Armed conflicts and attacks
Syrian Civil War
The Syrian Army takes control of the strategic Turkmen town of Rabia in Syria's Latakia Governorate. The town had been under rebel control since 2012. (AFP via Global Post)
Disasters and accidents
Heavy snowfall in western and central Japan leaves at least two people dead and over a hundred injured. Snowfall was also recorded for the first time in 155 years on Amami Ōshima, a subtropical island in Japan's southern Kagoshima Prefecture. (The Japan Times)
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes southwestern Alaska, leaving 10,000 in the Anchorage area without power and forcing the evacuation of several homes on the Kenai Peninsula. The National Weather Service reported that there was no tsunami following the earthquake. (USGS) (ABC) (The Los Angeles Times)