As we discuss in On The Dial today, 2014 has been a particularly grim year. So we thought we’d take a look back at some of the moments of the year.
Two separate air disasters dominated the headlines. Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing was lost on 8 March, leading to speculation about what brought the plane down. Theories ranged from terrorists to aliens, with the latest that the US Air Force shot the plane, with 239 people aboard. But families of those on the plane continue to hold out hope.
MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July, killing 298 people. A preliminary report found “a large number of high energy objects penetrated” the plane. The conflict in Ukraine has made investigations difficult – wreckage was mostly only removed last month.
The outbreak of 2014 was ebola – which has now killed more than 7,000 people, Time reports. The vast majority of the deaths have happened in West Africa – partly because of development in the region.
There have now been 10 cases in the US (six of whom were medically evacuated from other countries), but the Centre for Disease control is monitoring 1,400 possible cases. President Obama says the US must remain vigilant in the ebola fight even though there have been no recent domestic transmissions.
Here in New Zealand, the general election was obviously the story of the year – even if a million people didn’t think so. Back in about July, it seemed to be shaping up as the most boring election ever. But then Nicky Hager, Glen Greenwald and Eminem got involved. In the end though, the result was much as predicted.
READ: Take a trip down memory lane as Elle Hunt and Megan Whelan live blog election night.
Radio New Zealand’s top ten stories of the year:
- The Blood Moon
- Employment law changes
- 2014 general election results
- Phillip Smith tells why he fled New Zealand
- Zero-hour contracts
- PM backs child poverty advice
- Fisherman 'dragged away' by stingray
- Election Fact or Fiction
- NZ warned over goldmine legal action
- More from Phillip Smith
Phillip Smith, the convicted murdered and sex offender escaped the country, fled to Brazil, and was briefly missing, before being arrested, and sent back to prison.
Two policemen in the US escaped prison though – after grand juries decided not to indict the white officers responsible for the deaths of two unarmed black men, Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Thousands marched to protest police brutality, and #icantbreathe (a reference to the words of Eric Garner before his death) has become a catchphrase for race relations in the country.
Speaking of “going viral”, the Ice Bucket Challenge – a stunt featuring celebrities pouring buckets of water on themselves – raised millions of dollars (almost a hundred million, in fact) to fight ALS ( a neurodegenerative disease). But that gave rise to accusations of slacktivism – not to mention all that water being wasted.
The year’s best shade came from New Zealand’s own Lorde tweeting at her sassiest. In response to Diplo tweeting about Taylor Swift’s “booty” (he wanted to start a Kickstarter to get her one), Ella had this to say:
Ella also had this to say about another big 2014 moment, Kim Kardashian’s: #breaktheinternet Paper cover:
if anything i think she gets even more beautiful and sexy all the time like a fineass wine, and of course has every right to showcase that - but i think our two comments got lumped in and also maybe reporters don’t understand my breed of humour/worship. i am the biggest fan of jean-paul goude and of grace jones, as you know, and there’s no way i could support one and not the other you know?
She didn’t break the internet. But she did get Vanity Fair to call her ‘era-defining’. Close enough.