Thursday Morning Spice

Pistorius Appeals Bail Conditions Today – Oscar Pistorius is to appeal his bail conditions today – a day after his brother, Carl, was in the dock in connection with the death of a female motorcyclist. [timeslive]

Pope Shuns Fancy-Pants Apartment – Pope Francis wants to stay for the time being in a simple Vatican residence instead of moving into the spacious and regal papal apartments. [reuters]

North Korea Reckons War Is Imminent – The Obama administration on Wednesday slammed North Korea’s pugnacious rants toward South Korea and the West and a U.S. intelligence official called the strident remarks worrisome. [cnn]

Smartphone Users Check Facebook 14 Times A Day – Think you use your phone to look at Facebook a lot? Unless you’re doing it at least 14 times a day, you’re actually below average. [mashable]

No Surprise – SA’s Involvement In CAR Is Linked To Minerals, Money – AS pressure builds on President Jacob Zuma to explain South Africa’s military involvement in the war-torn Central African Republic, it has emerged that companies with links to influential politicians and businessmen are gunning for oil and mineral deals in the region. [timeslive]

188 Killed Dead So Far This Year – A total of 188 rhino have been killed since the beginning of the year, the environment department said on Wednesday. [news24]

3 Poachers Killed In Kruger Park – Three rhino poachers were shot dead in a shootout with game rangers at the Kruger National Park on Wednesday evening, the Hawks said. [news24]

James Holmes Will Plead Guilty To Avoid Death Penalty, Has A Beard Now – Defense attorneys for James E. Holmes, accused in the Aurora movie theater shooting, have offered a guilty plea and life in prison without parole if prosecutors do not seek the death penalty against him, according to court documents filed Wednesday. [latimes]

Egypt: Divers Caught While Cutting Internet Cable – Egypt’s naval forces captured three scuba divers who were trying to cut an undersea Internet cable in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, a military spokesman said. Telecommunications executives meanwhile blamed a weeklong Internet slowdown on damage caused to another cable by a ship. [ap]

Assad Asks Brics To Help Stop Violence In Syria – President Bashar al-Assad has urged the Brics nations to help “stop the violence” in Syria and put an end to the suffering of his people. [mail&guardian]

New Zealand Cricketer Critical After Bar Attack – Batsman Jesse Ryder suffered a fractured skull and punctured lung after he was reportedly attacked by four men in a bar brawl. [skynews]

If You Buy 5 Tickets To The R1.5 Billion Euromillions Lottery, You Get 1 Free! – The eagerly awaited EuroMillions Superdraw is back and it has rolled over to EUR130 million for tomorrow’s draw. Buy 5 tickets and get one free [here]

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Mad Men’s Jon Hamm Tired of Jokes About His ‘Impressive Anatomy’ – ‘People feel the freedom to create Tumblr accounts about my cock,’ says actor. [rollingstone]

Justin Bieber Goes Shirtless Again As He Walks Through Airport Security Checkpoint – For some reason Justin Bieber just cannot seem to keep his pesky clothes on. The young musician was seen taking off a little bit more than he needed to as he stepped through a security gate at Wladyslaw Reymont Airport in Lodz, Poland. [dailymail]

Lady Sybil Crawley Regrets Topless Scene [N5FW] – “To be honest, Albatross was naivete and not knowing that I could say no,” she told the publication. “I had no idea what was going to happen and thought I was going to be shot from behind.” [gawker]

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