Top News Stories –

Igloo built in middle of downtown Chicago road stumps the internet –
An igloo built in the middle of a busy road in downtown Chicago has captivated the internet and left people passing by a little confused. Internet users speculated the 5ft-tall igloo home built under a streetlight near a busy intersection had been constructed by a homeless person. However the person who created the home from slabs of ice has been identified as local resident David Sudler. He built the chilly fort over two nights using the ice blocks and a milk crate to stack the slabs and create the roof. [Daily Telegraph]
Adam Robinson Tweet

Facebook wants to kill off your phone number –
The days of the phone number are, quite literally numbered, thanks to the inexhorable rise of the company’s Messenger app, according to David Marcus, Facebook’s vice president of messaging products. “Think about it: SMS and texting came to the fore in the time of flip phones. Now, many of us can do so much more on our phones; we went from just making phone calls and sending basic text-only messages to having computers in our pockets,” Marcus wrote in a blog post. “With Messenger, we offer all the things that made texting so popular, but also so much more,” he said. “Yes, you can send text messages, but you can also send stickers, photos, videos, voice clips, GIFs, your location, and money to people. You can make video and voice calls while at the same time not needing to know someone’s phone number.” [Daily Telegraph]

Video of the Day –

Dillon Francis – Not Butter from Brandon Dermer on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

People’s Choice Music Award winners:
Favourite male artist: Ed Sheeran
Favourite female artist: Taylor Swift
Favourite group: Fifth Harmony
Favourite breakout artist: Shawn Mendes
Favourite male country artist: Blake Shelton
Favourite female country artist: Carrie Underwood
Favourite country group: Lady Antebellum
Favourite pop artist: Taylor Swift
Favourite hip-hop artist: Nicki Minaj
Favourite R&B artist: The Weeknd
Favourite album: Title by Meghan Trainor
Favourite song: What Do You Mean? by Justin Bieber
Favourite music icon: Madonna

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
  • Zliten truck bombing
    • At least 65 people are killed after a truck bomb hit a police training center in the Libyan town of Zliten. (Reuters)
• Terrorism in Egypt
  • Gunmen open fire on tourists at a hotel close to the Giza pyramids. There were no casualties in the attack, which caused some damage to the hotel, and the attackers were arrested shortly afterwards.(BBC)
• Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
  • Iran says last night, Saudi warplanes bombed its embassy in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, wounding several of its guards. The Associated Press reports there is no visible damage to the building. A Saudi-alliance spokesman promises to investigate the accusations. (RT) (The Washington Post) (AP) (Reuters)
  • Saudi-led coalition airstrikes today reportedly hit the presidential palace and a mountain military base to the south of Sana’a, causing children and teachers in several schools to flee. There were no immediate reports of casualties. (Reuters)
• Militia occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
  • Tribal chair Charlotte Rodrique of the local Burns Paiute Tribe has joined in asking the occupiers to leave saying “The protesters have no claim to this land”. Charlotte further cites a treaty that was never ratified by the United States Congress giving ownership of the land to the tribe. (The Washington Post) via MSN)
• French police shoot dead a knife-wielding man, who was shouting “Allahu Akbar”, outside a police station in Goutte d’Or, located in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. A piece of paper with an Islamic State flag and claim for the attack written in Arabic was found on his body. The incident is noted for taking place on the anniversary of last year’s Charlie Hebdo shooting. (BBC)

Business and economy

• 2015–16 Chinese stock market crisis
  • Trade is suspended on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange for a second time in a week after share prices tumble following the devaluation of the yuan. (Business Insider)
  • The Chinese securities regulator introduces legislation limiting the sale of shares by shareholders. (Reuters)
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average declines by just under 400 points as a result of concerns over the Chinese economy. (Fox Business)

Disasters and accidents

• 2009–16 Oklahoma earthquake swarms
  • In the United States, a swarm of 30 (and counting) earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater struck Oklahoma from Wednesday evening through Thursday mid-afternoon. The biggest, a magnitude 4.8, happened yesterday at 10:27 p.m. CST, 32 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of Fairview, Oklahoma. (The Weather Channel)

International relations

• 2016 North Korean nuclear test
  • South Korea says it will resume cross-border propaganda broadcasts and limit entry to the Kaesong Industrial Region in response to yesterday’s nuclear test at the North’s Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site.North Korea considers the propaganda broadcasts to be “an act of war”. (The Guardian)
• Iran–Saudi Arabia relations
  • Iran bans imports of all products made in Saudi Arabia and reiterates that the ban on Iranians traveling to the Saudi holy city of Mecca remains in place.(Reuters via Haaretz) (news.com.au)

Law and crime

• The bodies of six people are found in a rural village in Guerrero state in southern Mexico. (La Prensasa)
• Scotland Yard confirms that they are investigating a triple murder in relation to the death of British actress Sian Blake and her two sons after the discovery of their dead bodies on Tuesday. (AAP via News Limited)

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