Wednesday Morning Spice

Media Merger Gets The Nod - A merger between Media24, the Paarl Media Group and the Natal Witness has been conditionally approved by the competition tribunal. [mail&guardian]

General Motors Says Facebook Ads Don’t Pay Off - General Motors Co. GM -0.97% plans to stop advertising with Facebook Inc. after deciding that paid ads on the site have little impact on consumers’ car purchases, according to a GM official. [wallstreetjournal]

Chinese Physicists Break TELEPORTATION Record – Harry Potter and Star Trek fans, rejoice! Teleportation is real. Using powerful lasers and optics to manipulate photons, or units of light, researchers in China set a record for teleporting a photon more than 10 miles (16 km), TIME reported in 2010. Well now they have sent a photon more than 60 miles (97 km). [time]

Facebook IPO: Social Phobia – The biggest threat to Facebook at the moment isn’t a competing network; it’s skittish users like Heller who are not comfortable that the social network is closer to products than its customers. [thedaily]

Successful Million Rand Rhino Horn Raid – Millions of rands in rhino horn were seized along with hundreds of thousands of US dollars in a raid on a Johannesburg flat. The operation, carried out by the police, home affairs officials and ekhuruleni metro police officers, saw law enforcers arresting a Vietnamese national. [time]

Half Of America Believe Facebook Is A Passing Fad – Nearly half of Americans believe that popular social-networking site Facebook is merely a passing fad, a new study suggests. A poll conducted by the Associated Press and CNBC found that 46% of respondents think Facebook will fade away as new platforms come along in the future. [mashable].

Barack Obama Teases David Beckham About Underwear Ads – President Barack Obama teasingly described David Beckham as a “rare man” who could balance a long football career with producing his own line in underwear. [telegraph]

Ex-CIA Chief: We Used To Bribe North Korean Spies With Porn - Former top spook recounts bribing North Koreans spies with porn; Clinton’s missed chance to take out Osama bin Laden. [nydailynews]

François Hollande Sworn in as French President - Despite lightning hitting his plane, the weather didn’t ruin Mr. Normal’s inauguration. Tracy McNicoll on how Francois Hollande said au revoir to former president Sarkozy. [dailybeast]

Rumour: New Apple 15″ Laptop Will Feature Retina Display – According to photos and other information on the Apple-centric blog 9to5Mac, which quoted “trusted sources” in Apple’s supply chain who had handled components for the device and said it was in test production. The 15-inch notebook will feature Apple’s high-resolution Retina display as well as an ultra-slim design and USB 3.0 technology. [infoexec]

John Travolta Case – First Accuser Drops Case – The first man to accuse John Travolta of sexual assault has just filed papers dismissing his lawsuit against the actor … TMZ has learned. The masseur had claimed Travolta assaulted him on January 16 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. [tmz]

Maybe You Shouldn’t Start Your Own Business? – Finweek Editor, Marc Ashton, makes the case for not starting your own business. In an interview with 2ov Radio, Ashton explains the reality, versus the cool factor of being involved in a ‘startup.’ Podcast. [2ovradio]

Joan Collins Pissed Off With Heathrow Airport – Joan Collins yesterday joined the attack on Britain’s shambolic border controls after getting stuck in a queue of ‘thousands’ of travellers at Heathrow. The actress took to Twitter to complain about the delays to Home Secretary Theresa May. [dailymail]

Facebook Launches File Sharing Capabilities – Could Facebook become the next Dropbox — or a haven for sharing files without regard to copyright? The social network has revealed to Mashable that all Groups will now offer the ability to send files. [mashable]

Vatican And Benetton Settle Dispute Over Pope Kiss Ad – Italian fashion firm Benetton has agreed to make a donation to a Catholic charity to end a legal dispute with the Vatican over an advertisement that showed Pope Benedict kissing an imam on the lips, the Vatican said on Tuesday. [reuters]

Will Smith Lectures French TV About Tax, Before Getting Punished [Video] – The anchor told Smith that Hollande is proposing tax increases on earned income over 1 million Euros, asking what Smith’s view is on the American debate over a 30 percent rate. Smith responded that he’s happy to pay extra money and is happy to be an American along with the taxes that come with that. Then the anchor told Smith that the French proposed rate isn’t 30 percent, but rather 75 percent. Enjoy his reaction. [foxnews]