Oscar Pistorius Addresses Michael Johnson Comments – Oscar Pistorius delivered a staunch defence of his participation at the Olympics, hitting back at critics who think his prosthetic legs give him a racing advantage. The South African will make history on Saturday by becoming the first double amputee to compete in an Olympic Games when he runs in the 400 metres heats. [dailymail]

Olympic Badminton Players Banned From Olympics – Four badminton teams were kicked out of the women’s doubles at the London Games on Wednesday for trying to lose on purpose, conduct that a top IOC executive said strikes at the heart of Olympic competition. [espn]

Britain Finally Wins Some Gold – On a day that began with a scandal over thrown badminton games, Britain collected its first two gold medals of the 2012 Olympics with wins in rowing and cycling. [abcnews]

‘The Social Media Games’: How Hashtags And Likes Are Shaping London 2012 – Gone are the days of straining to listen to a crackly radio or huddling round a single television set. London 2012 enthusiasts are heading straight to their desktops and mobile phones for the latest Olympic news. [cnn]

Queen’s Granddaughter Wins Silver In Olympics – The queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips helped Great Britain to a second-place finish behind Germany in Olympic equestrian eventing yesterday, with her regal relatives — including Prince William and Prince Harry — in the stands to cheer her on. Photos. [thedaily]

Obama Tweets Phelps – President Barack Obama has tweeted praise of Michael Phelps following his record-breaking wins at the London Olympics. Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever yesterday after picking up his 19th medal. He also holds the record for being awarded the most gold medals, as he has 15. [digispy]

Would You Believe It: Facebook Share Decline Gets Worse – Now At Lowest Ever – Facebook’s rocky relationship with investors just keeps getting worse. After hitting a new low Tuesday as shares tumbled 6% to $21.71, the drop continued Wednesday. The stock (FB) was down more than 3% to $21.01 at one point. [usatoday]

UBS Hit Hard By Facebook Loss – Shares in UBS have plunged after the Swiss banking giant posted a worse-than-expected 58 per cent fall in second-quarter profits due to losses from the Facebook stock listing and a downturn at its investment banking division. [h-to-the-erald]

Hindsight: City Press Editor Would Not Remove Zuma Penis Painting – City Press editor Ferial Haffajee would not remove Brett Murray’s controversial painting The Spear from her newspaper’s website if given the chance now, she says. [news24]

Move Over Roman Abramovich – The President Of The United Arab Emirates Is Paying $627 Million For The World’s Largest Yacht. You need to have a look at this thing. Two soccer fields long. [businessinsider]

Three Shot Dead During Platinum Mine Protest – Security guards and police officers shot and killed three people during an invasion of an Aquarius Platinum mine near Rustenburg on Wednesday. [businessday]

Apple vs. Samsung: Oh It’s On – Lawyers for Apple and Samsung debated the differences between copying and honest competition as opening arguments were held Tuesday in a huge patent trial involving the two tech giants. [yahoo]

Dropbox Details Security Breach That Caused Spam Attack – Online storage service Dropbox has given details of a security breach that led to many of its members receiving unsolicited emails. A stolen password had been used to access an employee’s accounts allowing a “project document” containing user emails addresses to be copied, it said. [bbc]

Egypt TV Channel Caters To Fully Veiled Women – The only visible female face in the Cairo-based studio of a new Islamic TV channel for women is that of a puppet. The human stars are all veiled from head to toe, with only their eyes showing. [guardian]

Did you know you can now listen to 2ov Radio on News24?

 

India’s Power Has Been Restored – As electric power was restored across India on Wednesday, the nation’s new power minister sought to tamp down a growing argument between state and federal ministers over who was to blame for Tuesday’s unprecedented blackout. [newyorktimes]

‘Vertigo’ Beats ‘Citizen Kane’ And Becomes Best Movie Of All Time – The reappraisal was due on Wednesday after the 1958 film topped the British Film Institute’s much-respected Greatest Films poll, which it has been conducting once every decade since 1952. Vertigo managed to end the reign of Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane, which has topped the list since 1962. [guardian]

Emma Watson Will Not Be In ‘Fifty Shades’ Film – When Emma Watson was reported to be the frontrunner to play Anastasia Steele in the upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey movie last week, the Hollywood rumour mill went into overdrive. Yesterday the Harry Potter actress swiftly put an end to talk, revealing she’s yet to hear from movie execs, or even read the book! [marieclaire]

Macaulay Culkin Addicted to Heroin – Is former child star Macaulay Culkin hopelessly hooked on heroin? The 31-year-old actor has allegedly been seen by several eyewitnesses using a deadly mix of potent pre­scription drugs and unless he gets help it will kill him. Click for troubling photo of Culkin. [radar]

Eminem First To Hit 60 Million Likes On Facebook – Lady Gaga may rule Twitter, but Eminem is the top star when it comes to Facebook Likes. The rap star’s Facebook page reached 60 million Likes on Wednesday — the most for any living person. [mashable]

Robert Pattinson Is Hiding At Reece Witherspoon’s Spot – Devastated Robert Pattinson is allegedly hiding out at Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon’s California ranch. The heartbroken actor has been lying low ever since the shocking news of girlfriend Kristen Stewart cheating on him broke last week. [thesun]

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COMING UP TODAY

Maya On Money – Maya On Money is a finance feature, hosted by Maya Fisher-French. She will be teaming up with the Just Josie lunch show at 12h30 every Thursday, to bring us simple and useful finance tips. [mayaonmoney]

Elle Editor Jackie Burger With Bailey Schneider – Jackie joins Bailey from 14h00-15h00 today where they’ll dig deeper into her ability to accurately predict trends and interpret them for consumers. [baileyschneider]

FRESH PODCASTS

Biz Take Outs – The South African Media And Alcohol Restrictions – This week’s Biz Takeouts Marketing & Media radio show, streamed live 5pm-6pm via 2oceansVibe Radio, focused on alcohol advertising restrictions and the effects on South African consumers and the media. The studio guest was well known corporate marketing analyst, advisor and media commentator, Chris Moerdyk. [podcast]

DJ Sox talks To SA Sevens Captain, Kyle Brown – Find out more about Kyle Brown and his rise to captaincy, recovering from injury and his journey with the SA Sevens team. [podcast]