The Tom Tom is ringing in the new year with a new section of content: blogs. Starting today, we will release a blog post daily, with one theme per day of the week. Sunday’s theme will be a collection of the most important news an ACHS student can know that week. This includes school, local, national or world news; it doesn’t matter. When it comes down to it, if you read one article every week, this should be it: last week’s news Sequoits must know for this one.

1. NORTH KOREA CLAIMS TO TEST H-BOMB

A magnitude-5.1 earthquake was recorded in North Korea late Tuesday night, which was determined to be man-made. Experts doubt the North Koreans’ technology and think the explosion was more likely an atomic bomb. In response, South Korea has resumed sending anti-North Korean propaganda over the border.

2. BOTH BASKETBALL TEAMS IN MID-SEASON FORM

The girls’ basketball team continued their march to playoffs with a win this Saturday, beating Grant to improve to 17-1 and gain sole possession of first place in the conference. Meanwhile, the boys’ basketball team is preparing to host cross-town rivals Lakes this Tuesday at 7 p.m.

3. OREGON WILDLIFE REFUGE OCCUPIED BY ARMED PROTESTERS

Around 150 armed protesters are occupying the refuge to support two farmers who were sentenced to prison for arson charges. The Harney County Sheriff and the protesters met on both Thursday and Friday. The group claims that they will end their occupation soon and leave the country.

4. TENSIONS HEAT UP IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran fell apart after the Saudis executed a religious leader popular in Iran. A mob of Iranians raided the Saudi embassy in Tehran shortly after the execution. The countries have been tense for many years over religious and political differences, and the tension manifested when Saudi Arabia formally cut all diplomatic ties with Iran.

5. FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS IN FULL SWING

The wild-card round of the NFL playoffs was this weekend. On Saturday, Kansas City beat Houston and Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati. Seattle beat Minnesota on Sunday in the third-coldest game ever, and Green Bay defeated Washington the same day. The college season wraps up Monday night with the College Football National Championship between Clemson and Alabama.

6. TWITTER MAY REMOVE 140 CHARACTER LIMIT

CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted about the rumors of raising the limit to as much as 10,000 characters Tuesday. The 140 character limit has been around for nearly all of Twitter’s existence and is a defining feature of the social network.

7. ANTIOCH ACTORS HEAD TO THEATRE FEST

Members of the fall play Alice in Wonderland were at Illinois State University Thursday through Saturday. Students took classes in acting, costumes, musical, technical, writing and more. The department is preparing for two more productions this year: “And Then There Were None” in late February and “Footloose” in the spring.

8. EL CHAPO RECAPTURED

The infamous drug lord was recaptured after 6 months of running from Mexican authorities. He escaped from prison in a mile-long tunnel in July, making international headlines, and he will be sent to the United States for prosecution. A secret interview with actor Sean Penn led authorities to his capture.

9. PRESIDENT SPRINGS INTO ACTION

President Barack Obama began to promote gun safety laws with a speech on Tuesday and another interview on Thursday. He also used executive action to impose some laws immediately. On Friday, he vetoed a bill to end his signature healthcare law and reduce funding for Planned Parenthood.

10. MONEY MADNESS

The global economy is having one of the worst starts to a year ever. The Chinese economy plunged and oil prices are the lowest they have been since 2003. In the U.S., nobody won Powerball, leading up to a record-breaking $1.3 billion drawing on Wednesday.