GlobalPost’s must-read stories of 2014
As the world turns the corner into 2015, many of last year's major news stories are still dominating headlines: the rise of the Islamic State, instability in Afghanistan, West Africa's Ebola outbreak, and refugee crises from the Middle East to the Pacific.
GlobalPost covered all of these stories in 2014 — and many others that haven't gained as much of the world's attention. Here we've picked 30 of our best from the year. Have a look through and catch up on the must-reads you might have missed.
Conflict
A man breaks down in tears during a protest in Erbil calling for help securing the release of Yazidis captured by IS. (Tracey Shelton/GlobalPost)
Inside the fight for Somalia's future
Here’s what James Foley meant to us
The US and UK finally left Helmand, Afghanistan. Here are 4 reasons why it's nothing to celebrate
CSI Baghdad: Meet the small forensics team struggling to deal with waves of violence in Iraq
The US is now involved in 134 wars or none, depending on your definition of 'war'
Captured by the Islamic State, these two teenagers went through hell. Then they ran
It doesn't get worse than this ruined town in South Sudan
Red Light Jihad: Islamic insurgency in Thailand’s strangest party town
Politics and justice
Kyiv remembers its fallen 'heroes'
This beautiful video shows Ukrainian soldiers bracing for attack inside Crimean base
South Korea pulled strings in Cambodia crackdown
Attention Venezuelan shoppers: Will this ID card keep you loyal to the revolution?
The scary return of a radical, far-right Europe and what it means
#IndyRef: ‘Scotland will never, ever be the same’
Alibaba: supermarket for torture devices?
Meet the Tunisian fisherman saving the lives of migrants at sea
What people around the world are saying about Ferguson
Drugs and crime
The world has a new piracy hotspot
Vietnam is sentencing corrupt bankers to death, by firing squad
Exclusive: After US sex abuse scandals, an accused priest rises again in Paraguay
Asia’s heroin now sold in lemon yellows and cotton-candy pinks
This housewife may be Latin America's first legally prescribed marijuana patient
Why the Oscar Pistorius saga is the 'trial of the century'
Mexico's vigilantes are building scrappy DIY tanks to fight narcos
Health and climate change
11 ways Tony Abbott is ruining Australia and threatening the whole world
Germany has a serious wolf problem and no one knows what to do about it
This celebrity scientist wants Germans to stop recycling. Here's why
Some people would rather die of Ebola than stop hugging sick loved ones
Food
On Location: Learning to love cold eel jelly in London's East End (VIDEO)
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