Stockholm University Stockholm University cuts its ties with the Confucius Institute citing concerns about foreign interference in academic freedom.
Barack Obama Barack Obama proposes a new program to waive tuition at community colleges in the United States for the first two years.
Jeddah In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, blogger Raif Badawi receives 50 lashes for "insulting Islam". This first punishment is part of a sentence of ten years' imprisonment and 1,000 lashes. He will receive 50 lashes a week for 19 more weeks.
New York City At a court in New York City, a US District Judge sentences the radical imam Abu Hamza al-Masri to a life sentence for terrorism offences in the United States.
Russia Russia lists transsexual and transgender individuals among those with "personality and behavioural disorders" who will be banned from obtaining driving licenses.
Prime Minister Former Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra appears to face impeachment charges over a failed rice subsidy scheme.
Interstate 94 A 193-vehicle pileup along a snowy Interstate 94 highway in Kalamazoo County, Michigan leaves one motorist dead and 20 injured. A fire among the vehicles which includes a chemical tanker and a truck loaded with fireworks further compounds the disaster. The debris and fire closes the expressway for over 14 hours. Exploding fireworks hit rescue workers injuring an additional three.
People's Republic of China The People's Republic of China plans to soon permit the online sale of prescription drugs.
Attack Refugees flee Nigeria's Borno State following the Boko Haram massacre in the town of Baga. 7,300 flee to neighbouring Chad while over 1,000 are trapped on the island of Kangala in Lake Chad. Nigeria's army vows to recapture the town, while Niger and Chad withdraw their forces from a transnational force tasked with combating militants.
''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting The concurrent standoff ends with Coulibaly dead as well as four hostages. Four additional hostages and two police officers require hospitalization. Boumeddiene remains at large.
A second hostage situation of unclear connection occurs at a Jewish market, Hypercacher, in the eastern Paris suburb of Vincennes. There are two suspected hostage takers, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, and Amedy Coulibaly, 32, who were previously suspected of shooting a policewoman dead earlier in the week. There are at least sixteen hostages.
The two suspect brothers take a hostage at a sign printing company, Création Tendance Découverte, in the French town of Dammartin-en-Goële.