Top News Stories –

F1 drivers banned from changing helmets –
Former Formula One drivers take to Twitter to criticise a new rule banning Formula 1 drivers from changing their helmet design during the season. Alex Wurz who chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, tweeted –

And Australian former Red Bull driver Mark Weber added –

The Boston Blizzard Challenge –
The mayor of Boston Martin Walsh has asked the public to stop jumping out of first floor windows into piles of snow left by the record levels of snow that has fallen in February. Bostonians are stripping down to their underwear and leaping into the snowdrifts in a trend called the Boston Blizzard Challenge, all for social media’s delight – a perfect Vine.

Video of the Day –

Little Dreams from Wilkie Branson on Vimeo.

List of the day –

Formula One victories up to end of 2014 season

	Driver	Seasons	Entries	Wins	Percentage
1	Michael Schumacher	1991–2006, 2010–2012	308	91	29.55%
2	Alain Prost	1980–1991, 1993	202	51	25.25%
3	Ayrton Senna	1984–1994	162	41	25.31%
4	Sebastian Vettel	2007–2014	139	39	28.05%
5	Lewis Hamilton	2007–2014	148	33	22.30%
6	Fernando Alonso	2001, 2003–2014	236	32	13.56%
7	Nigel Mansell	1980–1992, 1994–1995	191	31	16.23%
8	Jackie Stewart	1965–1973	100	27	27.00%
9	Jim Clark	1960–1968	73	25	34.25%
	Niki Lauda	1971–1979, 1982–1985	177		14.12%

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian Civil War
  • The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that at least 70 Syrian Army soldiers and more than 80 insurgents have died in recent fighting around the city of Aleppo. (Reuters via Trust)
• A bomb in a Shi’ite mosque in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi kills at least two people and injures six. (Reuters)
• Boko Haram
  • The Nigerian Army claims to have killed 300 militants in northeastern Nigeria. (BBC)
  • A warplane bombs a funeral ceremony in Niger killing 30 civilians. (BBC)

Business and economy

• Japan Post acquires Australian transport company Toll Holdings at a cost of A$6.5 billion. (The Australian)

Disasters and accidents

• 2014–15 Australian region cyclone season
  • The Australian Bureau of Meteorology is predicting that a low pressure system in the Coral Sea will develop intotropical cyclone Marcia within 24 hours and bring heavy rain to South East Queensland with the potential to causeflooding. (The Age)
  • Tropical Cyclone Lam intensifies to Category 3 as it moves towards the Northern Territory‘s Arnhem Land.(Weatherzone)
• A snowstorm in the Turkish city of Istanbul leads to the closure of Istanbul Atatürk Airport, causes the cancellation of 300Turkish Airlines flights and closes the Bosphorus Strait to shipping. (Al-Arabiyah)

International relations

• Islamic State
  • The United Nations Security Council meets to discuss the recent beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya. (AFP via Newvision)

Law and crime

• Australian David Hicks wins an appeal in the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review against his conviction for providing material support to terrorism in 2007 in a U.S. Navy court in Guantanamo Bay. (AP via Sky News Australia)
• Swede Alex Yucel pleads guilty in the United States to distributing Blackshades software that was used to hack into 500,000 computers worldwide. (CNBC)
• Robert van Winkle aka Vanilla Ice is arrested for burglary and grand theft in Florida. (NBC Miami)

Politics and elections

• The President of Indonesia Joko Widodo drops his nomination of Budi Gunawan as national police chief following allegations that Gunawan was involved in a bribery scandal. (Straits Times)
• The Government of India approves the construction of seven stealth frigates and six nuclear submarines for the Indian Navy. (Times of India)
• The Hellenic Parliament elects Prokopis Pavlopoulos as the new President of Greece. (Greek Reporter)
• The Moldovan Parliament appoints a new government with Chiril Gaburici as Prime Minister and a legislative support formed by the PLDM, PDM and PCRM. (RomaniaJournal)

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