Kim Jong Un Embraces The Masses – North Korea’s young new leader gets rock star treatment when he visits his troops — just as his father did. But while the late Kim Jong Il mostly stayed aloof in dark shades, his son holds hands and hugs his soldiers. Kim Jong Un seems to want to bond with his country’s people. [msnbc]

DA To Oppose Media Appeals Tribunal – The Democratic Alliance will oppose the creation of a media appeals tribunal should it be brought to Parliament for debate, the party said on Tuesday. “The ANC has clearly placed the establishment of a media appeals tribunal firmly back on the agenda,” spokesperson Mmusi Maimane said in Johannesburg. “Except, this time it has been brought back under the guise that it would be independent from political interference,” he said in a statement. [news24]

Rhino Poachers Get 25 Years Each – Three rhino poachers were sentenced to 25 years each by the Phalaborwa Regional Court on Tuesday, said an SA National Parks (SANParks) spokesman. The three, all Mozambicans, were found guilty of illegally hunting rhino in the Kruger National Park in July 2010. [timeslive]

Lana Del Rey Thanks Fans As Album Tops Charts Around The Globe – Her album was dubbed dreary and slated by critics. But it seems Lana Del Rey has support in her fans – and plenty of it – after Born To Die topped the charts in 14 countries. The 25-year-old American singer took to Twitter to thanks her supporters after the LP hit No.1 on iTunes charts across the globe today. [dailymail]

Goodwin Stripped Of Knighthood – Ex-banker Fred Goodwin has had his knighthood removed, it was announced today. The Cabinet Office said the award had been “cancelled and annulled”. David Cameron tonight hailed the decision to remove Fred Goodwin’s knighthood. The Prime Minister said a key report into the failure of Royal Bank of Scotland had made clear “where the failures lay and who was responsible”. [independent]

Online Theft Earns Real-World Conviction – The amulet and mask were a 13-year-old boy’s virtual possessions in an online fantasy game. In the real world, he was beaten and threaten with a knife to give them up. The Dutch Supreme Court overnight upheld the theft conviction of a youth who stole another boy’s possessions in the popular online fantasy game RuneScape. [newsau]

Cruise Ship Search Ends – Italian divers have stopped the search for 15 people still missing from the Costa Concordia shipwreck on the Tuscan island of Giglio in which a total of 32 people are feared to have died. “We have definitively stopped the underwater search inside the ship – the conditions are no longer acceptable,” said a spokesman. [timesofmalta]

Obama Invited To Perform On American Idol – President Obama has a ticket to Hollywood if he wants it. Mitt Romney? Not so much. “American Idol” producer Nigel Lythgoe tweeted on Monday, “@BarackObama we loved your vocal performance so much we’d love to invite you on to #AmericanIdol this Season for a duet with Al Green.” Obama briefly broke out into song, crooning part of “Let’s Stay Together,” at a fundraiser earlier this month. [politico]

Italy Calls Up South Africa’s Botes – South African Tobias (Tobie) Botes has been called up to the Italy squad for this weekend’s Six Nations opener against France in Paris following an injury to Luciano Orquera. With Argentina-born Aironi flyhalf Orquera ruled out with a hamstring problem, scrumhalf Botes has been given his opportunity. [sport24]

Auctions And Art On The Rise – Art prices swelled last year, lifting sales at Christie’s International PLC to $5.7 billion last year, up 14% from the year before. The London-based auction house said on Tuesday that the total includes $4.9 billion in auction sales and $808.6 million in art sales it brokered privately, as galleries typically do. The private-sale total doubled from a year ago, it added. [washpo]

Russia Going Ahead With Election Probe – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that he has ordered a probe into the allegations of electoral fraud during the Dec. 4 parliamentary vote. Tens of thousands rallied in Moscow and other cities on Saturday in the largest anti-government protest in Russia’s post-Soviet history to protest the reported fraud and demand the departure of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. [usatoday]

Prince Harry: ‘My Grandmother Couldn’t Do It Without Prince Philip’ – In a rare interview to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Prince Harry has said the Duke of Edinburgh is still her rock. “Regardless of whether my grandfather seems to be doing his own thing, sort of wandering off like a fish down the river, the fact that he’s there – personally, I don’t think that she could do it without him,” he said, before confessing that his grandmother’s heavy workload concerns him. [hellomagazine]

Iran Is Keen To Attack USA – An assessment by U.S. spy agencies concludes that Iran is prepared to launch terrorist attacks inside the United States, highlighting new risks as the Obama administration escalates pressure on Tehran to halt its alleged pursuit of an atomic bomb. [washpo]

US Customs Bars Traveler After Tweet – Holidaymakers have been warned to watch their words after two friends were refused entry to the US on security grounds after a tweet. Before his trip, Leigh Van Bryan wrote that he was going to “destroy America”. He insisted he was referring to simply having a good time – but was sent home. Sucks. [bbc]

This Basketball Dunk Needs To Be Seen [Video] – You don’t have to know anything about basketball to appreciate this aerial slam dunk by US pro sportsman Blake Griffin as his team – the Clippers – went up against Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. Even the King himself, LeBron James tweeted about the slam. Watch it. [nydailynews]

Thief Caught With 11,000 Pairs Of Used Womens’ Underwear – Police in Thailand said Wednesday that they apprehended a thief with more than a thousand pairs of women’s underwear in the trunk of his car. Police also found more than 10,000 pairs at the house of the 48-year-old Thai suspect, who was arrested. They said the man admitted to stealing and collecting women’s underwear since the age of 18. [fox]

NBC Cancels Fear Factor Donkey Semen Episode – After discovering that the Fear Factor episode in which they chugged mugs of donkey semen and urine had been canceled, twins Brynne and Claire Odioso called into Tampa radio’s Cowhead Show to describe their harrowing ordeal. [gawker]