1. Scott Morrison not intimidated by Facebook's "bullying"

Facebook's decision to block Australian news pages, as well as a range of other government and business pages, has been described as "bullying" by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, adding that he would not be intimidated. "Facebook’s actions to unfriend Australia today, cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services, were as arrogant as they were disappointing," the PM said in a Facebook post.

2. QBE reports US$1.5 billion loss

QBE has announced a statutory net loss after tax of US$1.517 billion for 2020, down from a profit of $550 million in 2019. "The headline result includes a disappointing underwriting result, a significant reduction in investment income, impairment of goodwill and deferred tax assets in North America and charges related to rationalisation of legacy IT platforms and our real estate footprint," the company said.

3. Robinhood and Reddit testify in Congress

The CEOs of Robinhood and Reddit are among those testifying before the House Financial Services Committee today in a hearing titled "Virtual Hearing - Game Stopped? Who Wins and Loses When Short Sellers, Social Media, and Retail Investors Collide". GameStop shares closed down 11.43% to $40.69 today.

4. Lost NZ peacock reunited with owner

Wellington City Council in New Zealand has confirmed a peacock found wandering around the streets of the northern suburb of Newlands will be reunited with its owner after the council posted a photo and message of the bird on Twitter in an effort to find its owner.

5. S&P 500 and Nasdaq fall for third day straight

Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell on Thursday, for the third consecutive day of losses. The S&P moved down 17.36 points or 0.44% to 3,913.97 and the Nasdaq lost 100.14 points or 0.72% to 13,865.36. The Dow Jones also eased back from the previous day's record close, ending down 119.68 points or 0.38% to 31,493.34.