Top News Stories –

King Abdulla dies –
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah died today and his brother Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud became king. King Salman has named his half-brother Muqrin as his crown prince and heir in a move designed to reduce fears of a succession crisis.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
The new King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman

Tennis player asked to do the twirl –
Tennis Australia commentator Ian Cohen has asked Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard “to give it a twirl” to show off her outfit after her second-round win over Kiki Bertens in the Australian Open causing upset. Bouchard who lost in the final at Wimbledon in 2014 said “… I’m fine with being asked to twirl if they ask the guys to flex their muscles and stuff.”

It’s teleporting Jim, but not as we know it –
Scientists from the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany have invented a real-life teleporter system that can scan in an object and “beam it” to another location. Not quite the level of sophistication seen in Star Trek, the system uses destructive scanning, digital transmission and 3D printing.

List of the day –

Captains of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise (and variants)

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Disasters and accidents

• City officials of Glendive, Montana declare that the tap water is safe to consume following the January 17 oil spill in theYellowstone River. (Mohave Daily News)

International relations

• The Doomsday Clock moves two minutes forward, leaving only three minutes from midnight due to the threat of global nuclear war and climate change. It is the closest it has been to midnight since 1984. (The Guardian) (The Independent) (The Washington Post)

Law and crime

• San Mateo County, California prosecuters charge an Oregon inmate, Rodney Halbower (who was already serving a 30-year sentence for an attempted murder), with two of the murders from the six 1976 Gypsy Hill killings. (CBS News)
• The U.S. Southern District of Alabama strikes down the state ban on same-sex marriage in Alabama, saying it has violated equal protection and due process rights. Alabama becomes the thirty-seventh state where such marriage is legalized. (USA Today) (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

• Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia dies at the age of 90. His half brother Salman of Saudi Arabia succeeds him. His half brother Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud becomes the Crown Prince. (CNN)
• Thailand‘s military-appointed legislature votes to impeach former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra for her role in overseeing a government rice subsidy program that lost billions of dollars. (AP)

Sports

• Sumo wrestler Hakuhō Shō wins a record-breaking 33rd makuuchi championship. (Japan Times)

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