December 13, 2016 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Botroseya Church bombing
- The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for the Egyptian Coptic Church bombing in Cairo that claimed 25 lives on 11 December. (IBT)
- Syrian Civil War
- Battle of Aleppo, Aleppo offensive (November–December 2016)
- The warring parties reach agreement on a ceasefire, now that the fighting has ended, to allow civilians and the remaining rebel fighters trapped in the besieged Syrian city to evacuate. Five buses will start moving to pick up passengers at 5:00 a.m. EET Wednesday (03:00 UTC). (NBC News) (Reuters)
- Battle of Aleppo, Aleppo offensive (November–December 2016)
Business and economy
- Google and Cuba forge a deal about better access to the Internet for the island. (The Guardian)
International relations
- Saudi Arabia–United States relations, Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- The United States is to limit military support to Saudi Arabia's military intervention in Yemen amid concerns over rising civilian casualties. (Reuters) (Huffington Post)
Law and crime
- November 2016 Jakarta protests
- Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) pleads not guilty to charges of blaspheming Islam during a September 27 campaign speech. Ahok is an ethnic Chinese Christian. (Reuters) (Time)
Politics and elections
- Muhammad V becomes the new monarch of Malaysia. (Malaysian Outlook)
- Presidential transition of Donald Trump
- President-elect Donald Trump formally announces ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his choice for United States Secretary of State. (BBC)
- President-elect Trump announces former Governor of Texas Rick Perry is his choice to be Secretary of Energy. (Chicago Tribune)
- President-elect Trump announces Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana is his choice to be United States Secretary of the Interior. (Fox News)
- Aftermath of the Gambian presidential election, 2016
- Gambian security forces take over the headquarters of the electoral commission as the current president, Yahya Jammeh, refuses to accept the recent election results. (BBC), (The New York Times)
- The president of ECOWAS, Marcel de Souza, says the West African bloc could send troops into The Gambia if Yahya Jammeh refuses to step down from power. (BBC)
Science and technology
- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirms a 19-meter wave (62.4 feet) recorded on 4 February 2013 in the Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and the United Kingdom is the largest ever on record. (WMO) (The Guardian)