The Statue Of Liberty Has Closed Down – Visitors to New York were mostly amused to find out they couldn’t see the Statue of Liberty thanks to government incompetence. But the locals who sell them tickets and give them ferry rides are feeling the pain. [dailybeast]

In First Day Of U.S. Shutdown, No Sign How It Will End – President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans came no closer to ending a standoff on Tuesday that has forced the first government shutdown in 17 years and thrown hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work. [reuters]

Italian Fans In ‘Arsenal Restaurant’ Attack – A gang with Napoli scarves over their faces storm an eatery packed with Arsenal fans before the clubs met in the Champions League. [sky]

Three Top Microsoft Investors Allegedly Want Bill Gates To Step Down As Chairman – According to Reuters, three of Microsoft’s top 20 investors are making noise that Microsoft remove its founder and former CEO Bill Gates as chairman of its board, his current role. [techcrunch]

Rolling Stones Album On Vinyl From Start To Finish – Today is Vinyl Venzday, which means we will be playing a vinyl album LIVE on air from start to finish. Today’s album is Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet. Tune in or get the app [here]

White Widow Spied On Pretoria Embassies – Samantha Lewthwaite was captured on CCTV footage as recently as this year but the police’s crime intelligence unit failed to act. [citypress]

Assault At Cape Town ANC Meeting – People wielding knobkerries and pangas disrupted an ANC meeting in Cape Town at the weekend, a Dullah Omar region official said on Monday. [news24] Nice one, guys.

IMF Reports Doom And Gloom For SA Economy – South Africa’s structural problems are holding back growth and job creation, warns the International Monetary Fund. [mail&guardian]

2nd Arrest In NYC Bikers’ Alleged Road Rage Assault – Police have made two arrests stemming from a road rage incident (watch here) in Manhattan in which, they say, a group of motorcycle riders assaulted a driver in front of his wife and young daughter. [cbs]

Edward Snowden Short-Listed For European Rights Prize – Fugitive U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden has made the shortlist for a European human rights prize whose past winners include Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi. [torsun]

South Korea Shows Off New Missiles Designed To Hit North – South Korea showed off on Tuesday new missiles designed to target North Korea’s artillery and long-range missiles and vowed to boost deterrence against its unpredictable neighbor. [reuters]

War On Illegal Drugs Failing, Medical Researchers Warn – Illegal drugs are now cheaper and purer globally than at any time over the last 20 years, a report has warned. [bbc]

Poachers Poison 91 Zim Elephants – The stench of rotting elephant carcasses hangs in the air in western Zimbabwe where wildlife officials say at least 91 elephants were poisoned with cyanide by poachers who hack off the tusks for the lucrative illegal ivory market. [news24]

Berlusconi Faces Revolt Over Confidence Vote – Senior party figures in Silvio Berlusconi’s fractious centre-right party have urged Italian lawmakers to defy the billionaire media tycoon and back Prime Minister Enrico Letta in a confidence motion expected today. [aljazeera]

Social Media Spam Increased 355% In First Half Of 2013 – As email clients get better at detecting and filtering spam, spammers are moving to social networks, where they have better chances of going undetected. That’s why, on a typical social media account, spam has risen 355% in the first half of 2013, according to a new study. [mashable]

Producers Plan To Kill Off ‘Simpsons’ Character – For The Simpsons, the 21st century began with the death of Maud Flanders. Now after 14 years, the producers intend to kill off another regular character. Executive producer Al Jean admitted as much in a recent phone conference with the press, promoting Sunday’s 25th season debut of The Simpsons. [sun]

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