Royal Family Celebrate Kate’s 38th Birthday As Sussexes ‘Step Back’ From Senior Roles – Kate was seen arriving at Kensington Palace as senior royals deal with Harry and Meghan’s surprise announcement. [sky]

Trudeau Says Evidence Shows Iranian Missile Downed Ukraine Jet – A Ukraine airliner that crashed in Iran, killing all 176 people aboard, was likely brought down by an Iranian missile, Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said on Thursday, citing intelligence from Canadian and other sources. [f24]

Harvey Weinstein Wants The Judge Tossed For Making Him Get Off His Damn Phone – His lawyers say Judge Burke addressed Weinstein in an “inflammatory” and “prejudicial” manner when he scolded him over phone use in court. [vice]

The Testimony That Could Seal Harvey Weinstein’s Conviction – Three witnesses who allege that Weinstein assaulted them — but who aren’t part of the case — could help land Weinstein behind bars. [huff]

‘This Airplane Is Designed By Clowns’ – Damning Boeing emails reveal internal complaints made about 737 Max safety and information being covered up. [busins]

Trump Has A Book Written By A Trump Advisor About How Trump Loves The Environment, Actually – Known bookworm Donald Trump would like you to know he has a book. That book is about Donald Trump, known environmental champion. It’s written and self-published by known Trump lover and advisor Edward Russo. [gmod]

Take The Edge Off With These Excellent #JanuworrySurvivalKit Memes – #Januworry and #JanuworrySurvivalKit have been trending on Twitter, with some pretty funny memes about surviving what can be the most difficult month of the year. [here]

Megyn Kelly Says She Performed “Infamous” Twirl For Roger Ailes In Sit-Down With Fox News Accusers – “If you don’t get how demeaning that is, I can’t help you,” says Kelly in a 30-minute conversation with Juliet Huddy, Rudi Bakhtiar and Julie Zann about the truths and liberties taken. [hollyrep]

Facebook Says It Won’t Back Down From Allowing Lies In Political Ads – The company was under intense pressure to adjust its policies. But in this presidential election year, no big changes are planned. [nyt]

Eskom Misled Ramaphosa About Extent Of Load-Shedding: David Mabuza – Deputy president David Mabuza says President Cyril Ramaphosa was “misled” about load-shedding and the problems facing Eskom. [tlive]

Vicki Momberg Sues SAPS, Justice Ministers, NDPP For R8.5m For ‘Unlawful Arrest’ – Convicted racist Vicki Momberg is suing the South African Police Service (SAPS), justice ministers, provincial and national police commissioners as well as the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), her lawyer has confirmed. [n24]

World Bank Warns Of Global Debt Crisis Following The Fastest Increase In Borrowing Since The 1970s – The World Bank has warned of the risk of a fresh global debt crisis, urging governments and central banks to recognize that historically low interest rates may not be enough to offset another widespread financial meltdown. [cnbc]

MEGXIT

Meghan Flees To Canada Where She Left Baby Archie With Nanny – Leaves Harry to deal with fallout from ‘abdication’ crisis after spending just three days in the UK following holiday. [dm]

WATCH: Madame Tussauds In London Splits Harry And Meghan’s Wax Figures From The Rest Of Royal Family – According to a report by The Washingington Post, Madame Tussauds in London “has removed its wax figures of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, from its display of Britain’s royal family”. [ch24]

The Other American: What Meghan Can Learn From Wallis Simpson – Another duchess of American descent would surely relate to the current uproar over Harry and Meghan’s decision to step back. [guardian]

Black Britons Know Why Meghan Markle Wants Out – It’s the racism. [nyt]

Why ‘The Crown’ Won’t Cover Prince Harry And Meghan Markle’s Latest Developments – When Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan of Sussex announced via their Instagram @sussexroyal that the pair would “step back as ‘senior’ members of the royal family,” everybody had the same thought: this is going to be a dope episode of The Crown one day. [mash]

Australian Fires: Lewis Hamilton Pledges More Than £380,000 (ZAR7 Million) To Aid Fight Against Disaster – Lewis Hamilton says he will donate more than £380,000 to support the fire service and animal welfare charities affected by fires in Australia. [bbc]

Hong Kong Exchange Chief Warns Of Economic ‘Devastation’ From Protests – The “depth of the devastation” inflicted on Hong Kong’s economy by more than six months of anti-government protests will be seen in the coming weeks, the chief of the city’s stock exchange operator said on Thursday. [dmav]

Roland Made The Cybertruck Of Grand Pianos – Electronic instruments company Roland has unveiled a concept piano called the Facet, which is likely to turn heads as it makes appearances this year. [verge]

My Journey Into The Dark, Hypnotic World Of A Millennial Guru – ‘Spiritual influencers’ are flourishing online. Their model is built on recruiting eager followers – but what happens when they attract vulnerable people? [guardian]

Sick Of Fighting With Your Internet Provider? Read This – We’ve all experienced the frustration of sitting on the phone for hours trying to get the internet up and running. Well, now you can hit back. [here]

Cheapest And Most Expensive Holiday Cities – Including Cape Town And Joburg – Travel company Hoppa has published its annual report into the most expensive vs cheapest destinations in the world to help people plan their holidays for 2020. [btech]

1917 Turns A Nightmare War Into A Theme Park Showcase – 1917 is a bit of a brag track, a cinematic flex by people who are really damn good with a camera. [verge]

One Year Has Passed Since We Found Out About Jeff Bezos’ Dramatic Divorce And His Relationship With Lauren Sanchez – Here’s everything that’s happened since. [busins]

Bookings Open For ‘Bond Lair’ Klein Karoo Mountain Villa – Bookings from September 2020 have opened for Caracal – the 11-Sleeper Klein Karoo mountain villa, just 2,5 hours out of Cape Town. [check]

Leonardo DiCaprio, Hero At Sea – The Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood actor got up to some maritime heroics while on vacation. [vanfair]

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DON’T SAY WE DIDN’T TELL YOU…

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Buy Any Product From Websites That ‘Don’t Ship To SA’ – One of our most exciting partners offers you a PO Box in US, UK or Hong Kong, for you to deliver overseas online purchases to. Postbox Courier handles it from there – getting the package to you in under a week. [more]

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