2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Background
The final mass test session before the new season took place at the track over 19–21 March. On the first day, Daniel Abt (Hilmer Motorsport) set the fastest lap of the morning session with a time of 1 minute, 40.676 seconds which saw the session twice disrupted when Takuya Izawa (ART Grand Prix) stopped on track and Simon Trummer (Rapax) abandoned his car after hitting the turn ten kerb. Alexander Rossi (Caterham Racing) set the quickest lap of the day in the afternoon session with a 1 minute, 40.604 seconds lap.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Background
Rio Haryanto (Caterham Racing) recorded the fastest lap of the three days, a 1 minute, 39.129 seconds in the second day's morning session, and Daniël de Jong (MP Motorsport) paced the afternoon session with a time of 1 minute, 40.508 seconds. In the third (and final) day, Jon Lancaster (MP Motorsport) was the fastest driver in the morning session with a lap of 1 minute, 39.693 seconds, and Abt was quickest in the afternoon session with a time of one minute and 41.061 seconds.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Practice and qualifying
One 45-minute practice session was held on Friday before the two races. In the practice session, held in windy conditions and on a dusty track, Russian Time's Mitch Evans was fastest with a time of 1 minute, 42.062 seconds, six-hundredths of a second faster than ART Grand Prix's Stoffel Vandoorne in second. Raffaele Marciello of Racing Engineering, Abt, Stéphane Richelmi for DAMS, Haryanto. André Negrão of Arden International, Jolyon Palmer in the second DAMS car, Trummer and Conor Daly's Lazarus vehicle completed the top ten ahead of qualifying.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Practice and qualifying
Julián Leal understeered off the track and into turn eleven; he spun two corners later. Facu Regalia slid under braking and drove onto the turn thirteen run-off area, while Rossi locked his tyres and ran wide at turn eleven. With two minutes remaining, de Jong stopped on a run-off area leaving the first turn and practice ended early because of the limited amount of time available.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Practice and qualifying
Friday evening's qualifying session ran for 30-minutes. The drivers' fastest lap times determined the starting order for the first race. The pole position winner earned four points for the Drivers' and Teams' Championships. In contrast to previous years, qualifying was held at night, the first such occurrence in the GP2 Series. The track was less dusty than it had been in practice, and multiple drivers had pole position throughout the session. Palmer clinched his first pole position of the season and the second of his GP2 Series career with a time of 1 minute, 38.865 seconds.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Practice and qualifying
He flat spotted his first set of tyres and was aware the second set equipped would aid his challenge for pole position. Palmer was joined on the grid's front row by Vandoorne, who was temporarily investigated by the stewards for exceeding track limits at turn 13, but no action was taken. Abt took third having been unable to improve on his lap time. Richelmi improved towards the end of qualifying and was fourth. Haryanto took fifth ahead of sixth-placed Stefano Coletti. Early pace setter Evans fell to seventh as others went faster.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Practice and qualifying
In the closing minutes, Carlin's Felipe Nasr was on a fast lap and closed up to Johnny Cecotto Jr.'s slow Trident car on the racing line through the fourth corner and appeared to execute an sudden manoeuvre resulting in Nasr gesticulating to Cecotto. The stewards deemed Nasr at fault and he incurred a three-grid penalty. Hence, Marciello, Arthur Pic for Campos Racing and Lancaster were ninth and tenth. Leal was the fastest driver not to have received a penalty who was unable to qualify in the top ten. He was followed by Cecotto and Negrão in 13th and 14th.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Practice and qualifying
Rossi could not replicate his earlier form and was 15th. Kimiya Sato of Campos Racing in 16th, was closely followed by René Binder of Arden International and Daly. Regalia was 19th, Lazarus' Nathanaël Berthon was 20th and Trummer took 21st. He was followed by de Jong who lost control under braking on cold tyres late in the session. Izaka was 23rd followed by Rapax's Adrian Quaife-Hobbs. Trident's Axcil Jefferies, 25th, lost control of his car's rear while others got their tyres to their optimum temperature early on. Artem Markelov (Russian Time) started from the back of the grid after a spin on cold tyres. This was caused by him running over the turn one kerb. Markelov stalled his car and the session was red flagged to allow the marshals to move his car off the racing line.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races
The first race was held over 170 km (110 mi) or 60 minutes (which ever came first) and all drivers were required by regulations to make one pit stop. The first ten finishers scored points, with two given to the fastest lap holder. The grid for the second race was determined by the finishing order of the first but the first eight drivers were in reverse order of where they finished. It was run for 120 km (75 mi) or 45 minutes (which ever came first) and, in contrast to the first race, drivers were not required to make pit stops. The top eight finishers earned points towards their respective championships.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Feature race
The weather at the start of the first race on 5 April were dry and sunny with an air temperature of 27 °C (81 °F) and a track temperature at 52 °C (126 °F). All of the leaders started on the soft compound tyres. Tyre degradation was predicted to be a major factor in the event, and Pirelli believed that the hard compound tyre would last an entire race without issue, although most of the lower starting drivers using this tyre were highly anticipated to create traffic problems.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Feature race
Trummer stalled as the formation lap began and was required to start from the pit lane. When the race commenced at 13:10 Arabia Standard Time (UTC+3), Palmer spun his wheels and Vandoorne overtook him to lead the field into the first corner. Richelmi and Coletti passed Palmer and Abt to move into second and third places. Regalia battled for position on the first lap but sustained a broken front suspension from an impact with Cecotto after exiting turn four which forced Regalia to retire from the race early. Palmer fell to sixth and battled Nasr for the position. Evans overtook Haryanto for fourth place at the first turn at the start of the second lap.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Feature race
On the following lap, a large crash necessitated the deployment of the safety car. Jefferies defended his position from Sato on the straight linking turns three and four and Sato hit Jefferies's rear. Sato punted Jefferies into a collision with the wall at high speed. Jefferies's vehicle then slid across the tarmac at turn one and stopped in the gravel trap without collecting any other cars. Jefferies was unhurt. At the lap six restart, Vandoorne kept the lead but Richelmi, Coletti, Haryanto and Nasr elected to make pit stops for the mandatory change to the hard compound tyre.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Feature race
Evans and Palmer made their pit stops on the following lap, though Vandoorne committed himself to making track position pay off and extended his advantage to five seconds in front of Pic. Richelmi lost positions but his teammate Palmer moved back up the field and into third place. Nasr became disgruntled when Cecotto forced him to the side of the track battling for position. Vandoorne ceded first to Berthon at the end of lap nine when he made his pit stop and rejoined with a two-second advantage over Palmer.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Feature race
Haryanto passed Coletti for fourth place at the first corner. Sato took a ten-second stop-and-go penalty on lap 13 for his role in the lap three accident with Jeffries. Trummer use a battle between Binder and Izawa and passed the duo with the same pass in the opening corners for third place on the 14th lap. He passed Daly for second position two laps later. Bertbon entered the pit lane from the lead on lap 18 and narrowly avoided a collision with Trummer as he attempted to enter the pit lane.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Feature race
After leaving the pit lane, Berthon was affected by wheel nut problem that caused him to slow with a suspected loose wheel before returning to the pit lane. Leal was heavily delayed by Markelov allowing Palmer to pull away. Meanwhile, Trummer stayed on track and lost small amounts of his pace by pushing hard. Vandoorne reduced Trummer's lead to eight seconds by the time Trummer made his pit stop at the end of lap 30. He was followed by Coletti, Pic and Nasr with the late-stopping Quaife-Hobbs and Izama moving through the field courtesy of having newer soft compound tyres installed on their cars.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Feature race
Leal attacked Palmer and passed him by braking later on the inside at turn one for second position. Trummer emerged from the pit lane in tenth with two laps left and had the advantage of the newest set of soft compound tyres enabling him to pass Quaife-Hobbs, Nasr and Binder on the final lap and settle for seventh place. Vandoorne maintained the lead and crossed the start/finish line after 32 laps to take his maiden GP2 Series win on his debut. Leal finished second, 11⁄2 seconds behind and Palmer held off Coletti for third.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Feature race
Debutants Pic and Izawa finished in fifth and sixth places; the latter narrowly held off Trummer on the main straight. Nasr, Binder and Quaife-Hobbs made up positions eight through ten. De Jong, Daly, Abt, Evans and Markelov, Haryanto, Lancaster, Marciello, Richelmi, Negrão, Cecotto, Rossi and Berthon were the final classified finishers.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Sprint race
The second race on 6 April began at 14:15 local time. The weather at the start of the race was hot and sunny with an air temperature of 28 °C (82 °F) and a track temperature at 51 °C (124 °F). All drivers chose to begin on the hard compound tyres. Vandoorne's access cover above his car's pedals detached on an installation lap into turn four, prompting his mechanics to apply tape over it. Tyre preservation was key since temperatures for the sprint race were higher than the previous day's feature event.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Sprint race
For the second day running, it was not the pole sitter who led the field entering the first corner as Nasr spun his wheels and Trummer took the lead as Palmer moved into second. Leal moved from seventh to third, and Quaife-Hobbs settled into fourth position. Coletti stalled on the grid and drivers were forced to swerve to avoid hitting his stationary car. Coletti and Maricello's cars were pushed into the pit lane by mechanics to allow them to start. Vandoorne made a slow start and fell to eleventh. At the beginning of lap two, Trummer was unable to hold off Palmer who slipstreamed him on the main straight and lost the lead into the first turn.a


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Sprint race
Further down the field that same lap, Vandoorne passed his teammate Izawa before striking the rear of de Jong's car at turn four, damaging his front wing and slowing Vandoorne, who was forced into the sand by the faster Markelov before he could enter the pit lane for repairs and fell out of the top ten. Rossi sustained a puncture on the third lap and was required to make an unscheduled pit stop for soft compound tyres in an attempt to set the fastest lap.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Sprint race
Since no mandatory pit stops had to be made, Palmer still led though Trummer was less than a second behind him. Leal was close by despite raising concerns over suspected damage to his car. Evans passed de Jong for eighth place on lap six while Haryanto fell behind Izawa, Daly and Markelow by the 11th lap. By the halfway point, questions were raised about which drivers used their tyres too hard early on and who used their compounds economically with the view for an late attack. The primary action at this point was Abt and Berthon battling for 15th place and both drivers caught Marciello's lapped car. Daly retired on lap 15 after sustaining a possible puncture caused by driving over a turning vane from Binder's car ahead of him.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Sprint race
The first three runners were separated by less than two seconds with six laps left. Palmer and Leal received frequent reminders to preserve their tyres, while Trummer was informed over the radio that to have any hopes of winning the race he had to attack. Quaife-Hobbs slowed because his tyres had degraded enough to enable Nasr to close up to him. Their battle allowed Pic, Richelmi, Evans and Binder to close up causing jostling and minor contact between all six cars.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Sprint race
Nasr initially passed Quaife-Hobbs at the final corner on the 30th lap but Quaife-Hobbs reclaimed fourth place into the first turn. Nasr slipstreamed past Quaife-Hobbs on the outside into turn four. On the final lap, Richelmi overtook Pic at turn eight for fifth place while Pic and Markelov lost positions to Evans and Binder. Trummer was unable to overhaul Palmer who kept the lead for the rest of the race to achieve his fourth victory in the GP2 Series. Trummer followed eight-tenths of a second later in second for his first podium finish since the 2009 International Formula Master.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Races, Sprint race
Leal was a further six-tenths of a second behind in third, with Nasr fourth and Richelmi fifth. Quaife-Hobbs, Evans and Binder were in sixth to eighth. Pic, Markelov, de Jong, Izawa, Abt, Cecotto, Lancaster, Haryanto, Berthon, Negrão, Sato and Regalia, Vandoorne, Coletti, Marciello and Rossi were the last of the 25 classified finishers.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Post-race
The top three drivers of both races appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and in a later press conference. After the feature race, Vandoorne believed he could have probably run longer with the soft-compound tyres but chose to enter the pit lane to ensure he would keep the lead and felt his team made the correct decision, "We just wanted to be safe and keep the lead because we already had made two more laps than the others on the soft tyres."


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Post-race
Leal was delighted to finish second and did not believe he could have finished in the position because of where he started but his team noted his pace was strong throughout pre-season testing, "It’s great that we were able to replicate that and get here today.” He said his engineer told him to push for two laps gaining him positions and was not attempting to attack Palmer but passed him by conserving his tyres towards the end of the race. Third-place finisher Palmer spoke of his disappointment because he felt his team could have challenged for the victory but praised the strategy that moved him up the field. He admitted that work needed done on his starts but did not change his strategy after his slow getaway.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Post-race
When the sprint race had finished, Palmer said on the podium, "Yesterday was first to sixth in one lap and now it is sixth to first so it definitely made up for it and I am absolutely delighted. We had done a lot of homework on the start and the tyre degradation and I think we nailed them both. He described the race as "tough" and drove more conservatively with the knowledge he acculmated from the previous day's race and also made set-up and balance changes.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Post-race
Trummer said it felt "really good" to finish second and knew beforehand he would achieve a good result in the sprint race. He commented he did not defend too much against Palmer on the second lap because of his speed and was aware he had to conserve tyre life, adding, "But I was a bit wrong because he kept this strong pace all race long. Even at the end of the race I thought he would struggle more but he didn’t. It was really hard to attack him. That was a great race. I had a great pace and I’m happy with P2." Third-place finisher Leal spoke of an "unbelievable" start of the season for himself and his team but focused attention on the following event.


2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round, Post-race
Following this, the first round of the season, Palmer led the Drivers' Championship with 38 points, ten ahead of second-placed Leal. Vandoorne was in third on 25 points, with Trummer a further seven points behind in fourth, and Nasr was fifth with 12 points. DAMS assumed the lead of the Teams' Championship with 44 points; Carlin was close behind in second with 40 points. ART Grand Prix was in third place on 33 points with Rapax ten points behind in fourth place. Racing Engineering were in fifth on 12 points with ten rounds left in the season.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix
The 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally the 2014 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 6 April at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the third round of the 2014 Formula One World Championship, the 900th Formula One World Championship event, and the eleventh running of the race. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the 57-lap race starting from second position. His teammate Nico Rosberg finished second and Force India driver Sergio Pérez came in third. It was Hamilton's second victory of the season, his first in Bahrain, and the 24th of his Formula One career.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix
Hamilton accelerated faster than Rosberg off the line and overtook him at the first corner. Both Mercedes drivers pulled away from the rest of the field and Rosberg conserved fuel which allowed him to attack Hamilton before the first round of pit stops on lap 19 with his teammate successfully defending the lead. He extended his advantage over Rosberg over the next 22 laps before an incident between Pastor Maldonado and Esteban Gutiérrez caused the safety car to be deployed and his lead was reduced to nothing. Following instructions to bring the cars safely to the finish, Rosberg immediately battled Hamilton for first place, but was unable to get ahead of him and Hamilton maintained a steady advantage when his teammate's soft compound tyres were worn out to win the race.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix
The result reduced Rosberg's lead over Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship to 11 points. Nico Hülkenberg moved from sixth to third after finishing in fifth place, while Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button fell one place each to round out the top five. Mercedes increased their advantage in the Constructors' Championship to be 68 points ahead of second-placed Force India who moved from fifth to second because of their strong result. McLaren were third with Red Bull and Ferrari in positions fourth and fifth with 16 races left in the season.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Background
The 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix was the third of 19 scheduled rounds of the 2014 Formula One World Championship, the eleventh running of the event, as well as the 900th Formula One World Championship race. It was held on 6 April 2014 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought two types of tyre to the race: two dry compounds (soft "options" and medium "primes"). The drag reduction system (DRS) had two activation zones for the race: one was on the straight between turns 10 and 11, and the second was on the start/finish straight from the final to the first corners.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Background
Going into the race, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg led the Drivers' Championship with 43 points, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton in second, and Fernando Alonso in third place. Jenson Button was fourth on 23 points, three ahead of his McLaren teammate Kevin Magnussen in fifth. Mercedes were leading the Constructors' Championship with 68 points,  McLaren were in second on 43 points. Ferrari were third on 30 points, while Williams (20 points) and Force India (19) contended for fourth place.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Background
With the potential of a title challenge between the two Mercedes drivers, Hamilton felt their relationship would be unaffected by the race, noting that the two had a healthy working association. Rosberg said that he recognised that his relationship with Hamilton could change as the season progressed, noting that the two drivers had battled for a championship when they were competing in go-karts. He was confident they would work through the circumstances.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Background
Hamilton aimed to secure his first victory at the circuit, while Rosberg stated that he enjoyed racing at the track and hoped to continue his recent momentum in the race. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner felt the power advantage of both Mercedes cars would possibly be greater because of the Bahrain International Circuit being a "power-dominated" track. He believed the country's hot climate would affect his team's chances, but said they would attempt to make progress during the race weekend.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Background
In January 2014, an alliance of Bahraini human rights organisations including the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) and the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights wrote to Jean Todt, the president of the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), requesting that the Bahrain Grand Prix be suspended until the FIA's Ethics Committee could investigate the impact the race has on human rights in Bahrain. According to the BCHR no response was received from the FIA. Reports from the race meeting indicated that thousands of people attended a rally held on the Friday before the race itself outside the Bahraini capital of Manama protesting against the Grand Prix and the government. Clashes between protesters and police took place following the demonstration.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Background
In October 2013, it was revealed by former McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh that the race would occur between the early part of the evening and nightfall saying he had observed plans for the idea. This was confirmed by the race organisers one month later as part of an effort to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the event's first running. Its floodlighting system was tested at the 2013 6 Hours of Bahrain.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Background
Following the success of the trial, it was later confirmed on 5 April by the chairperson of the Bahrain International Circuit, Zayed Al Zayani, that the Bahrain Grand Prix would remain a night race for future seasons. Sunday is a work day in Bahrain so scheduling the race in the evening resulted in sharply higher ticket sales. That, along with the investment in lighting, made it certain that all Grand Prix races in Bahrain would be evening events.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Background
There were a total of 11 teams (each representing a different constructor) each fielded two race drivers for the event. Three drivers made their first appearances of the season in a Formula One car during the first practice session. Felipe Nasr drove in place of Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, the Sauber of Esteban Gutiérrez was taken over by Giedo van der Garde, and Robin Frijns utilised Kamui Kobayashi's Caterham.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Practice
Three practice sessions—two on Friday and a third on Saturday—were held before the Sunday race. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions lasted ninety minutes each; the third, one-hour session was held on Saturday morning. Hamilton was fastest in the first practice session with a lap of 1 minute and 37.502 seconds; Rosberg, Alonso, Nico Hülkenberg, Button, Kimi Räikkönen, Magnussen, Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Pérez and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the session's top ten drivers. In the second practice session, held in cooler weather, Hamilton recorded the day's fastest lap of 1 minute and 34.325 seconds, with teammate Rosberg in second.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Practice
Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, Felipe Massa, Vettel, Magnussen, Pérez and Bottas followed in the top ten. Pastor Maldonado damaged his car after his car went airborne from contact with the turn four exit kerbs, and Max Chilton lost control of his Marussia braking for the same corner because of a front-left brake disc failure. Pérez swerved to avoid hitting Rosberg who slowed in the 13th and 14th turns. The stewards reprimanded Rosberg, while Gutiérrez was not penalised for impeding Massa in the same area. The turn four kerb was removed by course officials following complaints from several drivers.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Practice
The FIA's race director Charlie Whiting wrote to all teams warning that the track limits would be strictly enforced in the event any driver was shown to gain an advantage by going over this area. Several cars ran wide at the entry of turn 11 during the second session because of a breezy tail wind on the backstraight. Hamilton set the fastest lap with a time of 1 minute and 35.324 seconds, ahead of Rosberg, Pérez. Bottas, Massa, Button, Alonso, Hülkenberg, Kvyat and Räikkönen. Vettel missed the session's final 20 minutes because he spun at the second turn's exit and beached his car in the corner's gravel trap.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Qualifying
Saturday evening's qualifying session was divided into three parts. The first part ran for 18 minutes, eliminating cars that finished 17th or below. The 107% rule was in effect, requiring drivers to reach a time within 107 per cent of the quickest lap to qualify. The second session lasted 15 minutes, eliminating cars that finished 11th to 16th. The final session lasted 12 minutes and determined pole position to tenth.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Qualifying
Cars who progressed to the final session were not allowed to change tyres for the race's start, using the tyres with which they set their quickest lap times in the second session. It was the first dry qualifying session of the season, and the track temperature cooled gradually as it progressed. Rosberg set the fastest times in the second and third sessions to clinch his first pole position of the season, the fifth of his career, and his second in Bahrain, with a time of 1 minute and 33.185 seconds.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Qualifying
He was joined on the grid's front row by Hamilton, who locked his brakes going into the first turn on his final timed lap, flat-spotting his tyres and abandoning his attempt. Ricciardo qualified in third, but took a ten-place grid penalty for an unsafe pit stop release at the season's previous round in Malaysia. Hence, Bottas inherited the position and Pérez took fourth. Räikkönen felt uncomfortable with his Ferrari and medium compound tyre issues restricted him to fifth. Button—in his 250th Grand Prix— took sixth while an oversteer left Massa in seventh. Magnussen and Alonso were eighth and ninth respectively. Vettel rounded out the top ten qualifiers due to a lack of track running following his final practice session spin, and a downshifting issue.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Qualifying
Hülkenberg was the fastest driver not advancing into the final session; he went wide at the turn eleven exit kerb which cost him time. Kvyat's fastest time was achieved in the track's first sector which qualified him 12th. After Ricciardo's penalty was applied, Kvyat was separated by teammate Jean-Éric Vergne who made an engine adjustment after feeling he was low on power. Gutiérrez took 15th ahead of the two Lotus cars of Romain Grosjean and Maldonado who both struggled for pace.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Qualifying
Adrian Sutil failed to advance beyond the first session due to slower cars causing him to abort his final timed lap. However, he incurred a five-place grid penalty after he was deemed by the stewards to have forced Grosjean wide between turns 13 and 14 and two penalty points on his super licence and started from the back of the field. Kobayashi and Jules Bianchi started from 18th and 19th; Kobayashi did one timed lap on the soft compound tyres before entering the pit lane and rejoined the track with three minutes remaining for one further lap.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Qualifying
Bianchi lost three-tenths of a second on the straights which he felt prevented him from qualifying ahead of Kobayashi. Marcus Ericsson used a new set of soft compound tyres but brake locking and an energy recovery system issue slowed him. He made a pit stop for a new set of soft compound tyres and qualified in 20th, ahead of teammate Max Chilton in 21st.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Qualifying, Qualifying classification
The fastest lap in each of the three sessions is denoted in bold.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
The race began at 18:00 Arabia Standard Time (UTC+03:00). The weather at the start was dry and hot with the air temperature between 23 to 26 °C (73 to 79 °F) and a track temperature ranging from 26 to 30 °C (79 to 86 °F). The cooler temperatures reduced the advantage of the medium compound tyres over the soft compound to less than the two seconds observed during daylight conditions. Approximately 38,140 people attended the event.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
When the race started, Hamilton accelerated faster than teammate Rosberg off the line, moving ahead of him by using the space between the pit wall heading into the first corner. Hamilton oversteered after leaving turn three and moved to the outside of the track. Rosberg attempted to retake the lead by going around the outside at the fourth turn, but Hamilton defended the position. Alonso overtook teammate Raikkönen around the inside at the first turn and then made contact with Magnussen. Alonso continued with minor bodywork damage. Vergne was squeezed by Maldonado at the turn eight entry and attempted to pass him. Maldonado drove defensively and both made contact. Vergne had a punctured right-rear tyre, along with rear wing and floor damage, and drove to the pit lane for repairs.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Massa made the best start of the field, moving from seventh to third by the end of the first lap, while Vergne lost eight positions over the same distance because of the Maldonado collision. At the end of the first lap, Hamilton led Rosberg by one second followed by: Massa, Pérez, Bottas, Button, Alonso, Hülkenberg, Räikkönen and Vettel. Having been unsuccessful in his attempts to retake the lead, Rosberg started to conserve fuel to prepare for an attack later in the race. Both he and Hamilton pulled away from the rest of the field.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Hülkenberg passed Alonso by braking later than him at the first turn on lap four to move into seventh. The Williams cars were harder on their tyres than the surrounding cars, and third-placed Massa came under pressure from Pérez while Button closed the gap to Bottas. Ricciardo went to the outside of Magnussen on the ninth lap and overtook him for eleventh driving into turn one. Ricciardo went off onto the corner's run-off area onto the exit kerbs, and defended his position from Kvyat who went to the inside of him going into turn four. Button battled Bottas around the inside heading towards the first turn on the following lap. The two drivers drove alongside each other through the following corner until Button moved in front of Bottas.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Ricciardo caught up to Magnussen while Hülkenberg overtook Bottas for seventh position shortly afterwards. Ricciardo moved to the outside of Magnuseen on the backstraight and passed him after the McLaren slid while defending eleventh place on lap eleven. Pérez attacked Massa going into the fourth turn and overtook him for third place on the next lap through turns five and six. Massa attempted to reclaim the position driving into the turn seven hairpin, but locked his tyres and temporarily bowed out of the battle.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Both Williams cars – as well as both Ferrari drivers – had to change from a two-stop to a three-stop strategy as a result of high tyre wear. Magnussen also converted to a three-stop strategy due to high tyre wear, but teammate Button was able to conserve his tyres well enough to continue with doing just two stops. Sutil and Bianchi twice impacted each other at the first turn with the second collision causing Sutil to stop at the corner with a puncture, and debris was littered on the track. Bianchi's right-rear tyre was punctured and he went to the pit lane for a replacement wheel, but his car's floor was damaged, causing a loss in downforce which meant he had difficulty driving his car for the remainder of the race.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Vettel's DRS stopped working and he was quickly caught by teammate Ricciardo by the 15th lap. Ricciardo told his team by radio that the two cars were losing time and Red Bull ordered Vettel to cede sixth place to Ricciardo which he did immediately. Hülkenberg made a pit stop on the same lap and overtook Räikkonen and Kvyat on his out-lap shortly afterwards. Having saved more fuel, Rosberg had more horsepower available for an attack. After using DRS down the pit straight he managed to briefly get past Hamilton by out-braking on the inside into turn one.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
However, Rosberg's late braking forced him slightly wide, and Hamilton switched to the inside to immediately retake the position from Rosberg. On the following lap, Rosberg attempted the same move into the first turn again, and this time managed to stay ahead through the turn. However, Hamilton managed to come back at his teammate to claim the inside for turn two, with the two coming perilously close to contact as Hamilton cut across to retake first from Rosberg.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
This overtake was critical because as the lead Mercedes car, it meant that Hamilton was called into the pit lane first – diving into the pit lane at the end of the lap to be fitted with the soft compound tyre – while Rosberg would make a pit stop on lap 21 and take on the harder medium tyre.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Ricciardo and Button made pit stops on lap 20 while Bianchi was issued with a drive-through penalty because he was judged to have caused the incident between himself and Sutil. Button caught Räikkönen and used DRS to overtake him heading into the first corner. Sutil retired his Sauber after several slow laps on the track allowed him to gain more track experience. Vettel moved in front of Räikkönen by going around the inside without using the DRS system between the fourth and fifth turns, while Massa defended third position from teammate Bottas at the first turn.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Three laps later, Massa came under pressure from Hülkenberg who attacked Massa by going around the inside heading towards the fourth turn and moved out of his slipstream, but Massa defended the place. Pérez took advantage to attack before entering turn five and moved in front of Hülkenberg. Ricciardo locked his tyres going into turn one and narrowly avoided impacting Räikkönen, but caught him on the backstraight. Bottas quickly caught the battle between Räikkönen and Ricciardo. He passed Ricciardo around the outside at turn one on the 30th lap and swerved left off onto a run-off area to avoid striking Räikkönen. Ricciardo retook the position.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Hamilton created a gap on the faster tyre over the next phase of the race and by lap 32 he was 8.5 seconds ahead of Rosberg. Ricciardo was able to pass Räikkönen and Bottas attempted to move in front of Räikkönen going into the downhill turn eight and passed him on the backstraight. Bottas closed up to Ricciardo while Massa passed Räikkönen on the backstraight for ninth. Pérez made a pit stop on lap 35 and rejoined behind Alonso before immediately passing Alonso. Ricciardo lost seventh position when Massa passed him.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Ericsson pulled over to the side of the track to retire with an oil leak which followed a loss of engine power on the 37th lap. Ricciardo overtook Räikkönen around the outside on the following lap and moved in front of Magnuseen shortly afterwards. Hamilton was around 10 seconds ahead of Rosberg with 17 laps remaining.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
However, with the soft compound tyre estimated to be as much as a second a lap faster than the medium compound, Rosberg still had a very good chance of catching up to his teammate in the remaining laps, as they were scheduled to be put on the opposite tyres for the final stint – Hamilton on medium tyres and Rosberg on the soft compound option.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
After rejoining the track following a pit stop on lap 41, Maldonado was unable to react to Gutiérrez steering right into the first corner and hit his right-rear corner. Gutiérrez rolled over twice in the air before landing upright on the track. The ensuing debris resulted in the deployment of the safety car. Gutiérrez remained in his car for some time before climbing out to be transported to the local hospital for examination. Magnussen retired with clutch problems on the 42nd lap.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Both Mercedes drivers made pit stops during the safety car period, but its deployment meant Hamilton's lead of over 10 seconds over Rosberg was reduced to nothing. With no gap between them, Hamilton would be at a big disadvantage on medium tyres that were estimated to be around a second a lap slower as the two Mercedes cars scrapped for the lead. As the safety car circulated, the team's technical director Paddy Lowe spoke to both Mercedes drivers on the radio to remind them that both cars needed to finish the race.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
With ten laps to go, the safety car drove into the pit lane and racing resumed. Hamilton defended from Rosberg heading into turn one, but Rosberg got the better line through the corner and through turns two and three, and he attempted to overtake again on the outside of turn four. Hamilton defended again, holding his teammate out wide and managed to maintain the lead.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Pérez fended off a challenge from teammate Hülkenberg for third. Button fell to seventh after being passed by Vettel on the backstraight and Ricciardo around the outside, while Maldonado was issued with a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for causing the incident between himself and Gutiérrez on lap 49 which he took immediately.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
With their drivers fighting hard for the lead, and with fuel no longer being a concern due to the safety car period, the Mercedes cars were being driven flat-out and the extent of their superiority was revealed for the first time; within three laps the two Mercedes had created a six-second gap over Pérez. Rosberg recorded the race's fastest lap on the 49th lap, completing a circuit of one minute and 37.020 seconds. Ricciardo passed teammate Vettel for fifth going on lap 50 into the first turn.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Vettel attacked going up the hill heading towards turn four but Ricciardo defended the position. On lap 52, Rosberg again attempted a late braking move into turn one, but Hamilton managed to stay ahead by waiting for Rosberg to run wide from his late braking manoeuvre and turned in to switch to the inside and maintain his lead. Rosberg continued his assault by attempting the move again on the following lap, and again Hamilton drove defensively heading towards turn four and managed to hold on to the lead.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Hülkenberg made a mistake, allowing Ricciardo to take advantage and passed him at the turn eleven exit to move into fourth place on lap 53. Massa battled Vettel for sixth driving into the first corner and overtook him at the fourth turn, but Vettel retook the position. Button slowed with a clutch problem and drove into his garage to become the race's final retirement on the 56th lap. With the two Mercedes drivers having repeatedly duelled for position over the closing laps, Rosberg had taken the best from his tyres by the start of the final lap.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Hamilton maintained his advantage over the rest of the lap to win the race. Rosberg finished second, and Pérez narrowly held off a closing Ricciardo over the event's final few laps to clinch third. It was Pérez's first podium since the 2012 Italian Grand Prix and Force India's first since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. Hülkenberg finished fifth, ahead of Vettel and Massa in sixth and seventh. Bottas, Alonso and Räikkönen rounded out the top ten points-scoring finishers.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race
Kvyat, Grosjean, Chilton, Maldonado and Kobayashi filled the next five positions, while Bianchi (one lap down) was the last of the classified finishers. There were two lead changes in the race; two drivers reached the front of the field. Hamilton's total of 54 laps led was the most of any competitor. It was Hamilton's second consecutive victory of the season, his first in Bahrain, and the 24th of his career, equalling the number of victories achieved by five-time World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
At the podium interviews, conducted by singer Brian Johnson, Hamilton said he was "really, really proud" to have secured his first victory at the track and was grateful for his team for working hard to achieve the result. He praised Rosberg for his race performance and described the battle between the two drivers as "very fair". Rosberg stated that he strongly disliked finishing behind Hamilton, and it was something he did not particularly enjoy, but felt the event was "the most exciting race I’ve ever done in my whole career".


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Pérez said his third-place result was "very special" to him as it was his third race with the Force India team. He said it had been easier for him until the deployment of the safety car, and revealed he would not have been able to fend off Ricciardo for another lap. In the later press conference, Hamilton said it was difficult to defend against Rosberg with the medium compound tyres, and that he had not driven as hard against him since they competed against each other early in their careers.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Rosberg stated he was pushing hard and revealed his strategy was planned by Mercedes and would undertake a similar move in the future. Pérez felt his podium position was important to him having never achieved the feat while driving for McLaren in 2013; finishing the race in third gave him "a great feeling".


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Gutiérrez said he was surprised at the force of Maldonado's impact which forced his retirement, arguing that he was in front of the driver and could do to nothing to prevent the crash from occurring. Maldonado claimed he was unable to avoid contact with Gutiérrez, but stated he would watch the incident again as he believed Gutiérrez missed his braking point and was off the racing line going into the first turn. Maldonado incurred a five-place grid penalty for the next round of the season in China, and three penalty points on his super licence.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
The two drivers spoke to each other about the crash and Maldonado told him that he did not expect to steer into Gutiérrez, but maintained that he did not cause the incident. Sutil felt Bianchi was driving aggressively having forced him wide at the race's start and was unable to prevent the crash from occurring. Bianchi said he was "really disappointed" describing it as "another tough race for me; the third one in a row". He argued that he was in front of Sutil driving into the first corner, but had enjoyed battling with the driver earlier in the race.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Media reactions to the race were positive, with David Tremayne of The Independent writing, "Thank the Lord that so many of Formula 1's detractors were present in Bahrain, where the 900th grand prix since the world championship was inaugurated turned out to be a humdinger that was easily the best held so far under the new regulations." With the amount of battling across the field, it was not "taxi driving" as Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo earlier claimed would be the outcome of Formula One's adoption of greener technology.


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Writing for The Sunday Telegraph, Daniel Johnson stated the day's racing was "some of the finest seen in years," and the discussion over how Formula One's "new rules had stifled competition, leaving little more than a series of fuel economy run" was premature. Kevin Eason of The Times wrote, "It took team-mates of raw courage and epic skill to drag Formula One from the round of squalid infighting that polluted the cool night air of Bahrain yesterday." The Guardian's motor racing correspondent Paul Weaver spoke of "an absolute thriller from lights to flag with more overtaking moves than you could shake your DRS at", and, "the fireworks that exploded into the night sky were a worthy celebration of the best race for years".


2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
The race ensured Rosberg remained the leader of the Drivers' Championship but his advantage over Hamilton had been reduced from 18 to 11 points. Hülkenberg's fifth-place finish promoted him from sixth to third on 28 points, while Alonso and Button's results fell one position from third and fourth places respectively. Mercedes increased their advantage at the top of the Constructors' Championship to 67 points. Force India's strong result elevated them from fifth to second, one point ahead of McLaren in third place. Red Bull were in fourth on 35 points after moving from sixth, with Ferrari dropping two positions to be a further two behind in fifth with 16 races left in the season.


2014 Bahraini King's Cup
The Bahraini King's Cup is a cup competition involving teams from the Bahraini Premier League and 2nd tier. Al-Muharraq SC are the current holders of the King's Cup, having defeated their arch-rivals Riffa S.C. on penalties in last year's final. They have won five of the past six editions of the tournament, with Riffa claiming the crown in between in 2010.


2014 Bahraini King's Cup, Preliminary round
The winners of the preliminary round qualify for the last 16 elimination round of the tournament.


2014 Bahraini general election
General elections were held in Bahrain in November 2014 to elect the forty members of the Council of Representatives. The first round of voting took place on 22 November, with a second round on 29 November in the 34 constituencies in which no candidate received a majority.


2014 Bahraini general election
The elections were boycotted by the Shiite Islamist opposition Al-Wefaq. Of the 266 candidates, 22 were women. According to election officials, 349,713 Bahrainis, including 175,998 men and 173,175 women, were listed to vote. Although the government announced the voter turnout as 52.6%, the opposition claimed it was only 30%.


2014 Bahraini general election
Independents won 37 of the 40 seats with Sunni Islamists losing two of their five seats. The number of Shiite MPs fell to 14 as a result of the Al-Wefaq boycott. Female representation was reduced from four to three.


2014 Bahraini general election, Electoral system
The 40 members of the Council of Representatives were elected in single-member constituencies using the two-round system. Voters and candidates were required to be Bahrani citizens and at least 20 years old. Non -citizens, primarily migrant workers from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who migrated to Bahrain in recent decades, made up more than half of Bahrain‘s population at the time of the election.


2014 Bahraini general election, Background
The first elections in 2002 were boycotted by the most popular political parties, including the Shiite Islamist Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society. Voter turnout was 53%, with the highest number of seats won by the conservative Salafist Al Asalah Islamic Society and the Islamic Forum, each of which won 6 seats of the 40 elected.


2014 Bahraini general election, Background
Al-Wefaq lifted its boycott for the 2006 elections, although the breakaway Haq Movement continued to call for a boycott. Voter turnout increased to 72%, with Al-Wefaq winning 17 of the 40 seats and Sunni Islamists from Al Asalah and the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Al-Menbar Islamic Society winning 12 in total. However, the King's uncle Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa continued as Prime Minister, with around half of the cabinet drawn from the ruling Al Khalifa family.


2014 Bahraini general election, Background
The 2010 elections saw the Sunni Islamists lose most of their seats to independents. Al-Wefaq took 64% of the vote despite the arrest of opposition spokespersons and allegations of vote rigging. However, they only increased their total to 18 seats due to unequal electoral boundaries. Two months later, the Arab Spring protests started in Tunisia, spreading to Bahrain in February 2011 with the start of the Pearl uprising. In a brutal crackdown backed by 1,500 troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the government cleared the main protest site at the Pearl Roundabout. All 18 members of Al-Wefaq resigned from parliament and the party was temporarily banned. The vacant seats were won by independents in the subsequent by-elections.


2014 Bahraini general election, Campaign
A record 266 candidates stood for election in the 40 constituencies, including a record 22 women. Only 36 of these candidates represented political parties, with the remaining 230 running as independents. The candidates were described as being "mostly Sunni", despite the country's Shia majority. Opposition media said most of these were "random unknowns" who were just running a "good package" that included "$150,000 a year, a generous pension plan, a diplomatic passport and a car".


2014 Bahraini general election, Campaign
In October 2014 five opposition parties, including Al Wefaq and the leftist al Wa'ad, announced that they would boycott the elections, claiming that they would not be fair and the election was an attempt to establish "absolute rule in Bahrain".


2014 Bahraini general election, Campaign
Nine political parties in total contested the elections. The Al-Menbar Islamic Society formed a coalition called the 'Al-Fateh Coalition' with three other political groups: the National Unity Gathering, al Meethaq and al Wasat. Al Asalah ran alone as did the secular al Watan.


2014 Bahraini general election, Results
The first round saw only six candidates elected, with 34 seats going forward to a second round on 29 November. The six candidates included one from al Asalah and five independents. Al Asalah had three candidates through to the second round, Al-Menbar had four, with two each from al Meethaq, Wasat and al Watan and one from Al Wasat Al Arabi.


2014 Bahraini general election, Results
The second round saw victories for only two candidates from the political societies - one from Al Asalah and one from Al-Menbar, leaving both Islamist groups down one MP. The largest gains were for independents, 14 of whom were from the Shiite majority. Only 10 of the 40 elected MPs were outgoing members of the previous parliament. Of the 23 female candidates, only three were elected (one fewer than in 2010).


2014 Bahraini general election, Aftermath
Following the elections, the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa resigned on 30 November 2014, as required by the constitution, with a cabinet reshuffle announced on 7 December.


2014 Bahraini general election, Aftermath
After the election of members of the Council of Representatives, the King appointed the 40 members of the Consultative Council and the National Assembly was sworn in for a new term on 14 December.


2014 Baia Mare Champions Trophy
The 2014 Baia Mare Champions Trophy was the first Baia Mare Champions Trophy. It was held in Baia Mare, Romania from 15 to 17 August as a pre-season international women's team handball tournament for clubs. Two-time EHF Champions League winner Krim and FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria appeared in the tournament, along with the hosts HCM Baia Mare and others.


2014 Baia Mare Champions Trophy
The tournament was aired on Digi Sport 2 and Digi Sport 3.


2014 Baia Mare Champions Trophy
HCM Baia Mare won the title by defeating FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria in the final.


2014 Baku Cup
The 2014 Baku Cup was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. This was the fourth edition of the tournament, which was part of the 2014 WTA Tour. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan between 21 and 27 July 2014.


2014 Baku Cup, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2014 Baku Cup, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2014 Baku Cup – Doubles
Irina Buryachok and Oksana Kalashnikova were the defending champions, but Buryachok decided not to participate. Kalashnikova played alongside Olga Savchuk, but lost in the semifinals to Alexandra Panova and Heather Watson. Alexandra Panova and Heather Watson won the title, defeating Raluca Olaru and Shahar Pe'er in the final, 6–2, 7–6(7–3).


2014 Baku Cup – Singles
Elina Svitolina was the defending champion, and successfully defended her title, defeating Bojana Jovanovski in the final 6–1, 7–6(7–2).


2014 Balingian by-election
A by-election was held for the Sarawak State Assembly seat of Balingian on 29 March 2014 following the nomination day on 17 March 2014. The incumbent assemblyman and former 33-year Chief Minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud resigned from his post on 28 February 2014. The seat was declared vacant after he took his seat as the new Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak, succeeding Abang Muhammad Salahuddin whose term ended on 28 February. Taib was an assemblyman from the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, a component party of Barisan Nasional. The former chairman of the party, he won by a majority of 5,154 votes against 2 other candidates in the 2011 election.


2014 Balingian by-election
The election saw a straight fight between Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional. Yussibnosh Balo represented Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu while Abdul Jalil Bujang represented Parti Keadilan Rakyat, a component party of Pakatan Rakyat. The by-election campaign was marred by allegations that Chief Minister Adenan Satem abused his power when 4 PKR leaders were barred from entering Sarawak during the campaign period.


2014 Balingian by-election
Yussibnosh Balo retained the very safe BN seat by a majority of 6,911 votes.


2014 Balkan Athletics Championships
The 2014 Balkan Athletics Championships was the 67th edition of the annual track and field competition for athletes from the Balkans, organised by Balkan Athletics. It was held at Stadionul Nicolae Dobrin in Pitești, Romania on 26 and 27 July. The host nation Romania topped the medal table with fourteen gold medals among a total haul of 32. Turkey and Bulgaria each won seven gold medals.


2014 Balkan Athletics Championships
Athletes' performances were assessed with a points ranking based on international standards in the given event. Romanian long jumper Alina Rotaru gave the best overall performance with 6.72 m for 1143 points and her countryman Marian Oprea gave the best men's performance with 16.77 m for 1130 points in the triple jump.


2014 Balkan Athletics Championships
Turkey's Ramil Guliyev won a double in the men's short sprints and Marian Oprea was the victor in both men's horizontal jumps. The individual 400 metres champions, Yavuz Can and Bianca Răzor, both anchored their national teams to a second gold in the 4 × 400 metres relay. Bulgaria's Inna Eftimova fell just short of a women's short sprint double, winning the 200 metres and taking silver in the 100 metres. Bulgarian jumper Andriana Bânova and Moldovan thrower Dimitriana Surdu each won multiple individual medals.


2014 Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships
The 2014 Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships was the 19th edition of the annual indoor track and field competition for athletes from the Balkans, organised by Balkan Athletics. It was held on 22 February at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. Ivana Španović broke the Serbian indoor record to win the women's long jump with a mark of 6.92 m (22 ft 8+1⁄4 in).


2014 Balkans Cup (rugby league)
The 2014 Balkans Cup was a rugby league football tournament that was held in Serbia between 17 October and 19 October. The winner won the inaugural Balkans Cup Trophy.


2014 Balkans Cup (rugby league)
Four teams competed in the 2014 event. These teams were: Serbia, Greece, Hungary and Bosnia.


2014 Balkans Cup (rugby league)
After winning the European Championship C a week before the tournament began, Greece transferred their form to the tournament and were crowned inaugural Balkans Cup winners after defeating Bosnia and then Serbia in the final.


2014 Ball State Cardinals football team
The 2014 Ball State Cardinals football team represented Ball State University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Pete Lembo and played their home games at Scheumann Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 5–7, 4–4 in MAC play to finish in fifth place in the West Division.


2014 Baltic Chain Tour
The 2014 Baltic Chain Tour was the fourth modern edition of the Baltic Chain Tour road cycling race. It was held over a period of five days between 20 and 24 August 2014. The race was a part of the 2014 UCI Europe Tour with a race classification of 2.2. This year the tour coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Baltic Chain, a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989, with approximately two million people joining their hands to form a human chain spanning over 600 kilometres (370 mi) across the three Baltic states.


2014 Baltic Chain Tour, Teams
A total of 20 teams raced in the 2014 Baltic Chain Tour: 12 UCI Continental teams, 5 national teams and 3 amateur tams.


2014 Baltic Cup
The 2014 Baltic Cup was a football competition, held between 29 and 31 May 2014, hosted by Latvia.


2014 Baltic Cup, Format
For the second time in a row Finland joined Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, thus the knock-out tournament format established in the previous edition was maintained. Penalty shoot-outs were used to decide the winner if a match was drawn after 90 minutes.


2014 Baltic Futsal Cup
The 2014 Baltic Futsal Cup was held from December 5 to 7, 2014 in Lithuania. Latvia won the tournament.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season
The 2014 Baltimore Orioles season was the 114th season in franchise history, the 61st in Baltimore, and the 23rd at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Birds would finish in first place in the American League East Division and return to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons, claiming their first division championship since 1997. The Orioles swept the Detroit Tigers in the Division Series and advanced to the AL Championship Series, where they were swept by the Kansas City Royals.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season
New Oriole Nelson Cruz led the majors in home runs with 40; following Chris Davis' 2013 championship this was the first time in franchise history two Orioles (or Browns) had won back-to-back home run titles. As a team the Birds hit 211 home runs to lead baseball, their third consecutive 200-homer season (another franchise first).


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Preceding offseason
Entering the offseason, the Orioles had 11 arbitration eligible players, three contract options, and several outgoing free agents. They looked to make additions to their starting rotation, to add a "big bat", as well as to improve their bullpen, which was strong in 2012, but "average" in 2013.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season, March/April
On March 31, the Orioles won their 2014 regular season opener against the Boston Red Sox, but then proceeded to lose their next four games. After a full week and a 4–2 loss to the New York Yankees, the Orioles were in last place in the American League East and 3 games below .500. Orioles All-Star 3rd baseman Manny Machado, still recovering from off-season surgery, did not play in any games for the Orioles during the month of April; but Orioles catcher Matt Wieters got off to an uncharacteristically fast start hitting .338 with 4 homeruns and 15 RBIs. The Orioles finished the month with 11 wins and 12 losses.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season, May
Tommy Hunter started the season as the Orioles closer and was successful in 11 of his 12 save opportunities, but he blew 2 consecutive saves on May 10 and 13 and then was placed on the 15-day disabled list. On May 11, the Orioles placed catcher Matt Wieters on the disabled list. Wieters was hitting over .300 and would ultimately be lost to the team for the entire season. The Orioles finished May with 15 wins and 15 losses but moved up to 3rd place in the American League East. The one bright spot in an otherwise mediocre April–May was the torrid hitting of new Oriole Nelson Cruz; by May 31 Cruz led all of MLB with a staggering 20 home runs and 51 runs batted in.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season, June
On June 6, the Orioles lost to the Oakland Athletics, 4–3 in 11 innings, dropping them 6 and 1/2 games out of first place. It would be the farthest out of first that the Orioles would be all season. Adam Jones batted .348 with nine homers and 20 RBIs in June. Utility player Steve Pearce, who had appeared in only 3 games for the Orioles in April, batted .361 in June with 5 home runs and 13 RBI's. The Birds finished the month with 16 wins and 12 losses, trailing the first-place Blue Jays by one game.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season, July
On Saturday July 5, the Orioles split a double-header with the Boston Red Sox and moved into sole possession of first place in the American League East and would remain in first place for the rest of the season. By the All-Star break, the Orioles had increased their lead to 4 games and three Oriole players were voted by the fans to the American League squad:  Matt Weiters (his third), Adam Jones (his fourth) and Nelson Cruz (his third). This marked the first time in club history that three Orioles were voted onto the American League squad in consecutive years. By the end of the month, new Oriole closer Zach Britton had 11 saves for the month and the Orioles led the American League East by 1.5 games.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season, August
On August 9, reserve catcher Caleb Joseph hit a homerun in the Orioles' 10–3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals; making him the first Orioles catcher to homer in 5 consecutive games. Orioles 3rd baseman Machado injured his right knee on an awkward swing against the New York Yankees on August 11. After going on the disabled list and trying to rest his knee, he decided to have his knee surgically repaired thus ending his season. Oriole shortstop J. J. Hardy batted .322 for the month with 5 homeruns and 18 RBI's. First baseman Chris Davis filled in for Machado at third and hit 7 homeruns with 17 rbi's for the month. The Orioles ended the month of August with four consecutive wins; increasing their lead in the American League East to 9 full games over the second place Yankees.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season, September
The Orioles started the month with a 6–4 loss to the Minnesota Twins but still maintained an 8 and 1/2 game lead over the second place Yankees. Newly acquired outfielder Alejandro De Aza also started the month with the Orioles and before September was over he would hit 3 triples, 3 homeruns, drive in 10 runs and bat over .300. On September 7, the Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7–5; Nelson Cruz went 4-for-5 with two home runs and 7 RBIs. On September 12, Orioles' first baseman Chris Davis was suspended for 25 games for testing positive for amphetamine. Davis claimed he tested positive due to the use of adderall—for which he previous had a "therapeutic use exemption" but did not have for the 2014 season.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season, September
On Tuesday, September 16, the Orioles clinched the American League East Championship by beating the second place Toronto Blue Jays 8–2. The Orioles had not won an American League East title since 1997 and Tuesday marked the first time since 1969 that the Orioles won a division title in front of their fans at home. Steve Pearce, who had replaced Chris Davis at first base, blasted a three-run homerun off Toronto right-hander Drew Hutchison to give the Orioles a 3–1 lead in the first inning.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season, September
Oriole right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez, who hadn't been in the starting rotation for a month, picked up the win. On September 25, the Orioles gave up a walk off hit to Derek Jeter in his final game at Yankee Stadium. The Orioles finished the season with 211 homeruns. 2014 is  the third consecutive season the Orioles hit more than 200 homeruns and the first time in franchise history that they did it 3 years in a row. The Orioles 401 walks were also the fewest walks as the modern Orioles and their 44 stolen bases were their fewest since 1961.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Post-season, Division Series
The Orioles swept the Detroit Tigers in the Division Series.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Post-season, Championship Series
The Orioles were swept by the Kansas City Royals 4 games to 0 in the AL pennant series.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Accolades
The following players represented the Orioles in the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Accolades
DH Nelson Cruz won the MLB and American League home run championships with 40


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Accolades
Center fielder Adam Jones and Right fielder Nick Markakis both won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Accolades
Manager Buck Showalter was named the American League Manager of the Year, his third award.


2014 Baltimore Orioles season, Accolades
General Manager Dan Duquette was named The Sporting News' Major League Baseball Executive of the Year


2014 Baltimore Ravens season
The 2014 Baltimore Ravens season was the franchise's 19th season in the National Football League and the seventh under head coach John Harbaugh. The Ravens improved upon their 8–8 record from 2013, when they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2007. Additionally, the Ravens scored a franchise record 409 points and quarterback Joe Flacco passed for a career-high 27 touchdowns and 3,986 yards.


2014 Baltimore Ravens season
The Ravens clinched the sixth seed in the AFC playoffs following their Week 17 win against the Browns. After winning the AFC Wild Card Game against their divisional rival Pittsburgh Steelers, the Ravens were ultimately defeated in the AFC Divisional Round by the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, failing to upset them on the road in a repeat of the Ravens' 2012 Super Bowl winning-season. Until 2018, this was the last time the Ravens made the playoffs, and was their first time doing so in the post-Ray Lewis era.


2014 Baltimore Ravens season
The season was not without controversy, however, as TMZ released a video of star running back Ray Rice punching his wife Janay Palmer then dragging her in an elevator. On September 8, 2014 after seeing the video, the Ravens released Rice.


2014 Baltimore Ravens season, Preseason, Schedule
During the first preseason game vs the 49ers the Ravens won the third "Harbowl", as coach John Harbaugh defeated his brother Jim Harbaugh for the third time (following the Thanksgiving game in 2011 and Super Bowl XLVII).


2014 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Joe Flacco would break an NFL record for fastest time for throwing 5 touchdown passes (16 minutes) since the AFL–NFL merger.


2014 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: at New Orleans Saints
The Ravens were the only AFC North team to defeat all of their NFC South opponents


2014 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. Cleveland Browns
With the win, the Ravens finished the season 10–6. The team also improved to 13–1 against the Browns in the Flacco-Harbaugh era. Thanks to the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the San Diego Chargers, the Ravens secured the sixth seed in the NFL playoffs.


2014 Bandy World Championship
The 2014 Bandy World Championship was held between 26 January and 2 February 2014, in Irkutsk and Shelekhov, Russia. 17 nations participated in the tournament, playing in two divisions partitioned into two subdivisions. A team representing Somalia took part, the first squad from Africa to play in the Bandy World Championship.


2014 Bangalore bombing
The 2014 Bangalore bombing occurred on 28 December 2014 on Church Street in the central business district of Bangalore, India. A low-intensity improvised explosive device (IED) placed inside a flower pot on the pavement outside the Coconut Grove restaurant on Church Street exploded at 8:30 pm IST, killing one woman and injuring at least four people.


2014 Bangalore bombing
The blast critically injured 37-year-old Bhavani. She was taken to a hospital with severe injuries to her skull and succumbed to her wounds. The injured were identified as Karthik (21) - Bhavani's nephew, Sandeep H. (39) and Vinay M.R. (35).


2014 Bangalore bombing
Forensics analysis of samples collected from the blast site revealed that the IED contained aluminium powder mixed with sulphur, and residues of potassium nitrate. The report declared, "This combination is highly dangerous but do not pose heavy damage". The report also found that the explosive mixture was kept in a pipe casing filled with iron nails. The pipe casing used to fill the explosive material was estimated to be around 8 to 9 inches, and the weight of the explosives around 200 grams. According to the forensics report, "A remote sensor was used to cause the blast. And the woman who was killed not because of the flying nails getting stuck on her temple but mainly due to the shrapnel flying from the pipe casing which was stuffed with the explosives."


2014 Bangalore bombing
No group claimed responsibility for the bombing. Karnataka Police arrested Hyder Ali and Omar Siddiqui, members of the Indian Mujahideen, in connection with the blast.


2014 Bangladesh Championship League
The 2014 Premier Bank Bangladesh Championship League started on 26 February 2014 where 7 clubs competed with each other.


2014 Bangladesh Championship League, Teams and locations
The following 7 clubs competed in the Bangladesh Championship League during the 2014 season.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence
On 5 January 2014, the 10th general elections were held in Bangladesh. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami had already boycotted the elections. The buildup to the elections were marred by successive strikes and violence by the opposition parties. Victims claimed after the polls, workers and supporters of the opposition parties began attacking the minority Bengali Hindus. Accusing of looting, vandalising and setting the Hindu houses on fire in several districts across the country. Seven persons belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party were arrested in connection with the attacks. The National Human Rights Commission held the government responsible for the attacks on Hindus after the election. In India, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party condemned the attacks on minorities.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Chittagong Division
On 5 January, in the evening, Hindus were attacked in the Satkania Upazila, Lohagara Upazila and Banshkhali Upazila of Chittagong District. Cadres of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir set at least 150 Hindu houses on fire. In Lohagara Upazila, activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP looted and vandalised shops belonging to Hindus in Hindur Hat in Kolujan area. They also attempted to vandalise a Hindu temple.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Chittagong Division
In Lakshmipur District, on 9 January at night, a Kali temple in Narayanpur village under Ramganj Upazila was set on fire.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Chittagong Division
In Sonagazi Upazila of Feni District Islamic fundamentalists burnt Shree Shree Dakshinashwer temple on 16 January. They also looted valuable things from the temple.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Dhaka Division
In Netrakona District, a Kali temple was vandalised and set on fire after midnight on 7 January.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Dhaka Division
In Bade-dudhkora village of Sadar upazila of Netrakona District, Islamist fundamentalists burnt another kali temple. The temple was situated at the house of Mr. Chandan who was the member of local union parishad.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Dhaka Division
In Gazipur District, unidentified miscreants set fire in the homestead of a Hindu family in Bhakoadi Malibari area under Chandpur Union of Kapasia Upazila in the wee hours of 10 January.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Dhaka Division
In Dhaka City Corporation South Zone, International Society for Krisna Consciousness (ISKCON) Temple at Swamibagh which is also ISKCON headquarters in Bangladesh, is attacked by more than 100 Muslims at about 10:20 pm (local time) on 30 June 2014.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Khulna Division
In Abhaynagar Upazila of Jessore District, at around 10 am on 5 January 70 to 80 workers of the opposition parties hacked five Hindu men for casting their votes. As the police fired in the air to save the victims, the attackers fled, threatening to return with dire consequences. At around 6 pm, around 250 workers of the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, armed with sharp weapons and sticks attacked the Hindu inhabited Malopara village, where they vandalised 130 houses and set another 10 on fire.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Khulna Division
The activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir armed with firearms, Molotov cocktails, machetes, iron rods and sticks chased the Hindus, when about a 100 of them jumped to the Bhairab River and swam to the other side. The coconut and banana trees were either chopped or burnt. The cowsheds were burnt. Idols were desecrated. At least 20 persons were injured in the attack. Around 600 Hindus from the village swam across the Bhairab and took shelter in the Diyapara village under Sridhar Union.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Khulna Division
On 7 January at night, masked men raided two Hindu houses in Hajrail Rishipalli of Manirampur Upazila in Jessore District. They held the men hostage and gang raped two housewives.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Khulna Division
In Bagerhat District, one Radha Govinda temple and one Kali temple was set on fire on the night of 8 January in Kachubunia in Morrelganj Upazila. on 9 January Radhagobinda Sebashram of Ramchandrapur and Shree Shree Shyma temple were burnt by islami fundamentalist.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Khulna Division
In Bagerhat District again islami fundamentalists burnt saswati puja mandap of Rdha Gobinda temple on 16 January in Morrelganj Upazila.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Khulna Division
In Magura District, gold ornaments and money were stolen from two Hindu temples in Satdoha area of Magura town in Magura Sadar Upazila on 10 January. Miscreants broken into the two temples of Sri Sri Nengta Babar Ashram in the wee hours and the took away gold and silver ornaments and the cash from the donation box.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Khulna Division
In Satkhira District, 46 houses and establishments belonging to Hindus were vandalised and another six set on fire on the night of 5 January. The miscreants accused the Hindus of voting for the Awami League.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Rangpur Division
On 5 January in the morning, hundreds of workers of the opposition parties attacked Kornai village in Sadar Upazila of Dinajpur District. They looted eight Hindu owned shops and 12 Hindu houses and set them on fire.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Rangpur Division
On 7 January at night, activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami destroyed two houses and five shops belonging to the Hindus in Kuptola Union of Gaibandha Sadar Upazila in Gaibandha District. Five persons were injured in the attack.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Rangpur Division
In Lalmonirhat District, Hindus by and large abstained from voting, due to threats from the opposition parties coupled with lack of security from the administration. According to the General Secretary of Lalmonirhat Puja Udjapan Parishad only 4–5% of the Hindus had cast their votes in the district. More than 100 Hindu families of Shafinagar and Senpara villages were threatened by Jamaat-e-Islami and |Islami Chhatra Shibir after the polls. On 8 January, the house the caretaker of a Hindu temple in Shafinagar was set on fire.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Rangpur Division
In Thakurgaon District, around 1,200 Hindus from 500 Hindu families of Gopalpur village took shelter in an ISKCON temple.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Rajshahi Division
In Bogra District, activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP attacked the Hindus in Nandigram Upazila. In Joypurhat District, one Hindu house was set on fire in Kusumba Union of Joypurhat Sadar Upazila. One elderly died of heart attack due to panic from the fire. The Hindus of Boalia village under Sukash Union of Natore District were threatened not to vote in the elections. In spite of the threats three Hindus cast their votes on 5 January. After the polls, their houses were set on fire.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Rajshahi Division
Islamists fundamentalists again attacked on Nandigram Upazila of Bogra District. On 12 January after the national election they set on fire some haystacks, some houses and looted a tube well of Hindu families.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Barisal division
In barisal district, a Hindu family was kicked out from their house. it situated in thaneshwarkathi village of Agailjhara Upazila. A Jubo League cader of present government party Awami League came to take possession of Mr. Tapan Sarker's house with a gang of terrorists. Then they beat Mr. Tapan and their family members. After that the family took shelter in an excluded class room of a nearby primary school.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Barisal division
In Bhandaria Upazila of Pirojpur District, Islamic fundamentalists burnt an ancient Durga temple on 12 January after 5 January national election of Bangladesh. Those fundamentalists burnt that temple into ashes.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Attacks, Government version
On 23 February 2014, The Daily Star, a national English newspaper, published a summary report submitted by the police authority to the country's High Court. According to this report, around 160 incidents of attacks and atrocities on Hindus took place in 21 districts after the 5 January parliamentary polls, causing loss of Hindu properties worth ৳4 million. Such atrocities included injuring Hindu people, damaging their houses, temples and business establishments and setting them on fire, and looting valuables causing a loss of around ৳4 million in 70 of those attacks.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Reactions, International
In India, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party expressed concerns over violence against Hindus in Bangladesh.


2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence, Arrests
Seven persons has been arrested in connection with the attacks. The Bangladesh government has decided to set up special tribunals to punish the perpetrators of crimes against the minority communities, including the Hindus. The Law Ministry has consulted the Supreme Court to try the criminals under Terrorism Prevention Act.


2014 Bangladeshi general election
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 5 January 2014, in accordance with the constitutional requirement that elections must take place within the 90-day period before the expiration of the term of the Jatiya Sangshad on 24 January 2014. The elections were controversial, with almost all major opposition parties boycotting and 153 of the total 300 seats being uncontested. Around 21 people were killed on election day.


2014 Bangladeshi general election
The elections were not free and fair. The elections were preceded by government crackdown on the opposition and BNP and Opposition leader Khaleda Zia was put under house arrest. There were also widespread arrests of opposition members, violence and strikes by the opposition, attacks on religious minorities, and extrajudicial killings by the government. The elections were criticized by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and the United Nations.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Background
Throughout most of 2013, Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its alliance of 18 opposition parties led by three-time former Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia called more than 85 days of nationwide general strikes and blockades that brought the entire country to a grinding halt.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Background
The opposition demanded that the ruling Awami League party led by the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina amend the constitution, dissolve the parliament after their full five-year term ended on 24 January 2014, and then hand over power to a non-partisan interim government or a caretaker government that would be run by technocrats for 90 days. The job of a Caretaker Government of Bangladesh would then be to work in tandem with the Bangladesh Election Commission by helping them to organise, arrange, and oversee the general election held on 5 January and transfer power to a newly elected government. As most of the demands were not met within the stipulated time frame, all opposition parties boycotted the polls. Hasina had offered an all party interim election cabinet government which would include opposition parties till the election but this was rejected by Zia.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Date
Since the ninth parliament's mandate expires on 24 January 2014, according to the constitution of Bangladesh's Article 123(2)(a) requires a general election to be held between the dates of 26 October 2013 and 24 January 2014 or rather within 90 days before the expiration of the Parliament. On 25 November 2013, the Bangladesh Election Commission announced that the 10th general election would be held on 5 January 2014.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Boycott
Following months of protests, strikes and blockades, the 18-party opposition alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party formally announced a boycott of the election citing unfair conditions for the election. On 3 December 2013, Jatiya Party, led by former president Hussain Mohammad Ershad, also announced its intention to boycott the election. European Union representatives met BNP leader Khaleda Zia and asked her not to boycott the election and to stop the strikes and shutdowns and instead resort to dialogue with the government.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Boycott
In a video message, Tarique Rahman, the senior vice-chairman of the BNP called for a boycott of the election saying that "the time has come for all of us to prevent and boycott the 5 January polls. Not for personal interest but for the sake of the country's existence". The opposition had also called for the government to resign so an interim non-partisan administration could lead the country through the election period.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Protests and violence
On the night of 4 December 2013, Jatiya Party leader H. M. Ershad threatened to kill himself after security forces besieged his home following his decision to boycott the election. On 13 December, he was confined to a military hospital following his arrest from his Baridhara residence by security forces. According to the RAB commander, Ershad had been taken there at his own request. Zia was also put under house arrest since 29 December at her Gulshan residence. The Bangladesh Army was deployed throughout the country on 26 December on the request of the election commission to maintain law and order. The army would stay on the streets until 9 January 2014.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Protests and violence
On 13 December, Jamaat-e-Islami's Abdul Quader Mollah became the first person to be executed for war crimes relation to the Bangladesh Independence War resulting in violent protests by the Islamist opposition. Two ruling party activists were hacked to death in Kalaroa, while the Jamaat-e-Islami's activists firebombed train stations and blockaded roads. Another person died in clashes between police and Jamaat-e-Islami supporters in Noakhali, while a driver was killed after the party's activists chased him down. The opposition alliance called for a general strike on Sunday 15 December.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Protests and violence
On 29 December 2013 the BNP called for a "March for Democracy" towards Dhaka, in defiance of a police ban, to protest against the election. Zia said: "The government is autocratic and illegal. It should step down immediately". One person was killed by the police in the centre of Dhaka, while a guard was killed in a blast at a train station. Some supporters of the ruling Awami League also clashed with opposition activists outside the Bangladesh Supreme Court. The BNP accused the police of barring Zia's car from leaving in order for her to lead the march.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Protests and violence
Thousands of security forces, mainly police, were present to prevent the opposition activists from rallying. Outside of the Supreme Court, police threw hot and coloured water from water cannons to disperse the protesters. Sheikh Hasina, while agreeing with the right of the opposition to protest, said: "You can wage anti-government agitation. But make sure people are not killed by your movement." A train was derailed by opposition activists in Gaibandha leading to three deaths.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Protests and violence
On 30 December, the 18-party opposition alliance announced a non-stop blockade of roads, railways and waterways across the country from 1 January 2014 in order to resist the scheduled election. The decision came after they were barred from holding national demonstrations the previous day. The protest was termed the "March for Democracy." A general strike was called for 4, 5 and 6 January by the opposition parties.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Protests and violence
On 3 and 4 January, opposition activists attacked potential polling centres across Bangladesh. They set fire to over 100 centres in Lakshmipur, Rajshahi, Pirojpur, Sylhet, Jhenaidah, Natore, Sirajganj and Brahmanbaria.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Protests and violence
At least 18 people died in election day violence after security forces fired on protesters and opposition activists torched over 100 voting centres. In total 21 people died on the day and about 400 voting centers were disrupted. BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami activists also attacked their Awami League counterparts and Hindus in eight villages under Thakurgaon Sadar Upazila leaving 15 people injured and their houses and shops vandalised and looted. Further, a Hindu temple along with idols inside it were also attacked. The attacks spread through eight villages including Jhakua, Jhardanga, Baniyapara and Mondoppara.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Protests and violence
Hundreds of Hindus from these villages had fled fearing further attacks. On 7 January, two Hindus temples, Radha Gobind Mandir and Kali Mandir, were burnt by people suspected to be BNP party members. Fearing rape threats, female members of Hindu families were sent away to their relatives' homes by their families in Abhaynagar of Jessore, Dinajpur, and Thakurgaon. Attacks also occurred in Dinajpur, Rangpur, Bogra, Lalmonirhat, Rajshahi, Chittagong and Jessore.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Crackdown on the opposition
Before the election there were reports of opposition leaders and members being killed and arbitrarily arrested by the police. According to Human Rights Watch and US Department of State, Bangladesh police arrested "thousands" of opposition members.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Crackdown on the opposition
The government also interfered with opposition parties' organization of political events. In December 2013, police prevented opposition from holding pre-election rallies, citing security reasons. The police also prevented BNP supports from organizing outside the party headquarters.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Crackdown on the opposition
Often opposition leaders were detained shortly after they announced strikes to protest the elections. In one case, authorities arrested 203 opposition and leaders and activists on 26 December, immediately after the opposition announced it would be holding a "March for Democracy" on 29 December. By 28 December, one day before the rally, the police had arrested more than thousand BNP and Jamaat members. Many of these were released in the evening or after the election. In another case, BNP vice president Hafizuddin Ahmed was arrested immediately after he urged "non-stop demonstrations" until the elections. The police charged him with firebombing a bus in 2013. After the election, he was released.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Crackdown on the opposition
Khaleda Zia was prevented from leaving her home to attend a rally on 26 December, and kept under house arrest until the election. The government denied Zia was under house arrest. Zia's advisor Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury and  Enam Ahmed Chowdhury were arrested on 29 December.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Crackdown on the opposition, Media shutdown
Prior to the election, the government restricted opposition broadcasting. In 2013, ruling Awami League shut down TV stations and detained a prominent newspaper editor. The government said the measure was necessary to curb violence, but opposition saw this as politically motivated.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Monitors
As a result of the boycott, the election commission suggested that the Awami League had already secured victory in 127 of the 153 uncontested seats. Similarly, Rowshan Ershad's (wife of H. M. Ershad) Jatiya Party had already won 21 uncontested seats, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal won three seats, the Workers Party won two seats and the Jatiya Party (Manju) won one seat. The E.U., the U.S. and the Commonwealth announced that they would not send observers since they were concerned about the credibility of the election due to the boycott.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Opinion polls
The ruling Awami League suffered electoral losses when, according to The Economist, the opposition BNP "thrashed the League in mayoral elections in June and July, notably in Gazipur in the industrial belt, hitherto one of the League’s safest constituencies" and polling data showed a plunge in the government's popularity. Similarly, just prior to the election, an opinion poll indicated the incumbent Awami League would lose to the BNP in a direct contest.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Opinion polls
In the weeks following the election, a poll was conducted by Democracy International (DI), a US-based organization. They reported that the Awami League did have slightly more support than BNP, but acknowledged that the study's margin of error meant that the results were a "statistical dead heat".


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Results
The incumbent Bangladesh Awami League won the election with a safe majority, winning 234 seats. The election was controversial however as the opposition alliance boycotted the election.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Results
As a result of the boycott, 153 of the 300 seats were uncontested, of which the Awami League won 127 by default, the Jatiya Party (Ershad) led by Rowshan Ershad won 20, the JSD won three, the Workers Party won two and the Jatiya Party (Manju) won one.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Results
Results of 139 seats, out of remaining 147 seats (which were contested), were released, with the Awami League winning 105, the Jatiya Party (Ershad) winning 13, the Workers Party winning four, the JSD winning two and the Tarikat Federation and BNF winning one each. The remaining 8 constituencies election were suspended due to violence and re-election to be held. The newly elected MPs were sworn in on 9 January.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Results
As a result of the boycott and violence voter turnout was lower than the previous few elections at only 51%, and as low as 22% in the capital, Dhaka.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Reactions
The day after the result, Hasina said that the boycott should "not mean there will be a question of legitimacy. People participated in the poll and other parties participated." However, she also said she offered Zia a role in a new government. "Look, I tried my best, I told you, I offered ministry, I offered to share power with our opposition. I have done as much as I can do but they didn't respond.


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Reactions
Now if they realise that they made a mistake in not participating in the election, perhaps then they may come forward to discuss with us or make an offer. If they come forward to discuss with us, they have to leave all these terrorist activities behind because what they are doing it is absolutely killing people, killing police, killing innocent people." Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu added that the turnout did not matter: "What is important is that the people defied violence." BNP Vice President Shamsher Chowdhury said that the low turnout indicated a desire for a new election. "This government must declare this election null and void and we need a new election organised by a non-party government. The government should not waste any more time."


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Reactions, Media
Dhaka's The Daily Star featured an editorial that called the election  in the country's history and that the Awami League won "a predictable and hollow victory, which gives it neither a mandate nor an ethical standing to govern effectively." In similarly criticising the opposition, the editorial mentioned that "political parties have the right to boycott elections. They also have the right to motivate people to side with their position. But what is unacceptable is using violence and intimidation to thwart an election."


2014 Bangladeshi general election, Reactions, Aftermath
In the aftermath of the election, violence continued and the government continued the crackdown on the opposition. Police carried out raids and arrested opposition leaders. Other opposition leaders and members went into hiding, citing harassment by authorities. By 21 January, the government had arrested 7,015 activists and leaders of opposition, and placed a bounty of 100,000 taka ($1,300) on the heads of other protest leaders. Many of the protesters had destroyed vehicles and blockaded roads, and 29 people had died in the unrest.


2014 Banja Luka Challenger
The 2014 Banja Luka Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the thirteenth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2014 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina from 8 to 14 September 2014.


2014 Banja Luka Challenger, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2014 Banja Luka Challenger – Doubles
Marin Draganja and Nikola Mektić were the defending champions but only Nikola Mektić returned, partnering Goran Tošić, but lost in the first round to Dino Marcan and Antonio Šančić.


2014 Banja Luka Challenger – Doubles
Dino Marcan and Antonio Šančić won the title, defeating Jaroslav Pospíšil and Adrian Sikora 7–5, 6–4 in the final.


2014 Banja Luka Challenger – Singles
Aljaž Bedene was the defending champion, and returned to defend his title but lost to Viktor Troicki in the quarterfinals.


2014 Banja Luka Challenger – Singles
Viktor Troicki won the title by defeating Albert Ramos 7–5, 4–6, 7–5 in the final.


2014 Banjarnegara landslide
On 13 December 2014, a landslide in Banjarnegara, Central Java, Indonesia, killing 93 with 23 people missing. The disaster occurred on Jemblung Village in Banjarnegara, Indonesia, at Friday, around 03.00 p.m. At the time, most of the villagers were taking a nap on their houses. The landslides also trapped some vehicles on the road. Amateur video caught the moment when a large piece of the mountain fell to the whole village. Indonesian authority said that at least around 100 people are feared dead and 300 houses were destroyed.


2014 Banjarnegara landslide
Jemblung village took a direct hit from the landslides. Jemblung Village is a place where 300 residents live. Around 200 people survived the disaster, another a hundred people didn't, which represents a third population of the village who didn't come out alive.


2014 Banjarnegara landslide
The 2014 Banjarnegara landslide was one of the worst and deadliest landslide in Indonesia since 2006. Indonesian official concluded that heavy rain were blamed for the mass human life loss, although human error were also a prime suspect. As the result of the tragedy, the Indonesian government began inspecting all regencies and district on high-risk area, particularly Banjarnegara itself.


2014 Banjarnegara landslide, Search and Rescue operation
Shortly after the disaster, the Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Indonesian: Basarnas) deployed around 200 in the search and rescue team and began the search for survivors, with having most of them finding some in the area. One survivor, a woman, found by a rescuer alive with her family in their car. Due to the remote and hilly area, rescuers weren't able to reach the ground zero. This condition was later worsened with heavy rains in the area, increasing the risk of flash floods and even could drown the remaining survivors. Ironically, some of them were found due to heavy rain in the area.


2014 Banjarnegara landslide, Search and Rescue operation
Few days after the search, several bodies of the villagers and residents of Jemblung Village were found. Numerous bodies were also found on a car that was swept away by the landslides with their bodies still strapped on their seats.