January 2014 seems so long ago now and yet it still feels like yesterday to me. I remember New Year’s and spending about 4 hours at my neighbour’s house. January 2014 held the beginning of unrest in the Ukraine which, a year on, still hasn’t settled down. Simply speaking, the conflict broke down to pro-Russians versus pro-Europeans. Little else seemed to happen in January, the lead up to the Winter Olympics was predominantly focused on.

In February 2014, the Sochi Winter Olympics began. The world stopped to take a look at Russia, although there were still concerns about neighbouring Ukraine, where protests turn violent. After 65 years of never speaking to each other, officials from China and Taiwan held an official meeting. A report on the human rights abuses of North Korea was released; this shocked the world as the UN told the harrowing story of the citizens of North Korea. One of the world’s most wanted men, drug cartel kingpin Joaquin Guzman Loera was arrested.

In the third month of the year, President Putin and Russia sent troops into the Crimea, which was annexed. The Malaysian Airlines’ flight MH370 was lost forever and, although the investigation continues, the chances are slim of us ever finding the missing plane. Moreover, the 2014 Ebola outbreak began in March with patient zero; this was the biggest Ebola break out ever which even caused troops to be sent later on. North Korea held a public election in March, but they only had one candidate, fire was exchanged between the North and South later that month.

April saw the beginning of the trial of Paralympic Champion, Oscar Pistorius for Murder, he was eventually found guilty of “culpable homicide” and sentenced to five years in jail, although he could spend as little as 10 months there. Militant group Boko Haram (literally anti-western influence) kidnapped over 200 school girls in Nigeria, bringing international attention to the brutal Islamist group, responsible for approximately 2000 deaths this year – its leader has a bounty of £4.5 million on his head. ($7 million)

In May, tensions in the Ukraine drew to near breaking point, a referendum was held and a small area of the Ukraine elected to become part of Russia. A billionaire won the presidential elections in the Ukraine later that month. More Snowden documents were released and Ebay was hacked. The last major event of 2014 was a prisoner swap between the Taliban and the US.

A new Palestinian government was announced in June, which will include Hamas following ongoing conflict in the region. Despite a two year civil war, an election was held in Syria which re-elected Assad, although the results are strongly disputed. The terrorist group, ISIS, came to international attention in June, after ceasing Mosul, which it has controlled ever since. Pro-democracy protests began in Hong-Kong after an unofficial election.

The Glasgow Commonwealth Games began the following month, drawing international attention toward the entire nation. Other sports news included Germany winning the World Cup and Djokovic and Kvitova each took Wimbledon titles respectively. In less positive news, ISIS changed its name and declared many areas of Iraq under its control. Also, MH17 was shot down over the Ukraine as sanctions were placed on Russia by the EU.

In August, airstrikes on ISIS began; however in retaliation an American journalist was beheaded on camera, in the rest of 2014, 4 more journalists or aid workers from Britain or the US were beheaded in a similar manor. Tensions in the Ukraine continued building.

By September, instability had taken hold in Yemen; it was looking like a civil war was imminent. A cease-fire was agreed between government and rebel forces in the Ukraine that allowed people to have some peace from the constant fighting; this was, however, not a permanent solution. In Scotland, a referendum was held as to whether or not the country should be independent from the rest of Britain, although the vote was a “no”, this was still a significant moment in Scotland’s history.

Palestine was officially recognised by the British government in October, in a huge parliamentary majority. Air strikes were increased against ISIS by the US. But the main news of October was the terrorist attack in Ottawa, Canada. A lone gunman launched an attack on the army memorial and parliament in Canada leaving one dead.

A land mark agreement was made between China and the US about climate change in the eleventh month of 2014. A terrorist attack against a Synagogue in Jerusalem ended 5 lives and left many others injured. Protests broke out in Mexico as a result of gang violence. Perhaps most significantly, charges against former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who was arrested following the uprising during the Arab Spring. His security chief and many police officials also had their charges dropped for the deaths of hundreds of Egyptians.

Ongoing pro-democracy protests ended in Hong-Kong in December following months of unrest on the island. In Sydney, a Lindt Café was held up in a hostage situation by “Lone Wolf” Haron Monis, who took a gun and held 17 employees and customers for over 16 hours, eventually two people and Monis himself were killed. In Pakistan, a school was stormed by the Taliban and nearly 150 people were killed, international attention was drawn towards the biggest attack by the Pakistan Taliban ever. AirAsia flight QZ8501 went missing after huge storms.