Concourt To Rule On e-Tolling – Gauteng motorists will hear on Thursday whether e-tolling will go ahead, when the Constitutional Court decides whether to overturn an interim interdict preventing e-tolling. [iAfrica]

Govt Aims To Stub Out Tobacco Branding – South Africa is aiming to follow Australia’s lead and compel tobacco companies to use plain packaging for their tobacco products, MPs heard on Wednesday. “We will… be testing plain packaging… [which] means there will be no branding on tobacco products,” health department director for health promotion Vimla Moodley said. [News24]

Mineworkers Still On Strike Face Axe – Mineworkers who are continuing with their wildcat strikes in the gold and platinum sector are facing dismissal. Since February, thousands of mineworkers have embarked on strikes with demands ranging from the recognition of their new union to the scrapping of funeral plan deductions from wages. [Business Day]

We Will Not Negotiate Pay: Gold Fields – Gold Fields [JSE:GFI] said on Wednesday that it would not and could not negotiate the salary demands of striking workers at its KDC west operations, near Carletonville, on the West Rand. “We are not going to negotiate salary, and we cannot,” said spokesperson Sven Lunsche. [Fin24]

Minister Says SAA Funding Not Cut Off – Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba has rejected reports that SA Airways would no longer be receiving funding from government. “What the minister said was that the state-owned airline cannot continue requesting funding without presenting a long-term plan, which is implemented and yields SAA’s stronger financial viability,” said Gigaba’s spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete on Wednesday. [News24]

HTC Unveils Two New Windows Phones – HTC Corp (2498.TW) unveiled on Wednesday two smartphone models running Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) Windows Phone 8 software and said the devices would be available in November through multiple wireless service providers around the world. The two brightly colored phones — the Windows Phone 8X and the Windows Phone 8S — will pit HTC directly against key Microsoft partner Nokia (NOK1V.HE), which earlier this month also launched two colorful Windows phone models. [Reuters]

Manufacturing Growth Slows In China – Manufacturing growth in China continued to slide in September, according to a key initial reading released Thursday. HSBC’s initial purchasing manager’s index for Chinese manufacturing ticked up slightly to 47.8 in September from 47.6, the bank said Thursday. Any reading below 50 indicates that factory growth is shrinking rather than picking up speed. [CNN]

Scientists Discover Ancient Galaxy That Helped Form The Universe – A hunt for galaxies that brought the toddler universe out of its dark ages has bagged what may be the most distant specimen yet discovered, a galaxy seen as it was more than 13 billion years ago when it was just 200 million years old. [Alaska Dispatch]

It’s Eclipse Season On Mars, So Curiosity Takes Lots Of Photos – On Mars, a partial eclipse of the sun isn’t quite as rare as on Earth. But NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover is snapping hundreds of pictures of the spectacle for the folks back home to ooh and aah over. [Detroit Free Press]

New Pill Shows Promise Against Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis – A new pill can help prevent relapse in some people with multiple sclerosis (MS), new research indicates. In two studies, the annualized relapse rate was cut nearly in half with twice-daily use of the new drug currently known as BG-12. [US News]

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

Planes Of The Future Could Fly On Sawdust Or Straw – Passenger jets could be chomping on straw or flying on fuel extracted from sawdust in coming years as the search widens for cleaner alternatives to kerosene, French scientists say. The “ProBio3” project, started in early July and co-financed by a French government economic stimulus programme, aims to use traditional horse-bedding materials to develop a new kind of biofuel that can be used in a 50/50 blend alongside kerosene. [Reuters]

Space Shuttle Endeavour To Embark On A California Flyover – The space shuttle Endeavour circled Earth 4,671 times in its 25 missions to space. But its final loop on Friday will present something somewhat alien to the spacecraft: the Los Angeles commuter. Perched atop a modified Boeing 747, the orbiter will circle Southern California on Friday morning before landing at Los Angeles International Airport midday. [LA Times]

Wayne Watson Wins $7m Over ‘Popcorn Lung’ – A MAN diagnosed with ‘popcorn lung’, possibly from inhaling the artificial butter smell of the microwave popcorn he regularly ate, has won a $US7.2 million ($A6.90 million) lawsuit. [Herald Sun]

Lindsay Lohan Smelt Of Alcohol After Her Car Hit A Pedestrian In New York – The Liz & Dick actress was arrested just after midnight for fleeing the scene of an accident and her alleged victim, Jose Rodriquez, claims she was ‘slurring’ her words after the incident outside the city’s Dream Hotel. Jose recalled to the New York Daily News newspaper, “I saw this car come real quick and hit me. I was in so much pain. I fell to the side.” [DNA]

Shakira Pregnant With First Child – Shakira is pregnant with her first child. The 35-year-old pop superstar posted on her website Wednesday that she and 25-year-old boyfriend Gerard Pique “are very happy awaiting the arrival of our first baby.” [Sun Times]

Click ‘Tune In Now’ button (top right of your screen)
Only uses 20Mb an hour of data

COMING UP TODAY