2024 in review: The biggest national, sport, world, technology and entertainment stories of the year
2024 has been a year of shocks and at-times violent upheavals on the world stage.
From bombshell cancer news to shock political coups and grinding conflicts, here is how the world was reshaped in 2024.
Almost three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war grinds on with no clear path to resolution.
Ukraine has recaptured more than half of previously occupied territory, but Russia still occupies 18 per cent of the country and continues to bombard its cities and blockade its ports.
Ukraine's counteroffensive efforts have stalled, and Russia has opened a new front in Ukraine's north-east Kharkiv region.
In recent months, Russia has targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, causing numerous deaths and widespread blackouts.
In September, the Wall Street Journal reported a grim milestone: one million Ukrainians and Russians killed since the war commenced in February 2022.
This year has also seen Vladimir Putin sure up ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
In June, the pair signed a mutual defence pact, each pledging their assistance if either is attacked, during a rare trip by the Russian leader to the reclusive nuclear-armed state.
North Korea has since sent thousands of troops to join the frontlines in Ukraine, in what NATO leaders have labelled a "dangerous expansion of Russia's war".
In response, Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian territory.
In November, Ukraine used US and UK-made long-range ballistic missiles to strike military targets within Russia and occupied territories for the first time in a move reportedly approved by its Western allies.
The year started out with a throw to our ancient past, with archeologists uncovering a "lost valley of cities" in the Ecuadorian Amazon built around 2500 years ago.
The number of residential and ceremonial buildings and presence of roads up to 20km long suggest the network of cities housed a society as large or larger than the Aztecs or Mayans from around 500BC and 300 to 600AD.
King Charles III made international headlines on February 6 when Buckingham Palace announced to the world that he had cancer, just nine months after his official ascension to the throne.
It came just a week after he was released from The London Clinic following surgery for an enlarged prostate.
He withdrew from the public eye, cancelling all public engagements for more than 12 weeks, while he underwent treatment.
At the same time that news of the King's cancer broke, questions were raised about the health of his daughter-in-law, the Princess of Wales, who had not been seen in public since Christmas Day the year before.
It had been confirmed that she had undergone abdominal surgery in January, but the rumour mill went into overdrive when Buckingham Palace released an apparently doctored image of her with her three children in the lead up to Mother's Day in March.
The image was quickly recalled by photo agencies over editing claims and Kate posted an apology for "experimenting with editing" the image the following day.
Two weeks later, Kate released a short video message revealing she was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for an unspecified cancer.
She said her abdominal surgery two months earlier was not initially thought to be cancerous but tests later found cancer had been present.
She said it had been "a huge shock" for her and William and has taken time for her to recover from major surgery in order to start the cancer treatment.
The princess did not resume public appearances until June 15, when she attended Trooping the Colour alongside Prince William, their children and the King and Queen.
The family waved to the gathered crowd as they watched a flyby of military aircraft to cap ceremonies marking the monarch's official birthday.
In September, Catherine, Princess of Wales announced that she had completed her chemotherapy and would resume "light" public duties until the end of the year as she gains back her strength.
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