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Major events of 2014

Major life changing events of 2014

All the major international events of the outgoing year that have changed our life for good

Sochi Olympics and Crimea’s reunification with Russia, Ukrainian political crisis and the Malaysian Boeing crash in eastern Ukraine, the new cycle of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus disease… All the major life changing events we’ll remember the outgoing year by in this TASS sum-up.

Sochi Olympics & Paralympics

Crimea's reunification with Russia

Sanctions against Russia & Russia's retaliatory sanctions

Major accidents of 2014

Political crisis in Ukraine

Boeing 777 crash in Ukraine

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Dispute over Russia’s oil and gas export

Self-determination and independence referendums

Ebola virus outbreak

Fight against Islamic State

US protests over Ferguson shooting

Crimea's reunification with Russia

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11. They held a referendum on March 16, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deals March 18.

Ninety-one percent of polled Russian nationals backed Crimea’s entry into Russia as its constituent member, president of the Public Opinion Foundation told a news conference on Monday referring to the opinion poll carried out jointly with the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center (WCIOM) between March 14 and 16.

Crimean referendum in line with international law

In the Soviet Union, Crimea used to be part of Russia until 1954, when Nikita Khrushchev, the first secretary of the USSR’s Communist Party, transferred it to Ukraine's jurisdiction as a gift.

Work to integrate the Crimean Peninsula into Russia’s economic, financial, credit, legal, state power, military conscription and infrastructure systems is actively underway now that Crimea has joined the Russian Federation.

Despite Moscow’s repeated statements that the Crimean referendum on secession from Ukraine was in line with the international law and the UN Charter and in conformity with the precedent set by Kosovo’s secession from Serbia in 2008, the West and Kiev have refused to recognize the legality of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.

Putin signs law on Crimea's reunification with Russia

On March 21, Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed laws on reunification of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol with the Russian Federation. The solemn ceremony of signing took place in the Ekaterininsky reception hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace.

Putin has put his signature below the bill on ratification of the interstate treaty “On the admission of the Republic of Crimea into the Russian Federation and creation of new sub-federal entities” signed by the parties March 18. From this date, the Republic of Crimea is considered part of the Russian Federation.

In addition, the Russia leader has signed the federal constitutional law on Crimea’s accession to the Russian Federation and the creation of new sub-federal entities — the Republic of Crimea and city of federal importance Sevastopol.

The names of the new entities — the Republic of Crimea and city of federal importance Sevastopol — will be included in the Constitution’s article “On Federative Framework” (Part 1, Article 65 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).

First round of sancitons against Russia

On March 18, the European Union published a list of 21 sanctioned Russian and Crimean officials in retaliation for Russia's reunification with Crimea. Europe’s “black list” includes 8 Crimean leaders: Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov, parliamentary Speaker Vladimir Konstantinov, First Vice-Premier Rustam Temirgaliyev; Crimean Navy Commander Denis Berezovsky; Mayor of Sevastopol Alexei Chalyi; Security Service Chief Pyotr Zima; Yuri Zherebtsov, adviser to the speaker of the Crimean State Council (parliament); and Sergei Tsekov, the head of the Russian Community of Crimea.

The list also includes 13 Russians: Viktor Ozerov, the head of the Russian Federation Council Defense Committee; Vladimir Dzhabarov, the first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee for International Affairs; Andrei Klishas, the head of the Federation Council Committee for Constitutional Legislation; Nikolai Ryzhkov, a representative of Russia’s Belgorod region at the Federation Council; Evgeny Bushmin, the vice-speaker of the Russian Federation Council; Alexander Totoonov, a member of the Federation Council Committee for Science, Education, Culture and Information Policy; Oleg Panteleyev, the first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee for Regulation and Organisation of Parliamentary Activity; Sergei Mironov, the leader of A Just Russia party faction at the Russian State Duma of the Russian Federal Assembly; State Duma Vice-Speaker Sergei Zheleznyak; Leonid Slutsky, the head of the State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs.

Vice-Admiral Alexander Vitko, the Russian Black Sea Fleet commander; Commander of the Western Military District Anatoly Sidorov and Commander of the Southern Military District Alexander Galkin have also been blacklisted.

All officials on the sanctions list have been banned from entering the EU territory for six months. The European Union is also planning to freeze their bank accounts in European banks, if they have them. The EU Council considers the aforesaid officials to be personally responsible for actions aimed at undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

On March 19, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop announced Australia had imposed targeted financial sanctions and a ban for entrance to Australia for people who are playing the key role in determining Russian policy that threatens sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

These actions confirm Australia’s clear and unambiguous support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, said Bishop.

On March 20, the US joined the anti-Russian sanctions and published a blacklist of Russian officials banned from enetering the US and subjected to asset freezes.

Second round of sanctions vs Russia

In April, the EU expanded Russia’s blacklist for another 15 people, the EU Council reported. "EU Council adopted targeted measures against those responsible for the lack of reduction of tension in the east of Ukraine," the document says.

Thus, the total number of members of the European blacklist for Russia reached 48 people. The entry to EU for all of them banned until November, and their bank accounts will be frozen.

The United States soon announced new sanctions against Russia in relation to the events in Ukraine. According to the announcement of the press secretary of the White House, the new measures will affect 7officials, including two officials from the inner circle of Russian president, as well as 17 companies connected with the people of this circle. In addition, the US Department of Commerce imposes "additional restrictions" on 13 people from these companies. The US Department of Treasury said that the list includes presidential envoy to the Crimean region Oleg Belaventsev, CEO of Rostech Sergei Chemezov, Deputy prime-minister Dmitry Kozak, Federal Guard Service Eugene Murov, Chairman of the State Duma lower house committee for international affairs Alexei Pushkov, head of Rosheft Igor Sechin, the first deputy head of the presidential administration Vyacheslav Volodin.

Third round of anti-Russian sanctions

In July, the European Union imposed sanctions against Russia’s financial sector for 12 months, the Official Journal of the European Union said.

Five Russian banks fell under restrictions: Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Vneshekonombank (VEB) and Rosselkhozbank. The EU may revise it list of economic penalties after 3 months.

The European Union has also imposed restrictions on the access of Russian state-owned banks to the loan market; defense exports and deliveries of dual purpose hardware as well as oil extraction equipment.

However, the European Union has decided to exclude the “sisters” of Russian state-owned banks registered in the EU territory from sanctions. Restrictions on attraction of loans for more than 90 days will apply to the Russian parent companies and their “sisters” outside the EU, the Official Journal of the European Union said on Friday.

In September, the US government imposed new sanctions on Russia over the situation in Ukraine. The move will affect a leading Russian bank, strengthen current restrictive measures against Russian lending institutions and expand sanctions against Russia’s energy sector.

Targeted sanctions can also be applied to persons working in the Russian defense industry and related sectors, the ministry said. The new sanctions list includes Sberbank, Benk of Moscow, Gazprombank, Rosselkhozbank, Vnesheconombank, and VTB. Now they cannot borrow for a period of more than 30 days.

The Treasury has also blocked the assets of five defense enterprises and banned the export of goods, services and technologies for deep-water, Arctic and shale oil production projects carried out by Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Lukoil, Surgutneftegaz, and Rosneft. Rostec Corporation has also been affected and can now borrow for no longer than 30 days. The ministry said all current projects with Russian companies would be terminated by September 26 and threatened to impose new sanctions if the Russian government did not take steps towards de-escalation in Ukraine.

Russia's retaliatory sanctions

In August, the Russian government’s official web portal for legal information published a list of one-year sanctions introduced by Russia in regard to a number of foreign states banning import of agricultural, raw and food products.

The sanctions list contains names of products banned for import in Russia and directions for the Russian Federal Customs Service to oversee the implementation of the import embargo.

In response to Western sanctions, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to ban for one year the imports of agricultural, raw and food products from the countries, which imposed sanctions against Russia.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced that the Russian government imposed a one-year ban on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Australia, Canada, the European Union, the United States and Norway.

The list of the banned products includes cattle meat (fresh, chilled and refrigerated), pork (fresh, chilled and refrigerated), poultry meat and all poultry edible by-products, salted meat, pickled meat, dried meat, smoked meat, fish and shell fish, clams and other water invertebrates, milk and dairy products, vegetables, edible roots and tuber crops, fruits and nuts, sausage and analogous meat products, meat by-products or blood, as well as products made of them, ready-to-eat products including cheeses and cottage-cheese based on vegetable fats.

Major accidents of 2014

South Korea's Sewol ferry crash

South Korean Sewol passenger ferry with 6,825 tonage was travelling from the port of Incheon to the island of Jeju. The ship sank on April 16 to the south-west off the Korean peninsula with 476 people onboard. Most of the passengers, 325, were schoolchildren from the city of Ansan. The ferry captain, along with most of the crew, was among 174 survivors of the tragedy that claimed the lives of at least 304 people.

The investigation of the crash established that crew members, including the ship’s captain, were among the first to leave the ferry, and more passengers could have survived if the ship’s crew and rescuers had reacted timely.

On Sunday, April 27, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won resigned after the government response to the ferry crash had been harshly criticized and deemed insufficient.

A month after the tragedy, the captain and several other ship crew members were charged with murder. On December 11 the Sewol captain was sentenced to 36 years in prison, Yonhap news agency reported.

Following the disaster, National Assembly of the Korean Republic passed three bills on November 7, aimed at prevention of similar accidents.

Malaysia Boeing-777 disappearance

On March 8 Malaysian Airlines announced it had lost contacts with a Boeing 777-200 jet with 227 passengers and 12 crew members, nationals of 14 countries. The plane disappeared from radars about two hours after the take off from the Malaysian capital at 02:40 local time, when the plane was over the South China Sea some 120 nautical miles from the city of Kota Bharu.

The search operation started on an area of several hundreds of kilometers between the Chinese coast and the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean with participation of air and naval forces of 8 countries. Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and the USA sent 35 planes or 42 ships to the search operation area and expanded to some dozens of thousands square kilometers and 80 ships participating. China used 10 satellites in search operation.

On March 11 it was reported that massive wreckage that could do with the missing Boeing was discovered in the South China Sea near Vietnam’s shores. This and all further reports were dismissed later and did not lead to anything.

After the list of passengers was published, it turned out that two people, citizens of Iran, had got on the plane with stolen passports. The real owners of the passports, an Italian and an Austrian, reported that they had lost their documents in Thailand. However, Interpol doubted that these men could in anyway be part of the plane’s disappearance.

Experts came up with a version that both systems of communication with flight operation officers on missing Boeing 777-200 were consecutively switched off before the plane allegedly changed track, and that this could be done intentionally.

According to a version suggested by American experts in aviation safety, the airliner could continue flying during four or five hours after the communication was lost. However, Malaysian Defense Minister and acting Minister of Transport Hishammuddin Hussein dismissed these allegations.

Malaysian police was also investigating the possible complicity of Malaysian aircraft engineer who was onboard as a passenger to the disappearance of Boeing 777-200.

On March 24, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the missing liner was last captured on satellite images in the south-eastern part of the Indian Ocean west of the Australian city of Perth, and after analyzing the images, specialists came to the conclusion that the plane had crashed in this area.

Moscow metro tragedy

On July 15, a train derailed on Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line of the Moscow metro, killing 24 people and injuring more than 150. Twenty-two people died on the spot and another two passengers died in hospital.

July 22, Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced the dismissal of Ivan Besedin from the post of the Chief of Moscow subway. Besedin was succeeded by Dmitry Pegov, who headed the Rapid Transit Directorate, the subsidiary of Russian Railways JSC.

Upon the accident, the Main Investigating Directorate of Moscow filed a criminal case under article “Violation of safety rules and rules of exploitation of railway, air, sea and inland water transport and subway that caused by inadvertence the death of two or more people”.

Two suspects in the case were charged with violating safety regulations, a spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin said.

“The Investigative Committee charged chief track supervisor of the Moscow metro company Valery Bashkatov and his assistant Yuri Gordov with transport safety violations,” he said.

The investigators claim that Bashkatov and Gordov neglected their duties in supervising the installation of a track switch in the tunnel between the two metro stations — Park Pobedy and Slavyansky Boulevard — which brought about the train derailment.

The Moscow subway has paid about 11 million rubles ($316 thousand) to the people affected by the accident.

Presidential elections

Snap presidential elections took place in Ukraine May 25. Presidential nominee, business tycoon Petro Poroshenko, scored around 54% winning the elections.

The businessman expressed the core of his election campaign in a brief and catchy slogan “To live in a new fashion!”. “Drastic changes are needed both by the country in the whole and by each single citizen in particular,” the election agenda says. He pledged a “complete reload of the authorities”, in particular, parliamentary elections until the end of the current year, as well as decentralization of power at the local level.

In foreign policy, he prioritized the “political and diplomatic battle” for returning Crimea, preserving the territorial integrity of Ukraine, for which, he believes, the head of state “should hear the voice of every region of our composite country”. In the defense sector, Poroshenko suggested significant increase in expenditure on upgrading the armed forces. He regarded development of relations with the EU as an “additional guarantee of Ukraine’s security within the framework of the integral European security area”.

Self-procliamed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics

The eastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions held referendums on May 11, in which most voters supported independence from Ukraine. After the plebiscite, co-chairman of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin said the DPR asked Russia to adopt it as a constituent member.

Massive protests against the new Ukrainian authorities, who were propelled to power in Kiev amid riots during a coup in the country in February, erupted in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking southeastern territories after the secession of the Crimean Peninsula, which declared independence on March 11 and joined Russia on March 18 following a referendum.

Armed conflict in Ukraine's south-east

The southeastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions have been the scene of fierce clashes between troops loyal to Kiev and local militias as the Ukrainian armed forces have been conducting a military operation to regain control over the breakaway territories, which on May 11 proclaimed their independence at local referendums and now call themselves the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics.

Kiev's operation, conducted since mid-April, has employed armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation. Hundreds of civilians have lost their lives in it. Many buildings have been destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people have had to flee Ukraine’s war-torn southeast.

Contact Group on peace settlement in south-eastern Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested a plan to settle the crisis in Ukraine after a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko on September 3.

 

The plan suggested that all the armed groups in the south-east of Ukraine should stop the offensive operations, all Ukrainian security forces should be withdrawn from populated localities to a safe distance, international control should be established over the observance of the ceasefire accord, use of military aircraft against civilians should be stopped, the exchange of prisoners of war should be conducted on an equal basis, all humanitarian corridors should be opened and repair brigades sent to the region for the infrastructure restoration.

Putin's peace plan for Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that in order to stop the bloodshed and stabilize the situation in southeast Ukraine, the parties to the conflict should immediately agree on and coordinate the following steps:

  1. End active offensive operations by armed forces, armed units and militia groups in south-east Ukraine in the Donetsk and Luhansk areas.
  2. Withdraw Ukrainian armed forces units to a distance that would make it impossible to fire on populated areas using artillery and all types of multiple launch rocket systems.
  3. Allow for full and objective international monitoring of compliance with the ceasefire and monitoring of the situation in the safe zone created by the ceasefire.
  4. Exclude all use of military aircraft against civilians and populated areas in the conflict zone.
  5. Organize the exchange of individuals detained by force on an ‘all for all’ basis without any preconditions.
  6. Open humanitarian corridors for refugees and for delivering humanitarian cargoes to towns and populated areas in Donbass - Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
  7. Make it possible for repair brigades to come to damaged settlements in the Donbass region in order to repair and rebuild social facilities and life-supporting infrastructure and help the region to prepare for the winter.

Continue

A protocol on ceasefire and a 12-point peace plan have been signed at a meeting of the trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine on September 5 in Belarusian capital Minsk.

The group assembled former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko, head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky, Russian ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, and Heidi Tagliavini, representing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The contact group for Ukraine produced accord on three fundamental issues — the cessation of hostilities and troop withdrawal, exchange of prisoners of war and the delivery of humanitarian aide.

The ceasefire took effect the same day but reports said it has occasionally been violated.

On September 20 in Minsk, the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE adopted a memorandum outlining the parameters for the implementation of commitments on the ceasefire in Ukraine laid down in the Minsk Protocol of September 5. The document contains nine points, including in particular a ban on the use of all armaments and withdrawal of weapons with the calibres of over 100 millimetres to a distance of 15 kilometres from the contact line from each side. The OSCE was tasked with controlling the implementation of memorandum provisions.

In order to implement the Minsk agreements the conflicting parties declared the “silence regime” in Donbas on December 9. Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics stressed the need to withdraw heavy weaponry, to carry out prisoner swaps and demilitarise the region.

{infographics:7238:'Boeing 777 crash in Ukraine':'right':'50'}Boeing 777 crash in Ukraine

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777- 200 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on July 17. Connection with Flight MH17 plane was lost when the airliner was about 50km from the Russian-Ukrainian border. All 298 people onboard died in the crash. Most passengers — over 190 people — were Dutch nationals.

The site of the crash is situated in eastern Ukraine, the area of fierce hostilities between government armed forces and self-defense militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution saying it “condemns in the strongest terms the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on 17 July in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine resulting in the tragic loss of 298 lives” and “supports efforts to establish a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines.”

Many versions of what caused the tragedy have been voiced since July 17. The Dutch Safety Board  leading an investigation into the tragedy issued a preliminary report on September 9 saying “flight MH17 with a Boeing 777-200 operated by Malaysia Airlines broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside.” A final accident report is expected in August 2015.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly issued statements saying Moscow is not satisfied with the organization of the international investigation into the Boeing crash. The issues Russia is trying to draw attention to in particular include the fact that work to search for and gather fragments of the airliner at the crash site has started four months after the tragedy. The Foreign Ministry also says the investigation is not transparent enough.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

On July 8, 2014, the Israel Defense Forces announced the start of the operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip against Hamas militants.

The Israeli army has lost 64 soldiers over 28 days of its operation. Three Israeli civilians were killed in rocket attacks by Palestinian militants on Israel.

The Israeli aviation, navy and ground forces have destroyed over 4,700 targets in the Gaza Strip over 28 days of the military operation.

Over 1,800 Palestinians have been killed and another about 9,000 wounded in the Israeli army’s operation in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials said.

Another 400,000 Palestinians, or every fourth resident of the enclave, have had to leave their homes over the Israeli army’s continued operation in the Gaza Strip. A considerable part of Palestinians stayed at UN-sponsored schools in the Gaza Strip.

Ceasefire between Israel and Palestine

The initiative on the extended ceasefire between Israel and Palestine was put forward by Egypt. It was first backed by the Palestinian side and then - by the Israelis. The agreements took effect at the end of August.

The UN estimates that the latest wave of violence, which began eight weeks ago, has killed 2,101 Palestinians and 67 Israelis, in addition to forcing 475,000 Palestinians to seek refuge at UN facilities inside Gaza.

Since the beginning of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, the sides have several times tried to make “a humanitarian pause” in the hostilities. However, the ceasefire regime each time was either violated or clashes were resumed with new force upon its expiry.

Restoration of Gaza Strip

The United Nations reached a three-party agreement with Israel and Palestine in Ramallah on the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip after the armed conflict, United Nations special coordinator for Middle East peace Robert Serry told the United Nations Security Council on September 26.

He said this agreement will make it possible to carry out large-scale work to rehabilitate Gaza. Under the agreement, the Palestinian authorities will be playing a central role in these efforts, he said, adding that it was planned to involve private companies to restoration works in Gaza in a bid to improve the economic situation in the Palestinian enclave.

Deterioration of Israeli-Palestinian relations

Israeli-Palestinian relations grew sour after June 12, 2014, when three Jewish teenagers were abducted in the West Bank. Later the teenagers were found killed. Israel accused militants of the Palestinian militant Islamist group Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement), which controls the Gaza Strip, of committing the crime.

The operation to search for the teenagers continued for more than two weeks and was accompanied by searches, arrests of Palestinian activists and shellings of the Palestinian territory. 

On July 1, 2014, a 16-year-old resident of the East Jerusalem’s Palestinian Arab neighborhood of Shuafat was kidnapped and killed. Six ultra-right Jewish activists were arrested for the crime. The death of the Palestinian teenager caused riots among Palestinians.

On July 8, 2014, the Israel Defense Forces announced the start of the operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip against Hamas militants. The IDF made strikes on 50 targets in the Gaza Strip, most of which were launching platforms for rockets. Five Palestinians were killed and some 20 were wounded.

The immediate reason for the operation was that cities in southern Israel were massively shelled by Hamas military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. According to the Israeli army’s press service, on July 7, some 90 missiles were fired on Israel from the Gaza Strip. As of early July, 450 missiles had been fired since the start of 2014.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the IDF to prepare for a possible ground operation. Israel announced mobilization of 1,500 reservists and sent two army brigades to the border with Gaza.

Since the start of their activity on December 14, 1987, Hamas militants set a course for liberation of Israel-occupied Palestinian territories. The group has made a few dozen terrorist attacks against military and civilian facilities of Israel.

Hamas regularly shells Israel’s territory with homemade rockets. In response, Israel shells Gaza and holds military operations there to suppress militant activity and destroy Hamas’ military structure. According to Hamas, 1,365 Israelis died in 1987-2011 in terrorist attacks made by its militants.

Dispute over Russia’s oil and gas export

This year saw many changes in Russia’s hydrocarbon exports policy, including the major Russia-China deals, the dispute over Russian gas exports to Ukraine, the termination of the South Stream gas pipeline project and a new project of a gas pipeline to Turkey.

{infographics:7218:'Supplies of Russian natural gas to China':'right':'50'}Russia-China gas deals

A milestone event for Russia’s energy sector took place in May when gas giant Gazprom and China’s CNPC struck a major deal on gas supplies to China. The contract stipulates that 38 billion cubic meters of Russian gas will be annually supplied to China via the eastern route over a period of 30 years. The contract is worth over $400 billion. The deal between the two companies was signed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing in early November Russia’s Gazprom also signed a framework agreement on gas supplies to China via the western route. A proposed pipeline, known as the Altai route, is intended to carry gas from deposits in Western Siberia to North-Western China. Gas supplies to China via that route may reach 30 billion cubic meters a year. In 2015 the countries will sign at least three key documents on that project.

{article_slideshow:750086:'Yes or No? Scotland votes on independence':'right':'50'}Self-determination and independence referendums

On September 18 Scotland voted against independence from Great Britain. The question of the referendum was: "Should Scotland be an independent country?".

Over 3.5 million people took part in the vote, and over 2 million of them voted against independence.

British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to grant broader powers to Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland. He also noted that his government would fulfil its commitments to transfer new powers to the Scottish parliament in taxes, budget expenditures and social security.

Other self-determination surveys

Another survey of that kind took place in Spain’s Catalonia on November 9. Participants of the vote answered two questions: "Do you want Catalonia to become a State?" and "Do you want this State to be independent?".

About 2.25 million people took part in the survey. Over 80% of them voted for independence.

Ebola virus outbreak

The Ebola deadly virus outbreak started in Guinea in February spreading to the other countries in West Africa. The largest number of deaths was primarily reported in Guinea, where 363 people died and 495 were infected. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of August 13 the disease had left 1,145 people dead and 2,127 infected in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

On August 8 the WHO announced the spread of the Ebola virus is an international health emergency.

Spread of the disease

Spanish priest Miguel Pajare who contracted the disease in Liberia and was treated with an experimental US-manufactured drug died in Madrid on August 12, becoming the first victim in Europe. The Spanish nurse from Carlos III clinic who treated Pajare was diagnosed with Ebola later and died of the disease on September 25. 

Russian microbiology and epidemics experts arrived in Guinea, the country most hit by the Ebola virus, in mid-August to set up a mobile laboratory. West Africa's largest Ebola treatment center able to treat more than 100 patients per day opened in the capital of Liberia in late September, South African Press Association reported.

According to the WHO, by the end of September the number of the Ebola outbreak victims in West Africa has reached nearly 3,000 people.

The first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the US, Liberian citizen Thomas Eric Duncan, died on October 8, according to the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where Duncan was being treated. Duncan arrived in the United States on October 1 to visit his relatives.

Several dozen people who were in contact with him were under medical surveillance. Later, two healthcare workers who had contact with Duncan tested positive for the virus.

The first case of Ebola was confirmed in Mali in late October, making it the sixth West African country to be touched by the worst outbreak on record of the deadly haemorrhagic fever, Reuters reported.

The European Union provided €24.4 million for research to develop vaccine against Ebola, outgoing European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said after the first day of the EU summit on October 24. The research will be aimed at containing the epidemic and protecting medical personnel, first of all developing vaccine, he said.

In late October the World Bank Group announced an additional $100 million funding for the Ebola fight in West Africa.

The number of Ebola cases has exceeded 13,700 as of October 29, according to the WHO. The deadly virus had already killed more than 5,000 people by then, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra-Leone.

Russia allocated $20 million to combat the deadly Ebola virus disease, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at the meeting of the East Asia Summit in mid-November. It sent two An-124 planes with a field hospital and medical supplies onboard to Guinea's Conakry.

A team of 163 medics of China's National Liberation Army arrived in Liberia in late November to open an Ebola virus treatment center.

At that time an experimental vaccine against the Ebola virus disease passed first trials in the United States, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said.

As of November 27, the number of people killed by the Ebola virus has nearly reached 5,700 people, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.

“A total of 15 935 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) have been reported in six affected countries (Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Spain and the United States of America) and two previously affected countries (Nigeria and Senegal) up to the end of 23 November. There have been 5689 reported deaths,” the WHO’s report said. 

By the end of the year the Ebola virus death toll reached 7,565 people and the most serious situation is reported from Liberia, with 3,376 deaths and 7,830 cumulative cases. Liberia is followed by Sierra Leone (2,582 deaths and 9,004 cases) and Guinea (1,607 deaths and 2,597 cases).

Impact

In the middle of October the authorities of Morocco decided against holding Africa Cup of Nations biennial football championship that was scheduled to run between January 17 and February 8 2015, citing concerns over the outbreak of deadly Ebola virus in West Africa. Sports authorities of the South African Republic followed the steps of Morocco and also decided against hosting next year’s Africa Cup of Nations biennial football championship.

The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) voiced its support for a proposal made by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) that the international matches of national teams from countries in West Africa hit by deadly Ebola virus to be staged on neutral territories.

North Korean authorities announced a decision to close entry for foreign tourists in the wake of the spread of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) as of October 24.

The WHO, however, said they do not think it is necessary to impose a ban on international trips and trade with countries affected by the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, as it is likely to cause economic hardship, and could consequently increase the uncontrolled migration of people from affected countries, raising the risk of international spread of the virus.

The Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa is one the most serious problems to date, forcing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to boost its fight against this deadly disease, its President Peter Maurer said.

Charity efforts

A charity record of the song performed by the world pop-stars raised more than  £1 million ($1.5 million) for the fund to fight Ebola through preorders before the song was even available for download from the Internet, the organizer of the record, Bob Geldof, said.

The single was released the day before the 30th anniversary of the Band Aid campaign organized by Geldof to help the hungry in Ethiopia. The musicians recorded a new version of “Do They Know It's Christmas?” that the participants of Band Aid performed in 1984.

Former First Lady of France Carla Bruni announced she will record a French-language version of the Band Aid song to help fight Ebola in West Africa. Bruni was joined by several French stars in the effort to raise money for countering the spread of the deadly virus.

The virus

The Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever) was first reported in 1976 in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and got its name from the river near which the first outbreak occurred.

The WHO describes Ebola virus disease as “a severe, often fatal illness, with a case fatality rate of up to 90%.” Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

The infection is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people. People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. The incubation period is 2 to 21 days.

There is no known cure or vaccine for the disease. The only treatment offered is “supportive intensive care.” During an outbreak, those at higher risk of infection are health workers, family members and others in close contact with sick people and deceased patients.

Fight against Islamic State

In summer 2014 the situation in Syria and Iraq deteriorated due to increased activity of the Sunni militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) organization closely related to Al-Qaeda and local radical units. In early June ISIS militants established control over several regions in north Iraq, including the Nineveh province with its capital Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq. On June 11, extremists gained control over the city of Tikrit, the home town of the former president Saddam Hussein. Extremists also announced they planed to advance on Baghdad.

Following the announcement, the US sent aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush to the Persian Gulf. President Barack Obama notified Congress that 275 military servicemen were being deployed to Iraq “to provide support and security for US personnel and the US Embassy in Baghdad”, he also said that Washington was ready to conduct air strikes against militants in Iraq.

The organization was also active in Syria. According to the report of the Independent International Commission of inquiry on Syria on March 15-June 15 presented in the UN Human Rights Council, events in Syria where extremists and foreign groups financed from abroad were increasingly involved in military actions against the government forces pushed the entire Middle East to the brink of war.  

ISIS terrorists kidnapped many people, including 49 staff of Turkey’s Consulate General in Mosul and 31 Turkish drivers, as well as 40 Indian workers in the suburbs of the Iraqi city of Mosul, and 60 workers from the construction site in the Iraqi province of Salah-e-din. Among the kidnapped workers were citizens of Turkey, Nepal, Bangladesh and Turkmenistan.

Iraq’s air force carried out air strikes that killed 70 ISIS militants in Baghdad and in the Salah-e-din province on June 20. Iraq’s top commanders agreed on a plan to drive ISIS militants from the city of Mosul in the Nineveh province, the National Iraqi News Agency reported.

On June 21, ISIS militants seized the strategically important town of al-Qaim in the Anbar province that borders Syria.

On June 22, extremists seized three towns in the Anbar province – Ar Rutbah, Anah and Rawa. Iraqi forces left the area before the militants approached. Iraq's armed forces spokesman Qasim Ata later said it was a tactical retreat.

On June 23 the US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Iraq's capital Bagdad to meet Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and political leader of the country.

The ISIS extremists with the help of other radical Sunni groups seized one of the largest Iraqi navy bases and several oil fields on June 26.

Islamists established control over Ajil, located 30km to the east of Tikrit (130km to the north-east from Baghdad), with its three small oil fields. Iraqi media report that 28,000 barrels of oil are produced in these fields daily. The region of Ajil was initially controlled by the police, but after it became known that the extremists had seized several neighboring settlements, only local tribes were left to defend the place.

Saudi Arabia deployed 30,000 soldiers to the border with Iraq to protect the kingdom from potential terrorist threat.

The Syrian city of Kobani on the Turkish border has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters.

The Islamic State declares caliphate

On Sunday, June 29, right after Ramadan fasting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) announced it was establishing a caliphate on the territories it controled in Iraq and Syria. Christians must convert to Islam, leave or face execution. ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani said the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was proclaimed as caliph.

In its annual report the UN said that the Islamic State was recruiting children including those as young as 14 years of age. “Children fighting with ISIS are reportedly paid like adults (35,000 Syrian pounds, approximately $200) and undergo both weapons and jihadist indoctrination training,” the report said.

The Islamic State has been placed on top of the list of the world’s wealthiest terror networks by Forbes Israel.

The IS, which has seized key oil fields and refineries in both Syria and Iraq, has an estimated net worth $2 billion, leaving its rivals behind.

The extremist leaders decided to introduce their own currency – dinar – and mint coinage from pure gold and silver like in early Islam. New coins will be put into circulation in territories in Syria and Iraq under IS control, the Daily Mail reported.

The ambitious plans to create new currency are based, as mass media report, upon the revenues from sales of oil extracted from oilfields captured by the IS units, and also upon income from other criminal acts like racketeering, bank robberies and ransoms paid in cases of kidnapping.

The annual revenue from illegal oil sales only comprises about $ 2 million, according to experts. The oil prices in IS range from $25 to $50 per barrel and the extremists sell almost 30,000 barrels a day. A region between Syria and Iraq under IS control has become a black market for oil sales.

International efforts to fight the ISIS

American aviation started to bombard ISIS positions in Iraq on August 8, and on September 23 — in Syria. French, British, Australian, Belgian, Danish and Dutch air jets took part in military operations together with the US Air Forces, and joint military operations in Syria were carried out by the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan and Bahrein air forces.

US President Barack Obama in early August authorized “targeted airstrikes” on IS positions in Iraq to protect American personnel and help Iraqi forces. Obama also authorized the provision of humanitarian aid “to help save Iraqi civilians stranded on the mountain” without food and water.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on August 15 on the struggle with terrorists in Iraq and Syria, which imposed sanction on six persons connected with the activities of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra groups operating in these countries.

On August 16, the British government expanded its air surveillance mission in Iraq with Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft sent to Iraq in addition to Tornado bombers and Chinook military transport helicopters already deployed in Iraq.

The US President Barack Obama also authorized American intelligence services to conduct surveillance flights over Syria.

Security concerns broadened as the Islamic State on August 19 released a video titled "A Message to America", showing a purported beheading of the US journalist James Foley, who went missing in Syria in November 2012.

The United States has informed Syria’s Damascus on strikes at positions of Islamic State gunmen in Syria. Associated Press reported with reference to American officials that five Arabic states were also taking part in the air strikes on ISIS militants in Syria. These are Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Russia called airstrikes on the Islamic State terrorist bases in the Syrian territory inadmissible without consent of the Syrian government.

The United States and its allies have launched over 40 air strikes on positions of the Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq in the last three days, US military command reported on November 10.

According to the report, 23 three airstikes were carried out on military hardware and man power of the Islamic State movement, 10 of them in the area around the Syrian town of Kobani near the Turkish border where Kurdish fighters are involved in combat actions with the Islamists. Another 18 air strikes were launched on the IS positions in Iraq.

Royal Canadian Air Force, being part of the coalition mission against ISIS militants, destroyed its artillery section in Iraq, Canadian Ministry of National Defense reported on November 12. The airstrikes were conducted near Baiji, which is 200 km north of Baghdad.

Militants of the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) beheaded 15 Syrian soldiers together with captive American Peter Kassig, the Al-Watan newspaper reported in mid-November. Several pilots of the Syrian air force who had been taken prisoner on August were among the executed, the report says. The US aid worker Peter Kassig who was captured last year in Syria while on a private humanitarian mission became the third US citizen beheaded Islamic State terrorists.

Current situation

The Islamic State organization is currently turning into a key element of radical Islam in the Middle East and has a tendency towards further growth, Chief of the Russian General Staff General Valery Gerasimov said on December 10 at a meeting with military attaches of a number of countries.

According to him, the critical problem now is countering the organization’s activity. “According to our estimates, the Islamic State formations operating in Syria and Iraq now comprise up to 70,000 gunmen of various nationalities,” he said.

 

US protests over Ferguson shooting

Riots in St. Louis neighborhood Ferguson have broken out after a police officer had shot to death black teenager Michael Brown, 18, on August 9. City residents accused the authorities of excessive use of force. At multi-thousand protests which continue for more than a week, police had to use tear gas against demonstrators, and US National Guard units were brought in the city to help local police.

On August 19, police have shot to death a 23-year-old black man presumably threatening a law enforcer with a knife near Ferguson. The man died from sustained wounds at the scene. The incident has also becomethe focus of local media and public, because it had occurred near the St. Louis neighborhood.

No criminal charges against police officer

On November 25, hundreds of citizens have taken to the streets in the US city of Ferguson, Missouri, protesting against the grand jury decision to bring no criminal charges against Darren Wilson, a white police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed African-American teenager.

Demonstrators blocked several streets, shouting insults at police officers. They began throwing stones at police, setting cars on fire and breaking into the local shops.

Police used tear gas to disperse the rioters. Media reports say shots were heard in the city. US President Barack Obama called for calm in the wake of the grand jury’s announcement.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon announced a state of emergency that would allow the deployment of the National Guard troops. The FBI sent some 100 agents to help deal with the possible unrest.

Russia calls for setting up a special committee

Vice-Speaker of the Russian lower house and senior official of United Russia ruling party Sergei Neverov urged international organizations to set up a special committee which would assess actions that the US authorities had taken when breaking up riots in the US city of Ferguson, Missouri.

“Events in the state of Missouri showed that the United States has serious problems with racial discrimination,” the press service quoted Neverov as saying. Meanwhile, “the question is whether such a brutal suppression of protest actions was justified,” he said. “The world community should not stay aside,” Neverov said. “Moreover, the situation has emerged in a country which claims to set an example of democracy.”

In this regard, Neverov urged the UN Committee of Human Rights, NATO Parliamentary Assembly and European institutions to give assessment to the Missouri incident. “It is better to set up an international committee which would try to find whether the action taken by the authorities was lawful,” he added.

Russian Foreign Ministry's reaction

The unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, is a serious signal that the American society is split, Russia’s human rights ombudsman Konstantin Dolgov said on December 3. “What is happening in Ferguson and in a number of other US cities is an alarm bell,” the diplomat said. “This signals that the split in the American society and lines of tensions do not disappear but increase,” he added.

The diplomat said the issue of “racial discrimination” needs thorough consideration.

US authorities are demonstrating sham care for protesters in foreign countries but do not stop short of using force to crack down on internal protests, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexander Lukashevich said on November 26, commenting on riots in Ferguson, Missouri.

“The actions of the US authorities are leaving no doubt that they have placed their stake on the use of force against demonstrators protesting against police abuse and a clearly racist crime that was left unpunished. The National Guard units and military hardware have entered the city. Police are indiscriminately using special means, including tear gas, against the protesters,” Lukashevich said, adding that detentions and arrests had become common.