’s Sex Scene In Twilight: Breaking Dawn Is ‘Incredible’ – Robert Pattinson was really upset that some images of his upcoming sex scene with Kristen Stewart in Breaking Dawn leaked online. But he’s not going to punish the good Twi-hardsand has confirmed “It’s kind of incredible – I saw a prelim of it. [Director Bill Condon] has really, really good ideas for it.” [okmagazine]

Estate Agency Body Admits To Chaos – The Estate Agency Affairs Board has admitted it is in a dysfunctional state, with its systems in a shambles. It has appointed auditing firm Deloitte & Touche to conduct a forensic investigation to help address its shortcomings. Board chairman Thami Bolani said yesterday that the regulatory body was battling to fulfil its function. [businessday]

Nobody Actually Likes Your Brand’s Stupid Facebook Page – What could be a more powerful marketing tool than Facebook, fostering meaningful engagement with customers and broadcasting their every purchase to friends and family? Actually, just about everything. Facebook sucks for marketing. A new study by Forrester Research found that maintaining a Facebook presence is less effective at drumming up business than plain old email newsletters or search ads. [gawker]

Gauge Your Health With Colour-Coded Poo – Synthetic biology is all about re-engineering living organisms to make them do stuff we would find useful. A bunch of scientists at Cambridge University did exactly that with a project called E.Chromi, which turned e.coli bacteria into living, color-coded sensors that can be “programmed” to secrete an array of bright hues in the presence of certain chemicals. [fastcodedesign]

Brazil Gunman Kills 10 Kids In School Shooting – Rio de Janeiro state’s health department chief Sergio Cortes presented the new toll for the attack, revising it downward from 13 dead and 22 wounded announced earlier by fire officials in the chaotic few hours after the attack. Authorities identified the shooter as 24-year-old Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, a former student at the public school. [mail&guardian]

Wales Stranded In The Arctic – Prince Harry has been left trapped in the Arctic three weeks before he is due at the altar as best man at the royal wedding. The third in line to the throne was yesterday stuck on an ice cap in temperatures of minus 20C while on an expedition with wounded soldiers for his charity Walking With the Wounded. [heraldsun]

How Geolocation Will Revolutionize The On-Site Service Industry – Geolocation services are popping up for consumers everywhere, from Uber, which sends a car service to your door two times faster than a cab, to Bizzy, an app that shows you where your friends have dined lately and offers their recommendations. But shouldn’t this revolutionary technology be transforming companies and not just consumer habits? It is. [mashable]

Charlie Sheen Wants To Make Black Swan Actress A ‘Goddess’ – Fresh off of her hot ‘Black Swan’ performance, Mila Kunis has been offered the role of a lifetime. Kunis is the latest apple of Charlie Sheen’s crazy eye and, at the Columbus, Ohio stop on his ‘My Violent Torpedo Of Truth/Defeat Is Not An Option Tour,’ Sheen began his campaign to secure Kunis as goddess number three in the Sheen fun house. [popeater]

Monaco Tops World’s Most Expensive Luxury Real Estate Markets – The Wealth Report 2011 by London-based property broker Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank has concluded that Monaco is the world’s most expensive residential location. Monaco remains the most expensive residential location in the world, followed by London. For $1 million, a property investor can expect to buy just 15 square meters of luxury real estate in Monaco. [bornrich]

China Holds Top Artist-Activist For ‘Economic Crimes’ – The Chinese government said on Thursday detained artist and activist Ai Weiwei was being investigated for “suspected economic crimes,” while his family said he was the innocent victim of a political witchhunt. The confirmation from the Foreign Ministry that Ai faces a police investigation for alleged business-related crimes is unlikely to end the international uproar about his secretive detention. [reuters]

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