Whose year is it anyway?
Some things which 2014 has been declared to be the year of:
— Year of the Horse (China)
— International Year of Family Farming (World Rural Forum)
— Year of the Brain (European Brain Council)
— Year of the Salamander (Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation)
— Year of Crystallography (UN)
— Year of Solidarity with Palestinians (UN)
Topping out
Some things due to be completed in 2014:
— Melco Crown casino, Manila, £1 billion building with 240 tables and 1,250 slot machines
— Marina 101 tower, Dubai, with 101 storeys, 1417 feet
— Hampden Park stadium, Glasgow Football stadium being converted into dual use football and athletics stadium for Commonwealth Games
— Sudbury Health Centre, Suffolk NHS polyclinic first mooted 30 years ago
— Purple Line, Los Angeles metro
Closing down
Some things due to close in 2014:
— 10 London fire stations, with loss of 14 fire engines and 552 firefighters
— Magistrates’ courts in Pontefract, Burton-on-Trent, Stratford-upon-Avon and Haywards Heath
— Blundeston Prison, Lowestoft, Suffolk (if an inmate on life sentence loses his judicial review to keep it open)
— Nuclear power stations in Hartlepool and Heysham
On their way
Some estimates of how many Romanians and Bulgarians will come to Britain in 2014, after our labour market is opened to them on 1 January.
20,000: Migration Matters
30,000–70,000: MigrationWatchUK
22,000–35,000: Sum of estimates by Romanian and Bulgarian ambassadors
— ONS estimate of Romanians and Bulgarians already living in Britain: 141,000
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