Auction Alliance CEO Steps Down – Auction Alliance CEO and founder Rael Levitt will step down from his post pending an independent investigation into allegations of a money-making racket, the company’s board said on Monday. Current chief financial officer Bruce Sneddon would take over as acting chief executive, it said in a statement. [iol]

Activists Rally Against Africa Dictator’s UN Prize – Human rights groups are urging Unesco to abandon a prize named after Africa’s longest-ruling dictator, one they say could be tainted by some of the millions he allegedly looted from oil-rich but poverty-stricken Equatorial Guinea. [mail&guardian]

Facebook Says It Wasn’t Reading Your Text Messages, But It Could – Over the weekend, Facebook was accused of reading Android users’ text messages if they had installed the Facebook app. Facebook has responded, and the short of the answer is that it doesn’t — but it could. Great. [theblaze]

Judge Motata Has Not Paid A Cent – Businessman Richard Baird says he has not received a cent from judge Nkola Motata, who smashed into his wall five years ago. [timeslive]

Local Airline Velvet Sky Grounded – Velvet Sky has suspended all services until March 5, saying it needs to restore health to its balance sheet and limit damage to its reputation. Bit late for that.. [businessday]

Plot To Assassinate Vladimir Putin – Security forces have foiled a Chechen-linked plot to assassinate Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, state television reported Monday in a broadcast likely to boost support for Putin’s bid to regain the presidency. [huffpo]

Costa Cruise Liner Adrift In Indian Ocean After Fire – A liner owned by the same company as the Costa Concordia, on which at least 25 people died when it ran aground off Italy last month, was adrift in the Indian Ocean after a fire in the engine room left it without power. [ecotimes]

North Korea Is Ready To Go To War With US! – North Korea announced that it’s viewing joint training exercise “Key Resolve,” going on right now between the U.S. and South Korea, as a preemptive strike on its homeland. Pyongyang is ready to go to war and its KCNA news agency says “Hundreds of thousands of troops are poised for a war, carrying nuclear war equipment.” [businessinsider]

Male Pill Is On Its Way – After many overly optimistic predictions, a male version of The Pill may truly be in sight. And a team at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, a nationally recognized research center for male contraceptives, is working to be among the first to put a new generation of products on the market. [twincities]

Fake iStoves Seized From Chinese Warehouses [Video] – A Chinese company likes the iPhone so much that they named a stove after the Apple brand. This is the latest of many Chinese companies to sell fake Apple products, but perhaps the first documented pseudo-Apple home appliance. [mashable]

Apple Opponent Introduced iPAD 10 Years Before Apple – Proview Electronics says it is now seeking to regain worldwide rights to the iPad name and is suing Apple Inc. for alleged fraud and unfair competition, hoping to have a 2009 sale of the trademark ruled void. [huffpo]

Charlotte Church Gets R7 Million From Rupert Murdoch – The publisher of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World has paid singer Charlotte Church and her family £600,000 ($952,000) to settle a phone-hacking lawsuit, her lawyer said Monday. [cnn]

Bin Laden Compound Demolished – Pakistan completed its surprise demolition of the compound where U.S. commandos killed Osama bin Laden last year, likely an attempt to erase the symbol of the colossal security failure that humiliated the nation and severely damaged ties with Washington. [thedaily]

One Dead In Another US School Shooting – A teenager described as a bullied outcast at his suburban Cleveland high school opened fire in the cafeteria Monday morning, killing one student and wounding four others before being caught a short distance away, authorities said. [cbsnews]

Guns N’ Roses Announce UK Tour – Guns N’ Roses have announced a short UK tour to follow their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Axl Rose’s troupe of hard rockers will return to England and Scotland for the first time since their disastrous Reading and Leeds festival gigs in 2010. [guardian]

Sex Pistols Sign New Record Deal – Sex Pistols have signed a new record deal ahead of releasing an expanded and repackaged version of ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’. The punk legends have inked a deal with Universal Music Catalogue UK to put out a 35th anniversary edition of their classic 1977 album. Other events and releases, currently under wraps, are being planned throughout the year. [nme]