Big blow as Moody’s downgrades South Africa – Moody’s Investors Service cut the government bond rating by one notch to Baa1 from A3 yesterday, citing worries about South African institutions, future political stability and room for policy manoeuvring. The main driver of the downgrade “is Moody’s lowered assessment of institutional strength to ‘moderate’ from ‘high’, an important factor in the rating agency’s judgment of a sovereign’s economic resiliency”, it said. [timeslive]

Malema’s gang calls Mthembu a ‘drunkard’ – ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu was “intoxicated-inspired” when he criticised Julius Malema, the Economic Freedom Fighters said. “The drunkard went to the extent of calling president Julius Malema a ‘menace and a monster’ in a very childish and intoxicated-inspired fashion,” the EFF said in a statement. [mg]

45 striking truck drivers arrested – At least 45 people have been arrested in connection with the ongoing truck drivers on Gauteng’s East Rand on Thursday afternoon. The arrests come after police caught the suspects throwing rocks at vehicles on the N12 highway in Boksburg. The 45 people are the first to be taken into custody following three days of violent nationwide strikes. [ewn]

Mars rover Curiosity finds signs of ancient stream – The NASA rover Curiosity has beamed back pictures of bedrock that suggest a fast-moving stream, possibly waist-deep, once flowed on Mars — a find that the mission’s chief scientist called exciting. There have been previous signs that water existed on the red planet long ago, but the images released Thursday showing pebbles rounded off, likely by water, offered the most convincing evidence so far of an ancient streambed. [businessweek]

Corrie Sanders arrests welcomed – The arrests of three men in connection with the murder of former world heavyweight boxing champion Corrie Sanders evoked praise on Thursday. Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and civil rights body AfriForum commended the officers who made the arrests. The minister said: “Their dedication towards the safe-keeping of our society is a shining example of the kind of officers we expect, and are working towards sustaining.” [news24]

‘Most wanted’ traffic offender nabbed – Cape Town’s ‘most wanted’ traffic offender has been arrested. The City of Cape Town announced earlier this year it would do its utmost to hunt down its 100 worst offenders, and soon established that number one on the list was a vehicle owner who had since died. On Thursday officers closed in on the new number one, Sibusiso Funiselo, a Cape Town taxi owner. [iol]

U.S. call for “cool heads” in China-Japan island dispute goes unheeded – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged China and Japan on Thursday to let “cool heads” prevail in a festering dispute over a cluster of East China Sea islands, but hours later Chinese and Japanese diplomats traded barbs at the United Nations. [reuters]

Facebook cracking down on fake ‘Likes’ – If it looks like lots of Facebook pages are shedding fans, it’s because they are. But, then again, they aren’t. Facebook has begun a purge of fake accounts and “Likes” as part of a set of site improvements announced last month. The result has been lower numbers on fan pages, including some of the site’s most popular ones, but no actual loss of real followers. [cnn]

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

Greek parties in ‘basic agreement’ over cuts – Greece’s coalition government reached a “basic agreement” on a new round of austerity cuts demanded by its international lenders. The measures, secured on Thursday by the country’s three coalition parties after weeks of fruitless efforts, had to be agreed upon or Greece would have been cut off from vital bailout loans that it needs to pay its way and keep it in the 17 country group that uses the euro. [aljazeera]

Online News More Dominant Than Print, Threatening TV – The inevitable dominance of online media is quickly becoming a reality, a new Pew survey showed on Thursday. The organization’s biennal study of American news consumption was as stark a piece of evidence of the decline of newspapers as media-watchers are likely to find. Pew reported that more people now consume their news online than through newspapers or radio. [huffpo]

$6.8m plan to kill great whites – Great white sharks will be captured and killed before they can menace beachgoers as part of the West Australian government’s response to an unprecedented spate of fatalities. It has announced a $6.85 million strategy after five fatal shark attacks within 10 months. It will spend $2 million on a new Department of Fisheries service to track and destroy sharks that are close to beachgoers. [smh]

Filmmaker behind anti-Islam video is arrested – The filmmaker behind the anti-Islamic video that has sparked violence across the globe was arrested Thursday on suspicion of violating the terms of his probation, including allegedly lying about his role in the film’s production. Magistrate Judge Suzanne H. Segal ordered Nakoula Basseley Nakoula detained, citing a “lengthy pattern of deception” by the man, adding that he poses “some danger to the community.” [latimes]

RIM shares soar on quarterly results – Research In Motion soared higher in after-market hours trading as the beleaguered BlackBerry maker defied meagre expectations for its latest quarterly results. RIM rose 19.9 per cent to $8.55 as the company reported second-quarter losses of 27 cents a share, nearly 20 cents better than was expected by analysts. The gains helped to bolster its shares which had risen 2 per cent to $7.14 during trading hours. [ft]

Bob Dylan Uses iPhone Geolocation App to Market New Album – Bob Dylan hasn’t been a huge fan of technology. In 2006, he complained to Rolling Stone that no one had made a record that sounded decent in the last 20 years because of modern recording techniques and that “CDs are small. There’s no stature to it.” [mashable]

Marissa Mayer Tells Yahoo Employees Products Must Ship In 6 Months, Or Don’t Bother – Ask any ex-Yahoo employee what’s wrong with the company and one of the first three things they’ll tell you is that the place is too slow. Too slow to figure out what to do. Too slow to do it. After two months on the job, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is aware of the problem. [bizinsider]

Vladimir Putin gives Hugo Chavez a puppy – Vladimir Putin’s fauna stunts are usually for domestic consumption but this time he has put his love of animals to diplomatic use by giving Hugo Chavez, the Venezuela president, a black terrier puppy. Better known for stroking tigers and flying with cranes, the Russian leader used the gift to shore up relations with one of his most trusted allies abroad. [telegraph]

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COMING UP TODAY

The Premier Show With Bruce 10h00 to 13h00 – Easing you into your Friday, Bruce discusses the topics of the day, with a smattering of sport, entertainment and finance. Powered by Jack Daniels! [2ovfm]

Acoustic set with Juke Royal at 14h30 – Juke Royal are a Cape Town based alternative rock band formed from the ashes of reggae. They’ll be chatting about their latest album and playing a few tracks live in studio. [2girls1mic]

FRESH PODCASTS

Summer Trends You Need To Look Out For – This week, the Fashion Capital of Summer feature with 36Boutiques.com kicked off with an in-depth who wore what at the Emmy Awards. From when bad dresses happen to good people, to the best dressed. Summer trends, Fashion Week and a bit of celeb gossip followed, unraveling whether Beyonce is pregnant again! For more fashion trends for summer, and the 4 P’s you simply have to include on your wardrobe this season, check out the podcast! [podcast]