Zuma appointed to UN education panel – President Jacob Zuma has been appointed to serve in United Nations secretary general Ban ki Moon’s Education First initiative, the presidency said on Wednesday. Zuma accepted the invitation to be one of ten inaugural member state champions for the initiative, spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement. [timeslive]

Malema claims innocence and demands an iPad to prove it – The legal case before Malema has done little to deter the expelled ANC Youth League leader from his speechmaking and appearances at the country’s troubled mines. On Wednesday afternoon Malema said: “Attempts to silence our political activities and involvement will never succeed because we carry a revolutionary obligation to speak on behalf of the oppressed and downtrodden masses.” [mg]

Hundreds of police guns lost – A total of 1 202 police firearms have gone missing since the beginning of last year, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa revealed on Wednesday. Mthethwa said in a written Parliamentary response that 885 firearms were lost or stolen last year and 317 this year. Of those, 170 had been recovered. [news24]

MTN to provide 4G before year-end, but not in Cape Town – MTN will launch its commercial fourth-generation (4G) network, also known as the long-term evolution (LTE) network, before the end of the year in Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria, it said on Tuesday. [bdlive]

Concern as illegal mine strikes spread – An illegal strike spread through AngloGold Ashanti’s South African operations on Wednesday, while Anglo American Platinum said it could start firing unlawful strikers on Thursday, as the country’s miners grapple to rein in weeks of labour unrest. [iol]

Assange mocks Obama via video at U.N. event – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, speaking via a choppy video feed from his virtual house arrest in London, lashed out at U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday for supporting freedom of speech in the Middle East while simultaneously “persecuting” his organization for leaking diplomatic cables. [reuters]

Sudan, South Sudan reach partial deal: officials – Sudan and South Sudan reached agreements on a demilitarised border zone and oil production but made limited progress on contested areas, their officials said late Wednesday. “There is agreement on some areas,” said South Sudan delegation spokesman Atif Kiir, while his Sudanese counterpart Badr el-din Abdullah Badr spoke of “progress on many issues,” with both saying a deal would be inked Thursday. [afp]

Images of Clashes at Anti-Austerity Protests in Europe – 200 000 Greeks took to the streets of Athens yesterday to protest salary and pension cuts. The rally, which began peacefully, turned violent in the early afternoon when a small group of demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at police officers and firebombs at government buildings near the Greek Parliament. [nytimes]

European Stocks Drop Most Since July Before Spain Budget – European stocks slid the most in two months as Spain prepared to present its budget and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said the third round of bond buying may fail to stimulate growth. Acciona SA (ANA) sank 9.9 percent, leading Spanish builders lower a day before the government presents its budget for next year. [businessweek]

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

Apple-Google Maps Talks Crashed Over Voice-Guided Directions – Google Chairman Eric Schmidt says Apple should have continued to use Google’s mapping application in iOS 6 instead of swapping it out for its poorly received home-brewed replacement, and given the sour reception Apple’s Maps app has been given, he may have been right. [allthingsd]

Record Arctic Snow Loss May Be Prolonging North American Drought – Melting Arctic snow isn’t as dramatic as melting sea ice, but the snow may be vanishing just as rapidly, with potentially profound consequences for weather in the United States. Across the Arctic, snow melted earlier and more completely this year than any in recorded history. In the same way ice loss exposes dark water to the sun’s radiant heat, melting snow causes exposed ground to heat up, adding to the Arctic’s already super-sized warming. [wired]

An Egyptian Newspaper Responds To Anti-Islamic Cartoons With These Cartoons Of Their Own – Al-Watan, a daily newspaper in Egypt, has responded to cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad in a French magazine Charlie Hebdo with offensive cartoons of their own. The newspaper published 13 cartoons on Monday under the banner “Fight cartoons with cartoons”. [bizinsider]

Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson trial date set for September 2013 – Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson have been told at the Old Bailey that they are not due to face a full trial until a year from now, in a hearing at which the former News of the World editors appeared in the dock. [guardian]

JK Rowling: Secret darkness behind The Casual Vacancy – Sometime last year, on a date none of the interested parties cares to specify, three people met for lunch at a restaurant in London. David Shelley, the 35-year-old Publisher of Little, Brown, arrived to find his lunch companion, the lawyer and agent Neil Blair, sitting next to a blonde woman. “The woman turned round and my jaw dropped to the floor,” Shelley told me earlier this week. “I recognised her instantly: it was Jo Rowling. She said, ‘I’m Jo.’ And I said, ‘I know… I know who you are’. It was an extraordinary moment.” [telegraph]

Hong Kong tycoon recruits husband for lesbian daughter – A well-known Hong Kong billionaire has offered $65m (£40m) to any man able to woo and marry his lesbian daughter. Property and shipping tycoon Cecil Chao publicly promised the “marriage bounty” after reports emerged that his daughter had wed her long-term girlfriend. [bbc]

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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. [mayaonmoney]

Zebra and Giraffe In Studio – Gary Cool will be kicking the show off with SA’s Super Group Zebra and Giraffe joining him in studio for a jam session, a chat about their new album The Wisest Ones and the band and a few changes they have experienced in the past few months. Tune in at 20h00 to catch the interview! [rockdimension]

FRESH PODCASTS

Giving The SA Made Film A Proper SA Premier – Judge Dredd – The New Zealand born Karl-Heinz Urban, known for playing Eomer the future King of Rohan on Lord of the Rings and Dr Leonard Bones in the new Star Trek,and Caesar on Xena:Warrior Princess, also played the Russian assasssin Kirill in the Bourne Supremacy is now Judge Dredd in the 2012 film Dredd. Judge Dredd is a living legend – six feet of single-minded armoured justice devoted to enforcing the law. Karl Urban chatted about playing the iconic Judge from 2000AD. [podcast]

The Sky Is The Limit On The Bailey Schneider Show – Rather late than never, Chiano Sky was in the Melrose Arch Studio talking to Bailey Schneider about her career and how she was ‘discovered’. She will be performing at the Heineken Symphonic Rocks Festival this Saturday in Cape Town and next Saturday in Jozzie. Listen in for the sultry voice of Chiano Sky and details for the concert! [podcast]