Sopranos Restaurant Pays a Touching Tribute to James Gandolfini – When James Gandolfini’s life unexpectedly cut to black yesterday, many of his friends and colleagues issued statements in honor of his everlasting contributions to entertainment. [gawker]

Young Son Found James Gandolfini In Bathroom, Hotel Manager Says – A friend of “Sopranos” star James Gandolfini said Thursday the actor was discovered by a family member in his hotel room in Rome before he was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest at a hospital. [foxnews]

ANC Chief Whip Sacked – The ANC’s big guns wielded their power in parliament yesterday, demoting chief whip Mathole Motshekga and replacing him with former Eastern Cape education MEC Stone Sizani. [timeslive]

There Is A Jet Ready To Fly Snowden To Iceland – An Icelandic businessman linked to WikiLeaks said he has readied a private plane to take Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who exposed secret U.S. surveillance programs, to Iceland if the government grants him asylum. [reuters]

Clashes In Brazil As One Million March – Almost a million protesters have taken to the streets in cities across Brazil to denounce poor public services, government corruption and overspending on the World Cup. [skynews]

Cosatu, Mandela Get Slice Of Independent – The Congress of SA Trade Unions and its some of its affiliates make up a large portion of Sekunjalo Independent Media’s (SIM) shareholding, the company said on Thursday. [fin24]

Palestinian Premier Submits Resignation After Just Two Weeks in Office – The newly appointed prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Rami Hamdallah, submitted his resignation on Thursday after only two weeks in office. [newyorktimes]

Instagram Launches 15-Second Video Feature –Look out Vine: Instagram isn’t just about sharing arty photos anymore. On Thursday, the company announced its 130 million monthly users will now be able to shoot and share 15-second videos, dressed up with one of 13 special filters. [cnn]

Instagram Has 130 Million Monthly Active Users – Instagram now has 130 million monthly active users, co-founder Kevin Systrom revealed Thursday at Facebook. Those users have shared 16 billion photos on the service since it launched in late 2010 and Liked 1 billion posts every day. [mashable]

Barack Obama Bombs In Berlin: A Weak, Underwhelming Address From A Floundering President – When John F. Kennedy delivered his “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate on June 26, 1963, 450,000 people flocked to hear him. Fifty years later a far more subdued invitation-only crowd of 4,500 showed up to hear Barack Obama speak at the same location in Berlin. [telegraph]

Robert Downey Jr. To Return As Iron Man For Two ‘Avengers’ Movies — Robert Downey Jr. has reached a two-picture deal with Marvel Studios to appear in The Avengers 2 and The Avengers 3 — but notably not for a possible Iron Man 4. [entwee]

Malema: Zuma Is Conspiring Against Me – Expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema has again accused President Jacob Zuma of orchestrating a political conspiracy against him. [mail&guardian]

Singapore Endures Record Smog – Face mask-clad Singaporeans enduring record-breaking smog got some more bad news from their government on Thursday: The pollution may last awhile. [npr]

Nigella Lawson Is Seen Without Her Wedding Ring – Nigella Lawson has been spotted for the first time since she walked out on her husband Charles Saatchi almost a week ago (after he strangled her) – but was not wearing her wedding ring. [dailymail]

Kid Rock Compares Justin Bieber To Vanilla Ice – So many stars that catapult to fame are just as quickly extinguished. Is Justin Bieber going to be one of those cases? Kid Rock thinks so. [starpulse]

I Will Not Return to the Dark Reality Of Putin’s Russia – Garry Kasparov declares that though he will refrain from returning to Russia for the time being, he will not give up his fight to oust Putin or his hopes for a democratic future for his country. [dailybeast]

Mysterious New MERS Virus Spreads Easily, Deadlier Than SARS – A mysterious new respiratory virus that originated in the Middle East spreads easily between people and appears more deadly than SARS, doctors reported Wednesday after investigating the biggest outbreak in Saudi Arabia. [foxnews]

Teen-Bride Loser, Courtney Stodden’s Plastic Surgery: 18-Year-Old Debuts Post-Op Body – After deciding to spend the weekend under the knife, where her C cups were enhanced to double Ds, Courtney Stodden stepped out yesterday to show off her surgeon’s handiwork. [huffpo]

Meet ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Director Sam Taylor-Johnson: The Cancer-Surviving Badass – The director of the Fifty Shades of Grey movie is a stunning, cradle-robbing blonde who has no problem with nudity, writes Marlow Stern. [beast]

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Bjorn Guidod, The Millhouse Chef In Studio – Anyone else his age (26) would be green behind the ears. But somehow @BjornGuidod runs his own restaurant at the Lourensford Estate, @TheMillhouseSA, with the effortless gaze of a man well into his years. With a penchant for fine Italian wiles and a heart that is dedicated to eating local, Bjorn creates food that reveals the beauty of honest produce. It’s a gift.  Besides their usual brand of friday cheer, Kamini and Angel will be giving away a 3 course meal for 2 at The Millhouse, so tune in.  [2girls1mic]

Sox And The City 15h00-17h00 – For your Friday afternoon fix, 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 and DJ Yaron to get you ready for the weekend! [soxandthecity]