Top News Stories –

One underscores the other doesn’t score –
Father Michael Duffy a New York priest has been receiving Twitter messages congratulating him on signing for Celtic Football Club. In fact another Michael Duffy who was transferred to the Scottish football champions from Derry City club has the same twitter handle as the priest, but the footballer has an underscore at the end. Father Duffy has gained many new followers and today tweeted:

Painting sells for $300m, a world record –
One of French artist Paul Gauguin’s most famous paintings showing to Tahitian ladies is sold for $300m (£197m), making it the most expensive work of art ever sold. Entitled Nafea Faa Ipoipo, or When Will You Marry?, was painted in 1892 by the French Post-Impressionist and has apparently been sold to a museum in Qatar.

Phantom of the Opera apprehended –
Austrian police arrest a 63-year-old man who has become known as the Phantom of the Opera at the Vienna State Opera House. Security guards have been trying to catch the man, who buys a cheap ticket and then sits in expensive seats, for months. When he was seen in the best seat in the house, the police were called, but he made a run for it and then punched one of the police officers after he was cornered in the Gustav Mahler Hall. He was arrested and given a ban from all future performances at the State Opera.

Left shark designer hit with cease and desist order –
Fernando Sosa who is selling the design for a 3D-printer model of the “Left Shark” dancer from Katy Perry’s Super Bowl half-time show has received a letter from Perry’s lawyers saying, “Your unauthorised display and sale of this product infringes our client’s exclusive rights.” Left Shark became a viral hit after forgetting its steps during the performance of Teenage Dream and California Gurls.

List of the day –

Top ten most expensive paintings ever sold

[The Guardian]

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
  • ISIL claims that the American female hostage Kayla Jean Mueller has been killed by Jordanian airstrikes at the outskirts of Raqqa, Syria. The White House says that they have no proof of her death. (AP) (AP via Twitter)(CNN), (BBC)
• Boko Haram
  • Boko Haram attacks two towns in Niger but is repulsed by the Niger Army with assistance from the Chad Air Force.(AP via St Louis Post Dispatch), (Nigerian Guardian)

Business and economy

• German engineering firm Siemens announces plans to axe 7,800 jobs, 3000 of which are in Germany. (AFP via France24)

Disasters and accidents

• Ecuador declares a state of emergency in the Galápagos Islands after a ship, The Floreana, carrying hazardous materials ran aground January 28. (Daily Mail)

Law and crime

• Mexican police find at least 61 bodies in an abandoned crematorium in Acapulco. (BBC)
• The Supreme Court of Canada strikes down a ban on assisted suicide meaning doctors can now assist mentally competent patients with severe and incurable conditions to die. (The Independent)

Politics and elections

• The Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott faces a possible leadership vote when the Parliament of Australia resumes sitting after backbencher Luke Simpkins announces that he will move a motion calling for a leadership spill. (Reuters)
• Xanana Gusmão resigns as the Prime Minister of East Timor ahead of an expected government restructure next week.(AP)
• Houthi insurgency in Yemen
  • Houthi rebels take control in Yemen and dissolve the parliament. (Al-Arabiyah)

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