INDEX

31 December 2014 Last updated at 23:14

Maryland spares four on death row

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley has commuted the sentence of the state's four remaining death row inmates to life in prison.

Three Yemenis and two Tunisians held at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are sent to Kazakhstan for resettlement, the Pentagon says.

US and Somali officials say an intelligence chief from the al-Shabab Islamist group was among those killed by a US air strike on Monday.

'Neo-Nazi' questions engulf Republican

Controversy over Republican House leader Steve Scalise's 2002 speech to a white supremacist group reveals southern conservative racial tightrope and fault lines in Republican political structure.

How the shooting of a black unarmed teenager sparked days of unrest and made a nation look at itself.

Hack threat comedy released in US

The Sony Pictures comedy The Interview opens in some US cinemas and online, after a major cyber-attack and threats over its release.
BAE wins $1.2bn US Army contract

Watching Canada's killers at work These western waters are teeming with whales

Are Earth years a bit weird? The odd times New Year falls around the universe

The world's new tallest tree? Tasmania's giant ash trees may top California's redwoods

Reblogging a tragedy

The suicide note that went viral
Three million memories Watch

Junk shop treasure in South Dakota
'Neo-Nazi' ties

A 2002 speech has senior Republican in hot water
Pain and loss

Coming to terms with a murderer in the family
Golden ticket

How a refugee entered a lottery and won a new life in the US
Pump prices

Is cheap oil here to stay?
Out on a Limb

Sony's 'black Bond' idea enrages US radio host
Uber wars

Battles over cheap taxis and other big ideas from 2014
How to weather a crisis

Ex-US Fed chief Ben Bernanke on the 2008 financial storm