Pieter Dixon Joins Sharks – The Sharks have signed former Western Province and Bath hooker Pieter Dixon for the rest of the Currie Cup season. The man John Smit referred to as “SA’s greatest export,” Dixon is expected to be in the match squad of 22 for Saturday evening’s Currie Cup game against Free State in Durban.  [sport24]

ANC Backtracks On Key Info Bill Clauses – The ANC’s concessions on the secrecy Bill have further reduced the threat posed to whistle-blowers and the Promotion of Access to Information Act. [mail&guardian]

Jitters Over Unsecured Loans Knock Bank Shares – Shares in unsecured lenders Capitec and African Bank Investments Limited (Abil) fell on Wednesday as investors sold off after a trading update that forecast slower growth in Capitec’s earnings. [businessday]

CIA Turned Down Chance To Kill Bin Laden In 1999 – In late 1999, two years before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, a group of Afghan agents loyal to an anti-Taliban guerrilla leader proposed assassinating Osama bin Laden. All they wanted was the $5 million reward the Clinton administration had offered for bin Laden’s capture, says a former Polish spy who was the Afghans’ go-between on the plot. [mclatch]

Ozzie Surfer Shark Attack – A man has been attacked by a shark off Western Australia’s Gascoyne coast on Tuesday afternoon. The attack occurred while he was surfing at Red Bluff near Quobba Station, 70 kilometres north of Carnarvon. The 34-year-old man received serious injuries but was conscious when he was brought ashore. [abc]

SEAL Book Raises Questions About Bin Laden’s Death – A firsthand account of the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden contradicts previous accounts by administration officials, raising questions as to whether the terror mastermind presented a clear threat when SEALs first fired upon him. [asspress]

Tony Blair Arrest Bounty Pays Over R100,000 – Payouts for attempts to arrest former British prime minister Tony Blair now exceed £10 000,the activist site monbiot.com reported on Wednesday. The Arrest Blair campaign was established to uphold the principle that no one is above the law by George Monbiot. [news24]

Google To Display Birthday Reminders On Front Page – Before you perform your next overly-complicated Google search, you might be met with the reminder of a special someone’s birthday. As part of the Google+ platform, the company has rolled out birthday reminders for its most popular page, Google.com. [nextweb]

Palace Defends Prince Harry – Prince Harry has been lying low ever since nude photos, taken during his weekend of debauchery in Las Vegas, hit the Internet last week. But according to the Palace, “He didn’t do anything unlawful – What he did was entirely his own business.” [people]

Swedish Spies Under Fire For Bond Party – Were the martinis shaken, not stirred? Nobody knows, but a James Bond-themed party thrown by Sweden’s security service sure didn’t adhere to this one-liner from Casino Royale: “I will be keeping my eye on our government’s money.” [skynews]

Andrew Strauss: England captain retires from cricket – England captain Andrew Strauss has retired from all forms of cricket. Strauss skippered his country in 50 of his 100 Tests and is handing over to one-day captain Alastair Cook. [bbc]

Lance Armstrong Introduces Himself As Seven Times Tour De France Winner – Lance Armstrong introduced himself as a seven-time Tour de France champion at a cancer conference on Wednesday. “My name is Lance Armstrong. I am a cancer survivor,” he said to open his speech to the World Cancer Congress. “I’m a father of five. And yes, I won the Tour de France seven times.” [espn]

Did you know you can now listen to 2ov Radio on News24?
 

Clijsters US Open Upset –  Kim Clijsters did not cry. She looked around at the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday afternoon and waved goodbye to the fans who cheered her to three United States Open titles. [newyorktimes]

The 10 Hottest Female Players To Watch At The US Open – For tennis fans, the US Open is a must-watch event filled with plenty of epic moments. The casual sports fan, however, probably isn’t really into tennis. HEre are 10 very good reasons to watch. [businessinsider]

Barack Obama Goes On Reddit – Internet Collapses – President Obama was on reddit Wednesday doing an AMA, or “Ask Me Anything.” He is the first sitting president to participate in the site’s popular feature. News of the president’s participation spread quickly, and the site became unavailable temporarily because of the load. [washpo]

World of Warcraft Players In Iran Hit By US Sanctions – Blizzard prevents Iranian gamers from accessing the popular online role playing game due to trade restrictions. [guardian]

Heidi Klum And Seal’s Divorce Is Getting Messy – When they first split in January it was hoped that Heidi Klum and Seal’s unexpected divorce would be amicable for the sake of their children, but sadly now the gloves are coming off and things are heating up. [radar]

Lindsay Lohan Banned From Sunset Strip Hotel – Lindsay Lohan stiffed the famous Chateau Marmont hotel to the tune of $46,350.04, and she is now persona non grata. TMZ has obtained a letter from the General Manager of the hotel where John Belushi infamously OD’d and died. [tmz]

Woman Sues Kris Humphries for Allegedly Giving Her Herpes – The brief Mr. Kim Kardashian Kris Humphries is being sued by a woman who claims he gave her herpes. And lest you start drawing conclusions, the passing of the herpes baton occurred in 2010, before Humphries and Kim Kardashian were a thing. [gawker]

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