An Army judge in July acquitted Pfc. Bradley Manning of aiding the enemy by disclosing a trove of secret U.S. government documents to Wikileaks, a striking rebuke to military prosecutors who argued that the largest leak in U.S. history had assisted al-Qaeda.

April 15 - Two explosions kill 2 people and injured 260 at the Boston Marathon sending the US into the shock of a terrorist attack.

Obama loses his fight to strenghen the US gun laws.

President Barack Obama in mid January launched the most sweeping effort to curb U.S. gun violence in nearly two decades, announcing a $500 million package that sets up a fight with Congress over bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines just a month after a shooting in Connecticut killed 20 school children.

At the end of December, a stock rally propels Dow industrials to 50th record-high at the close of the 2013.

 In a CBS 60 minutes report, Amazon.com reported that they are working on a drone delivery system for packages purchased. 

Housing prices in the US start to rise as the US economy starts to show positive signs of turning around.

Mid July Detroit is facing more than $18 billion on debt and unfunded liabilities and has officially filed for federal bankruptcy protection.

The Greek parliament has passed a bill which will see 15,000 state employees lose their jobs by the end of next year.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that an estimated 20 trillion to 40 trillion becquerels of tritium from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant may have flowed into the Pacific Ocean since May 2011. Such a leak will damage the fish in the ocean and drinking water. 

Explosive growth in Japan and China drives annual solar photovoltaic demand above 35 gigawatts. 

Photovoltaic solar installations in the United States soared 76 per cent to more than 3.3 gigawatts in 2012, helped in part by the completion of a number of large-scale utility projects in the West

Early November and the largest recorded typhoon strikes the Phillipines killing 3,500 plus and leaving 6 million people homeless.

New research shows that average summer temperatures in the Canadian Arctic over the last century are the highest in the last 44,000 years, and perhaps the highest in 120,000 years 

Global warming 95% likely to be manmade, UN panel says

In the Artic in 2013, there has been a 60 per cent increase in the amount of ocean covered with ice compared to this time last year, they equivalent of almost a million square miles.

The past 50 years average global temperatures have been increasing consistently at a rate of about .15 C per decade.

2012 was one of the 10 warmest years on record globally. The US and Argentina had their warmest year on record.

Sea surface temperature: globally, it was among the 11 warmest on record. Heat in the upper 700 metres of the oceans remained near record levels.

Greenhouse gases: continued to climb, with carbon dioxide reaching a global average of 392.6 parts per million. In some Arctic sites, it reached 400ppm. 

The Chinese government has ordered firms in heavy-polluting industries to cut emissions by 30% by 2017.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has breached the symbolically important level of 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in 5 million years after rising at its fastest rate since records began.

For those who track the weather it was the second coldest start to spring In US history

Early January and temperatures in China have plunged to their lowest in almost three decades, cold enough to freeze coastal waters and trap 1,000 ships in ice 

The number of people suffering from hunger is down from 868 million last year, according to the State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI 2013) report, published by the three Rome-based UN food agencies.  

McDonald's will offer side salads and fruit as an option in its value meals in its bigger markets, and will also begin pushing healthier drinks for its Happy Meals. 

A transportation advocate says driverless cars could be ready for Canadian roads within four years, but nobody seems to be at the wheel to regulate and plan for such vehicles 

Nissan Motor Co plans to offer cars with self-driving technology by 2020

Australia has been named the world's happiest industrialized nation for the third year running, based on criteria including satisfaction, work-life balance, income and housing. Following Australia is Sweden and Canada 

In India - She was raped for over an hour on a moving bus as it drove around New Delhi at night. Even while crossing police checkpoints, its tinted windows hid the horror that was unfolding inside.

The five men and one youth aboard the bus allegedly beat both this young woman, a 23-year-old university student, and her male friend with iron bars before raping her. They even used the bar to violate her — which later led to most of her intestines being removed, and ultimately to her death weeks later.

This rape has awakend India's conscious toward justice and cultural change  for the prevention of rape. The four men were tried for the crime and found guilty. An Indian judge sentenced to death the four men convicted in the December gang rape and murder of a young New Delhi woman, ordering them to the gallows.