The United States welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's easy re-election victor in snap polls, hailing his "strong leadership" on international crises
President Xi Jinping said that no one can deny the Nanjing Massacre, as China for the first time held a national day of remembrance for the Japanese military rampage.
Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who was famously accused of misogyny by former leader Julia Gillard suggested sexism was behind criticism of his female chief-of-staff.
Rush-hour traffic streamed through the heart of Hong Kong for the first time in more than two months after police cleared the city's main pro-democracy protest camp.
Hong Kong police began dismantling the city's main pro-democracy site and hauling off a hard core of protesters who nevertheless vow that their struggle lives on.
Russia's President agreed to write off most of the debt owed by Uzbekistan in an apparent bid to steer the Central Asian country towards joining the Eurasian Economic Union.
Afghanistan's new President condemned CIA torture detailed in a US Senate report, saying the United States' actions violated "all accepted norms of human rights".
"Shirtfront", an aggressive Australian sports term used by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, was picked as the National Dictionary Centre's word of the year.
For Indian campaigner Kailash Satyarthi, who receives his award as co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, giving poor children a better chance in life has been his "passion".
A group which claims to have hacked Sony's servers demanded that its movie studio pull a soon-to-be-released comedy depicting a fictional CIA plot to kill North Korea's leader.
Australian film star Nicole Kidman has described 2014 as her toughest ever year, saying the sudden death of her father in Singapore had left her family in "so much pain".
Heavy rain and strong winds began to hit the eastern Philippines ahead of a giant storm threatening more devastation to areas yet to recover from a super typhoon.