2014–15 in German football, German clubs in Europe, UEFA Europa League, VfL Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg were still at the bottom of the group after this matchday. FC Krasnodar played Wolfsburg on 23 October 2014 (2014-10-23) at Kuban Stadium. Wolfsburg won the match 4–2. Wolfsburg were in third place in the group after this matchday. Wolfsburg were again victorious when they defeated Krasnodar 5–1 on 6 November 2014 (2014-11-06). Wolfsburg remained in second place after this matchday. Everton defeated Wolfsburg 0–2 on 27 November 2014 (2014-11-27). Despite the defeat, Wolfsburg remained in second place in the group after this matchday. Wolfsburg defeated Lille 3–0 on 11 December 2014 (2014-12-11) to finish the group stage in second place. The draw for the round of 32 on 15 December 2014 (2014-12-15) paired Wolfsburg with Sporting Lisbon. The first leg was won by Wolfsburg 2–0 on 19 February 2015 (2015-02-19).


2014–15 in German football, German clubs in Europe, UEFA Women's Champions League, FFC Frankfurt
1. FFC Frankfurt finished as runners-up in the 2013–14 Bundesliga (women) and earned a berth in the Round of 32 of the Women's Champions League. On 22 August 2014 (2014-08-22), Frankfurt were drawn against BIIK Kazygurt for the round of 32. The first leg was played in Shymkent, Kazakhstan on 8 October 2014 (2014-10-08). The match ended as a 2–2 draw. The second leg was played on 16 October 2014 (2014-10-16). Frankfurt won the match 4–0. With an aggregate score of 6–2, Frankfurt advanced to the Round of 16 where they were paired with Torres. Frankfurt won the first leg against Torres on 9 November 2014 (2014-11-09) by the score 5–0. The second leg was played on 12 November 2014 (2014-11-12). Frankfurt won this match 4–0 which resulted in an aggregate score of 9–0. The draw for the quarter-finals resulted in Frankfurt facing Bristol Academy.


2014–15 in German football, German clubs in Europe, UEFA Women's Champions League, VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg (women) won both the 2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League and 2013–14 Bundesliga (women). These championships qualified them for the Round of 32 of the Women's Champions League. Wolfsburg were drawn against Stabæk on 22 August 2014 (2014-08-22) for the round of 32. The first leg was played on 8 October 2014 (2014-10-08) at Nadderud Stadion in Bekkestua, Norway. Wolfsburg won the match 1–0. The second leg was played on 16 October 2014 (2014-10-16). Wolfsburg were victorious as the match ended 2–1. They advanced to the Round of 16 with an aggregate score of 3–1.


2014–15 in German football, German clubs in Europe, UEFA Women's Champions League, VfL Wolfsburg
They will play against SV Neulengbach in the Round of 16. The first leg was played on 9 November 2014 (2014-11-09). Wolfsburg won the match 4–0. The second leg was won by Wolfsburg 7–0 on 12 November 2014 (2014-11-12). The aggregate score for this round was 11–0. Wolfsburg was paired with FC Rosengård for the quarter-finals.


2014–15 in Hong Kong football
The 2014–15 season is the 113th season of competitive football in Hong Kong, starting in July 2014 and ending in June 2015.


2014–15 in Hong Kong football, Promotion and relegation, Pre-season
1 The Premier League replace First Division League as the top-tier league in the 2014–15 season.


2014–15 in Hong Kong football, Representative team, Hong Kong national football team, 2015 EAFF East Asian Cup Preliminary Round
The 2015 EAFF East Asian Cup preliminary round 2 was held in Taiwan between 13 and 19 November 2014. Hong Kong was drawn with Guam, North Korea and Chinese Taipei. The winner of the preliminary round qualifies for the final round.


2014–15 in Hong Kong football, Representative team, Hong Kong national football team, 2015 Guangdong–Hong Kong Cup
This is a tournament between two teams representing Hong Kong and Guangdong Province of China respectively. The first leg will take place in Huizhou, Guangdong, being held at Huizhou Olympic Stadium, and the second leg took place in Hong Kong, being held at Mong Kok Stadium.


2014–15 in Hong Kong football, Representative team, Hong Kong national football team, 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
The draw for the group stage of second round qualification was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 April 2015. Hong Kong was drawn with China PR, Qatar and Maldives and Bhutan in group C. Hong Kong has started their qualifying campaign in June 2015.


2014–15 in Indian football
The 2014–15 season is the 136th season of competitive football in India.


2014–15 in Israeli football
The 2014–15 season was the 67th season of competitive football in Israel, and the 89th season under the Israeli Football Association, established in 1928, during the British Mandate.


2014–15 in Israeli football
The season saw Maccabi Tel Aviv winning all three major trophies, the league, the State Cup and the Toto Cup, the first time all three trophies are won by one club during a season.


2014–15 in Israeli football
At the end of the season, Israel hosted the 2015 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, the fourth official tournament hosted by Israel (following the 1964 AFC Asian Cup, the 2000 UEFA European Under-16 Championship and the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship), and the first ever women's football tournament was hosted by Israel.


2014–15 in Italian football
The 2014–15 season was the 113th season of competitive football in Italy.


2014–15 in Pakistani football
The 2014–15 season is the 66th season of competitive football in Pakistan.


2014–15 in Polish football
The 2014–15 season was the 90th season of competitive football in Poland. The domestic season began on 9 July 2014, with the start of the Polish SuperCup.


2014–15 in Russian futsal, Intercontinental Futsal Cup
The 15th edition of the world's premier club futsal tournament


2014–15 in Scottish football
The 2014–15 season was the 118th season of competitive football in Scotland. The domestic season began on 26 July 2014, with the start of the Challenge Cup. The 2014–15 Scottish Professional Football League season commenced on 9 August, the weekend after the conclusion of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.


2014–15 in Scottish football, Scottish clubs in Europe, Celtic
Celtic played their first two home European ties in 2014–15 at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh because their normal home stadium, Celtic Park, was used for the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. In their third qualifying round tie, Celtic lost 4–1 to Legia Warsaw in Poland and 2–0 at Murrayfield, which appeared to give Legia a 6–1 aggregate victory. The result of the second game was annulled by UEFA because Legia had fielded a player who should have been serving a suspension. Celtic were instead given a 3–0 victory in the second leg, which meant that they won the tie on the away goals rule. Celtic progressed to the Champions League playoff round, but then dropped into the Europa League groups after losing 2–1 on aggregate to Slovenian club Maribor.


2014–15 in Spanish football
The 2014–15 season was the 113th season of competitive association football in Spain.


2014–15 in Spanish football, Cup competitions, Supercopa de España, Second leg
Atlético Madrid won the Supercopa de España 2–1 on aggregate


2014–15 in Swiss football
The following is a summary of the 2014–15 season of competitive football in Switzerland.


2014–15 in Swiss football, Men's national team
The home team is on the left column; the away team is on the right column.


2014–15 in Swiss football, Women's national team
The home team is on the left column; the away team is on the right column.


2014–15 in Uruguayan football, National teams, Senior team
This section covers Uruguay's senior team matches from the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup to the end of the 2015 Copa América.


2014–15 in skiing
From October 25, 2014 to April 4, 2015, the following skiing events took place at various locations around the world.


2014–15 in women's Cyclo-cross
2014–15 in women's Cyclo-cross covers the 2014–15 Cyclo-cross season, which bridges the 2014 and 2015 road cycling seasons and mirrors the men's 2014–15 cyclo-cross season. The Cyclo-cross season consists of three major international race series, along with the World Championships. Cyclo-cross, like road cycling, is governed by the UCI.


2014–15 snooker season
The 2014–15 snooker season was a series of snooker tournaments played between 8 May 2014 and 4 May 2015. The Riga Open was the first professional snooker tournament held in Latvia. The season also saw the first professional tournament in Portugal as the Lisbon Open took place.


2014–15 snooker season
In November, it was announced that the World Open would not be held this season after the contract with the promoter was not renewed and a new venue was not found in time. But the intention was to bring the event back for the next season.


2014–15 snooker season
The structure of the World Championship was changed. The top 16 seeds still qualified automatically for the first round at the Crucible, but all non-seeded players had to start in the first of three qualifying rounds. The overall championship was increased from 128 to 144 players, with the additional places made available to former world champions and players from emerging countries.


2014–15 snooker season, New professional players
The 2014/2015 season was made up of 128 professional players. The top 64 players from the prize money rankings after the 2014 World Championship, and the 33 players earning a two-year card the previous year automatically qualified for the season. The top eight players from the European Tour Order of Merit and top four players from the Asian Tour Order of Merit, who had not already qualified for the Main Tour, also qualified. Another three players came from the EBSA Qualifying Tour Play-Offs, and a further eight places were available through the Q School. The rest of the places on to the tour came from amateur events and national governing body nominations. All players listed below, except Hossein Vafaei received a tour card for two seasons.


2014–15 snooker season, Calendar
The following table outlines the results and dates for all the ranking and major invitational events.


2014–15 synchronized skating season
The 2014–15 synchronized skating season began on July 1, 2014, and ended on June 30, 2015. During this season, which was concurrent with the season for the other four disciplines (men's single, ladies' single, pair skating and ice dancing), elite synchronized skating teams competed on the International Skating Union (ISU) Championship level at the 2015 World and World Junior Championships. They also competed at various other international as well as national competitions.


2014–15 Újpest FC season
The 2014–15 season was Újpest FC's 109th competitive season, 103rd consecutive season in the OTP Bank Liga and 129th year in existence as a football club.


2014–15 Újpest FC season, First team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2014–15 Újpest FC season, Transfers, Summer
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2014–15 Újpest FC season, Transfers, Summer
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2014–15 Újpest FC season, Transfers, Winter
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2014–15 Újpest FC season, Transfers, Winter
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2014–15 Újpest FC season, Statistics, Top scorers
Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.


2014–15 Újpest FC season, Statistics, Disciplinary record
Includes all competitive matches. Players with 1 card or more included only.


2014–15 Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball)
The 2014–15 Úrvalsdeild kvenna was the 57th season of the Úrvalsdeild kvenna, the top tier women's basketball league on Iceland. The season started on October 8, 2014 and ended on April 27, 2015. Snæfell won its second straight title by defeating Keflavík 3–0 in the Finals.


2014–15 Úrvalsdeild kvenna (basketball), Competition format
The participating teams first played a conventional round-robin schedule with every team playing each opponent twice "home" and twice "away" for a total of 28 games. The top four teams qualified for the championship playoffs whilst the bottom team was relegated to Division 1.


2014–15 Śląsk Wrocław season
Śląsk Wrocław is a professional football club based in Wrocław, Poland. During the 2014–15 campaign the club competed in the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup.


2014–2015 African cholera outbreak
Declared in June 2014, the West and Central African cholera outbreak as of January 25, 2015 claimed 1,683 registered deaths and over 91,361 reported cases with a reported case fatality rate (CFR) of 2% in 11 countries, which is 3 times more than in 2013. The case fatality ratio is high in the Sahelian area, equal or greater than 2%, especially in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Nigeria, Ghana and Democratic Republic of the Congo being the most affected countries with Ghana reporting its worst outbreak since 1982.


2014–2015 African cholera outbreak
In January 2015 the Greater Accra Region and Volta region still reported cases of Cholera while in the rest of Ghana the outbreak was declared over. As of January 11 the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana and Nigeria are the countries with highest number of new cases of the disease in 2015.


2014–2015 Chinese Short Track Speed Skating League
The 2014–2015 Chinese Short Track Speed Skating League is a multi race national tournament over a season for Short track speed skating. The season began on 25 September 2014 and will end on 22 March 2015. It is organized by the Chinese Skating Association.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election
Indirect presidential elections were held in Greece in December 2014 and February 2015 for the succession to Karolos Papoulias as President of the Hellenic Republic. The candidate of the ND–PASOK government, Stavros Dimas, failed to secure the required majority of MPs of the Hellenic Parliament in the first three rounds of voting in December. According to the provisions of the Constitution of Greece, a snap election was held on 25 January 2015, which was won by the left-wing Syriza party. Following the convening of the new Parliament, the presidential election resumed. On 18 February 2015, veteran ND politician Prokopis Pavlopoulos, backed by the Syriza-ANEL coalition government, was elected with 233 votes.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Date
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos asked (9 December) the Speaker of the Parliament for the procedure of presidential elections to move as quickly as possible.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Date
The presidential election was brought forward by a few months, and the first round was held on 17 December, the second on 23 December and the third on 29 December. On 9 December 2014, Samaras announced the candidacy of New Democracy politician Stavros Dimas, jointly supported by the ruling New Democracy–PASOK coalition, for the presidency.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Constitutional provisions
According to Article 32 the Greek Constitution, the President is elected for a five-year term by the Hellenic Parliament in a special session at least a month before the incumbent's term expires. The first and second rounds require a supermajority of 200 out of the 300-strong body, dropping to 180 on the third.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Constitutional provisions
In the event of a non-election even after the third ballot, the parliament is to be dissolved and a snap election to be called within ten days. After reconvening, the new parliament holds a maximum of three further rounds of voting, with the required majority at 180 votes in the fourth and a simple majority of 151 votes in the fifth round. A sixth and last round would be contested between the two candidates with the most votes and decided by a relative majority.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Procedure, First three rounds
On the first ballot, held on 17 December, Dimas received 160 votes, i.e. the 155 votes of ND and PASOK, plus five votes from independent MPs. 135 MPs voted "present" and five MPs were absent or abstained.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Procedure, First three rounds
On the second ballot, held 23 December, Dimas received 168 votes. 131 MPs voted "present" and one MP was absent or abstained. On both ballots, 200 votes would have been necessary for election.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Procedure, First three rounds
On the third ballot, held 29 December, Dimas again received 168 votes, still not meeting the lowered quorum of 180 votes required to be elected in the third round.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Procedure, Dissolution of Parliament
After being asked by prime minister Samaras, incumbent president Papoulias on 31 December issued a presidential decree formally dissolving the parliament, as required by the constitution. The new election was set to be held on 25 January and the new parliament to reconvene on 5 February 2015.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Procedure, Following SYRIZA's victory
Following the electoral victory of SYRIZA in the 25 January election, the new parliament was inaugurated on 5 February, and elected its speaker and presidium the next day. According to the provisions of the Constitution, the new parliament would then immediately have to resume the presidential election. The first of the three rounds was initially expected to be held either on 7 or on 8 February, but was postponed for 13 February. The date was subsequently postponed again, due to the new government's preoccupation with negotiations with the other Eurozone members over Greece's debt, with SYRIZA's candidate for the presidency to be announced on the weekend of 14–15 February.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Procedure, Following SYRIZA's victory
In the aftermath of its victory, it fell to SYRIZA to nominate the main candidate for the second round of the presidential election. According to Greek media, the most likely choice was the Greek EU Commissioner and vice chairman of New Democracy, Dimitris Avramopoulos. The nomination would have been seen both as a gesture of conciliation with the right, but would crucially also have enabled SYRIZA to nominate its own EU Commissioner. Although an unofficial rumour, the suggestion caused a few days of internal dissension within ND.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Procedure, Following SYRIZA's victory
In order to calm spirits within his party, on 30 January Samaras phoned Avramopoulos and assured him that ND would support his eventual candidacy. It was also revealed that SYRIZA initially approached the former chairman of ND and Prime Minister in 2004–09, Kostas Karamanlis, but that he turned the offer down. The possibility of Avramopoulos' candidacy however raised voices of protest from SYRIZA MPs as well due to his association with the "policies of the memorandum".


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Procedure, Following SYRIZA's victory
Greek newspaper To Vima disclosed that high representatives of Syriza also considered the candidacy of the widely respected Eastern Orthodox Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania, Anastasios. Anastasios declined stating that "an Orthodox pontiff has only one defined ecclesiastical task. He cannot take over a political position". By 11 February, the two main figures tipped for the office were Karamanlis and Avramopoulos, with government source reporting that any other candidacy would be a radical departure from current plans. In the unlikely event of such an outsider candidature, however, author Ioanna Karystiani and film director Costas Gavras were considered as likely choices, while the candidacy of former Synaspismos chairman Nikos Konstantopoulos would be unlikely since his daughter Zoi Konstantopoulou was the new Speaker of Parliament.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Procedure, Fourth round
The announcement of SYRIZA's candidate was expected on Sunday 15 February, but was again postponed for 17 February and the convention of the parliamentary groups of SYRIZA and its government partner ANEL, due to vehement opposition towards Avramopoulos by SYRIZA's inner-party opposition, chiefly the Left Platform led by Panagiotis Lafazanis. The next round of voting was scheduled to be held on the next day, 18 February. On 17 February, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras nominated veteran New Democracy politician and former Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos for the post.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Procedure, Fourth round
In reaction, The River proposed the distinguished jurist Nikos Alivizatos as its own candidate for the presidency. New Democracy was expected to support Pavlopoulos, while PASOK announced its support for Alivizatos. The Communist Party of Greece declared that regardless of the candidate, its MPs would vote "present". Given party strength in Parliament, where SYRIZA held 149 seats, ANEL 13 seats, and New Democracy 76 seats, Pavlopoulos was expected to comfortably pass the necessary majority of 180 votes.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Procedure, Fourth round
On 18 February, Pavlopoulos was elected as the new President of the Republic with 233 votes in favour, while 30 were for Alivizatos, and 32 MPs (from the Communists and Golden Dawn) voted "present". Five MPs were absent, with two ND MPs being abroad, and two SYRIZA and one ND MPs deliberately abstaining.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Reactions
As the ruling ND–PASOK coalition did not have enough seats to ensure the election of a President of the Republic, the possibility of snap elections, which could be won by the leftist anti-austerity Syriza party and its leader Alexis Tsipras, that was then leading in opinion polls, caused widespread anxiety over Greece's future, struggling to exit a prolonged government-debt crisis. On Tuesday, 30 December 2014, following the announcement of the elections being brought forward, the Athens Stock Exchange fell by 9.5% and interest rates for 10-year loans of Greece went up to 9%.


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Reactions
The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker all but supported the coalition candidate Stavros Dimas. In a television debate on 11 December he said: "I think that the Greeks - who have a very difficult life - know very well what a wrong election result would mean for Greece and the eurozone."


2014–2015 Greek presidential election, Footnotes
^ a: There is precedent of an ecclesiastical head of state or government in Eastern Orthodox countries: Archbishop Makarios III served as President of Cyprus, Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens served as regent and Prime Minister of Greece, Archbishop Kliment of Tarnovo served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, and Patriarch Miron of Romania served as regent and Prime Minister of his country.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform
The Hong Kong electoral reform was a proposed reform for the 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election and 2016 Legislative Council election.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform
According to the decision made by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) of the People's Republic of China in 2007, the 2017 Chief Executive election may be implemented by universal suffrage. The issues on how to achieve universal suffrage in the 2017 Chief Executive election became the focal point of the public debates.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform
Most of the major political factions campaigned for their ideas on universal suffrage, including Occupy Central with Love and Peace, an advocacy group for the occupation movement, to pressure the Beijing government to implement full universal suffrage initiated by the pan-democracy camp, as well as the Alliance for Peace and Democracy, an anti-occupy central alliance formed by the pro-Beijing camp.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform
After the first consultation period, lasting from December 2013 to May 2014, a consultation report was submitted to the National People's Congress in July 2014. On 31 August 2014, the NPCSC decided that a 1200-member Nominating Committee based on the present Election Committee should only select two or three candidates before presenting them for a territory-wide ballot by ordinary voters, and each candidate must have more than half of support members of the Election Committee. It also decided that the 2016 legislative election would undergo no further adaptations since those proposed by the 2010 electoral reform.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform
On 18 June 2015, the Legislative Council rejected the electoral reform proposal by 28 votes to 8, despite many pro-Beijing legislators having left the chamber in an attempt to forestall the vote.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, Articles of the Basic Law
The electoral method of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE) and Legislative Council (LegCo) has been a long debated issue in Hong Kong since the Sino-British Joint Declaration which decided the transfer of the Hong Kong sovereignty to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997. In the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the Annex I states that the Chief Executive in the future Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) shall be selected by election or through consultations and the Legislature of the HKSAR shall be constituted by elections. The Joint Declaration stipulates that the government will be composed of local inhabitants and the elections or consultations will be held locally.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, Articles of the Basic Law
The controversy on how the electoral system of the Chief Executive and Legislative Council sparked during the drafting of the Hong Kong Basic Law in the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee (BLDC) during the late 1980s. In the Basic Law promulgated in 1990, it states the ultimate aim of selecting the Chief Executive and all members of the Legislative Council by way of universal suffrage is guaranteed respectively in Article 45 and Article 68.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, Articles of the Basic Law
After the transfer of sovereignty, the pan-democracy camp, the opposition camp in the SAR in which its ultimate goal was to fight for the universal suffrage constantly received about 60% of the popular votes in the LegCo geographical constituency (GC) elections. The annual July 1 marches launched by the pan-democracy camp which demanded genuine democracy as promised in the Basic Law also draw thousands of Hong Kong people each year.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, 2007 NPCSC decision
Donald Tsang, the then Chief Executive, published the Green Paper on Constitutional Development to consult the public on the options, roadmap, and timetable for implementing universal suffrage in July 2007. A report was submitted to the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) subsequently in December 2007. Following that, the NPCSC made the decision that provides:


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, 2007 NPCSC decision
The election of the fifth Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the year 2017 may be implemented by the method of universal suffrage, that after the Chief Executive is selected by universal suffrage, the election of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may be implemented by the method of electing all members by universal suffrage.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, 2007 NPCSC decision
The NPCSC Decision rules out the universal suffrage in the 2012 CE Election and 2012 LegCo Election but on the other hand provides the possibility of universal suffrage for CE in 2017 and LegCo in 2020.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, 2007 NPCSC decision
Although the pan-democracy camp protested against the decision of ruling out the 2007/2008 and 2012 universal suffrage, the Democratic Party, the flagship pro-democratic party in Hong Kong reached the agreement on the 2010 Hong Kong electoral reform which allowed minor changes to the 2012 CE election and 2012 LegCo Election.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced on 17 October 2013 the immediate establishment of the Task Force on Constitutional Development headed by the Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen, and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam as members to handle the public consultation. On 4 December 2013, the Consultation Document on the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive in 2017 and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2016, entitled "Let's Talk and Achieve Universal Suffrage", was published which commenced a five-month public consultation period.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period
The Consultation Document set out the questions such as the size and composition of the Nominating Committee for the CE election and the size of Legislative Council, the electorate base of the functional constituencies and also number of geographical constituencies and number of seats in each geographical constituency.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period
The consultation period ended in May with increasingly heated debates and the Consultation Report was published in July 2014. Following that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying submitted the Report by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The public generally speculated that the NPCSC will set the framework of the electoral reform in the meeting in coming August.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals
During the consultation period, there were proposals suggested by various political groups and individuals which included:


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Ronny Tong's proposal
Civic Party legislator Ronny Tong put forward an initial proposal for the Chief Executive universal suffrage in October 2013 and supported by Professional Commons legislators Dennis Kwok, Charles Mok and Kenneth Leung. The proposal suggests increasing the membership of nominating committee from the 1,200 member Election Committee to 1,514 and maintain the nomination threshold of 150 votes. Tong recommended the instant runoff voting system, which is used in Ireland, Australia, Sri Lanka, and mayoral elections in London, San Francisco, and some governors in the states of the United States, to have the elected CE who could accepted by all sectors. Tong also recommended cancelling existing law which disallows the Chief Executive belonging to a political party membership. Dennis Kwok suggests increasing the electorate base of the nominating committee to 1 million, which fulfils the "broadly representative" principle.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Hong Kong Democratic Foundation
The think tank Hong Kong Democratic Foundation (HKDF) also sets out proposals of 2016 Legislative Council elections and 2017 Chief Executive universal suffrage on 29 May 2013.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Hong Kong Democratic Foundation
The HKDF suggests those functional constituencies (FC) in which voting includes corporate voters to be replaced by individual votes from staff and management members of companies, organisations or institutions that are the constituent members of each FC. For the 5 District Council FC seats requiring candidates to be District Councillors, that qualification would be removed and the 5 seats be reconstituted as a territory-wide geographical constituency (TWGC). The additional one-seat added to each geographical constituency (GC) for the 2012 LegCo election should be transferred to the TWGC, so that this constituency would comprise 10 seats.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Hong Kong Democratic Foundation
A further 10 new LegCo seats would be added to the TWGC. Candidates for the TWGC would be required to secure a minimum of 500 nominations, 100 nominations from registered voters in each of the 5 GCs. In conclusion, the 2016 Legislative Council would consist of total 80 seats: 30 seats from 5 geographical constituencies; 30 seats from functional constituencies and; 20 seats from the Territory-wide geographical constituency.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Hong Kong Democratic Foundation
There are three alternatives for the formation of the nominating committee for electing the Chief Executive:


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Hong Kong Democratic Foundation
HKDF suggested any Chinese national who is a registered GC voter can become a potential candidate with nominations from at least 1⁄8 of the members of the Nominating Committee (NC) or with at least 100,000 nominations from registered GC voters. All candidates once elected to be nominated by the NC have to affirm to abide by the Oath of the CE Office.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Hong Kong Democratic Foundation
After the closing date for submission of requests for nominations by candidates, the NC (e.g. jointly signed by 100 NC members) has right to evaluate the nominations for compliance with the rules after his or her declaration of candidacy and make complaint to the Electoral Affairs Commission to start a judicial process of removing the candidate. The final list of qualified nominated candidates will stand for election by universal suffrage, using the two-round system. A second round of CE elections will be held if no candidate received more than 50% of the votes and the two candidates with the highest vote count will proceed to the second round.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Scholarism
Student activist group Scholarism issued a statement on 23 June 2013 stressed the necessity of civil nomination for the 2017 Chief Executive election. For the 2016 Legislative Council elections, it called for the abolition of the split voting in the Legislative Council; increase of the geographical constituency seats to about 60%; and transfer of the District Council (Second) seats to the geographical constituency.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Scholarism
For the 2017 Chief Executive universal suffrage, it suggests letting all 3.5 million registered voters to be the nominating committee, the nomination threshold to be 100 thousand voters and allowing the Chief Executive to have political party membership. For the 2020 Legislative Council universal suffrage, the Scholarism suggested the abolition of the functional constituencies and increase of the membership of the LegCo from 70 to 80 seats, half of them elected by constituency-wide proportional representation and the other half by territory-wide proportional representation.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Alliance for True Democracy
On 8 January 2014, the Alliance for True Democracy (ATD) released its "Chief Executive Election Plan" with the support of all 27 pro-democratic Legislative Council members. The election plan includes three channels for nomination: civil nomination, political party nomination, and nomination by the nominating committee. Civil nomination demands a candidate to secure the signed endorsement of 1% of the registered voters; political party nomination requires a political party receiving 5% or more of the total valid votes in the last Legislative Council direct election.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Alliance for True Democracy
The nominating committee shall not refuse to endorse any civil and political party nominees who meet the legal requirements, such as not less than 40 years old, has no right of abode in any foreign country; political conditions such as "love China, love Hong Kong" and "no confrontations with Beijing" are not acceptable. The Alliance also demands the abolition of the existing stipulation which disallows the Chief Executive belonging to a political party membership.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Alliance for True Democracy
For the Legislative Council elections, the Scholars Group of the ATD put forward proposals for the transition toward the universal suffrage: For 2016 Legislative Council Election, the Scholars Group suggests:


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, Alliance for True Democracy
For the universal suffrage of the Legislative Council, there are two proposals from the Scholar Group:


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, 18 Scholar Proposal
A group of 18 moderate academics, including Dr Brian Fong Chi-hang, vice-chairman of the thinktank SyngergyNet, former Legislative Council president Andrew Wong Wang-fat, Community Care Fund head Dr Law Chi-kwong and University of Hong Kong law lecturer Eric Cheung Tat-ming, put forward a mid-way proposal in April 2014 to give the public a strong role in selecting Chief Executive candidates without breaching the Basic Law. Under the plan, a candidate who received signatures of support from 2% of registered voters and become a possible candidate to the 1,200-strong nominating committee. Political parties and committee members would also be able to put forward candidates, who would need the support of one-eighth of the committee to enter in the election with universal suffrage.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, DAB's proposal
The Beijing-loyalist Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) on 22 April 2014 also put forward its own proposal, suggesting the formation of the nominating committee should be composed with reference to the composition of the current Election Committee, consisting of four sectors that have equal number of members while establishing subsectors for the counselling profession, women and youth, and SMEs respectively. The DAB's proposal opposes any nominating methods which are not stipulated in the Basic Law, including "public nomination" and "political party nomination".


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, First consultation period, Alternative proposals, DAB's proposal
An intended candidate should gain endorsements from not less than one-tenth and not more than one-eighth of members of the nominating committee to be recommended as an eligible prospective candidate. More than fifty percent of valid votes in the nominating committee a candidate should acquire for standing in the election for the collective will and the majority rule of the committee to be reflected.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Key issues, "Love the Country and love Hong Kong"
On 24 March 2013, Qiao Xiaoyang, chairman of the Law Committee under the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) stated that Chief Executive candidates must be persons who love the country and love Hong Kong, who do not insist on confronting the central government. Observers stated that Qiao comment was to screen out candidates from the opposition pro-democracy camp.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Key issues, "Love the Country and love Hong Kong"
Li Fei, Qiao's successor as chairman of the NPCSC Law Committee stressed the similar statement on 22 November 2013, "the chief executive is accountable to the central government as well as Hong Kong. This means that the post must be taken up by a person who loves the country as well as Hong Kong – anyone opposed to the central government cannot [take it]."


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Key issues, Civil nomination
Some pan-democrats also demand the right of Hong Kong residents to nominate a CE candidate. Student-led group Scholarism in September 2013 called for parties to sign a charter which lists civil nomination as a priority. Under the civil nomination proposal, the nominating committee may put forward to run those candidates who receive a quota of nominations from ordinary voters. The Democratic Party, Labour Party and Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood refused to sign it as they disagree that civil nomination is the only way to put forward candidates.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Key issues, Civil nomination
Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen raised legal arguments against civil nomination as he claimed it may bypass the nominating committee and "turn it into a plastic stamp" as Article 45 of the Basic Law states that "the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures."


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Key issues, Organisation nomination
Qiao Xiaoyang also mentioned in his speech on 24 March 2013 that "the nominating committee is in fact an organisation. The nomination of CE candidates by the nominating committee is a form of organisational nomination. It is opposed by the pan-democracy camp as the method to screen out the opposition candidates as the pan-democrat candidates would not get a majority support from the nominating committee. The pan-democrat candidates were able to enter the last CE elections by getting just one-eighth of the nomination threshold from the Election Committee. There were also some interpretations that an organisational nomination would be a breach of the Basic Law.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' campaign
On 21 March 2013, twelve pan-democratic groups on the basis of the Alliance for Universal Suffrage for the 2010 electoral reform formed the Alliance for True Democracy. Chaired by Convenor Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, political scientist at the City University of Hong Kong, the alliance priority would be to strive for public support in the political reform debate, and to form a consensus proposal by the end of the year.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' campaign
A group called Hong Kong 2020, launched by Convenor Anson Chan, the former Chief Secretary for Administration on 24 April 2013, with members such as Allen Lee, Johannes Chan, and Gladys Li, strives for the full implementation of the universal suffrage for 2017 CE election and 2020 LegCo election.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' campaign
The New Year demonstration for genuine democracy on 1 January 2014 drew thousands of people. A "New Year Civil Referendum" was also conducted at the Victoria Park and over the Internet on the same day. More than 94 percent of over 62,000 voters thought that there should be an "element of civil nomination" in the CE election.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' campaign
Scholarism also suggested a plan for five legislators from pan-democracy parties to quit as a means to trigger another de facto referendum on political reform, mirroring the similar move that five legislators resigned and launched the "five constituency referendum" for the 2010 reform package. However, major pro-democracy parties have expressed reservations, with some fearing that such action could divert public attention from the camp's Occupy Central strategy to fight for universal suffrage.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' campaign, Occupy Central movement
In early 2013, Benny Tai, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong started the campaign called "Occupy Central with Love and Peace" that proposes a nonviolent occupation protest at Central, Hong Kong in mid 2014 if promises made by the Central People's Government for universal suffrage were not realised.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' campaign, Occupy Central movement
The Occupy Central movement commissioned HKPOP to run a poll on three proposals which involve allowing citizens to directly nominate candidates to present to the Beijing government from 20 to 29 June 2014. A total of 792,808 people, equivalent to a fifth of the registered electorate, took part in the poll by either voting online or going to designated polling stations,. All three call for the public to be allowed to nominate candidates for the 2017 chief executive election, an idea repeatedly dismissed by Beijing as inconsistent with the Basic Law.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' campaign, Occupy Central movement
However, the Alliance's "three track" proposal would allow the public, the nominating committee, as well as political parties, to put forward candidates. 691,972 voters (87.8 per cent) agreed that the Legislative Council should veto any reform proposal put forward by the government if it failed to meet international standards, compared with 7.5 per cent who disagreed.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' campaign, Occupy Central movement
A counter organisation, the Alliance for Peace and Democracy, orchestrated by Beijing, was established to counter the Occupy Central movement and it received widespread media attention when it launched a month-long signature campaign for people who oppose the Occupy Central Movement, which lasted from 19 July 2014 to 17 August 2014. The campaign claimed it had collected over a million signatures supporting the campaign, although questions are raised over credibility of the number of signatures collected.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' campaign, August talks
In mid August, pan-democratic legislators met with Zhang Xiaoming, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong in groups to discuss political reform. Zhang stressed again that Hong Kong should consider political reform from a national security point of view and that Beijing and Hong Kong must be wary of a very small number of people trying to turn the territory into a base against the mainland. Following that, 49 of the 70 Legislative Councillors went to Shenzhen to discuss political reforms on 21 August.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' campaign, August talks
It was attended by Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office Wang Guangya and Basic Law Committee chairman Li Fei and also 15 pan-democrats. The Beijing officials and pan-democrats also met exclusively to further the discussion of the different stances between the two parties. Before the meeting, 26 pan-democrat legislators vowed to veto any reform proposal for the 2017 chief executive election that does not meet international standards for universal suffrage. Labour Party lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan, said Hong Kong should not accept a proposal that only promises "one person, one vote," but screens out popular candidates.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, NPCSC's 31 August decision and the protests
On 31 August 2014, the Tenth Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress (NPCSC) set limits for the 2016 Legislative Council and 2017 Chief Executive elections. While calling for "universal suffrage," the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress imposes the standard that "the Chief Executive shall be a person who loves the country and loves Hong Kong" and requires that "the method for selecting the Chief Executive by universal suffrage must provide corresponding institutional safeguards for this purpose."


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, NPCSC's 31 August decision and the protests
The decision states that for the 2017 Chief Executive election, a nominating committee, similar to the present Election Committee system, be formed to nominate two to three candidates, each of whom must receive the support of more than half of the members of the nominating committee. After popular election of one of the nominated candidates, the new Chief Executive "will have to be appointed by the Central People's Government." The process of forming the 2016 Legislative Council would be unchanged, but following the new process for the election of the Chief Executive, a new system to elect the Legislative Council via universal suffrage would be developed with the approval of Beijing.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, NPCSC's 31 August decision and the protests
While Li Fei, a deputy secretary general of the committee, said that the procedure would "protect the broad stability of Hong Kong now and in the future," pro-democracy advocates viewed the decision as a betrayal of the principle of "one person, one vote," as they feared that candidates deemed unsuitable by the Beijing authorities would stand no chance at being nominated. The Standing Committee decision is set to be the basis for new electoral law crafted by the Legislative Council, where Hong Kong's Democratic Party has already promised to "veto this revolting proposal."


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, NPCSC's 31 August decision and the protests
As a result of the decision, Occupy Central said it was planning civil disobedience protests. Also in response to the CPC decision, Hong Kong Federation of Students and the student pressure group Scholarism staged a co-ordinated class boycott in Hong Kong and organise public events, including street assemblies, which escalated into a 79-day large-scale occupy movement.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Second consultation
On 7 January 2015, the Hong Kong government published the Consultation Document on the Method for Selecting the Chief Executive by Universal Suffrage (Consultation Document) and launched a two-month public consultation on the method for selecting the Chief Executive (CE) by universal suffrage which ended on 7 March 2015. In the same month, the HKSAR government also released the Report on the Recent Community and Political Situation in Hong Kong, as its promise to the Hong Kong Federation of Students after the negiotation with the leaders in the course of the occupy movement. In protest to the NPCSC, the pan-democracy camp boycotted the consultation.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Second consultation
Albert Chen Hung-yee, a constitutional law expert and member of the National People's Congress Basic Law Committee, put forward a proposal suggesting a compromised proposal with "none of the above" option on the ballot paper. Under the plan, if "none of the above" accounts for 50 per cent of the vote or more, there has to be a revote. It is intended to put pressure on the candidates, handpicked by a 1,200-strong nominating body, to lobby for support of the public as well as that of the committee members. Pan-democrats call it a "passive" scheme and dislike the high threshold for a revote, while the pro-Beijing side does not want to give the public veto power. Chen dropped the proposal in March, citing "[a]t this stage I can't see any proposal will be accepted by both camps".


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Second consultation
On 4 March 2015, Dr Robert Chung, director of University of Hong Kong's Public Opinion Programme, suggested the government hold a vote to gauge public views after it releases its reform proposal in the next month. "If two-thirds of the voters say they want to pass the package, the pan-democrats should respect the results and not insist on a veto,", Chung said, as the two-thirds majority is the requirement laid down in the Basic Law for the legislature to pass any political reform. Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung dismissed the idea as "[u]nder the Basic Law, there is no provision for a referendum. And Hong Kong is a special administrative region, therefore, there is no legal basis for us to have a referendum."


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Formal proposals by the SAR government
On 22 April 2015, the Hong Kong government unveiled its legislative proposal for the electoral reform. Legislative Council convened to discuss the election overhaul plan. To the chagrin of opposition lawmakers, only very minor changes were offered as concession. Chief secretary of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, stated: "We should weigh very carefully whether the passage of these proposals or a standstill in constitutional development will be a more favourable outcome for the overall and long-term interests of Hong Kong."


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Formal proposals by the SAR government
Dissenting pro-democracy legislators had already stated they would veto the proposals. In response to the proposals, they on the wearing black marched from the chamber of the legislature as soon as Lam's speech ended. Some legislators raised yellow umbrellas, a symbol of the Occupy movement.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Formal proposals by the SAR government
Members of the Task Force on Constitutional Development – Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung, and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen – together with politically appointed officials took part on 25 April in a territory-wide bus parade to appeal for public support for the city's constitutional reform package on an open-top double-decker bus on which slogans of "2017 Make it happen! ".


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Formal proposals by the SAR government
A pro-Beijing group, Alliance for Peace and Democracy on 9 May launched a nine-day campaign, with hundreds of booths set up to collect signatures from Hong Kongers aged 18 and above, in support of the government's proposed electoral reforms. It claimed around 360,000 people added their names over the weekend. Meanwhile, the pan-democracy camp launched a citywide campaign to rally public opinion against the proposal.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Formal proposals by the SAR government, 31 May meeting
On 31 May 2015, three top Beijing officials, Basic Law Committee chairman Li Fei, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Wang Guangya and Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong director Zhang Xiaoming met with members of the Legislative Council in Shenzhen, which included pan-democratic legislators. The Beijing officials dashed any hope of last-minute concessions from Beijing with tough stances during the four-hour talk and the post-meeting press conference. Li also stressed that the framework set down on 31 August would govern the election of Hong Kong's leader by universal suffrage in 2017 and onwards. The pan-democrats said they would definitely veto the political reform package as the meeting with mainland officials left them with no choice.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legco voting
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen confirmed on 2 June 2015 that reform proposals would be tabled to the Legislative Council on 17 June with no modifications.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legco voting
During the second day of the debate on 18 June 2015, right before the vote, pro-Beijing legislators Ip Kwok-him (DAB) and Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung (BPA) led a walk-out of members of the DAB, the BPA, most members of the FTU and other pro-Beijing legislators, after Jasper Tsang denied Lam's request for a 15-minute recess. Lam later explained that the walk-out was an impromptu attempt to delay the division so that his party member Lau Wong-fat, who was delayed, could cast his vote in favour of the Beijing-backed reforms.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legco voting
Unbeknownst to the lawmakers outside the chamber, however, five Liberal Party legislators, Chan Yuen-han of the FTU and two other pro-Beijing independents remained in the chamber and voted in favour of the proposal. On the other hand, all 27 pan democrats who had vowed to vote down the reform did so, as did one pro-Beijing legislator Leung Ka-lau representing the Medical constituency. The government's reform proposal failed as eight legislators voted in favour and 28 voted against, barely meeting the quorum of 35.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legco voting
Since it had been expected the reform would be voted down by 41–28 (which would fall only six votes short of the two-thirds absolute majority stipulated by the Basic Law), the failure in pro-Beijing camp's sudden tactics resulted in a surprising landslide defeat that would suggest to outsiders that there was little support for the plan. (Additionally in this case the reform will be defeated even if every legislator remaining in the chamber votes yes in the reform)


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legco voting
The fiasco was described by analysts as an "embarrassment" for Beijing, and the Central Government's Liaison Office met or phoned pro-Beijing legislators about it after the voting. Much blame was placed on Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung who was seen as a key instigator of the walkout. Ip Kwok-him, caucus convenor of the DAB who stood up and ushered everyone to the exit apologised for his part. New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee lost her tough composure during a radio show on the next day, openly sobbing as she lamented her failure to cast her ballot.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legco voting
Liberal Party chairman Felix Chung Kwok-pan was offended by those who said it was "unfortunate" the Liberals had stayed behind to vote instead of joining the majority in their walkout. An advert signed by 33 pro-Beijing legislators was published in seven Chinese-language newspapers and in an English version published in South China Morning Post on the next days, saying their plan "was foiled by gaps in communication".


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legco voting
On 25 June, the Oriental Daily News published a section of leaked WhatsApp group conversation among pro-Beijing legislators before the voting. President of Legco, Jasper Tsang Yok-sing of the DAB, was revealed to have joined the pro-Beijing legislators' discussion about their timing-control strategy. The pan-democrats criticised him for failing to uphold the impartiality as president and for exposing their plan to the rival camp. Tsang refused to resign, denying having done anything inconsistent with the rules of procedure or violated the neutrality of Legco president. Media also noted that there was no mention of Lau Wong-fat at all even though his late arrival would trigger the walk-out.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legco voting
a  As President of the Legislative Council, Tsang did not vote per custom. b  Poon was physically inside the chamber but did not indicate his presence and thus did not register his presence in records.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United States
In April 2014, Anson Chan, former Chief Secretary of Hong Kong and founder of pro-democracy group Hong Kong 2020, and Martin Lee, founder of Hong Kong's opposition Democratic Party, went to the United States and met Joe Biden, US vice-president at the White House. The activists spoke out against Beijing increasing control over Hong Kong and their fear of only candidates picked by Beijing would be allowed to take part in the 2017 Chief Executive election.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United States
Lee and Chan also voiced concerns over press freedom in Hong Kong, referring to violent assaults on journalists and alleging that Beijing is pressuring advertisers to shun critical media. Biden underscored Washington's "long-standing support for democracy in Hong Kong and for the city's high degree of autonomy under the 'one country, two systems' framework," the White House said. China warned the United States against meddling in Hong Kong's internal affairs after Biden met with Chan and Lee. In response, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it "firmly opposes any countries meddling in the city's internal affairs in any way," South China Morning Post quoted.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United States
During their trip to America, Lee and Chan also met with Nancy Pelosi, minority leader of the House of Representatives, and members of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. "The future of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong is under serious threat," Senator Sherrod Brown, head of the commission, said in a prepared statement, as quoted by Reuters. "China is already placing 'pre-conditions' on who can run, raising serious doubts about whether the elections will be free and fair," he added.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United States
In early May 2015, A US bipartisan delegation led by Matt Salmon, a Republican who chairs the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs with Republican Tom Emmer and Democrat Alan Lowenthal on a fact-finding mission visited Hong Kong to learn about developments in Hong Kong. They held meetings with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and also legislators across the spectrum on the government's reform package, which pan-democrats have pledged to reject.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United States
Matt Salmon told leaders of the four pan-democratic parties, Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing, Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit, Labour Party chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood lawmaker Frederick Fung Kin-kee, that a system where "people are elected by the people" was better than one in which leaders were chosen via a narrow constituency, saying that 'sometimes half a loaf is better than no loaf'.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United States
Lee said the congressmen had described the proposed chief executive election plan as "definitely not equal suffrage" and said they were not trying to convince the pan-democrats but to learn more about the reform debate. Fung said the congressmen had described the reform plan as not fully democratic but had stressed it was a decision for Hongkongers to make. Tam Yiu-chung, ex-chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong who also met the trio, read the congressmen's interest in compromise as a signal that they wanted to see the reform package passed.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United Kingdom
In July 2014, Anson Chan and Martin Lee visited the United Kingdom and met with Deputy Prime Minister and the leader of the coalition's junior partner the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg and raised concerns over China's jurisdiction of the region, and questioning Britain's commitment to Hong Kong's democratic development. Clegg affirmed Britain's commitment to honour the pledge that if China breached the Sino-British Joint Declaration, Britain would "mobilize the international community and pursue every legal and other avenue available".


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United Kingdom
Clegg also criticised British Prime Minister David Cameron for prioritising trade with the world's second largest economy over democracy in Hong Kong. A source close to Clegg said Cameron's Conservative Party had become "so deferential in their attitude to China" they would not stand up for democracy in Hong Kong. China issued a formal complaint to Britain after the meeting. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China was firmly opposed to any foreign interference in its internal affairs on any pretext.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United Kingdom
Anson Chan and Martin Lee also attended a Foreign Affairs Select Committee hearing, speaking out that they were "concerned that neither of the two signatories to the Joint Declaration – that is, China and Britain – is adequately fulfilling their respective responsibilities on the terms of this internationally binding treaty." Richard Ottaway, a member of Parliament and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the committee would announce a report as early as next week on the British government's policy toward Hong Kong, but "it's not a report into the internal operations of Hong Kong." Within two months of its publication, the British government will have to respond to the conclusions and recommendations set out in the report.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United Kingdom
Liu Xiaoming, PRC's ambassador to Britain, described Martin Lee and Anson Chan as "bent on undermining the stability of Hong Kong". He sent a letter to the members of parliament on 14 July, warned members against visiting Hong Kong. "I do not think your planned visit to Hong Kong is helpful and strongly advise you not make it," Liu wrote.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United Kingdom
A second letter, from the National People's Congress Foreign Affairs Committee, sent to the British committee in July, saying that the inquiry into post-handover Hong Kong by the committee would be seen as interference in China's internal affairs and called for it to be cancelled. Undeterred by warnings from Beijing, Richard Ottaway told the Sunday Morning Post: "We are planning to come in December and I have no reason to think that we won't be there." "The Hong Kong government, the Chinese government and the National People's Congress shouldn't necessarily think that we are automatically hostile," Ottaway said.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United Kingdom
Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong under the British rule, wrote in the Financial Times in September, questioning Britain's "sense of honour" in failing to condemn China's planned reforms in Hong Kong, which he said would introduce the kind of stage-managed democracy seen in Iran. He said that the UK had a “moral and political obligation” to defend full democracy in the city.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United Kingdom
In response to media enquiries on the remarks by Chris Patten, a spokesman for the Office of the Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said on 4 September 2014 that none of the Governors of Hong Kong had been elected by Hong Kong people under the British rule; that the Sino-British Joint Declaration did not provide for universal suffrage; and that Hong Kong's constitutional development under the Basic Law was an internal affair of China.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United Kingdom
In an official response to China's 31 August decision, the British government said, "We welcome the confirmation that China's objective is for the election of Hong Kong's chief executive through universal suffrage." A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with the response, saying that the reform was "China's internal affair". Anson Chan and Martin Lee heavily criticised the UK government's acceptance of China's plan for limiting free elections in its former colony of Hong Kong.


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, International responses, United Kingdom
After the electoral reform proposal was voted down, British minister Hugo Swire expressed his country's disappointment at the outcome, and said that "a transition to universal suffrage is the best way to guarantee Hong Kong's stability".


2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform, Opinion polling
On the question (or variants thereof):  "The National People's Congress Standing Committee has set a framework to limit the number of candidates to two or three and require them to have the support of at least half of the 1,200 nominating committee members. Should the Legislative Council pass or veto the government proposal on the election of the chief executive by universal suffrage based on this framework?"


2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
The 2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes were a series of armed clashes and exchanges of gunfire between the Indian Border Security Force and the Pakistan Rangers: the paramilitary gendarmerie forces of both nations, responsible for patrolling the India-Pakistan border) along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region and the borders of the Punjab. Tensions began in mid-July 2014, with both countries' military officials and media reports giving different accounts of the incidents and accusing each other of initiating the hostilities. The incident sparked outrage in both countries and harsh reactions by the Indian and Pakistani militaries and the Indian and Pakistani governments.


2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
The situation deteriorated in October of that year, when Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley urged Pakistan to stop "unprovoked" firing and warned that the response by India would be "unaffordable". On 12 October 2014, Pakistani national security adviser Sartaj Aziz, sent a letter to the United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon appealing for a resolution of the crisis. Aziz said that officials from the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) were going to the disputed border region to observe ceasefire violations.


2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
In September 2015, a Pakistani delegation headed by the Pakistan Rangers director general Umar Farooq, visited India for bilateral talks; Indian Border Security Force director general Devendra Kumar headed the Indian delegation. Both sides agreed to halt cross-border ceasefire violations. Indian Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh told the Pakistani delegation, "Indian forces will not fire the first bullet along the international border."


2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
The Pakistani delegation raised the issue of the killing of a Pakistani Ranger by Indian BSF fire (which resulted in escalation and retaliatory fire), and the Indian BSF director-general pledged that no such incident would occur in the future. Both sides agreed to conduct joint investigations of future ceasefire violations and to strengthen border security; The Indian BSF and Pakistan Rangers agreed to improve communications.


2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes, Reaction, India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in October 2014 that the government would not let the Indian people down and "everything will be fine soon". According to defence minister Manohar Parrikar, "If Pakistan persists with this adventurism, our forces will make the cost of this adventurism unaffordable". Home minister Rajnath Singh said that the Pakistan must stop cross-border ceasefire violations because "times have changed in India". Eighteen Pakistani militants were killed and 19 camps were reportedly destroyed in October 2014.


2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes, Reaction, Pakistan
Pakistani military officials and the government accused India of violating the ceasefire and opening fire in Pakistani territory (after which the Pakistani military retaliated), condemning the October 2014 LoC violation by the Indian Army. Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif responded to his Indian counterpart, "We don't want to convert border tension between two nuclear neighbors into confrontation". On 12 October 2014, Pakistani National Security Adviser (NSA) Sartaj Aziz appealed to the United Nations to resolve the crisis. The UN declined Pakistan's request for intervention, saying that the dispute should be resolved with bilateral discussions.


2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes, Reaction, Pakistan
Pakistan Rangers director-general Tahir Javaid Khan said that India fired nearly 30,000 mortar rounds between 2010 and 2014, and Indian ceasefire violations resembled a small-scale war. On 31 December 2014, National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz sent a letter via the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj protesting India's "breach of trust" in their killing of two Rangers. In his response, Swaraj dismissed Pakistan's allegations. On 28 August 2015, Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif said that what he called the targeting of civilians was "highly unprofessional, unethical, irresponsible and cowardly."


2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes, Reaction, United Nations
On 9 October 2014, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement that Secretary Ban wanted India and Pakistan "to engage constructively to find a long-term solution for peace and stability in Kashmir".


2014–2015 Israel Football League season
The 2014–2015 Israel Football League season was the eighth season of the Israel Football League (IFL) and concluded with the Judean Rebels defeating the Tel Aviv Pioneers, 20-10, in Israel Bowl VIII.


2014–2015 Israel Football League season, Regular season
The regular season saw the Judean Rebels earn the top seed in the postseason with an undefeated record.


2014–2015 Israel Football League season, Playoffs
In the Quarterfinals, the Hammers defeated the Lions and the Underdogs defeated the Troopers. In the Semifinals, the Rebels defeated the Hammers and the Pioneers defeated the Underdogs. In Israel Bowl VIII, the Rebels completed a perfect season by defeating the Pioneers 20-10. Dani Eastman was named Israel Bowl MVP.


2014–2015 Macedonian student protests
The 2014–2015 Macedonian student protests was a wave of student strikes and Teacher-ins, Student protests, Sit-ins and Occupations against a government plan to replace university-run examinations with state 'testing'. Mass protests and rallies by students and Colleges started on 10 October, against the plan but turned into public protests and Civil disobedience against the government of Nikola Gruevski and the results of the 2014 Macedonian general election.


2014–2015 Macedonian student protests
Rallies by students consisted of Marches and Flash mob tactics while Security forces used Tear gas and Water cannon against the protesters, demanding the resignation of the government and fresh elections, an end to Corruption and Police brutality and university fees to decrease. Rent strikes, Wildcat strikes and University Occupations occurred amid growing opposition protests and street demonstrations in early 2015 led by mostly high school students, angry at the plan of to replace university-examinations with state-run testing. Mass protests was quelled in January 2015, after major rallies attracted hundreds of thousands of Students and Teachers nationwide.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods
The 2014–2015 Malaysia floods affected Malaysia from 15 December 2014 – 3 January 2015. More than 200,000 people were affected while 21 were killed. This flood have been described as the worst floods in decades.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Affected areas
As part of the northeast monsoon, heavy rains since 17 December forced 3,390 people in Kelantan and 4,209 people in Terengganu to flee their homes. Several Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) intercity train services along the East Coast route were disrupted on 18 December following the floods. On 20 December, the area of Kajang, Selangor, was also hit by serious floods. By 23 December, most rivers in Kelantan, Pahang, Perak and Terengganu had reached dangerous levels. Due to rising water levels, most businesses were affected and about 60,000 people were evacuated the following day. The state of Kelantan had the most evacuees (20,468 to 24,765), followed by Terengganu (21,606), Pahang (10,825), Perak (1,030), Sabah (336) and Perlis (143).


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Affected areas
The situation continues to worsen in Kelantan and Terengganu, due to heavy rain. Most roads in Kelantan have been closed. The worst-hit district in Terengganu is Kemaman, followed by Dungun, Kuala Terengganu, Hulu Terengganu, Besut and Marang. In Pahang, the worst-hit areas are Kuantan, Maran, Jerantut, Lipis and Pekan. Dozens of foreign tourists were stranded at a resort in a Malaysian national park in Pahang. Most were travellers from Canada, Britain, Australia and Romania. All were rescued via boat and helicopter. In Kedah, at least 51 people were evacuated. A teenager in Perlis was the first victim to die in this flood.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Affected areas
In southern Malaysia, between 300 and 350 people have been displaced in both Johor and Negeri Sembilan. The number of evacuees nationwide reached more than 200,000 by 28 December, with 10 people killed. The flooding is considered the country's worst in decades. However, the exact numbers of evacuees, missing persons and deaths are unknown, as the Malaysian flood centre was unable to provide any accurate figures. Some victim were found in miserable condition as the victim had to survive on one meal of rice a day after he was stranded in the floods. On 31 December, a Royal Malaysia Police Ecureuill AS 355F2 helicopter crashed during a patrol in Kelantan, injuring four crews on board.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Affected areas
In Sabah, heavy rains since 21 December resulted in flooding throughout most areas in the district of Beaufort. As many as 30 villages were severely affected due to the water level of Padas River rising up to 9.26 metres above the danger level, with the floods caused mainly by the overflow of water from the river's upper reaches in the Tenom district. About 292 people were evacuated as the flood situation worsened in Beaufort, while the condition improved in the interior districts of Tenom and Kemabong. The number of victims increased to 300 overnight.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Affected areas
Most victims in Tenom were able to return home, with only one of the eleven flood relief centres still operational as water levels receded. However, more relief centres are expected to be opened if the rain continues and the water from upper Tenom and Keningau flood the Padas River. In Kudat, 9 families comprising 63 people were affected by floods and have sought shelter at relatives' and neighbours' houses. In Sarawak, several villages in upper Baram hit by floods on 29 December.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Affected areas
As of 2 January 2015, floodwaters continued to recede and the number of evacuees in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Perak continued to reduce while the state of Sabah once again prepared for rising numbers of evacuees as floodwaters has started to rise in Kota Belud. Over 1,000 people been evacuated in northern Sabah during the floods. On 3 January, the area of south-western Sipitang district was flooded while floods in the northern Sabah including Kota Belud, Kota Marudu and Pitas had receded. In Tawau, three primary schools were also affected by floods but the waters began to recede at the afternoon.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Effects, Healthcare
As of 29 December, the flooding has affected 102 health facilities in West Malaysia, 38 of which are still operating. An anaesthesiologist working in Kelantan's Kuala Krai Hospital had to intubate a baby in the dark after a diesel generator ran out of fuel. Helicopters were used to evacuate patients from Kuala Krai Hospital as the flood worsened. The 180 hospital staffs have been working tirelessly for over 5 days. The hospital also doubled as a temporary relief centre for flood victims. Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital (HUSM) in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, experienced a blood shortage due to overwhelming life-saving demands. Medical students were mobilised to assist medical officers on duty at HUSM.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Effects, Education
Three universities namely Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) were affected by floods. Students of UMK decided to flee from their university in view of worsening flood crisis. Such affected universities will be allowed to defer their examinations scheduled in early January 2015. In the meantime, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Penang campus have been urging its Kelantan students to return to their campus earlier to avoid being trapped by floods.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Effects, Education
As of 28 December 2014, a total of 340 schools in Malaysia have either been converted into flood relief centres or flooded by waters. The Ministry of Education Malaysia announced that opening of all primary and secondary schools will be delayed by 1 week. This is to ensure that all schools are clean and safe for the students before the opening day.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Effects, Economy
Palm oil and rubber prices have surged as flooding has disrupted supplies from Malaysia. Rubber output in Thailand and Malaysia will drop at least 30 per cent and prices been predicted to rise further. As floodwaters in Malaysia are not receding, palm oil production decline sharply.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Effects, General
Shortage of food supplies, electricity, clean water, banking services and erratic communication problems continue to affect flood victims after the flood started to recede. Lack of banking services has caused some petrol stations to run out of small change. Some victims survived on donated relief items while other desperate flood victims started to fight for or steal food and valuables from abandoned homes. One mother was forced to feed her 6 months old infant with formula milk mixed with rainwater. However, flood victims still have rice, bread, canned sardines and egg for dinner at a relief centre. Some unregistered flood victims claimed that they were denied help from NGOs when they tried to stop the NGOs at the side of the road. Tissue papers drenched in cooking oil was used to provide light when there was no electricity or candles supplies.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Effects, General
Some flood victims were worried of that their valuables were being stolen from their homes and they have to swim back to their homes every day to check on their items. Prices of essential items were artificially raised. For example, one bottle of water costs MYR5, one large candle costs MYR14, l.5 litres of petrol costs MYR12, and one can of sardines costs MYR8. Some boat owners charged MYR5 for crossing Pahang River and MYR15 for longer journeys. Nevertheless, some quarters argued that the flood has united all Malaysians together to help each other regardless of race, religion, or political stance.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Effects, General
Many flood victims in Kelantan, Malaysia, started to cross Golok River into Su-ngai Kolok town to buy essential items at Su-ngai Kolok Municipality Market.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, Local
Malaysia — The Malaysian government mobilised all available assets to help in flood rescue operations, the number of rescue team members was increased. Prime Minister Najib Razak said that an additional MYR500 million had been allocated for the state of Sabah. The Prime Minister also brought forward the payment of 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) and special schooling aid of MYR100 to mid-January in order to ease the burden of flood victims. He also said that flood mitigation improvements will be given a priority in the Eleven Malaysia Plan (2016–2020) to prevent such disaster from recurring as existing flood mitigation systems were unable to cope with the extent of floods that struck several states.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, Local
The state of Malacca sent around MYR500,000, both the state of Penang and Selangor allocated around MYR1.5 million, the state of Sarawak delivered about MYR2 million, while the state of Terengganu while being itself affected by the floods has donated another MYR1 million. As a mark of respect for all flood victims nationwide, most New Year celebration concerts, including those in Pahang, Perak, Sabah, Selangor and Terengganu, were cancelled. The state of Malacca decided to celebrate the New Year in a simple way and cancelled most of its events.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, Local
The Malaysian bank Maybank has offered a six-month moratorium on loan instalment payments and waiver of certain charges on a case-by-case basis for customers affected by the floods in the country. The bank also has assisted flood victims through a recent partnership between the Maybank Foundation and Mercy Malaysia. Johor FA has announced a contribution of MYR100,000 to assist the growing number of flood victims on the East Coast. Various non-governmental organisations have contributed their assistance.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
China — The Chinese government donated around US$100,000 (MYR339,160) to the Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MCRS). Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang said that the Chinese government is "concerned for its Malaysian brothers who are affected by the floods. China wishes to stand by Malaysia and we will not allow Malaysians to face such challenges alone". He added that China promised to provide as much relief assistance to Malaysia as possible. Another MYR10 million (US$3.76 million) been sent to Malaysia in the form of items such as 1,600 makeshift tents, generators, sewage pumps and water purifying equipment.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
Iran — Iran's Cultural Office in Kuala Lumpur has expressed sympathy with flood-stricken people in Malaysia's northeastern states. In a statement by Ali Akbar Ziaei, he wished "rapid health recovery for the wounded and divine forgiveness for the dead".


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
Japan — The Japanese government, via the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), has pledged emergency relief aid worth over MYR500,000 in the form of items such as generators, water purifiers and other humanitarian goods. In a statement on their embassy in Malaysia, "the government of Japan expressed sympathy to the people of Malaysia over the massive flooding that forced a huge number of people in the affected areas to be evacuated and ready to offer and provide immediate emergency relief facilities and equipment including generators, water purifiers and other humanitarian goods via Jica.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
Adding the Japanese government always stands ready to assist Malaysia in such tragic circumstances and earnestly hopes that the Malaysian government and its people will face the adversity with courage". The Japanese government also has offer an additional assistance worth around MYR300,000 along with other items such as tents and blankets.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
Singapore — The Singaporean government has pledged S$100,000 for flood victims in Malaysia. The Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) announced in a statement that the money will be channelled to flood victims by the Singapore Red Cross (SRC), with an additional S$127,000 to be channelled from the Singapore Disaster Response Emergency Fund. An additional MYR600,000 (S$227,000) was given to the Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) on 30 December. Water purification units were sent to ensure that affected residents have clean drinking water.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
All mosques in Singapore has organising a special fund to aid flood victims in neighbouring Malaysia, while localised non-profits such as the Tzu Chi Singapore also partook in fundraising efforts.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
Taiwan — Taiwanese medical workers and volunteers with 12 vehicles loaded with supplies and rescue equipment entered flood-hit areas in Malaysia and offer relief services to victims. Taiwan economic and cultural centre office has donated MYR5,000 (US$1,429) to help flood victims.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation founder Dharma Master Cheng Yan has donated MYR350,000 of vegetarian instant rice to flood victims.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
Thailand — Thai authorities provide relief aid and assistance to Malaysian people who living along the border of Narathiwat Province. Narathiwat governor Natthapong Sirichana also took staff into affected areas to offer aid supplies to people struggling with severe floods in Malaysia. Other than Narathiwat, authorities in Pattani, Yala and Songhla Provinces along with Thai Army have gathering donations and volunteers to help the Malaysian state of Kelantan as ordered by Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
United Arab Emirates — Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahayan who is the President of the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) has ordered that emergency aid be delivered to flood victims in Malaysia's north-eastern states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
United States — United States Secretary of State John Kerry expressed sympathy to the flood victims in Malaysia and offered US disaster relief assistance for those affected. The United States provide around MYR525,000 to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who help the flood victims, and offer other aid in the form of medical equipment and medicine. An additional of MYR3 million was sent in the form of materials, programmes and technical assistance. The United States government had also agreed to provide a long-term assistance to Malaysia on storm forecasting and flood mitigation.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International
United States companies and their employees had provided cash and in-kind donations valued at over MYR1.1 million.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) — Around CHF82,964 (approximately US$83,000) been delivered to Malaysia as part of the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support 25,000 (5,000 families) for a period of one month. The DREF will fund the distribution of 10,000 blankets for 5,000 families as part of the overall operation.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
Islamic Relief — The organisation focused distributing aid on Rantau Panjang town as the area at present has little support from non-governmental organisations.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Response, International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
ShelterBox — Helston based disaster relief charity is on their way to Malaysia to start assessing on what type of shelter is needed and determining the best aid method. On 30 December, the charity arrived and started to distributes aid by stocked 224 ShelterBoxes and 1,032 Midi tents.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Controversies
As Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was away, his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, was in charge for the flood crisis. However, the Prime Minister later ended his vacation amidst criticism from the public when he was seen playing golf with then US President Barack Obama in Hawaii, United States. Najib stressed that the golf game was necessary in establishing diplomatic ties with the United States and the event has been planned much earlier even before the flood started. Some victims have accused the government of being slow to provide assistance.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Controversies
The Malaysian federal government was urged to declare a state of emergency in view of worsening floods. This measure is recommended in order to mobilise all the machinery of the government to tackle the flood situation. However, prime minister Najib decided that state of emergency is not needed because insurance companies will not be paying compensations to the victims as damages will be included in "force majeure" category. However, the opposition dismissed such explanation by Najib and insurance companies clarifies that as long as flood is covered in a policy, flood victims would be eligible for their claims.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Controversies
Nik Muhammad Abduh, the son of PAS leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, said that the flood is due to the wrath of Allah. Therefore, the Kelantan state government must enforce "hudud" law, despite widespread opposition against the law. However, the state assembly building where the state government is supposed to table a hudud law has been waterlogged since 25 December. This has caused the state government to postpone the special sitting to a later date. However, the state government was told to help flood victims first instead of focusing on the hudud issue. Muhammad V of Kelantan called for more environmentally friendly measures to prevent such flooding from happening again.


2014–2015 Malaysia floods, Controversies
Rescue missions have been difficult, due to uncertain weather conditions and some residents' refusal to evacuate. A village head at Kampung Jimah, Lukut, Negeri Sembilan, attempted to chase away opposition representatives who sought to provide aid to victims' families. In another instance, opposition representatives were shooed away by local authorities when they attempted to provide aid at a relief centre in Kluang, Johor.


2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race
The 2014–15 Volvo Ocean Race was the 12th edition of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race. It started on 19 October 2014 in Alicante, Spain, and concluded in June 2015 in Gothenburg, Sweden. After 38,739 nautical miles of ocean racing, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing led by skipper Ian Walker claimed the overall trophy.


2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race, Yachts
For the first time, the race is a one-design event. The Volvo Ocean 65 was designed by Farr Yacht Design in response to concerns about safety and cost. The Volvo Ocean Race ensures a minimum of eight boats are built.


2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race, Yachts
The aim was to reduce participation cost to around 15 million euros per entry.


2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race, Yachts
The boats are maintained by a common team, The Boatyard. They manage the spares, repairs, and maintenance for all the teams.


2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race, Yachts, Onboard reporters
For this edition of the race, each yacht had an onboard reporter. They are responsible for producing 4 minutes of video, 200 words, and 8 photographs a day. These media assets are sent to the Volvo Ocean Race Media Center in Alicante for editing and wide dissemination. OBRs were allowed to perform additional activities beyond producing content, however, they may not assist in the sailing of the boat.


2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race, Participants
Seven teams are participating in this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. One of them, Team SCA, is a women-only team.


2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race, Route
Notes  (157 sailing days for race winners and 10 In-port racing days):


2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race, Results
The point standings are done via low points. The winner of each leg/in-port race will receive 1 point, runner up will receive 2 points, and so on down to the final finisher who will receive 7 points. Failure to finish a leg is counted as 8 points. The overall winner will be the one the lowest number of leg points, with the in-port points being used for tie-breaking.


2014–2015 Volvo Ocean Race, Media
The race was chronicled in a daily show hosted by Genny Tulloch called Inside Tack - Life at the Extreme, and a weekly show -Life at the Extreme.


2014–2015 eruption of Bárðarbunga
The 2014–2015 eruption of Bárðarbunga was a Hawaiian eruption in the Bárðarbunga volcanic system in Iceland, that began on August 29, 2014 and ended on February 27, 2015. The eruption emitted large volumes of sulphur dioxide and impacted air quality in Iceland. There was no effect on flights outside of the immediate vicinity due to a lack of a significant emission of volcanic ash. The eruption took place in the lava field of Holuhraun northeast of the Bárðarbunga caldera proper.


2014–2015 eruption of Bárðarbunga, Overview
Seismic activity surrounding the Bárðarbunga volcano gradually increased from 2007 to 2014, with a brief pause during the nearby eruption at Grímsvötn in 2011. By the summer of 2014 activity reached a level similar to that just before the Grímsvötn eruption. In May 2014 there was a small earthquake sequence of about 200 events. GPS data recorded a displacement of 14 cm in the region since the beginning of the phase of unrest, compared to a figure of 2 cm over the rest of Iceland.


2014–2015 eruption of Bárðarbunga, Overview
This displacement is attributed to the separation of two continental plates: the Eurasian Plate in the east and the North American Plate in the west. Further earthquake swarms were detected: one at Bárðarbunga caldera, attributed to subsidence due to the magma chamber emptying; and another at the head of a dyke which extends approximately 40 km outwards from the vent, at a depth of 5–8 km below the surface. Evidence of minor sub-glacial eruptions occurred as early as 23 August when tremors were detected, but it was not until 29 August when lava erupted onto the surface at the fissure, forming a crater and substantial lava field to the north of the glacier in Holuhraun.


2014–2015 eruption of Bárðarbunga, Possible scenarios
Scientists at the Icelandic Met Office and the University of Iceland outlined three possible scenarios:


2014–2015 eruption of Bárðarbunga, Activity in 2014, August, Seismic activity prior to eruption
A swarm of 1600 earthquakes with an average magnitude of 1.5 up to 3 began at 03:00 on August 16, 2014. There were "very strong indications of ongoing magma movement, in connection with dyke intrusion" according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office. The activity was in fact two swarms; one located east of Bárðarbunga caldera; and one at the edge of Dyngjujökull glacier just east of Kistufell. The Aviation Color Code was raised to Yellow. By 18 August about 2600 earthquakes were detected, with some larger than magnitude 3, the largest of which being of magnitude 4.5. The Aviation Color Code was raised to Orange. The majority of events were recorded at a depth of 5–10 km.


2014–2015 eruption of Bárðarbunga, Activity in 2014, August, Seismic activity prior to eruption
On 23 August an intense low-frequency signal was detected which led scientists to believe that a small eruption was in progress under the Dyngjujökull glacier. As a result of this the Aviation Color Code was elevated to a maximum Red, signifying that an eruption was either imminent or in progress and that a no-fly zone was in effect for planes to the south-east of Iceland.