Māris Kučinskis Latvian parliament approves the new government of Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis following the resignation of Laimdota Straujuma in early December.
Foreign minister French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announces his resignation. President Francois Hollande says he will nominate Fabius to lead the country's Constitutional Council.
Parliament The Parliament of Australia considers the Turnbull Government's proposed legislation to legalize the growing of marijuana for medical use. The bill is expected to pass.
In 2016 Republican Party presidential candidate Carly Fiorina suspends her campaign following a disappointing finish in the New Hampshire primary.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie suspends his campaign for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States.
Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge The FBI, in armored vehicles, closes to within 50 yards (40 meters) of the last four anti-government militants occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Negotiations to end the standoff without violence continue.
North Korea North Korea reportedly executes Ri Yong-gil, Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army on charges of corruption, according to South Korean media.
Abingdon A shootout in Abingdon, Maryland results in the deaths of two Harford County Sheriff's Office deputies and the suspected gunman.
Rojava conflict Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blasts the United States over its support for Syrian Kurdish groups which Turkey considers to be terrorists.
European migrant crisis NATO, during a two-day meeting, considers request from Turkey and Greece to monitor migrant transit in the Aegean Sea and to combat human traffickers squeezing refugees onto unsafe boats.
2015–16 Zika virus epidemic China reports first case of Zika virus disease in a man who had traveled to Venezuela.
Indonesian Air Force An Indonesian Air Force plane on a routine training flight crashes into a house in the city of Malang in the East Java province, killing four people and injuring one.
Adair Turner Adair Turner former head of the U.K.'s Financial Services Authority, warns against the growth of peer-to-peer lending, telling the BBC that the practice will cause grave losses over the next five to ten years.
War in Donbass Four people are killed after a minibus hit a landmine near a Ukrainian military checkpoint in the Donetsk Oblast.
Syrian civil war The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reportedly take control of the Menagh Military Airbase in the northern Aleppo Governorate after Ahrar ash-Sham, Levant Front and Free Syrian Army fighters withdraw amid Russian airstrikes.
PKK rebellion (2015–present) At least two Turkish Army soldiers are killed in clashes with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) insurgents in the southeast Şırnak Province.
Boko Haram insurgency Two female suicide bombers kill more than 58 people at a camp for displaced people in Dikwa, Nigeria.