The “Great Unraveling” Has Begun: Halfway Through the Astrological New Year of 2014

Zero LibraThe Fall Equinox takes place with the Sun at 0 degrees Libra. On September 22, 2014, the Sun ingressed into Libra marking the halfway point of the astrological New Year that began on the Spring Equinox – March 20, 2014.  Since that date onward, there has been an ever increasing set of events of international significance  occurring throughout the globe.

Below is a list of newsworthy world events that have transpired thus far.

March 21 – Russia formally annexes Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill finalizing the annexation process.

March 23 – The 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak begins, infecting 5,762 people and killing at least 2,746 people, the most severe both in terms of numbers of infections and casualties

March 24 – During an emergency meeting, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from the G8.

March 26 – North Korea test fires two medium-range ballistic missiles capable of striking Japan, South Korea, and China. The missiles land in the sea between North Korea and Japan. It is the first such test since 2009.

March 27 – The United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 68/262, recognizing Crimea within Ukraine’s international borders and rejecting the validity of the 2014 Crimean referendum.

March 31 – North Korea fires ballistic missiles; exchanges fire with South Korea North and South Korea exchange artillery shells across their disputed western maritime border.

April 1 –  NATO suspends all practical civilian and military cooperation with Russia.

April 23 – Palestinian leadership and Hamas forge a new reconciliation agreement.  The U.S. government warns that the new accord could prevent any progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as Hamas has been a designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.

April 24 – Israel responds to the Palestinian and Hamas Unity Accord by halting peace talks.

April 28 – United States President Barack Obama’s new economic sanctions against Russia go into effect, targeting companies and individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

May 4 – Tension increases between China and Vietnam as Vietnamese officials report that their vessels have been hit by Chinese ships. “Chinese ships intentionally rammed two Vietnamese Sea Guard vessels,” says Foreign Ministry official Tran Duy Hai, during a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. “Chinese ships, with air support, sought to intimidate Vietnamese vessels.”

May 7 – Vietnamese ships confront Chinese ships in the South China Sea, while the Chinese vessels place an oil rig off the coast of Vietnam. The placement of the rig also leads to protests throughout Vietnam. The Vietnamese government asks China to remove the rig and dispatches a naval flotilla to the area. The rig is placed in waters claimed by both Vietnam and China.

May 22 – Anti-China protesters set fire to at least 15 foreign-owned factories throughout Vietnam, according to state media. Protesters also destroy and loot offices of manufacturing companies owned or managed by Chinese workers. At least one person dies in the protests.

May 22 – The Royal Thai Army overthrows the caretaker government of Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan after a failure to resolve the political unrest in Thailand.

June 5, ongoing – A Sunni militant group called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (also known as the ISIS or ISIL) begins an offensive through northern Iraq, aiming to capture the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad and overthrow the Shiite government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

July 1 – ISIS changes its name to the Islamic State and declares the territory in the nation of Iraq under its control-Anbar province (west of Baghdad) and most of Nineveh (north of Baghdad)-a caliphate. Iraqi forces, with the guidance of U.S. military advisers, begin developing a strategy to maintain control of Baghdad and the surrounding area.

July 8 – August 26– Amid growing tensions between Israel and Hamas following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June and the revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in July, Israel launches Operation Protective Edge on the Palestinian Gaza Strip starting with numerous missile strikes, followed by a ground invasion a week later. In seven weeks of fighting, 2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis are killed.

July 17 – After a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, Israel confirms the beginning of a ground offensive in Gaza.

July 29 – The United States accuses Russia of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, an agreement between the two countries banning medium range missiles. The treaty states that the Russian Federation may not possess, produce, or test a ground-launch cruise missile with a range capability of 310 to 3,417 miles, nor produce or possess launchers of such missiles. Senior U.S. State Department officials say that Russia has violated the treaty, citing cruise missile tests by Russia dating back to 2008.

July 30 – Argentina for the third time in 25 years, defaults on its debt. Standard & Poor’s declares that the country is in default on some of its obligations after the government fails on an agreement with a group of bondholders. The creditors demand payment of approximately 1.5 billion for bonds that they purchased after Argentina’s $144 billion default in 2001. The default may trigger an even bigger hike in inflation and cause the value of the peso to decrease even more. Before the default, economists had already projected that inflation will hit 40% this year. The peso has fallen by 25% against the dollar during the first half of 2014.

August 8 – The United States military begins an air campaign in northern Iraq to stem the influx of ISIS militants.

August 20 – Offensive operations by Ukrainian military begins as government troops move into Luhansk and Donetsk, former rebel strongholds.

August 28 – Two days after Poroshenko and Putin meet to discuss options to end the conflict, NATO, citing satellite images, reports that Russia sent 1,000 troops into Ukraine from the southeast, opening a new front in the conflict. NATO estimates that there are at least 1,000 Russian military personnel directly engaged in fighting in Ukraine and that 20,000 battle-ready troops and hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles are amassed in Russia just across the border.

August 30 – The Ebola outbreak continues to spread through West Africa. By the end of summer, it has become the worst single Ebola outbreak in history. It is also the deadliest. According to the World Health Organization, more than 1,500 people have died from the outbreak. The total number of suspected and confirmed cases is at least 3,000, including the more than 1,500 deaths.

September 18-19 – The Scottish independence referendum is held. Scotland votes “No” to Independence with a 55% to 45% majority. Only four (of 32) councils vote for independence.

September 21 – U.S. jets have begun airstrikes in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria. These are the first strikes against the terror group inside the country since President Barack Obama’s announcement that he was prepared to expand the American efforts beyond targets in Iraq.

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