• 2011–2012 Syrian uprising: 52 civilians are killed by Syrian security forces, 39 of which were killed in the city of Hama alone. (Naharnet)
• 2011–2012 Egyptian revolution: Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, lifts Egypt's state of emergency a day before the anniversary of the revolution. (Al Arabiya)
• In Libya, the town of Bani Walid, a former stronghold of Muammar Gaddafi, revolts against the National Transitional Council government. (Reuters)

• Nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards are announced (The Telegraph) (Academy Awards website).
• Andrew Miller's novel Pure wins the 2011 Costa Book of the Year Award. (The Guardian)

• Apple Inc. announces that the technology generated over $127 billion in revenue during 2011. Apple sold over 37 million iPhones and over 15 million iPads during the fourth quarter of 2011. (CNN)

• Floods in Mozambique cut off the country's main north-south motorway. (IOL)

• Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, who indicted the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998, is put on trial for supposedly overstepping his powers after he tried to investigate the disappearance of 114,000 people between 1936 and 1975 during the reign of Francisco Franco. (BBC)

• United States President Barack Obama presents his 2012 State of the Union Address to the United States Congress. (CNN)

• New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada retires from baseball after 17 seasons with the Yankees. Many consider him a possibility for the Hall of Fame. (MLB.com)