WORLD AGENDA 2014 JANUARY Brussels: The European Union shapeshifts as Greece takes over the presidency, Latvia joins the euro and employment restrictions on immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania, which joined the EU in 2007, expire. Geneva: The Syrian government and opposition hold direct peace talks for the first time with the aim of setting up a transitional government to end almost three years of civil war. China: Chinese around the world welcome the Year of the Horse. FEBRUARY Sochi: The costliest Winter Olympics yet takes place amid controversy over the record $51 billion spend, concerns over human rights in Russia and fears there will not be enough snow in the resort. MARCH Pretoria: The murder trial of South African "Blade runner" Oscar Pistorius begins. Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, last February. Berlin: The fifth proposed opening date of Brandenburg International Airport, originally designed to open in 2011 handling 82,000 passengers a day, now set for a mere 10 flights and 1,500 passengers a day. APRIL Kabul: Presidential elections in Afghanistan see the end of Hamid Karzai's time in office with 11 candidates, including his brother, Quayum, and members of the ousted royal family, standing to replace him. Boston: Around 36,000 people run in the marathon where last year two bombs, planted by Islamic extremists, killed three people and injured a further 264. MAY Europe: Elections to the European Parliament are held across the EU's 28 nations. Bogota: Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, who has initiated a peace process with Marxist rebels after 50 years of war, is expected to seek a second term in office in presidential elections. Malawi: Joyce Banda, who took over the presidency after the death of the incumbent in 2012, is expected to seek a mandate of her own in elections, arguably making her the most powerful woman in Africa. JUNE Brasilia: Brazil hosts the 20th Fifa World Cup. Brazil is the only nation to have played in every tournament and has won it five times, more than any other nation. JULY Indonesians vote in a presidential election. Incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is barred by law from seeking a third term. UK: The 101st Tour de France starts in Yorkshire, northern England and goes on to Ypres in Belgium to commemorate 100 years since the start of World War I, before heading to France. AUGUST Commemorations take place in France, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Turkey to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War I, which left indelible images of trench warfare and slaughter on a vast scale. The events take place exactly 100 years after France and Britain declared war on Germany. United States: The 200th anniversary of the Burning of Washington, when British troops set fire to the White House and the Capitol. SEPTEMBER Edinburgh: Scotland votes on independence from the United Kingdom in a referendum, 300 years after unification with England and with support for continued union ahead in polls. OCTOBER Brazil: Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, is favourite to win a second term in general elections. Wales: 100 years since the birth of Dylan Thomas, the poet who wrote Under Milk Wood and Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, and who died, an alcoholic, at 39. NOVEMBER United States: Barack Obama's Democrats could win back the House of Representatives from Republicans in midterm elections, traditionally a time of losses for the sitting president. Spain: Catalonia intends to hold a referendum on independence which Madrid has vowed to block. Berlin: Celebrations mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, erected three decades earlier to keep the communist East and West Germany apart. DECEMBER Afghanistan: The last Nato troops, whose numbers peaked at 101,000 in 2011, head home after more than a decade of war and over 3,000 coalition deaths. Los Angeles: Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett and Ian McKellen star in There and Back Again, the final installment in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy. /ENDS