Top News Stories –

Sam Smith grabs a Grammy (or four) –
Hours after the BAFTAs in London saw favourite Eddie Redmayne pick up the top actor award, Grammy’s favourite Sam Smith wins four trophies at the Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Smith won record of the year and song of the year for “Stay with Me”, artist of year and best new artist. Beck won album if the year for “Morning Phase”. Sam Smith posted this photo in Instagram with the words “The best night of my entire life”. List of awards below

He later tweeted:

Dr Who is expert on exiting when being chased by a bear –
British actor David Tennant makes a successful debut as a contestant on BBC Radio 4’s Just a Minute making it through a full 60 seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation. The former Doctor Who and Broadchurch star talked for one minute on the subject of “Exit, Pursued by a Bear” without once being interrupted on his very first appearance on the show and it is thought to be the first time in nearly 50 years of the show that a debutant has made it through the 60 second challenge.
David Tennant
DIY store prepares for Fifty Shades of Grey specialist advice –
With the film version of Fifty Shades of Grey about to open, Britain’s biggest DIY store B&Q have told their staff to prepare for a big rise in demand for rope, cable ties and tape. It is also providing copies of the book to all 359 stores which can be lent out to staff so they can be ready for “sensitive” questions about the products.

Samsung TVs are listening in –
Samsung warns that it’s smart TV voice activation feature could be recorded by Samsung or the developers of the software. Because the TV is always “listening” for instructions in voice mode and is likely to be connected to the internet any conversations could in theory be recorded.

Video of the Day –

Sam Smith – Stay With me

List of the day –

Grammy 2015 award winners

Album of the year
Winner: Morning Phase – Beck

Best new artist
Winner: Sam Smith

Best rock album
Winner: Morning Phase – Beck

Record of the year
Winner: Stay With Me – Sam Smith

Song of the year
Winner: Stay With Me – Jimmy Napes, William Phillips and Sam Smith

Best pop vocal album
Winner: In the Lonely Hour – Sam Smith

Best pop solo performance
Winner: Happy (live) – Pharrell Williams

Best traditional pop vocal album
Winner: Cheek To Cheek – Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga

Best music video
Winner: Happy – Pharrell Williams

Best dance recording
Winner: Rather Be – Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne

Best R&B performance
Winner: Drunk in Love – Beyonce feat Jay-Z

Best R&B album
Winner: Love, Marriage & Divorce – Toni Braxton & Babyface

Best urban contemporary album
Winner: Girl – Pharrell Williams

Best country album
Winner: Platinum – Miranda Lambert

Best country song
Winner: I’m Not Gonna Miss You – Glen Campbell & Julian Raymond, songwriters (Glen Campbell)

Best metal performance
Winner: The Last In Line – Tenacious D

Best rap album
Winner: The Marshall Mathers LP2 – Eminem

Best spoken word album
Winner: Diary Of A Mad Diva – Joan Rivers

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Donbass
  • Fighting in the past 24 hours kills at least nine Ukrainian soldiers. (Reuters)
  • An artillery shell causes a massive explosion at a chemical plant in Donetsk. (ABC News)
• Boko Haram
  • Boko Haram launch a raid on a prison in the town of Diffa in Niger. Authorities repel the attack. (AP)
• Hooded gunmen attack French police in the city of Marseille, which Prime Minister Manuel Valls is due to visit. (The Telegraph)
• Several attacks, including a suicide bombing, kill at least 22 in Baghdad, Iraq, in a predominantly Shiite part of the capital. (AP)
• Members of Ireland’s police force Garda Síochána raid the Dublin home of former MEP Paul Murphy TD, taking Murphy into custody along with three other activists and politicians opposing the water-tax-rate change, stirring nationwide speculation of “political policing.” The police later release all four without charges. (Independent.IE) (The Irish Times)(The Irish Times)
• War in Somalia (2009–present)
  • Islamists from al-Shabab kill a member of the parliament Abdullahi Qayad Barre in the capital city of Mogadishu,Somalia. (BBC)

Business and economy

• A Canadian gold mining company, Tahoe Resources, agrees to buy Rio Alto Mining for more than CAN$1 billion, part of an ongoing consolidation in the precious metals mining industry. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• Mountaineers claim to have found in the Andes the wreckage of LAN Chile Flight 210 that disappeared in August 1961 killing 24 people on board including eight members and two coaches of the Club de Deportes Green Cross football team.(The Independent)
• The U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, sets all-time records for amount of snow on the ground and amount of snow over 30-day and 40-day periods in 17 days. (WCVB) (NBC News)
• Two buses crash head-on in Bình Thuận’s Hàm Thuận Nam District, Viet Nam, killing 10 people and injuring 9 others.(Thanh Nien News)

Law and crime

• Samsung reveals potential for next generation smart TVs to eavesdrop. (AP)

Politics and elections

• Bahrain suspends the newly launched Alarab News Channel. On February 1, 2015, Alarab’s first day of operations,Bahrain’s Information Affairs Authority had ordered the channel to cease broadcasting since it had not done enough to combat “extremism and terrorism.” Alarab had debuted with a Shia opposition politician interview. (Al Jazeera) (The Nation (Pakistan))

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