How Live-Streamed $375k Deal For Pokémon Cards Ended In Disaster – Buyer finds first edition pack is fake as value of the collectibles rockets amid pandemic. [guardian]

New York Times: Tax Records Show Trump Had Over $270 Million In Debt Forgiven After Failing To Repay Lenders – President Donald Trump has had more than $270 million in debt forgiven since 2010 after he failed to repay his lenders for a Chicago skyscraper development, The New York Times reported Tuesday. [cnn]

Heathrow Overtaken As Europe’s Busiest Airport Amid Pandemic – Heathrow says it has been overtaken as Europe’s busiest airport for the first time by Paris Charles de Gaulle because of a slump in demand for air travel. [bbc] OMG.. the shame..

PS5 Pre-Orders Have Exceeded The First 12 Weeks Of PS4 Sales – The company is facing “very considerable” demand for the console. [verge]

France Imposes Four-Week National Lockdown To Combat Coronavirus – France will enter a new month-long national lockdown from midnight on Thursday to apply a “brutal brake” on coronavirus infections, president Emmanuel Macron has announced. [guardian]

UK Vaccine Chief Says Impact Of Early COVID-19 Jabs May Be Limited – The woman in charge of procuring possible COVID-19 treatments for Britain said a fully effective vaccine might never be developed, and that any early versions that do get approved might not work at all for some people. [reuters] Wonderful..

Germany Will Impose ‘Lockdown Light,’ Closing Bars And Restaurants For A Month, Merkel Announces – Germany will require restaurants and bars to close their doors to patrons starting Monday and professional sports teams to play to empty stadiums, while theaters, gyms and cosmetic studios will be shuttered as the country scrambles to halt a spike in new virus cases. [nyt]

Dirco Paid R118m For A Piece Of Land In New York That Turned Out To Be An ‘Unsuitable’ Old Building – The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has been rocked by allegations that it paid R118 million to acquire a vacant prime piece of land which doesn’t exist. [n24] Dirco? Sounds like a cartoon character. 

Second Major Gas Discovery Off The Coast Of South Africa – French energy company Total has made a significant gas condensate discovery on the Luiperd prospect, 175 kilometres off the southern coast of South Africa. [btech] Much excitement.

No Cheer Except For SAA As Tito Mboweni Delivers Spending Cuts, Public Wage Freeze And Signals Tax Hikes – SAA has got its R10.5-billion to stay in the air, and hard-pressed South Africans tax increases totalling R5-billion in 2021. [mav]

Zoom’s End-To-End Encryption Has Arrived – Zoom’s end-to-end encryption (E2EE) has arrived, letting both free and paid users secure their meetings so that only participants, not Zoom or anyone else, can access their content. [verge]

Married Police Officer Jailed For Killing His Lover After She Revealed Their Affair To His Wife – A judge said Brehmer “did nothing” to help nurse Claire Parry while handing down the sentence on Wednesday. [sky]

Ronaldo Still Positive For Coronavirus Before Barcelona Game – Hunky beefcake Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive again for coronavirus on the eve of Juventus’s Champions League clash against his great rival Lionel Messi’s Barcelona. [ewn]

Apple Reportedly Steps Up Effort To Build Google Search Alternative – Apple has quietly increased its efforts to develop its own search technology for iPhones, according to a report by The Financial Times (FT), as regulators scrutinize the multibillion-dollar payments that Google makes each year to ensure that its search engine is installed as a default search tool. [cnbc] Quietly..

Mercedes-Benz Is Taking A Big Stake In Aston Martin – The carmakers have confirmed in statements that Mercedes-Benz will increase its stake in Aston Martin over the next three years from 2.6% to as much as 20%. [cnn]

Great Barrier Reef: Scientists Find Reef Taller Than Empire State Building – An enormous coral reef has been found at the northern tip of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the first such discovery in 120 years, scientists say. [bbc]

How To Use YouTube’s New App Gestures – YouTube’s app on Android and iOS is getting some big updates to its video controls, including new gestures and rearranged overlay menus with shortcuts for toggling full-screen mode on and off, as well as other features. [lifehack]

Netflix’s ‘Holidate’ Is A Silly, Sexy Good Time – Late October is certainly premature for Christmas festivities (unless you are a department store), but Netflix’s first holiday movie of 2020, Holidate, is evergreen. [mash]

No Money To Burn: How Bond Crowdfunder Could Be The Way Forward – A new campaign to buy No Time to Die from MGM has been started on GoFundMe. Next step: nationalise 007. [guardian]

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DON’T SAY WE DIDN’T TELL YOU…

There are a number of ongoing deals set up at our various exclusive partners. Here they are – just for you;-)

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]

There Is Only One Company When It Comes To Import Export Logistics – Your freight forwarding / shipping partner is probably more important than the actual products you want to move from country to country. Choose the wrong guys and you can get stung in so many ways. Be smart, use 2ov’s partners, Berry & Donaldson. [here]

First Month Storage Space 50% Off At Stor-Age – Whether you need a locker for a bicycle or a garage for your house contents, Stor-Age has the space you need. And they’re offering a special ‘50% off the first month’ deal – no strings attached! You can take your stuff out after one month – no problem! [check it out]

Affordable Cane Furniture – If you’re buying cane or wicker furniture anywhere else, you’re wasting a lot of time and money. These guys import directly from Malawi. Hand-Made cane furniture – buy online and have it delivered! [check it out]