2014 Year in Review - The Events That Shaped A Turbulent Year - WSJ

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/year-in-review-top-news-stories-of-2014-1419977543
2014 Year in Review: The Events That

Shaped a Turbulent Year
From the Rise of Islamic State to Republicans’ Sweep of the Midterms, the Past Year Brought a Number
of Game-Changing Developments
Smoke rises near the Syrian city of Kobani after a U.S. airstrike against Islamic State forces in October. The threat posed by the
radical group prompted the third U.S. military intervention in Iraq in as many decades. REUTERS
Dec. 30, 2014 5 12 pm ET
Islamic State Sends Shock Waves Across Middle East

The militant group Islamic State rose to infamy in 2014 as the world’s most dangerous terrorist
group. Its devastating blitz through eastern Syria and northern Iraq that began midyear
reshaped the political landscape across the Middle East and remade alliances, turning the focus
away from the Arab Spring and its aftermath.
The radical group’s conquests threatened entire minority communities, displaced hundreds of
thousands of people and prompted the third U.S. military intervention in Iraq in as many
decades.
The group, which grew out of the al Qaeda affiliate Islamic State in Iraq, gained control of a
swath of territory. It changed its name to Islamic State and declared a caliphate ruled by its own
strict interpretation of Islamic law.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/year-in-review-top-news-stories-of-2014-1419977543 1/33
Islamic State financed its operations with money

looted from banks and with revenue from captured
oil fields. It armed its fighters with military
hardware seized from bases, driving U.S.-made
tanks from Iraq across a porous border into Syria.
By August, Islamic State was commanding the

world’s attention when it besieged thousands of members of the small Yazidi sect on a barren
mountainside in northern Iraq, raising the specter of a genocide.
Spurred by the threat to the Yazidis, the U.S. began airstrikes in August on Islamic State targets
in Iraq, backed by an international coalition. When the militants took control of the strategic
Mosul Dam in early August, the U.S. was drawn more deeply into the crisis.
A frame from a video released by Islamic State in August purports to show the killing of journalist James Foley by the militant
group. UNCREDITED ASSOCIATED PRESS
Islamic State responded to the airstrikes with a series of beheadings of Western hostages in
Syria, beginning with the killing of American journalist James Foley in mid-August. The group
released videos of the killings of two more Americans, journalist Steven Sotloff and aid worker
Peter Kassig, in the weeks that followed. A U.S.-led air campaign on Islamic State targets in
Syria began in September, Washington’s first direct military intervention in the war there.
Alliances began to shift in the face of the Islamic State threat. The U.S. and Iran separately sent
advisers to the semiautonomous Kurdish region in Iraq to help coordinate a strategy against
the militants. Shiite Muslim Iran and Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia, bitter rivals for power and
influence in the region, both feared the rise of the extremists and backed the same candidate to
lead Iraq.
At the same time, the rise of Islamic State created tensions in some long-standing friendships.
The U.S. and Turkey were at odds over support for a Syrian Kurdish militia fighting in the city of
Kobani on the Turkish border. The U.S. ended up airdropping weapons and aid for the militia,
which was viewed with suspicion by Turkey.
The airstrikes have hampered Islamic State’s advances, but progress has been limited by the
lack of a solid ground force to capture and hold territory. With the vetting and training of allied
ground forces moving slowly, Kurdish fighters in Syria and Iraq have stepped into the void.
Developments in the second half of the year left Kurds asserting more independence in
northern Iraq, Sunni extremists entrenched in Sunni-majority areas of the country and the
Shiite-led government in Baghdad and its military forces exerting only limited authority. As the
year came to a close, the risks of Iraq splintering into several separate entities appeared greater
than ever.
—Karen Leigh and Matt Bradley
Top Senate Republicans come out of a leadership-election meeting on Nov. 13, after being unanimously re-elected. GETTY
IMAGES
Republicans Sweep Midterms, Gaining Senate Control

Propelled by a wave of dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama, Republicans emerged
from November’s midterm elections with a majority in the Senate and a firmer hold on the
House, giving the party control of both chambers of Congress for the first time since 2006.
It was a substantial win: The GOP picked up nine Senate seats and will hold 54 seats in that
chamber in the next Congress, to the Democrats’ 46. The Democrats’ Senate loss represented
the biggest in the chamber that any president’s party had suffered
A Banner Year for Voting since 1958, during Dwight Eisenhower’s second term.
In the House, the GOP will hold 247 seats, the largest majority the
party has held since 1931.
But the full measure of the Republican gains—and the Democratic collapse—comes from
looking down-ballot, where the GOP also made sweeping advances.
Republicans picked up 11 legislative chambers this year and now control 68 of the nation’s 98
partisan chambers on the state level, the highest number in the party’s history. In all,
Democrats have lost more than 900 seats in state legislatures during Mr. Obama’s time in office.
After the 2008 election, 28 of the nation’s governors were Democrats. Now, only 17 are.
After the 2008 election, 31 state attorneys general were Democrats. Now, the party has
23.
The setbacks leave Democrats with a substantial political challenge, because state legislators
and attorneys general form the bench of candidates that parties tend to draw on for governor
and federal offices.
Republicans also come out of this year’s elections with the larger number of laboratories in
which to test their party’s policy ideas. Some 23 states will have both a Republican governor
and a GOP-controlled state legislature in 2015, while just seven states will be under similar
Democratic control.
The elections also moved the GOP closer to a total takeover of the South. In January,
Republicans will control 19 of 22 Senate seats from the South, and 101 of the 138 House seats.
The election outcome crystallized the challenge each party faces in the coming Congress. As
they consider their deep losses, Democrats are debating whether and how to reshape the
party’s economic message. Liberals have largely rallied behind Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth
Warren and her call for a focus on income inequality and efforts to rein in the financial-services
sector and other interests. Centrist Democrats say the party can best draw voters by focusing
foremost on plans to promote broad economic growth, with some fearing that an inequality
message would alienate some voters.
Republicans, meanwhile, are eager to use the next two years to show they can pass legislation
without the brinkmanship and drama that has become common in Congress, so voters have
confidence in 2016 that the party can secure the White House.
One surprising facet of the elections: Spending on congressional races appears to have finally
peaked, after years of expanding. The 2014 midterms cost roughly the same as—or, adjusted for
inflation, somewhat less than—the 2010 congressional contests, according to tallies by two
groups that track election spending.
—Rebecca Ballhaus
U.S. Economy Makes Comeback, at Last

The U.S. economy began 2014 with a thud but ended it on a roll.
The economy will be remembered for the best hiring stretch since the late 1990s boom, record
auto sales and a swift plunge in gasoline prices. All three helped soften a year marred by still-
meager wage gains and a slowdown in home sales.
Employers added 2.7 million jobs over the past year and the country is on track to post its best
year of hiring since 1999. Job openings are running near a 13-year high. The unemployment rate
fell to 5.8% in November from 7% a year earlier.
Last-minute Christmas shoppers hit the stores in Chicago on Christmas Eve. Businesses, consumers and investors showed
renewed vigor in late 2014. ASSOCIATED PRESS
The number of Americans working finally surpassed its prerecession high, though the number
of full-time workers is still around two million shy of the 2007 peak.
The big question now is when will more Americans get a raise. Income gains have been weak,
which helps explain why so many Americans remain unsatisfied with an economy that has
posted steady gains in output, hiring and corporate profits.
Wage growth would help narrow an income gap that has risen amid big rises in stock prices and
smaller upticks in home values, both of which benefit wealthier households. Between 2010 and
2013, median incomes rose for only the wealthiest 10% of households, according to a Federal
Reserve survey.
—Nick Timiraos
Oil Prices Crater Amid Glut of Shale
Pump jacks near Bakers ield, Calif., in October. Crude prices have fallen sharply as a lood of crude from U.S. shale disrupted the
market. REUTERS
Oil prices fell by nearly 50% in the second half of 2014 as a flood of crude from U.S. shale
disrupted the global oil market. The price drop came on the heels of several years of relative
calm in world-wide crude markets, where the rising output in America was balanced by
growing oil demand around the globe.
U.S. oil prices began the year above $90 a barrel and rose slowly through the spring; the price of
a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude, the oil benchmark in the U.S., peaked at $107 in
June. At about the same time, the European benchmark peaked at $115 a barrel.
Then prices began to fall. While the supply was robust, the global thirst for crude oil slackened.
Amid cooling prices and weakening demand, U.S. shale drillers kept charging ahead. The U.S.’s
big three oil fields began the year pumping 3.67 million barrels a day. By year’s end, it was 4.69
million barrels a day and rising, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
American oil displaced imports, putting pressure on countries like Nigeria and Colombia that
had
KEY EVENTS OF 2014 traditionally
sold a lot of
Jan. 6: Yellen con irmed to lead Fed. their oil to
American
Jan. 10: Chemical spill prompts water ban in West Virginia.
refineries.
Feb. 13: Comcast, Time Warner set $45 billion deal.
Over the
Feb. 25: GM expands ignition switch recall to 1.6 million vehicles. summer, two
things
March 8: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappears en route to Beijing. happened
that reshaped
March 18: Russia’s Putin signs treaties to annex Crimea.
the energy
March 22: Mudslide near Oso, Wash., kills more than 40. picture. The
U.S. was
April 2: Supreme Court strikes caps on individual political donations. beginning to
export a
April 18: Mount Everest avalanche kills 16 Sherpa guides. certain kind
of unrefined
April 29: Clippers’ Sterling banned from NBA.
oil, a crack in
May 8: Omnicom, Publicis call o $35 billion merger. an export ban
on crude that
May 13: EU orders Google to let users erase their past. dates back to
the 1970s
June 12: Kidnap and later murder of three Israeli teens triggers Israel-Hamas war.
Arab oil
June 24: Obama administration approves exports of unre ined U.S. crude. embargo.
While the
July 13: Germany beats Argentina to win World Cup. number of
barrels
July 17: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shot down over Ukraine.
involved was
Aug. 9: Michael Brown police shooting in Ferguson, Mo. small, the

decision
Aug. 26: Burger King to buy Tim Hortons. jolted the
market. A
Sept. 18: Home Depot says 56 million cards exposed in breach. week after
the U.S. move,
Sept. 19: Alibaba rises 38% in irst day of trading.
Libya
Sept. 26: ‘Bond king’ Bill Gross quits Pimco. reopened two
large oil-
Oct. 29: Giants win World Series over Royals. export
terminals,
Oct. 31: Fed ends “quantitative easing.” adding new

crude
Nov. 4: Republicans win control of Senate. supplies.
Nov. 17: Halliburton to buy rival Baker Hughes for $35 billion. Saudi Arabia,
Mexico and
Nov. 21: Aereo iles for Chapter 11 protection.
Russia met in
Dec. 17: U.S., Cuba agree to restore diplomatic ties. November to
discuss
Dec. 27: AirAsia Flight 8501 goes missing after taking o in Indonesia. cutting
production.
Dec. 29: U.S. crude oil price reaches $53.61 a barrel, lowest since May 2009.
Russia
balked. Two
days after the
meeting, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided not to cut either.
Prices fell further, dropping into the mid-$50s range for U.S. crude. European crude oil briefly
dropped below $60 a barrel, then edged back up to about $62 a barrel. Through late December,
American oil output continued to grow.
The drop in crude prices was a boon to drivers, who filled up their tanks with gasoline bought at
the lowest prices in five years. The economies of major crude producers, such as Russia, were
walloped.
—Russell Gold
Ukraine Explodes Into Military Conflict

The political tug of war over Ukraine exploded into a military conflict that has killed thousands
of people, including 298 aboard a commercial jetliner shot down in rebel territory. Relations
between Russia and the West sank to a post-Cold War low as economic sanctions piled up.
The conflict grew out of street protests against Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych’s pivot
toward Russia. The president fled in February; within a month, Moscow annexed Ukraine's
Crimea peninsula.
The U.S., European Union and others denounced Russia’s move as an illegal land grab and
responded with asset freezes, travel bans and diplomatic snubs. But the conflict spread to
Ukraine’s east, an industrial, predominantly Russian-speaking region. Separatist militias took
form, declaring “people’s republics” and sometimes humiliating poorly equipped Ukrainian
soldiers.
In May, confectionery tycoon Petro Poroshenko was elected president, promising to rout the
rebels and turn Ukraine back toward Europe. He began an all-out military operation in July,
recapturing lost ground with airstrikes and heavy artillery.
The West hit Russia’s financial, defense and energy sectors with sanctions days after Malaysia
Airlines Flight 17 was shot down in eastern Ukraine on July 17. In August, advancing
government forces were sent reeling by an influx of Russian armor and troops.
Protesters stand on a barricade during an antigovernment demonstration in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, in January. EUROPEAN
PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
A peace plan signed Sept. 5 seemingly leaves in place the rebel gains, creating another frozen
conflict that allows the Kremlin to maintain its influence over a former Soviet republic. Days
later, Ukraine agreed to delay part of a trade deal with Europe opposed by Moscow by more
than a year. Hundreds of deaths have been recorded since the Sept. 5 truce, bringing the total to
more than 4,300, according to the U.N.
Russia’s economy and currency were hit hard by the crisis, prompting its central bank to raise
its key interest rate to 17% in December in a bid to stem the ruble’s drop. The government
warned the country would slip into recession next year.
—Paul Geitner
Ebola Becomes a Global Health Crisis

The Ebola virus ravaged West Africa, leaving more than 7,500 people dead, raising global
concerns and taking a toll on the continent’s burgeoning economies.
The outbreak of the viral hemorrhagic disease devastated Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea,
developing nations already burdened by civil unrest and crushing poverty. Poor health
infrastructure and planning, the international community’s slow initial response, local
resistance to outside assistance and corruptionin the early stages exacerbated the crisis.
Aid organizations warned that amassing a medical workforce would be a huge challenge. Still,
nations such as Nigeria acted quickly and were able to contain the virus, while others showed
they have built strong defenses to cut off potential outbreaks.
An Ebola burial team carries the body of a woman through a suburb of Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, in October. The virus ravaged
West Africa, leaving thousands of people dead. GETTY IMAGES
Health workers who helped treat patients in West Africa faced heavy risks, and some
transported the disease beyond the continent. A nursing aide in Spain who contracted the first
case outside Africa recovered, but authorities put down her family’s dog amid an outcry.
Two missionaries who were evacuated to the U.S. from Liberia survived the disease, but a
Liberian man who flew to the U.S. died of Ebola at a Dallas hospital, prompting concern about
the country’s readiness in the event the disease spread. Later, a surgeon who contracted the
disease in Sierra Leone died in Nebraska.
The U.S. sent the military to West Africa, while the Obama administration grappled with
imposing travel bans and lobbied Congress for emergency funds to fight the virus.
The cases of a doctor who recovered in New York and a nurse who was quarantined in New
Jersey, then defied such restrictions, raised public consciousness in the U.S. Heavy U.S. demand
for protective gear sparked shortages in Africa.
The lack of a proven drug or vaccine stymied efforts to quell the outbreak, but vaccine makers
moved up clinical trials. In West Africa, researchers are studying a more accessible product: the
blood of survivors.
—Aaron Jaffe
Tentative Thaw in U.S.-Cuba Relations

President Barack Obama, acting without Congress, in December said he would move to re-
establish diplomatic ties with Cuba after more than five decades of open antagonism.
Mr. Obama made a surprise announcement that the U.S. would normalize relations with the
ruling communist regime for the first time since Dwight D. Eisenhower was president.
In addition to saying it would establish an embassy in Havana, the Obama administration said it
would allow U.S. financial institutions to do business in Cuba, permit greater trade and increase
the amount of money that Americans can send to relatives on the island.
A man in Old Havana stands on his balcony, festooned with the U.S. and Cuban lags, after December’s surprise announcement
that ties between the two countries were on the mend. ASSOCIATED PRESS
“If you’ve done the same thing for 50 years and nothing has changed, you should try something
different if you want a different outcome,” Mr. Obama said.
The U.S. trade embargo remains in place, as it can be rescinded only by Congress. Mr. Obama’s
new direction was sharply opposed by critics who said the Cuban regime shouldn’t be rewarded
or legitimized due to its record on human rights and democracy.
“This is a reward that a totalitarian regime does not deserve, and this announcement only
perpetuates the Castro regime’s decades of repression,” said Sen. Robert Menendez, a New
Jersey Democrat and departing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
—Byron Tau
Big Banks Face Tough Regulatory Oversight

When six banks agreed to pay a whopping $4.3 billion in November on charges they had
manipulated foreign-exchange rates, the settlements had elements of what have come to be the
hallmarks of bank regulation this year. Several regulators—in this case from the U.S., U.K. and
Switzerland—cooperated in the action; the fines were very big; and the orders included quotes
from embarrassing emails in which traders discussed their actions in colorful detail.
But in one of the more significant signs of the tough approach regulators took in many
instances, the banks were forced to provide a lot more than penalty money. They had to agree to
intrusive and highly detailed instructions on what they needed to do to remedy the behaviors.
And these weren’t one-off changes. There is a continuing role for regulators to monitor the
banks and ensure new systems are put in place to prevent recurrences. The banks will be
watched carefully for any slips.
Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of New York state’s Department of Financial Services, said regulators now want to remove
people involved in violations and install monitors to continue to probe inside the banks. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Regulators don’t expect that oversight to let up. Fines will be important, but more important
will be measures intended to correct shortcomings in banking culture.
Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of New York state’s Department of Financial Services, said
regulators now want to remove people involved in violations and install monitors to continue to
probe inside the banks. “It’s often not huge fines that get you where you want to get,” he said.
The banking industry hasn’t taken to the enforcement actions lying down, complaining of
overly severe penalties. While banks have agreed to the actions in the individual cases, they
have argued that the penalties are often higher than justified by the infractions.
—James Sterngold
Ferguson Puts Police Tactics in Spotlight

The shooting death of an 18-year-old unarmed black man by a white police officer in Ferguson,
Mo., in August set off peaceful demonstrations that eventually turned into nights of riots in the
St. Louis suburb.
The incident quickly morphed into a national debate over protests of alleged mistreatment of
African-Americans by police in cities including New York and Cleveland, as well as a criminal-
justice system that has often declined to indict the officers involved. President Barack Obama
has said he supported peaceful protests and authorized a federal investigation into the
Ferguson police department and Michael Brown’s death.
Protesters march in Ferguson, Mo., as lightning lashes in the distance in August, after the police killing of Michael Brown.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In Ferguson, the protests reignited in late November with more riots after a grand jury declined
to indict the officer involved in the shooting. In early December, a Staten Island grand jury
cleared a New York City police officer in the case of Eric Garner, an unarmed man who died after
allegedly being held in a chokehold during his arrest earlier this year.
The story took another violent turn just before Christmas, when two New York City officers
were gunned down by a lone assailant who had left posts on social media saying he was
inspired to retaliate against police after the deaths of Messrs. Brown and Garner.
“We have stressed at every rally and march that anyone engaged in any violence is an enemy to
the pursuit of justice for Eric Garner and Michael Brown,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil-rights
activist, said after the two officers’ deaths.
But some law-enforcement officials and their supporters turned against politicians they
accused of recklessly supporting protesters.
“We’ve had four months of propaganda, starting with the president, that everybody should
hate the police,” former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Fox News in late December.
—Matthew Dolan
Sony ’s Hacking Rings

Alarm Bells for Firms
The cyberattack that hit
Sony Pictures
Entertainment in late
November began as a
salacious peek at the inner
workings of Hollywood, as
hackers released the emails
of top executives, including
Co-Chairman Amy Pascal
and Chief Executive
Michael Lynton
The hackers’ purported

motive: retaliation against
the studio for “The
James Franco, left, and Seth Rogen in a scene from ‘The Interview.’ ASSOCIATED PRESS
Interview,” a comedy film
about two television
journalists tasked with assassinating North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
But the incident quickly escalated into an international controversy, after hackers threatened
violence against theaters that played the film, and U.S. officials concluded that North Korea was
behind the broad cyberattack on the company. The Sony Corp. studio made an 11th-hour
decision to cancel the movie’s Dec. 25 release.
That move was met with considerable backlash in Hollywood and Washington, where President
Barack Obama called the decision a mistake. Then, two days before Christmas, Sony announced
it would release the film as part of a limited theatrical run, with a simultaneous video-on-
demand offering. Possibly as a result of the controversy, crowds flocked to see it in theaters,
ringing up just over $1 million in ticket sales on the first day. Online, the movie was rented or
bought more than two million times in its first four days, generating more than $15 million in
gross revenue.
Sony is still working to figure out when and how to release the film internationally; now it is
available only in the U.S. In Hollywood, the scandal had an immediate chilling effect on other
projects in development pertaining to North Korea. More broadly, the incident raised fresh
concerns that other companies’ systems are vulnerable to malicious hacking.
—Erich Schwartzel
Inversions Help Firms Lower Their Tax Bills

Sometimes it pays to be early. That was the case in the 2014, when companies rushed to strike
deals that would allow them to move overseas and lower their taxes—often dramatically so. A
U.S. government crackdown on so-called inversions turned away some latecomers. But several
early adopters came in under the wire and gained a potential longer-term edge over their rivals
in the process.
Many of those early birds were health-care companies looking to shield overseas cash from U.S.
tax rates. Over half of the more-than-$648 billion of the health-care deals announced (although
not necessarily completed) in 2014 were inversions, according to data provider Dealogic.
The trend gained momentum in the spring, when Pfizer Inc. tried to buy AstraZeneca PLC in a
$120 billion deal that would have moved the New Jersey pharmaceutical giant for tax purposes
to the U.K. Though that deal didn’t get done, it got Washington’s attention. Concerns raised
about the potential deal were among the factors that spurred the Obama administration to
begin examining ways to curb the practice, a senior administration official said earlier in the
year.
The Treasury Department stepped in a few weeks later, announcing new rules that made the
deals less lucrative for the companies doing them. The rules, announced Sept. 22, had a chilling
effect on deals that hadn’t closed. The biggest known casualty: AbbVie Inc. ’s $54 billion deal to
buy Shire PLC, which was called off in October.
—Dana
Mattioli
Israel,
Hamas Clash
in Deadly
Conflict
Six weeks after
the breakdown
of Israeli-
Palestinian
peace talks,
Israel and the
Islamist group
Hamas fought
their third and
deadliest war
The Treasury Department announced new rules that made inversions less lucrative. ASSOCIATED PRESS in five years.
The sparks came from the abduction and killing of three Israeli teens in the West Bank on June
12 and the retaliatory killing of a Palestinian teen on July 2, amid a rise in rocket fire into Israel
from militants in the Gaza Strip.
Israel launched an air campaign against rocket-launch sites and other Hamas targets in the
enclave, including extensive Palestinian tunnels under the border, and sent in ground troops.
Early efforts at diplomacy yielded short pauses in fighting, but little more.
Israel said it took precautions to avoid civilian casualties, but some attacks took a heavy toll.
Palestinian deaths in the conflict were estimated at more than 2,100, and Israel reported the
deaths of about 70 people.
While Israel drew international condemnation for the severity of destruction it caused, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was blasted at home for not going far enough.
Among Palestinians, the conflict hurt the reputation of the moderate Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas, at the expense of Hamas’s political chief, Khaled Meshaal, who was seen as
standing up to Israel.
An Aug. 26 Egypt-brokered cease-fire restored the status quo, with both sides claiming victory
after the 50-day war. The calm was broken in late December, when a rocket and sniper fire from
Gaza spurred Israeli airstrikes.
Israeli soldiers ire toward the Gaza strip in July. Israel said it took precautions to avoid civilian casualties, but some attacks took
a heavy toll. AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE GETTY IMAGES
—Robert P. Walzer
Obama Takes Action on Illegal Immigrants

A surge in illegal entries of unaccompanied children and families into the U.S. spawned a
political crisis that undermined bilateral support for a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s
immigration system.
Ultimately, President Barack Obama decided to use his executive powers to shield from
deportation as many as five million of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the
U.S., setting the stage for a protracted battle over the issue next year.
Nearly 69,000 unaccompanied children, mainly from Central America, streamed across the
southwest border in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, a 77% increase from 2013. Roughly as many
migrants, typically mothers and children, came in family units, a 360% jump over the previous
year. The influx peaked over the summer, then dropped sharply in recent months.
Many migrants said they were fleeing violence and have requested asylum. After being
apprehended at the border, most minors were processed by U.S. authorities and released to
relatives or friends while they await deportation proceedings. Many families remain in
detention near the border. Due to a shortage of space, some of them were allowed to join
relatives in the U.S. while their removal cases unfold in immigration court.
The crowd cheers as President Barack Obama discusses his immigration move in Las Vegas in November. AGENCE FRANCE-
PRESSE GETTY IMAGES
The Obama administration’s decision to expedite their deportation cases angered immigrant
advocates. At the same time, the surge hardened the positions of Republicans who said it
underscored the need to bolster border security before Congress passes laws to legalize
undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.
Waiting until after November’s midterm elections, Mr. Obama announced executive action to
temporarily protect millions of immigrants from deportation and give them work
authorization. He had earlier promised to tackle immigration unilaterally in the absence of
congressional action. Republicans said the unilateral action exceeded the president’s legal
authority and vowed to block it. Top leaders in some 20 states have sued him over the plan but
experts differ on whether they have a case, given that immigration is a federal issue.
—Miriam Jordan
GM Is Dogged by Recalls, Probes

Mary Barra began her first year running General Motors Co. with the wind at her back. Armed
with a fortress balance sheet and North American margins on a positive swing, she was among
President Barack Obama’s guests at the State of the Union in January.
Then the auto maker ran into one of the biggest challenges in its 106-year-history, forcing Ms.
Barra, 53 years old, to return to Washington several times to explain to lawmakers and
regulators why it was so slow in addressing the faulty ignition switches installed in vehicles for
Mary Barra, chief executive of General Motors, testi ies at a House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing in
June. BLOOMBERG NEWS
a decade. The safety crisis led to millions of recalls and will cost the Detroit auto giant billions
of dollars to resolve.
GM’s management team moved quickly to identify blame and repair affected vehicles—
primarily small cars like the Chevrolet Cobalt. But the incident raised fresh questions about a
company that had just a few years earlier filed for bankruptcy protection and relied on a
government bailout to regain viability.
Among the moves Ms. Barra made: appointing Chicago attorney Anton Valukas. Interviewing
hundreds of witnesses, he compiled a 315-page report documenting a decadelong odyssey
during which GM showed a lack of urgency in addressing its ignition-switch problems. GM also
appointed attorney Kenneth Feinberg as the independent custodian of a compensation fund.
GM is subject to a Justice Department investigation that analysts estimate could end with a fine
of at least $2 billion. The auto maker also faces class-action lawsuits.
Ms. Barra is trying to move on, focusing on the company’s financial goals and attempts to fix
GM Europe, revive Cadillac and mend relations with suppliers. The industry, however,
continues to confront safety questions, mostly related to a Takata Corp. air-bag recall involving
about 10 auto makers and more than 13 million cars and trucks globally. (See more of the year’s
top business stories.)
—John D. Stoll
University students in China hold a candlelight vigil for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Malaysia Airlines Plane Disappears

On the night of March 8, Malaysia Airlines flight 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur with 239
people on board. More than nine months later, their fate remains a mystery.
A frantic search for the Boeing 777 began in the Gulf of Thailand, not far from where the plane
fell off radar screens about an hour into the flight to Beijing. Days later, after investigators had
analyzed satellite transmissions, the search expanded by thousands of miles, in an air and sea
operation of unprecedented scale.
Investigators believe the plane was deliberately diverted by someone with deep technical
knowledge of the aircraft. No suspects or suspected motives have emerged.
As investigators continued to refine their analysis of the so-called digital handshakes between
the plane and an Inmarsat PLC satellite, they narrowed the search area to a vast stretch of sea
far off the coast of western Australia, where they suspect the plane crashed after running out of
fuel.
Repeated scans of the water’s surface and seabed have yielded nothing. It is a void that haunts
the loved ones of the passengers and crew, many of whom are skeptical of the official
investigation and feel unable to fully mourn their losses.
In October, a rebooted deep-sea search began, raising hopes for some resolution to one of the
most confounding tragedies in the history of aviation. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott
has said his government, which is overseeing the search, won’t rest until it has done everything
it can to find the jetliner.
—Allison Morrow
Iran Spreads Influence in Middle East

The overlap of interests between Iran’s nuclear negotiations with world powers and
cooperation on wider issues of concern in the Middle East—such as battling extremist group
Islamic State—came into relief in 2014.
Even if all sides publicly refute that any connection exists, they acknowledge in private that a
solution on the first could pave the way for cooperation on the second.
As the year drew to a close, Iran’s economy was knocked off kilter just as it was beginning to
recover—slammed by a double blow from the sharp drop in oil prices and failure to reach a
comprehensive agreement with six global powers on curbing the country’s nuclear activities.
Under President Hasan Rouhani, Iran managed to spread its sway around the region in 2014. VAHID SALEMI ASSOCIATED
PRESS
Still, Shiite Iran managed to spread its sway around the region in 2014. It consolidated its
influence over Shiite-majority Iraq with the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011.
Iranian support and guidance, as well as legions of Iranian-alllied Shiite Hezbollah fighters,
played a decisive role in bolstering the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah,
which Iran midwifed and has nurtured for decades, has entrenched itself as Lebanon’s most
powerful political player.
And an Iranian-backed Shiite minority group in Yemen, the Houthis, have recently swept into
the capital, San’a, and established themselves as a major force in that trouble-plagued country.
—Bill Spindle
Veterans Department Is Roiled by Scandal

Wrongdoing, resignations and a push for an overhaul marked the past year for the Department
of Veterans Affairs.
In April, whistleblower allegations of wrongdoing by employees responsible for appointment

scheduling at a VA hospital in Phoenix led to high-profile congressional hearings. Soon,
investigators from both the department and other federal agencies documented systemic
problems across the nation.
These problems included employees tampering with official records to hide long wait times for
veterans seeking health-care appointments and some managers punishing whistleblowers who
tried to highlight problems. Excessive wait times even contributed to some deaths, according to
the VA’s own internal watchdog.
By the end
of May, a
number of
top VA
officials
had
resigned,
including
Secretary
Eric
Shinseki.
By July,
Eric Shinseki was forced to resign as secretary of veterans a airs after a scandal at the agency. GETTY IMAGES Congress
had
approved a more-than $16 billion emergency funding package and confirmed Robert McDonald,
the former CEO of Procter & Gamble Co. , to bring reform to the embattled agency.
Mr. McDonald cut the backlog of veterans waiting for care, pushed for firings of senior
executives and was warmly received by many veterans advocacy groups and lawmakers.
By December, however, expensive debacles in billion-dollar construction projects and

remaining backlogs for care and compensation showed that overhauling the agency—with a
budget of more than $150 billion—won’t be accomplished in a matter of a few months.
—Ben Kesling
Turkey’s Leader Erdogan Asserts His Power

For Turkey, 2014 was marked by volatility, foreign-policy friction and the political triumph of
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose consolidation of power divided the nation and alarmed Western
allies.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, addressing the members of his party in August, moved from prime minister to president. ASSOCIATED
PRESS
The year began with Mr. Erdogan, then prime minister, confronting one of the gravest threats
to him in his nearly 12 years as a Turkish leader. He broke ranks with conservative allies and
faced a sprawling corruption scandal that ensnared dozens of his allies.
Amid a series of allegations of government graft, Turkey’s currency tumbled, forcing the
central bank into an emergency rate increase.
Mr. Erdogan overcome the allegations and clinched the presidency in August, after casting his
former allies as terrorist coup-plotters, briefly blocking YouTube and Twitter, and cracking
down on street protests. Through the year he tightened his grip with changes to the justice
system, media and security services.
Turkey also locked horns with U.S. and European allies over foreign policy, spotlighting friction
over conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and how to combat Islamic State extremists. After a diplomatic
effort by U.S. and European officials in the fall, Mr. Erdogan ramped up border security but
refused to open air bases for airstrikes against Islamic State.
As the year drew to a close, friction with allies was again exposed with the arrests of 27 people
on charges of coup-plotting. Amid stern rebukes from Western capitals, Mr. Erdogan told his
detractors to “mind their own business.”
—Joe Parkinson
NOTABLE DEATHS
Chinese Firm Alibaba’s
John Akers, former IBM chief, 79 years old IPO Is Biggest in History
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Karl Albrecht, pioneer in food retailing, 94
set a new bar for initial public
Maya Angelou, poet and author, 86 offerings with its $25 billion
U.S. listing on Sept. 18. The
Richard Attenborough, actor and director, 90 biggest IPO in history gave
the Chinese e-commerce
Marion Barry, former Washington mayor, 78
company a market value
Gary Becker, Nobel laureate in economics, 83 bigger than U.S. giant
Amazon.com Inc.
Jane Byrne, irst female mayor of Chicago, 81
The deal also delivered a 38%
Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, boxer and wrongful murder convict, 76 first-day trading gain for
investors who bought in, and
Christophe de Margerie, CEO of Total SA, 63
generated some $300 million
Oscar de la Renta, fashion designer, 82 for its underwriters. Many big
hedge funds, including
William Clay Ford, grandson of Henry Ford, 88 Paulson & Co., said that gains
on the deal helped them turn
Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel-winning novelist, 87 a volatile quarter into a
strong one.
Malcolm Glazer, sports-franchise owner, 85
With Alibaba’s proceeds, the
Nadine Gordimer, Nobel-winning novelist, 90
U.S. market saw more money
Alan ‘Ace’ Greenberg, former Bear Stearns CEO, 86 raised by IPOs than in any
year since the peak of the dot-
Philip Seymour Ho man, actor, 46 com bubble in 2000,
according to Dealogic.
Nelson Bunker Hunt, billionaire oil businessman, 88
Increased investor interest in
James Je ords, former U.S. senator from Vermont, 80 China’s Internet economy
helped others list in the U.S.
Thomas V. Jones, former Northrop Grumman CEO, 93 this year, including online
shopping rival JD.com Inc.,
Casey Kasem, “Top 40” radio host, 82 which raised $2 billion in a
New York listing, and Chinese
Charles H. Keating Jr., S&L inancier, 90
mobile-chat app makers
Lorin Maazel, conductor, 84 Weibo Corp. and Momo Inc.,
Tom Magliozzi, “Car Talk” co-host, 77 who both count Alibaba as a

strategic investor.
Patrick McGovern, “Dummies” book publisher, 76
Alibaba says it has more than
Richard Mellon Scaife, billionaire philanthropist, 82 275 million active buyers in
its Chinese retail sites—or
Thomas Menino, longest-serving Boston mayor, 71
roughly 90% of the country’s
Mike Nichols, ilm director, 83 online shoppers—who
generated some $300 billion
Karl-Otto Pöhl, Bundesbank president, 85 in transactions. Executive
Chairman Jack Ma, who
Mickey Rooney, actor, 93
founded the firm in 1999,
Ariel Sharon, former Israeli prime minister, 85 attracted global media
attention as he toured to meet
Shirley Temple, child star, 85 investors. The IPO solidified
his position as China’s richest
James Tra icant, former congressman from Ohio, 73 man. (Take a look back at the
big stories in business.)
Robin Williams, actor, 63
—Telis Demos
William Zeckendorf Jr., real-estate magnate, 84
U.S. Health Law

Smoother, but Hurdles
Remain
The Affordable Care Act recovered from its initial insurance-enrollment stumbles, but faced
fresh challenges.
About 6.4 million people selected a plan or were automatically re-enrolled on HealthCare.gov
between Nov. 15 and Dec. 19, federal officials said. The site hasn’t experienced the widespread
crashes that hobbled the law’s first year of enrollment.
The U.S. had 10.6 million fewer uninsured people in September than a year earlier—a drop of
30%, according to the Urban Institute. But problems still dogged the law this year.
In June, the Obama administration lost a Supreme Court challenge to the law’s requirement
that health plans cover contraception. By November, the high court had agreed to hear another
case against the law, this one focused on whether residents of states that use the federal
insurance exchange are entitled to insurance tax credits. At stake are subsidies that make plans
cheaper for millions of consumers, and are critical to making the law work.
The law’s insurance enrollment portal for small businesses got off to a slow start this fall. A
hacker broke into HealthCare.gov in July and uploaded malicious software on the site.
Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services secretary who championed the law and later
took heat for its messy implementation, left the administration in June. Her successor, Sylvia
Mathews Burwell, started the job with stronger support from Congress and quickly addressed
mistakes, such as when her office overstated the number of people who had paid-up coverage
under the law.
Despite this year’s relatively smooth enrollment season, the administration has lowered
projections for how many people it expects to sign up for private coverage in 2015—
anticipating 9.9 million, compared with 13 million earlier projected by the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office.
—Stephanie Armour
Big Asian Economies Face Uncertainty

China is on track to
miss its 2014 annual
growth target of
7.5%, the most
dramatic example of
Asian countries—
including Japan,
India and Indonesia
—where leaders are
trying to find their
footing in the face of
economic
headwinds.
Beijing has been

attempting to wean
the world’s second-
largest economy off
Passersby are re lected on an electronic stock quote board outside a brokerage in Tokyo. REUTERS
risky credit, let
some air out of a
property bubble without causing a pop, and steer the nation toward an era of lower and more
sustainable growth. Chinese authorities have been cautious, but investors are jittery. The
People’s Bank of China in November cut interest rates for the first time in two years in an effort
to bolster growth amid a fast slowdown in housing sales. A modest tightening in December to
lending rules sparked the biggest daily loss in five years on Shanghai’s stock market.
Japan, meanwhile, doubled down on a bid to end years of falling prices and subpar growth. In
October, the Bank of Japan expanded its asset purchases by trillions of yen. But Japan also is
the most indebted developed nation. That has forced it to raise taxes alongside stimulus,
tipping the nation into recession in the third quarter.
The BOJ forecasts the economy will grow an anemic 0.5% in the fiscal year ending in March, but
that activity will pick up the following year.
There was some hope in 2014 around India and Indonesia, two large economies that both got
new leaders this year. Business-friendly changes in both places could attract investment. Both
nations in 2014 maintained a tight monetary policy, shoring up their defenses for such an event,
as well as battling inflation.
Asia’s largest economies end the year with a great deal of uncertainty over the horizon.
—Tom Wright
Bond Sales Ramp Up, Helped by Mergers

Another year, another record. Companies with investment-grade credit ratings, meaning
triple-B-minus or above, sold more than $1.18 trillion in new bonds and similar securities in the
U.S. in 2014, the highest on record and the third year in a row a record was set, according to
data provider Dealogic. In 2013, these companies sold $1.11 trillion, and in 2012, they sold $1.05
trillion.
This year’s deals included a $17 billion sale from Medtronic Inc., the largest corporate-bond sale
of the year and tied for the second-biggest on record, according to Dealogic. There were also
some high-profile newcomers: Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. sold $8
billion in its debut offering.
Investors say the deluge of deals was driven in part by falling U.S. Treasury yields, to which
corporate bonds are pegged, lowering interest costs for companies. Firms also sought financing
in the bond market to pay for an uptick in mergers and acquisitions. Demand from fund
managers was brisk for many bond sales. Buyers say they were attracted to the debt because it
offered more yield than benchmark Treasurys, and because the outlook for many of these firms
is favorable as the U.S. economy improves.
“We’re very much in a yield-starved world,” said Fred Azar, director of fixed-income business
management at Northern Trust Asset Management, which oversees $923 billion. “Investors are
searching for yield, and there’s very few spots to get that outside of the U.S. corporate market.”
—Mike Cherney
Several States Raise Minimum Wages

The push to raise the minimum wage turned from a campaign pitch with lukewarm backing on
Capitol Hill to a movement propelled by a groundswell of support at the state and local levels. A
quarter of U.S.
states enacted
minimum-wage
increases during
the year, but the
chance of a federal
increase appears
more remote
today than a year
ago.
In January’s State
of the Union
address, President
Barack Obama
issued a call to lift
the federal pay
floor to $10.10 an
Employees work on a stent graft production line at a Medtronic plant in Mexico. BLOOMBERG NEWS
hour from $7.25, a
key plank in his
proposal to address economic inequality. The effort gained little traction in Congress. The
$10.10 level failed to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate in the spring and House Republican
leaders opposed the idea.
Democrats had sought to make inequality—and Republicans’ opposition to an increase—a

leading issue in the midterm elections in November. The strategy didn’t work. Republicans won
control of the Senate, dimming supporters’ hopes that a national increase could be
reconsidered.
In four states—Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota—voters elected GOP candidates
at the top of the ticket and approved an increase to the state minimum wage. Ten state
legislatures backed increases in 2014, including a jump to $11 an hour from $8 in
Massachusetts, and a $1 increase from the federal standard in Delaware. Starting next year, 29
states will have pay floors above the federal level, including 15 with future increases tied to
inflation.
—Eric Morath
Investors Pile Into Dollar Amid Rebound

The dollar rose against every developed-market currency in 2014. Investors piled into the
greenback this year, expecting stronger U.S. economic data would persuade the Federal Reserve
to end its bond-buying program and raise interest rates. Higher U.S. interest rates would lure
Boxes containing roughly 135,000 petitions calling for raising the Nebraska minimum wage. NEBRASKA SECRETARY OF
STATE HANDOUT ASSOCIATED PRESS
yield-hungry investors to the dollar and away from the currencies of countries with lower rates.
Investors also predicted central banks in Japan and the eurozone would ease monetary policy
in their efforts to boost growth and ward off low inflation, which would weaken their
currencies. The WSJ Dollar Index, which compares the greenback against a basket of the most
widely traded currencies, rose 12.5%, notching its best gain since 2005 and second best on
record.
But the U.S. economy took far longer than expected to report consistently strong numbers,
which pushed back market expectations for a Fed rate hike. The European Central Bank and the
Bank of Japan, meanwhile, waited until the summer and fall, respectively, to take substantial
measures to ease policy.
By the third quarter, the diverging paths for economic growth and monetary policy between the
U.S. and the eurozone and Japan gained momentum, encouraging investors to ramp up their
bets on a stronger dollar against the yen and euro. Through Monday, the dollar has gained 13.1%
against the common currency, and 14.6% versus the yen.
Meanwhile, emerging-market currencies posted their worst year since 2008. Currencies from
Russia to Mexico to Malaysia all dropped against the dollar this year, pressured by falling oil
prices, a surging greenback and slowing economic growth in several emerging markets. MSCI
Inc. ’s index of emerging-market currencies fell more than 4% this year, its worst performance
since the 2008 financial

crisis and the second-
worst performance
since the index’s
inception in 1997.
The plunge in oil prices

since June has hurt the
currencies of oil-
exporting countries
including Mexico,
Colombia and Nigeria—
but especially Russia,
where the ruble has lost
half its value against
the dollar this year.
The ruble’s turmoil in

People walk past a sign advertising currency exchange rates in Moscow. ASSOCIATED PRESS mid-December
triggered a broad selloff
in emerging-market currencies. The prospect of the Federal Reserve’s first rate increase next
year is also weighing on emerging-market currencies, as higher rates in the U.S. will make the
rates in developing countries less attractive by comparison.
—James Ramage
NFL Forced to Tackle Domestic Violence

The National Football League found itself in an embarrassing scandal when new video emerged
of then-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice hitting his now-wife, Janay, in at Atlantic City
casino elevator, raising fresh questions about the NFL’s investigation and handling of the case.
After the February incident, Mr. Rice was suspended for two games, but once media website
TMZ obtained more graphic footage in September, he was cut from his team and suspended
indefinitely by the league. A media firestorm erupted, focused on NFL Commissioner Roger
Goodell, who gave the initial punishment. Weeks of controversy ensued—Mr. Goodell
apologized, admitted his mistakes and promised changes. He denied seeing the second tape
before it was made public, but launched a probe into the handling of the evidence, led by former
FBI Director Robert Mueller—a report that hasn’t yet been released.
Sponsors including Anheuser-Busch InBev said they were concerned with the NFL’s actions, but
none pulled out of the league, which is seen as one of the most popular entities any company
could strike a deal with. Once the NFL season started to heat up, the Rice case took a back seat
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell arrives to address the media during a news conference in September. EUROPEAN
PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
to the games, but it wasn’t over yet.
In November, Mr. Rice’s appeal of the indefinite suspension was overturned by an arbitrator,
who found the second punishment “arbitrary.” The appeal victory was a public-relations hit for
the league, but didn’t mean much for Mr. Rice: no NFL team signed him after the decision, and
he remains an NFL free agent. Eventually, the league created a new conduct policy, unveiled in
December, to attempt to avoid similar scandals.
—Kevin Clark
Pushback on Surgical Tool Linked to Cancer

At the start of the year, few people outside medicine had heard of a laparoscopic power
morcellator, a surgical device that helps gynecologists perform minimally invasive
hysterectomies by cutting tissue into small pieces.
By year’s end, news of the device’s risks, reported in a series of articles in The Wall Street
Journal, had roiled the field. Major manufacturer Johnson & Johnson pulled the tools from
shelves, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned against their use for most women, and
hundreds of hospitals banned procedures with morcellators. The concern: Morcellators could
dice up and spread hidden uterine cancer in women undergoing surgery for benign and
common growths called fibroids. The cancer can’t be reliably detected before surgery, and the
morcellator could worsen a woman’s chances for survival.
The
morcella
tor
debate
built
steadily
all year.
In
January,
a month
after the
Journal
first
highlight
ed the
issue,
the
British
Close-ups of an earlier, outlawed model of a morcellator. DUSTIN CHAMBERS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL medical
journal
Lancet published an editorial criticizing the way morcellators and other medical devices are
approved and marketed. In February, Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia became the
first to announce a prohibition on using morcellators in the open, unprotected abdomen. The
same month, the FDA publicly acknowledged it was concerned about the risk of spreading
cancer.
In April, the FDA said it discouraged morcellation but met resistance from gynecologists, who
said abandoning the devices would expose women to risks from open surgery. On Nov. 24, the
FDA called for a “black-box” warning, saying power morcellators shouldn’t be used on “the vast
majority of women.”
—Jon Kamp
Corrections & Amplifications
The GOP holds 247 seats in the House, the largest majority Republicans have held since 1931. A
previous version of this article incorrectly said the GOP’s House majority was the largest either
party has held since 1931. (Jan. 11, 2015)
Copyright © 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit
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2014 Year in Review: The Events That

Dec. 30, 2014 5 12 pm ET

Islamic State Sends Shock Waves Across Middle East

Islamic State ﬁnanced its operations with money

By August, Islamic State was commanding the

—Karen Leigh and Matt Bradley

Republicans Sweep Midterms, Gaining Senate Control

U.S. Economy Makes Comeback, at Last

Oil Prices Crater Amid Glut of Shale

Aug. 9: Michael Brown police shooting in Ferguson, Mo. small, the

Oct. 31: Fed ends “quantitative easing.” adding new

Ukraine Explodes Into Military Conﬂict

recapturing lost ground with airstrikes and heavy artillery.

Ebola Becomes a Global Health Crisis

Tentative Thaw in U.S.-Cuba Relations

Big Banks Face Tough Regulatory Oversight

Ferguson Puts Police Tactics in Spotlight

Sony ’s Hacking Rings

The hackers’ purported

Inversions Help Firms Lower Their Tax Bills

Obama Takes Action on Illegal Immigrants

GM Is Dogged by Recalls, Probes

Malaysia Airlines Plane Disappears

Iran Spreads Inﬂuence in Middle East

Veterans Department Is Roiled by Scandal

In April, whistleblower allegations of wrongdoing by employees responsible for appointment

By December, however, expensive debacles in billion-dollar construction projects and

Turkey’s Leader Erdogan Asserts His Power

Tom Magliozzi, “Car Talk” co-host, 77 who both count Alibaba as a

U.S. Health Law

Big Asian Economies Face Uncertainty

Beijing has been

Bond Sales Ramp Up, Helped by Mergers

Several States Raise Minimum Wages

Democrats had sought to make inequality—and Republicans’ opposition to an increase—a

Investors Pile Into Dollar Amid Rebound

since the 2008 ﬁnancial

The plunge in oil prices

The ruble’s turmoil in

NFL Forced to Tackle Domestic Violence

to the games, but it wasn’t over yet.

Pushback on Surgical Tool Linked to Cancer

Corrections & Ampliﬁcations

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