• Battle of Mosul (2016–17)
  • Iraqi forces capture parts of Mosul University and several areas along the Tigris River from Islamic State militants. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)

• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announces it will cease operation in May after 146 years, due to lower attendance, higher operating costs and protests from animal rights activists. (CBS News - Baltimore)

• A Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet crashes at Hat Yai International Airport in Thailand while performing at a Children's Day air show, killing the pilot, who failed to eject. (RT)
• At least 21 people drown in a boat accident in the Ganges River in Patna, India. (News 18 India)
• An estimated 180,000 alpacas are dead due to frigid temperatures and drought in Peru. (Al Jazeera)

• A Syrian refugee is suing Facebook after the company failed to remove posts with his image that accuse him of being a terrorist. (Al Jazeera)
• German police detain two suspects with over 150kg of pyrotechnic explosives and an IED inscribed with a swastika and SS runes, stating the two may have a connection to a neo-Nazi terrorist group. (RT)
• Islamophobia in the United States
  • A suspected arsonist is arrested after a fire destroys a mosque in Bellevue, Washington. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

• Aftermath of the Gambian presidential election, 2016
  • President-elect Adama Barrow travels to the Malian capital of Bamako to meet with world leaders after yesterday's failed attempts at persuading incumbent president Yahya Jammeh to step down at the end of his term. (Al Jazeera)
• The Palestinian National Authority prepares to open an embassy in the Vatican City, just one day before a Palestinian peace conference in Paris. (Al Jazeera)
• The Turkish Parliament approves two constitutional amendments which expand the powers of the president to appoint new legislation and select the cabinet. (RT)

• The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations association football tournament begins in Gabon. (BBC)
• In U.S. college women's basketball, Connecticut defeats SMU 88–48 for the Huskies' 91st straight win, breaking the school's own record for the longest winning streak in NCAA Division I basketball history for either sex. (AP via ESPN)