Billion Rand Lottery Ticket Sales Go Crazy – Sales of online tickets to tonight’s Mega Millions lottery jackpot of over R1 billion have doubled, as the closing time nears. With a jackpot of $135 million, South Africans are clambering to have the chance of waking up on Saturday, a billionaire. Buy your tickets safely and securely online. [2oceansvibelottos]

Fitch Downgrades Several Global Banks – Fitch Ratings, the third-biggest of the major credit rating agencies, downgraded seven global banks based in Europe and the United States, citing “increased challenges” in the financial markets. The list includes Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank. [cnbc]

Christian Bale Roughed Up In China – In Attempt To Visit Activist [Video] – As Christian Bale approached an impromptu checkpoint leading to this tiny village in eastern China, four men blocking the narrow path started marching toward him in menacing unison. “I am here to see Chen Guangcheng,” the Hollywood actor said. “Go away!” the plainclothes guards barked, pushing us back. [cnn]

Google Receives Patent For Self-Driving Car Technology – Google has received a patent for its driverless car technology. First revealed a year ago, the patent includes a plan for mixed-mode autonomous driving – a driving method in which the car takes full control after passing a reference indicator, while a human is still in the driver’s seat. [mashable]

Facebook Rolls Out New Timeline Profiles – Facebook this week began rolling out its new Timeline interface, which transforms the traditional Facebook profile, with its standard issue info and news feed, into something more akin to a scrap book – a “chronological, visual story of your life.” [csmonitor]

Christopher Hitchens Dies – Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant—died yesterday at the age of 62. Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the spring of 2010, just after the publication of his memoir, Hitch-22, and began chemotherapy soon after. His matchless prose has appeared in Vanity Fair since 1992, when he was named contributing editor. [vanityfair]

Gaddafi Death Might Be A War Crime – The death of Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi “creates suspicions” of war crimes, says the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the ICC was raising the concern with Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC). Col Gaddafi was killed on 20 October after being caught by rebels in his home town of Sirte. [bbc]

Most Of Britons’ Facebook Photos Show Them Drunk – Britons admit to being drunk in three quarters of photographs of them posted on Facebook, according to a survey. On average, adult users of the social networking website said they were under the influence of alcohol in 76 per cent of the pictures in which they were “tagged”. Well done. [telegraph]

Silent Film Leads Golden Globes Nominations – Silent movie The Artist has topped the Golden Globe nominations with six, picking up nods in all the major categories. The surprise hit film leads civil rights drama The Help and The Descendants which have five each. The black and white silent romance picked up best film for a comedy or musical, best director and acting honours for its stars Jean Dujardin and Bernice Bejo. [skynews]

Kim Kardashian Buys Liz Taylor Jewels – Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry collection sold for a whopping $137 million at auction this week – and one of the buyers was Kim Kardashian. The TV personality dropped $64,900 dollars for three jade and diamond bracelets that belonged to the screen legend, Forbes reports. They were originally estimated to sell for $8,000. [cbsnews]

90 Year Old Nazi Gets Life Sentence – A 90-year-old man convicted last year of killing three Dutch civilians while he was part of a Nazi SS hit squad during World War II has been taken to prison to start serving his life sentence. Robert Deller, a spokesman for prosecutors in Aachen, said Heinrich Boere was taken by ambulance on Wednesday from the old-age home where he lived to a detention facility. He declined to specify the prison’s location. [associated]

Victoria’s Secret Child Labour Link – The company that owns Victoria’s Secret vowed a full investigation Thursday after a report said cotton used in some of its products is grown using child labour. “We are very concerned,” parent company Limited Brands said in a statement, noting that the cotton in question, which comes from the West African nation of Burkina Faso, is “used in a small portion of our Victoria’s Secret panty styles.” [stuff]