Big news stories of 2014 around the world

1. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took over the world’s most important central bank in February 2006 and a little over two years later global financial markets went into meltdown.
2. The Black Sea resort city of Sochi in Russia will be swarming with thousands of super-fit, lycra-wearing athletes participating in the 22nd Winter Olympics. The huge sporting event has attracted a lot of attention in recent months, mostly for reasons Russian President Vladimir Putin would probably prefer had stayed out of the international spotlight.
3. 20 years have passed since the genocide in Rwanda, which was triggered by the shooting down of a plane carrying the country’s then President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, on April 6.
4. The world’s biggest democracy goes to the polls in the first half of 2014 to elect a new national government. Based on the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s strong showing in recent state elections, the Hindu nationalist party is looking more likely to defeat the ruling Indian National Congress.
5. The BJP candidate for the role of prime minister, Narendra Modi, is seen as more business-friendly than leaders of the current government, but is dogged by controversy over his role inthe 2002 anti-Muslim riots in the state of Gujarat
6. Football teams on the planet battle it out for the FIFA World Cup. Croatia will have the honor of kicking off the tournament against Brazil at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paolo on June 12.
7. Egypt is scheduled to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in the summer, completing a political transition plan unveiled by the military after it ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last July.
8. Countries around the world are preparing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, also known as the Great War, which began on July 28, 1914, after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife by a Serbian nationalist
9. Voters in Scotland will decide whether the nation will become independent or remain part of the United Kingdom in a referendum scheduled for Sept. 18. People will be asked to answer 'yes' or 'no' to the question “Should Scotland be an independent country.
10. Americans will have the chance to rearrange the chairs in the US Congress in the mid-term elections on Nov. 4.
11. While the disastrous roll out of the Obamacare website has hurt the Democrats in the polls, the federal government shutdown didn’t do the Republicans any favors either.
12. If a week is a long time in politics then 11 months is an eternity and a lot can change between now and election day
13. NATO plans to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, unless President Hamid Karzai signs a bilateral security agreement allowing some US troops to stay on the ground post-2014 to help Afghan forces with training and counter terrorism.
14. Coalition forces have been on Afghan soil for 12 years and there is little political appetite left among NATO members to keep any more boots on the ground than is absolutely necessary.