‘The Scream’ Sells For Just Under A Billion Rand – One of the art world’s most recognisable images, Edvard Munch’s The Scream, sold for $US119,922,500 (R921 million) at auction in New York City. The 1895 artwork – a modern symbol of human anxiety – was sold at Sotheby’s on Wednesday evening. The price includes the buyer’s premium. [smh]

News Corp Board In Full Support Of Murdoch – News Corp’s board of directors came out in full support of Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch on Wednesday, some 36 hours after a British parliamentary committee had described him as unfit to run a major international business. [reuters]

Boots Closes 160 Photo-Processing Labs – UK High street pharmacy chain Boots is to axe the in-store camera film development service at 160 of its branches across the country. The drop in use of such labs follows the decisions of more and more Brits to print their digital photographs at home or upload them to social networking sites such as Flickr and Facebook. [dailymail]

Secret Service Hooker In Talks With Playboy And Hustler – The Colombian hooker at the center of the Secret Service sex scandal is negotiating with America’s two biggest skin mags to tell her story — along with showing her in the raw. [thedaily]

Virgin Space Travel Appoints SA Agent – The first accredited agent to sell space flights in South Africa has been appointed, Virgin Galactic announced on Wednesday. [timeslive]

600 Gauteng Cops Were Arrested In The Last Year – More than 600 police officers have been arrested in Gauteng since April last year, provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Mzwandile Petros said. [timeslive]

Sarkozy And Hollande Trade Blows In Heated Debate – In the first and only televised debate ahead of Sunday’s vote, incumbent French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist rival François Hollande traded barbs as they faced off on a number of issues ranging from economic policies to immigration. [france24]

YouTube Admit It Made Wrong Call With Sexy Kate Upton Bikini Video – After a video featuring model Kate Upton gyrating in a bikini went viral, YouTube briefly banned the clip for violating its nudity policy, despite the fact that Upton wasn’t nude. Now the video’s back up—and YouTube says it made ‘the wrong call.’ [dailybeast]

North Korea Are Going For It Again – North Korea has apparently finished preparations for a third nuclear test and is awaiting a political decision to go ahead, a South Korean nuclear expert said on Wednesday. [mail&guardian]

Blackberry’s $10,000 Promise To Developers – Blackberry developers are being offered a cash guarantee to encourage them to write programs for the handset’s forthcoming system refresh. Device-maker Research In Motion said it would ensure coders were paid at least $10,000 (£6,200) for any app certified for Blackberry 10 if they met its terms and conditions. [bbc]

This Treasure Hunter Says He Has Located Bin Laden’s Body – The guy in the video above is Bill Warren, the Californian treasure hunter who claimed he was searching for Osama bin Laden’s dead body back in June 2011. He didn’t find him then, but now he swears that he has located the cadaver. [wired]

Jack Parow Doesn’t Care About The Hate – “I was signing autographs for about three hours afterwards, and people were chanting my name, so whatever.” – What a legend. [channel24]

Chinese Activist Wants To Go To US – The Chinese activist who walked out of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Wednesday after what officials said was a decision he had made on his own said Thursday that he regrets the move and now wants U.S. officials to help get him and his family to the United States. [cnn]

British Spy Was Poisoned Or Suffocated – A British spy found dead at his home in 2010 — his naked body padlocked inside a large red carrying bag stowed in the bathtub — was either suffocated or poisoned, but it is unlikely his death will ever be satisfactorily explained. [cnn]

WATCH: Three Grannies Watch The Kim Kardashian Sex Tape – Watch this hilarious video of three grandmothers dissecting the ins and outs of Kim Kardashian’s 2007 leaked sex tape. [huffpo]

Khloe Kardashian: Divorce Is Not An Option – Khloe Kardashian is knowingly taking a step back from the limelight this summer, and she says taking care of her marriage had a lot to do with the decision. [nydailynews]

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COMING UP TODAY

Maya On Money – Maya On Money is a finance feature, hosted by Maya Fisher-French. She will be teaming up with the Just Josie lunch show at 12h30 every Thursday, to bring us simple and useful finance tips. [2ov.fm]

BFF Show – Although some would love to see them in their regular stiletto clad pillow fights, they have a unique, honest and loyal friendship… Bailey Schneider and Karolina Sky are South Africa’s well-known BFFs.Tune in today from 2-3pm and be a part of the show. [baileyschneider]

FRESH PODCASTS

Bob Skinstad Biz Connect Show – Bob chats to Gavin Meyer, Managing Director of ITEC Connect, on their most recent initiative, where he is cycling from Johanesburg to Durban. [Podcast]

Bob’s Weekend Getaways – Franschhoek Villas offer comfortable and up-market self catering villas and apartments accommodation in Franschhoek, the gourmet capital of South Africa. Bob chat’s about his recent trip to this luxurious and stylishly designed establishment. [Podcast]