What's Going On Around The World Today

HERE ARE THE TOP STORIES

The U.S. military will open all combat roles to women, Defense Secretary Ash Carter has ordered.

The order was given Thursday to every branch of the military. “Everyone in uniform has to meet [military] standards, and everyone who meets those standards should have the full and equal opportunity to serve their country,” Carter said at a White House press conference announcing the change. He also outlined seven guidelines for implementing it.

The historic decision will open roughly 220,000 military jobs to women, though women have been in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 14 years, the New York Times reports.

Marine Corps Sergeant Megan Cavanaugh was in Iraq in 2007 as the first group of “Lionesses” — women Marines attached to a unit of infantry men whose job was primarily to search Iraqi women when males were not allowed, BuzzFeed News’ Ema O'Connor writes. At the time, she and other women weren’t able to receive the promotions that go along with receiving combat action ribbons. “Finally, women who are already in combat will now be there on paper too,” Cavanaugh said.

And a little extra.

The only branch of the military to seek an exemption from the order was the Marine Corps, which argued that it would affect “military readiness.” But Carter said “limiting the number of qualified military personnel based on gender is in fact what impedes readiness.”

U.S. President Barack Obama commended Carter for the decision, and assured the American people that this change would make the military “even stronger.”

WE’RE KEEPING AN EYE ON

“It’s really shocking, I’m still not over it.”

BuzzFeed News is continuing to follow updates on Wednesday’s shooting in San Bernardino, California, which killed 14 people and injured 21. Our reporter Adolfo Flores interviewed Rahemaan Ali, who attends the same mosque that Syed Rizwan Farook, one of two shooters, attended. Ali says he fears a backlash against the local Muslim community after the attack.

On Thursday, authorities released the names and ages of all 14 people who died in the shooting. Tributes for the victims –– who range in age from 26 to 60 –– have been pouring in. Here are some of their stories.

What’s next?

Authorities are still trying to determine the motives for the shooting. “It is possible this is terrorist-related, but we don’t know. It’s also possible this was workplace-related,” President Obama said Thursday.

Follow the latest developments on the shooting here. For all the latest news and stories, download the BuzzFeed News app for iOS and Android.

At least 16 people were killed in a firebomb attack at a Cairo nightclub and restaurant Friday morning.

The bomb was thrown into a basement eatery in the Agouza district after what may have been a dispute among the business’s employees, Egypt’s Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Three people were also injured. Police are still looking for two young men who are believed to have carried out the attack, the Associated Press reported.

And a little extra.

The restaurant, according to the Associated Press, “is not officially a nightclub but is among Egypt's small local eateries that skirt taboos around drinking” in the predominantly Muslim country.

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?

What is Donald Trump’s deal?

BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith wanted to know, so he asked Stanley Renshon, a practicing psychoanalyst who also has a Ph.D. in political science. “I think he actually, believe it or not, he has a need to be liked,” Renshon told Smith. “He wants to be liked, and it comes with a threat.”

But is Trump a narcissist? Renshon says that’s a “hollow and reductionist” label. “He appears to be a real American nationalist with an observable, if bombastic, love of his country,” he told Smith. “Obviously a love of country is inconsistent with real narcissism, where there is no room for love of anybody or anything but yourself.”

Quick things to know:

• Germany’s parliament has approved plans to join the fight against ISIS militants in Syria. (BuzzFeed News)

• The U.S. has charged 16 more FIFA officials with racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracies. (BuzzFeed News)

• Belgian authorities arrested two more Paris terror suspects, but fugitive Salah Abdeslam remains at large. (BuzzFeed News) And a Paris cafe where five people were fatally shot during the terrorist attacks on Nov. 13 has reopened its doors. (BuzzFeed News)

• Greece has asked for help from the European Union to secure its borders and care for migrants. (Reuters)

• Scott Weiland, the former singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, has died at age 48. (BuzzFeed News)

• The three Democratic U.S. presidential campaigns were challenged during a forum about the Black Lives Matter movement. (BuzzFeed News)

• A transgender student can change her clothes inside the girls locker rooms at a public school northwest of Chicago after the school district and U.S. Department of Education reached a settlement. (BuzzFeed News)

• Warner Bros. dropped an explosive new trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. And man, is it insane. (BuzzFeed)

• Coldplay will perform during the Super Bowl 50 halftime show on Feb. 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. (BuzzFeed News)

• And here are 15 artists Spotify thinks will be huge next year. (BuzzFeed News)

Do you know what happened in the news this week? Take the BuzzFeed News quiz!

Happy ~Flashback~ Friday

Meet Mike Allen. This dad from Utah says he’s embracing being a single parent by taking some serious ‘80s family photos for Christmas. Allen has been sharing custody of his two daughters, ages 7 and 6, since his divorce nearly three years ago, BuzzFeed News’ Stephanie McNeal writes. “I see people’s family pictures all the time and I just thought it would be fun to mix it up and do something different,” he said. Keep mixin’ it up, Mike!

This letter was edited and brought to you by Laura Davis, Brianna Sacks, Aaron Edwards, Brianne O’Brien, and Sam Kirkland. You can always reach us here.