1. A 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan on Tuesday night, killing at least 10 people, injuring 267 and leaving 58 more missing. Among those injured are nine Japanese and six mainland Chinese. The AP reports that rescuers are working to free people trapped inside several leaning residential buildings that shifted on their foundations due to soil liquefaction. One building was left leaning at a 45-degree angle; workers erected steal beams to prevent it from collapsing. (USNEWS)
2. While the opening ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics isn’t until Friday, the competition is already getting underway. Curling, ski jumping, freestyle skiing and figure skating events top the action for Thursday, Feb. 8 in PyeongChang. (NCM)
3.A Kennebunk High School theater director who acknowledged creating fake Facebook profiles to eavesdrop on parents’ discussions is out of a job. Superintendent Katie Hawes learned of Michael Herman’s actions after a parent realized he’d used his school email address to create a fake profile with a woman’s name and photo. Herman had offered to resign at the end of March to complete the winter musical production of “As You Like It.” But he announced his resignation on Wednesday morning, and Hawes announced he was leaving the production “effective immediately.” (WMTW)
4. A digital image of a little red lobster soon will be available as an “emoji” pictogram, iconic images used to lighten up or spice up electronic messages. The Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit governing body responsible for determining which emojis get added annually, announced in a blog post Wednesdaythat the lobster will be released this summer. The Unicode Emoji 11.0 set will include a total of 157 new emojis, including a woman superhero, a softball, a pirate flag and new hairstyles for the male and female emojis. (PH)
5. Dunkin’ Donuts announced Wednesday it will abandon its non-degradable foam cups from its stores worldwide within two years. They will be replaced with paper cups that are compliant with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Standard. The transition will eliminate nearly one billion foam coffee cups each year. (UPI)
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