1. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says his country has not requested any foreign ground troops from any country and that such deployment would be considered an "act of aggression".
2. Russia’s president accuses Turkey of strengthening terrorists by an illegal oil trade with them while Moscow and Washington stress the need to close the Turkish border with Syria.
3. UK police officials say violent attacks on Muslims in London have tripled since the Paris attacks in mid November as Islamophobic attacks go on the rise in Europe.
4. Yemen’s Ansarullah fighters and their allied army units manage to capture a number of areas in the south of Saudi Arabia, killing and injuring dozens of foreign mercenaries.
5. The United States announces the indictment of 16 new, current or former soccer officials from Latin America in the massive FIFA corruption scandal.