Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war, Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020)
- The Syrian Army besieges the strategic rebel-held city of Ma'arrat al-Nu'man in the Idlib Governorate and cuts the M5 Highway between Ma'arrat al-Nu'man and Saraqib to the north. (Middle East Eye) (Reuters)
Arts and culture
- Albert II of Belgium acknowledges being Delphine Boël's biological father. (The Guardian)
Business and economy
- The World Bank delays its decision on granting a US$500 million loan to Tanzania, in response to pressure from activist groups over the country’s policy of banning pregnant students from attending state schools. (CNN)
- Brazil's antitrust authority ruled in favor of a pending acquisition of the commercial aviation division of Embraer S.A. by Boeing, without restrictions. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- 2020 United States Air Force E-11A crash
- A United States Air Force E-11A aircraft crashes and catches fire in Ghazni Province, eastern Afghanistan. All five people on board are killed. (BBC News) (Voice of America)
- 2020 Brazilian floods and mudslides
- Widespread flooding and landslides in Brazil cause 50 deaths and force thousands to evacuate their homes. (Fox News)
- Caspian Airlines Flight 6936
- A Caspian Airlines passenger airliner crash lands on a runway and skids onto a major highway in Mahshahr, Iran, leaving 2 injured. (Sky News)
- A fire destroys at least 35 houseboats moored along the Tennessee River in Scottsboro, Alabama, United States, killing eight people. (Sky News)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China
- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits Wuhan, the epicenter of the pandemic, to direct epidemic prevention. (Reuters)
- Six travelers from China are denied entry and turned away from Samoa following the island country's introduction of a ban on all travelers from China. They later arrive in Fiji, where they are quarantined with no symptoms. These strict regulations come after a measles outbreak ravaged Samoa last month. (RNZ)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
- Germany confirms its first case of novel coronavirus in the state of Bavaria. The infected man has been placed in an isolation ward and the risk of further infection is currently considered to be "low", according to the Bavarian Health Ministry. (Deutsche Welle)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China
Law and crime
- A court in Cairo, Egypt, sentences 37 people to prison terms, including eight to life imprisonment for supporting or joining Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant affiliate in the Sinai Province. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- Politics of Slovenia
- Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Šarec submits his resignation after losing the parliamentary support of The Left party in November and calls for snap elections. (Reuters)
- 2019–20 Lebanese protests
- The Lebanese government votes 49–13, with eight abstentions and the rest boycotting, to pass the government budget in the midst of escalating protests. The budget projects a deficit of six percent, with no new taxes and most of the cuts going to the state utility company Électricité du Liban. Economists criticize the bill for failing to address the issues that caused the protests. (Al Jazeera)