Top News Stories –

Progressive rock legend Emerson dies –
Keith Emerson, the co-founder and keyboardist of progressive rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died aged 71, according to his former band mates. “We regret to announce that Keith Emerson died last night at his home in Santa Monica, Los Angeles,” read a statement on the band’s Facebook page. Yorkshire-born Emerson was one of the top keyboardists of the prog rock era. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Santa Monica police confirmed to the BBC. His death was being investigated as a suicide, police added. [BBC]
Keith Emerson performs on his Hammond and Moog synthesizer during the Emerson & Lake Tour 2010.

Apple customer goes to the top for iPhone battery answer –
The head of Apple’s operating system iOS confirmed that open but unused apps do not affect iPhone battery life after a customer emailed boss Tim Cook. The customer from Ohio, known as Caleb, asked Mr Cook whether closing down “multitasking apps” improved battery life and whether it was something the chief executive did himself. Senior vice-president Craig Federighi replied “no and no”. However, other smartphone batteries can benefit from app closure. While many Apple users do shut down apps in the belief it extends the iPhone battery this is not advice explicitly given by the firm itself. It only recommends disabling apps from carrying out background refreshes in a list of tips about saving power. [BBC]

Rafael Benitez: Newcastle United appoint Spaniard as Steve McClaren’s successor –
Rafael Benitez has been named as Newcastle’s new manager, following the sacking of Steve McClaren. The former Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Valencia boss takes over with the Magpies a point from safety with 10 games left. The Spaniard, 55, has signed a three-year contract, which is understood to contain a break clause should Newcastle be relegated at the end of the season. “C’mon Toon Army. The club and I need your total involvement,” he said. [BBC]
Rafael Benitez

Video of the Day –

Drawcard from Antonio Oreña-Barlin on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Clubs Managed by Rafael Benitez [Wikipedia]

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
  • The Algerian Army kills three suspected Islamist militants near the eastern city of El Oued and seizes a large quantity of weapons, including six anti-aircraft missiles. (Reuters)
• Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
  • More than 50 people have died in fighting in the Yemeni city of Taiz. (Al-Arabiya)

Business and economics

• American veterans’ nonprofit charity The Wounded Warrior Project board of directors removes chief executive officer Steven Nardizzi and chief operation officer Al Giordano after an independent investigation confirms earlier news reports about lavish spending on employee perks, high overhead, and other perceived malfeasance. (The New York Times)
• Bangladesh Bank money laundering case
  • Bangladeshi bank officials say unknown hackers installed malware in the bank’s computer systems in last month’s attempt to steal nearly $1 billion from the central bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. (Reuters via Business Insider)
• General Motors acquires Cruise Automation, a three-year old software company that’s been testing self-driving cars on the streets of San Francisco. (AP via Business Insider)

Disasters and accidents

• Japan’s emperor and prime minister attend a memorial service marking the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in which 15,894 people died and caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Many people remain displaced and recovery efforts are ongoing. (The New York Times)
• At least 15 people are killed by flooding and mudslides in and around São Paulo, Brazil, following heavy rain. (Reuters via Channel News Asia)

International relations

• North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
  • Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea, orders the country to conduct more tests of nuclear weapons to improve its capacity. (Reuters via Daily Mail)
• South Sudanese Civil War
  • A new United Nations report on South Sudan describes one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world, in particular by Government forces, including use of rape as a widespread weapon of war and recommends the U.N. Security Council consider imposing a comprehensive arms embargo on South Sudan and referring the matter to the International Criminal Court. (Newsweek (AP viaThe Washington Post)
• The Arab League declares the Lebanon-based Shiite group Hezbollah a terrorist organization. (Reuters)
• Syrian peace process
  • The High Negotiations Committee, Syria’s main opposition group, will attend Monday’s U.N.-brokered peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, a day shy of the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict, and two-plus weeks into the ceasefire agreement. Although fighting continues, a significant drop in violence has been seen during the truce. The first round of Geneva talks collapsed on Feb. 3 during agovernment offensive against rebels in Aleppo. .(CBS News) (Reuters) (Deutsche Welle)
  • UN envoy Staffan de Mistura says new elections should be held 18 months from the start of talks, i.e., in September 2017. (AFP via Firstpost)

Politics and elections

• United States presidential election, 2016, Donald Trump presidential campaign endorsements, 2016
  • Retired American neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate Ben Carson formally endorses Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago landmark estate in Palm Beach, Florida. (Fox News)
  • Donald Trump postpones a rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago due to security issues amid fights between protestors and supporters. Five people are arrested, and two officers injured, according toChicago police. (AFP vis ABC News Australia) (CNN) (NBC News)
    • Rival Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Marco Rubio state Mr. Trump bears some responsibility for the disturbance. (Los Angeles Times)
    • Thirty-two people are arrested, all but one charged with general peace disturbance, at an earlier Trump event at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis, Missouri. (Chicago Tribune)
    • A Donald Trump supporter is charged with assault after social media videos show him sucker punching a protester at Wednesday’s campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina. [(The Washington Post) (The Christian Science Monitor)
  • Marco Rubio OK’s supporters voting for John Kasich in Ohio since the state’s former governor, “… is the only one who can beat Donald Trump in Ohio.” (The Washington Post) (Politico)

Science and technology

• A report by a team of Japanese scientists, published in the American Association for the Advancement of Science journal Science, has identified bacteria — isolated from outside a bottle recycling facility — that can break down and metabolize plastic. The microbe appears to have evolved a pair of enzymes it uses to break down polyethylene terephthalate or PET, the most common thermoplastic polymer resin in consumer products. (LiveScience via CBS News) (The Washington Post) (Science)
• Astronaut Scott Kelly announces his retirement from NASA effective April 1. Kelly holds the record for the American who has spent the most time in space. (NASA)
• A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine states climate science progress makes it possible to accurately detect global warming’s fingerprints on certain extreme weatherevents. There is “high confidence” in studies looking for climate change connections between extreme hot and cold temperatures, while efforts trying to attribute droughts and extreme rainfall has medium confidence. (AP via Business Insider) (USA Today via WLTX) (National Academies)

Sport

• Newcastle United F.C. (NUFC) appoint Rafael Benítez as manager on a three-year deal after sacking Steve McClaren. (The Telegraph)

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