Branson Ready For Lift Off With 700 Space Tickets Sold – Sir Richard Branson has said he has sold 700 tickets for trips on his Virgin Galactic spaceflights and reckons he will be ready to launch within a “matter of months”. [telegraph]

Powerball Winning Numbers Drawn For $400 Million Jackpot – So you bought tickets yesterday and this morning one of you might not be going into work! That’s right, the rollovers have stopped and SOMEONE won the R4 billion lotto last night! The winning numbers were 7, 10, 35, 32 and 22 and Powerball 19. [cnn]

Snow Warning For Cape Town – Heavy rain and snowfall is expected in Cape Town this week, the city said on Wednesday. [news24] Good luck out there, kids.

Assad To Destroy Chemical Weapons ‘In A Year’ – Syrian president tells US TV channel that task will cost $1bn, as he again denies involvement in August chemical attack. [aljazeera]

McCain Blasts Putin in Pravda: He’s Made Russia a ‘Friend to Tyrants’ – The senator promised to respond to the Russian president’s New York Times op-ed—and he has with a blistering piece in Pravda, calling Putin a corrupt autocrat who cozies up to tyrants like Assad. [dailybeast]

Chess Champ Kasparov Weighs In On Putin vs Obama – “There has been a surplus of trite chess metaphors thrown around during world’s response to the civil war in Syria. As a former world champion I would like to pull rank and ask everyone to reject all the nonsense about “Putin is playing chess and Obama is playing checkers,” or tic-tac-toe or whatever.” Read more.. [time]

Ninety-Nine Strikes In 2012 Leads To R6.6bn Loss In Wages – The number of strikes last year in South Africa hit a five-year high, with the mining sector accounting for 82.4% of them, says the labour department. [mail&guardian]

Ken Norton, a Championship Fighter Who Broke Ali’s Jaw, Is Dead at 70 – Ken Norton, who fought three memorable fights with Muhammad Ali, breaking his jaw in winning their first bout, then losing twice, and who went on to become the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion, died Wednesday in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nev. He was 70. [newyorktimes]

Daniel Radcliffe Says No to New ‘Harry Potter’ Film – J.K. Rowling will revisit the world of Harry Potter in her new spinoff film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but Daniel Radcliffe has no plans to reprise his role as the Boy Who Lived. [rollingstone]

Zuckerberg Says US Spying Hurts Users’ Trust – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday said revelations about U.S. government surveillance hurt users’ trust in Internet companies and that knowing more about the programs would help relieve some of the public concerns. [nbc]

Facebook Publishes Suicide Victim In Dating Ad – Facebook apologized Tuesday for featuring an ad for a dating website that used a picture of Rehtaeh Parsons, the 17-year-old Nova Scotia girl who died after attempting suicide in April. [ctv]

Camera Lens Adjusts Focus Like A Human Eye – Ohio State University engineers took a crack at giving a camera lens some of the versatility of a human. They made a fluid-filled lens that can change its shape and focus, as well as alter the direction it focuses in. [mashable]

Court: Clicking ‘Like’ on Facebook Is Free Speech – Clicking “Like” on Facebook is constitutionally protected free speech and can be considered the 21st century-equivalent of a campaign yard sign, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. [ap]

Snoop Dogg Wins Massive Bag Of Weed After Betting On Floyd Mayweather Bout – Legendary rapper, Snoop Dogg (pictured), or Snoop Lion as he has come to be referred to as of late, is high as a kite and he has Floyd Mayweather to thank for it. [newsone]

Penthouse Magazine Files For Bankruptcy – The California company that owns Penthouse magazine and a host of online dating and adult websites filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday. [latimes]

James Franco Makes Out With a Man, Mocks Gossip Sites Over Gay Rumours – But earlier today, the 35-year-old actor decided to turn the tables and call out one particular site that’s repeatedly speculated about him being gay by posting photos of himself making out with another man on Instagram. [eonline]

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Loeries, “Be The Most Famous You” On Biz Takeouts, 9am – On the Biz Takeouts Marketing & Media radio show, streamed live every Thursday from 9am to 10am via 2oceansVibe Radio, we speak to Justin Wright, creative director and Clint Bryce, executive creative director (digital), both from Johannesburg-based advertising agency, TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris, about The Loeries, “Be the most famous you” campaign and digital trends. [biztakeouts]

Protea Hotel Sea Point Outside Broadcast And Giveaway, 12h00 – Just Josie broadcasts live from the Protea Hotel Sea Point from 12h00-14h00 today to school you on why this is the perfect seaside breakaway. From the breezy luxury resort vibe, to the stunning setting of where this hotel is perched, come day or night, this hotel boasts a number of facilities which sets it apart from many others. Tune in from 12h00 today and find out how you can win a weekend stay! [justjosie]

The Relevant Music Show, 18h00-20h00 – There is no longer room for irrelevant things. We have no longer got the resources. Enter The Relevant Music Show, your weekly dose of new music, ridiculous entertainment news and fashion talk from two people who also happen to be friends. The Relevant Music Show is a one-stop shop for everything happening in music, entertainment and fashion presented by two of Cape Town’s city kids. There will also be weekly guests including DJs, musicians, bloggers and who knows – even strippers. Take it from us, irrelevance is out. [trms]