Zumaville upgrade: Last-minute bid to hide costs – President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead appears to have been declared a national key point and consequently subject to blanket secrecy. Even more state funds than reported – now nearly R240-million – is being spent on President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead, the government’s own figures show. This emerged as the government ratcheted up attempts this week to suppress the information using apartheid-era secrecy legislation. [mg]

Cash-strapped low-cost airline 1time has turned to the government for a bailout – The revelation comes only a few days after the Treasury announced that it would guarantee the repayment of SA Airways’ borrowings of up to R5-billion. This lifeline has low-cost carriers seething. The beleaguered national carrier has incurred losses amounting toR17-billion since the early 1990’s. A week ago it was hit by the resignation of seven of its board members, including chair Cheryl Carolus. [timeslive]

Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes Divorce Details Leaked: Marriage Was Over 6 Months Before Split – Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ marriage was irretrievably broken six months prior to the former Dawson’s Creek star filing for divorce, according to court papers. [radar]

US election: Polls show Romney won TV debate with Obama – US Republican candidate Mitt Romney won the first of three televised debates with President Barack Obama, polls and analysts say. [bbc]

E-tolls: Govt may hold back announcement – The government’s announcement on e-tolling in Gauteng may be delayed, the inter-ministerial committee (IMC) on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project said on Thursday. Spokesperson Thabo Masebe said in a text message: “It [e-tolling] is still on, but the time has not yet been set because of another meeting with stakeholders. The announcement may even be delayed until Saturday.” [news24]

Truckers reject wage offer – As retailers continue to feel the effects of the ongoing truck drivers strike on Friday, unions representing the striking workers have rejected a second wage increase offer. The drivers have been on strike for nearly two weeks and are demanding a 12 percent wage increase for the next two years. The Road Freight Employers’ Association (RFEA) said its 10 percent offer over three years was rejected by unions on Thursday. Employers were previously offering workers eight percent. [ewn]

Mine chaos mounts as strike wave hits Kumba – A small group of strikers has brought Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine — Africa’s largest iron-ore producer — to a halt. It is the 12th mining company affected by the wave of illegal work stoppages that is damaging SA’s image. The strikes at gold operations in SA are large enough to prompt some analysts to downgrade global gold output this year. Kumba, which is 70% owned by Anglo American, said yesterday that it suspended output at Sishen after 300 striking workers blocked access to the pit. [bdlive]

Ex admits to SA man’s murder in Thailand – The ex-wife of a South African, whose bullet-riddled body was found dumped next to a shallow grave, has confessed to killing him, Thailand’s police said on Thursday. Police Chief Lt-Gen Nares Nanphathote told Sapa Oswald Heinrich Duvel’s ex-wife and her mother had confessed to the murder. The 50-year-old’s body was discovered in the foothills of Saraburi province, north of Bangkok, on Sunday morning. He was wearing only his underpants and a wristwatch and was lying next to a partially dug grave. [iol]

Italy moves to rein in graft, local government finances – Italy’s cabinet approved emergency legislation on Thursday to rein in the spending of regions and provinces and avoid any repetition of recent financial scandals involving local government. In one such incident, which came to light last week, police seized documents related to expense claims at the regional government of Piedmont and on Wednesday the head and four employees of a tax collection agency were arrested for allegedly pocketing some 100 million euros (80 million pounds) of the money they had gathered. [reuters]

World leaders urge Turkey to step back from brink of war with Syria – Ankara’s forces continued their artillery bombardment of Syrian territory for a second day in retaliation for the cross-border strike that killed five members of the same Turkish family. While Syria apologised for the attack, which claimed the lives of three children, Turkey’s parliament authorised the government to use force against the Assad regime whenever it deemed necessary. [telegraph]

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

Taking Stock of Some of the Claims and Counterclaims – Mitt Romney repeatedly questioned President Obama’s honesty at Wednesday night’s debate — likening the president and vice president at one point to his five sons repeating things that were not true — but he made a number of misleading statements himself on the size of the federal deficits, taxes, Medicare and health care. [nytimes]

Samsung sees record profits on smartphone sales – Samsung Electronics has estimated record profits in the three months to September, led by strong sales of its Galaxy smartphones. The South Korean company said it expects operating profits of 8.1 trillion won ($7.3bn; £4.5bn), nearly double last year’s figure. The estimates beat analyst expectations sending Samsung shares 1.5% higher. However, ongoing legal tussles with Apple have cast a shadow over its future performance. [bbc]

Google, Publishers Settle Lawsuit over Book Scanning – It’s over—at least for publishers. The Association of American Publishers (on behalf of five named publisher plaintiffs) and Google today announced they have settled their long-running litigation over Google’s library book scanning. According to a statement from the AAP, Google is said to “acknowledge the rights and interests of copyright-holders,” and U.S. publishers can “choose to make available or choose to remove their books and journals digitized by Google for its Library Project.” [publishersweekly]

Fledging electric car market in turmoil with few buyers – The fledgling electric car business is in turmoil as predictions about potential sales have proven to be wildly optimistic despite volatile fuel prices and plenty of media hype. Weak consumer demand is hitting both the big automakers like General Motors and Nissan – which have failed to meet sales targets on the plug-in Volt and all-electric Leaf – and smaller start-up firms trying to carve out a piece of a very small niche. [afp]

Curiosity Rover Ready to Play in Martian Sandbox – NASA’s Curiosity rover is getting ready to stick its shovel in the Martian soil and then perform a detailed analysis of the resulting sample. Curiosity has gone more than 1,300 feet since landing on Mars and, for much of the recent drive, scientists have been searching around for a “good sandbox to play in,” said Michael Watkins, the rover’s mission manager during a NASA press conference on Oct. 4. Now, it seems like they’ve found the right spot. [wired]

National Geographic Channel to air film dramatizing bin Laden raid two days days before the election – A film dramatizing the death of Osama bin Laden is set to debut next month on the National Geographic Channel, two days before the presidential election. “Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden,” from The Weinstein Co. and Voltage Pictures, will air Sunday, Nov. 4, the channel said Thursday. President Barack Obama faces Republican challenger Mitt Romney at the polls two days later. [ap]

Watch Adele’s Official ‘Skyfall’ Lyric Video – The studio version of Adele’s theme song for the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall, arrived Thursday night, along with a lyric video and more details on how the haunting ballad came to fruition. “I was a little hesitant at first to be involved with the theme song for Skyfall,” says Adele, who read the film’s script before penning the track’s lyrics with producer Paul Epworth. “There’s a lot of instant spotlight and pressure when it comes to a Bond song. “But I fell in love with the script.” [mashable]

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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]

Sox And The City – From 15h00-17h00 today, DJ Sox will be banging out the best dance floor mixes. King of Castle Caprice, 31 and Trinity, Dj Sox is as consistently hot as a night out in Ibizia. Tune in from 15h00 and allow Sox to get you ready for the weekend! [soxandthecity]

FRESH PODCASTS

The Dangers Of Balloon Payments – The harsh reality is, if you have to buy a car which has a residual payment, you actually can’t afford it, and if you cannot afford to pay a car off over 60 months, with no residual, you really should be looking at a cheaper model. Find out exactly what you need to be aware of when buying a new car and how dangerous Balloon payments are. [podcast]

Different Dresses To Suit Every Shape And Styles – The Dress Boutique launched on 36Boutiques this week and Robyn talked about different dress styles to suit every shape and style as well as the local bloggers that they’ve teamed up with for the campaign. Pop over to 36Boutiques.com to spot a familiar face, or two. It’s also Breast Cancer Awareness month and 36Boutiques will be including a pink ribbon with each purchase. All proceeds will go to the Reach For Recovery foundation. Listen to the podcast below where they cover the above, and also Ann Hathaways wedding dress and disastrous head gear! [podcast]