Assange Unlikely To Face Charges – The Justice Department has all but concluded it will not bring charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing classified documents because government lawyers said they could not do so without also prosecuting U.S. news organizations and journalists, according to U.S. officials. [washpo]

SA’s Economic Growth At Lowest Since Recession – South Africa’s economic growth slumped in the third quarter, coming in at a meagre 0.7% — the lowest in the more than four years since the 2009 recession — as strikes hammered manufacturing output. [bdlive]

Chiefs Player Probed In Hijack Case – Gauteng police on Tuesday said they are investigating whether a Kaizer Chiefs footballer is linked to a possible hijack syndicate in the Johannesburg CBD. [ewn]

Americans Don’t Like Obama’s Job Performance—or Him – Obama’s latest poll results indicate that Americans are no longer just disapproving of his job performance—they find him untrustworthy and dishonest. [beast]

Matric Paper Asks Students To Direct Rape Scene – A compulsory question in the dramatic art exam paper instructed pupils: “Describe how you would get the actor portraying Simon [a rapist] to perform this act to maximise the horror of the rape to the audience.” [tlive]

South Africa’s New Idol Announced – It’s been a tough journey, but South Africa has a new Idol! Musa Sukwene, 26, from eMalahleni beat fellow finalist Brenden Ledwaba, 19, of Graskop. Shame. [iol]

Alec Baldwin not returning to MSNBC – MSNBC and Alec Baldwin’s management team announced Tuesday that they have “mutually” parted ways and the actor’s six-week-old talk show host, “Up Late with Alec Baldwin,” has been canceled. [nbc]

Now You Can Buy A Brand New MINI For Under R3,000 A Month – The product range at MINI is diverse, to say the least. That’s why we’ve managed to structure a special deal for those of you desperate to join the MINI family, but are struggling to pull it together. [here]

Spies Worry Over “Doomsday” Cache Stashed By Ex-NSA Contractor Snowden – British and U.S. intelligence officials say they are worried about a “doomsday” cache of highly classified, heavily encrypted material they believe former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has stored on a data cloud. [reuters]

Scientists Bag More Than 1 000 Fossils At Cradle ‘Treasure Trove’ – Less than a month since excavation began at the Cradle of Humankind after a “spectacular” fossil find, scientists have found more than 1 000 fossils. [m&g]

Playstation 4 Is Being Used For Sex – The PlayStation 4, Sony’s new gaming console, has a camera that can be used to record gamers while they play. But after only two weeks on sale, the PS4 is already being used to broadcast sex sessions with the virtual-reality game “The Playroom,” which lets gamers share feeds of their living rooms through a video platform called Twitch. [huff]

Psalm Book From 1640 Fetches Record R142 Million At NYC Auction – A tiny book of psalms from 1640 has sold for $14.2 million in New York City, setting an auction record for a printed book. [fox]

The Unholy Dollar: Pope Francis Slams ‘Tyranny’ Of Markets And ‘Idolatry Of Money’ – In his first major work, Pope Francis urged the Catholic Church to commit itself to fighting poverty and called on world leaders to become more concerned about the current state of society. He opened the door to reforms of Vatican bureaucracy while reaffirming that female priests and the church’s opposition to abortion is ‘not open to discussion.’ [nydn]

John McAfee Says He’s Left Portland For Good, Denies Threatening Building Manager – John McAfee, warned last month that he was late on $2,100 in rent on his luxury Southeast Portland apartment, responded by accusing his building manager of being part of a “conspiracy” and told the manager, “I hope you have a safe to run to.” [orlive]

Modern Life ‘Turning People Off Sex’ – Money worries and the distractions of social media mean people are having sex less frequently, researchers say. A once-a-decade poll of 15,000 Britons found those aged 16-44 were having sex fewer than five times a month. [bbc]

Britney Spears Praises Younger Sibling Jamie Lynn, 22, In Her Country Music Debut – Britney Spears gave her little sister Jamie Lynn, 22, a big thumbs up on Tuesday. After the former TV star’s new video was released, the Toxic singer, 31, tweeted, ‘Can’t believe how beautiful my sister looks in her How Could I Want More Video. OMG!’ [dailymail]

Santa Charged With Groping Elf – A man who played Santa Claus at a Massachusetts mall has been barred from the shopping center after he was charged with groping an 18-year-old woman playing an elf. [fox]

Latest Spy Game Playing Itself Out In Hollywood – More than 60 years after a congressional Committee on Un-American Activities held hearings aimed at rooting out communist spies from Hollywood, a Hollywood producer has proudly revealed his own clandestine efforts on behalf of Israel. [usat]

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