Photo: AFP
Recap - World news in 2024 included conspiracy theories surrounding the royal family, dirty details of Diddy's "freak off" parties, and the attempted assassination of Trump, who would later go on to secure victory in the US Election.
The war in Ukraine raged on, a global cybersecurity glitch took out millions of computers, a plane plunged from the sky, and tensions flared in Iran and Israel.
We look back at some of the biggest stories that made headlines around the world this year.
Princess Kate's absence sparks conspiracies
In January the Royal family announced the Princess of Wales would step back from royal duties for months after surgery for an unspecified but non-cancer related abdominal condition.
Prince William was pictured visiting his wife in hospital, where she was said to be "doing well" in her recovery.
Meanwhile, King Charles III was set to undergo a medical procedure for a benign enlarged prostate.
The 75-year-old's public engagements were also to be postponed to allow him to recuperate, Buckingham Palace said.
The health problems of the King and Princess of Wales raised questions about what Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace want the public to know.
With Kate not having been seen in public in months, rumours about her condition were becoming more and more outlandish.
A handout still from a recording released by The Prince and Princess of Wales on 22 March 2024 shows Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, announcing her cancer diagnosis in Windsor, west of London. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP
In late March, it was revealed the Princess of Wales was in the early stages of treatment after cancer was found in tests.
In a video statement, Catherine said it was a "huge shock" and had been an "incredibly tough couple of months".
Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images/AFP
'Mass casualty event' as Baltimore bridge collapses
In late March, the 3km-long Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, collapsed into the water after a cargo ship collided with it.
Cars and a large tractor-trailer were on the bridge before it collapsed, with a Baltimore City Fire Department spokesperson describing the collapse as a "mass casualty event".
Authorities had stopped people from using the bridge after getting a mayday call, which Maryland's governor said saved lives.
Israel's plans for Gaza after war
In January, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant outlined proposals for the future governance of Gaza once the war between Israel and Hamas is over.
There would, Gallant said, be limited Palestinian rule in the territory. Hamas would no longer control Gaza and Israel would retain overall security control, he added.
In a New Year's message, an Israel Defense Foreces (IDF) spokesman said troop deployments were being adjusted to prepare for "prolonged fighting".
By December, the war had been raging for 14 months, with more than 44,000 Palestinians killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
The deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades began when Hamas stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza.
Horror on LATAM Airlines flight
People "flew through the cabin" after an incident on board a flight to Auckland that left blood on the plane's ceiling, a person seriously injured, and saw 50 people treated by Hato Hone St John Ambulance.
LATAM Airlines Group said Flight LA800 had a "technical problem during the flight which caused a strong movement" on its way from Sydney to Auckland in mid-March.
A transcript of the flight released a month later revealed the moments after the plane plunged and the conversation between air traffic control and LA800, where they were told they may have to wait with their injured crew while police dealt with another incident on the ground that had forced them to stop accepting flights.
Photo: AFPTV / AFP
Iran launches attack on Israel
Iran launched explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel in April, in its first direct attack on Israeli territory - a retaliatory strike that raised the threat of a wider regional conflict, as the US pledged "ironclad" backing for Israel.
Then-US President Joe Biden, who spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said he would convene a meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven major economies to coordinate a diplomatic response to what he called Iran's brazen attack.
Speaking to RNZ at the time, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said tensions needed to ease.
Cauchi was chased and shot by a police officer, Inspector Amy Scott, who has since been hailed a hero. Photo: ABC News: Brendan Esposito
Nine stabbed in Bondi Junction attack
Six people were killed in a knife attack at Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in Sydney's east in April.
Five of the victims died at the scene and a sixth died from their injuries in hospital.
In total, nine people including a small child, were stabbed by a man in the shopping centre and some were in a critical condition.
The offender was shot dead at the scene by a police officer.
Beginning of the end? Biden's Harris/Trump gaffe
Then-US President Joe Biden was still insisting he was the most qualified person for the job in July, despite referring to his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, as 'Vice President Trump' during a rare unscripted news conference.
The 81-year-old had been under pressure to make way for someone younger to represent the Democratic Party in the 2024 election, after a shambolic debate performance against Donald Trump in June.
During a NATO summit also in July, he accidentally referred to Volodymyr Zelensky as "President Putin", mixing up the Ukrainian president with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered his country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Vice President Kamala Harris. Photo: AFP / Jeff Kowalsky
By the end of the month and facing vocal opposition from within his party, Biden had withdrawn from the race. Donations to the party's election campaign surged on the back of the news Harris would be endorsed by Biden.
CrowdStrike glitch takes out tech worldwide
An estimated 8.5 million computers around the world were disabled by a global tech failure in July, that halted flights and upended everything from banking to healthcare systems.
The glitch came from a cyber security company called CrowdStrike, which sent out a corrupted software update to its huge number of customers.
BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 13: Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on 13 July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP
Attempted assassination of Trump
Trump's face was splattered with blood at a 14 July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania after gunfire erupted and hit him in the ear.
The Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election was quickly surrounded by Secret Service staff. Trump held a fist aloft as he was escorted to a waiting vehicle and taken to a local medical facility.
According to the findings of an investigation released in August, a police sniper potentially saved lives by shooting the rifle off the would-be assassin and knocking him down.
The report, by Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins, said the sniper's bullet damaged Thomas Matthew Crooks' gun and disrupted his aim, after he took his first shots. He was killed by a Secret Service sniper moments later.
Thousands wounded as pagers explode in Lebanon
At least nine people were killed and nearly 3000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members - including fighters and medics -detonated simultaneously across Lebanon in September.
The detonations started around 3.30pm on September 18 in the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh and the eastern Bekaa valley - strongholds of the anti-Israel militant group Hezbollah.
They lasted around an hour, with Reuters witnesses and residents of Dahiyeh saying they could still hear explosions at 4.30pm (6.30am NZDT)
According to security sources and footage reviewed by Reuters, some of the detonations took place after the pagers rang, causing the fighters to put their hands on them or bring them up to their faces to check the screens.
Trump's remarkable comeback
In November, Trump was elected US president, defeating Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and capping a remarkable comeback four years after he was voted out of the White House.
The 78-year-old secured more than the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency, following a campaign of dark rhetoric that deepened the polarisation in the country.
Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on 6 November 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / Getty Images via AFP
Harris offered an uplifting, positive charge to her supporters as she conceded the election, acknowledging the stinging loss while committing to a peaceful transfer of power and vowing to "fight" in a much different way than Trump promised four years prior.
"A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. At the same time, in our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party, but to the Constitution of the United States, and loyalty to our conscience and to our God. My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say: While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fuelled this campaign," she said.
One hundred and eight days after her campaign began, the self-described "joyful warrior" spoke about her loss in determined terms as she sought to reassure the American people.
"I know folks are feeling and experiencing a range of emotions right now. I get it. But we must accept the results of this election," she said.
Trump, a convicted felon, was awaiting sentencing in his hush money case in New York and still working to stave off prosecution in other state and federal cases.
It was an extraordinarily unique position for him to be in: Never before has a criminal defendant been elected to the nation's highest office, just as an ex-president had never been criminally charged until last year.
Trump had said multiple times he planned to fire special counsel Jack Smith and end the federal cases against him for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and mishandling classified documents.
In late November, it was announced Smith was dropping the federal election subversion and the mishandling of classified documents cases against Trump, seeking the cases' dismissal in court filings.
"The (Justice) Department's position is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated," Smith wrote in a six-page filing with the US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, DC, regarding the election subversion case. "This outcome is not based on the merits or strength of the case against the defendant."
Ceasefire begins in Israel-Hezbollah war
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon took effect in late November, after more than a year of fighting that has killed thousands of people.
It was hoped the truce, which began at 4am (3pm NZDT), would bring to a halt a war that has forced tens of thousands of people in Israel and hundreds of thousands more in Lebanon to flee their homes.
Diddy and his 'freak off' parties
Things started to unravel in a big way for Sean 'Diddy' Combs in late 2023. He faced three lawsuits from women alleging abuse and assault in a week, including one from former partner Cassie Ventura. That particular case was settled a day after it was filed, though Combs' lawyer said it was "in no way an admission of wrongdoing".
Soon after the Ventura case was settled, Combs was sued by another woman who accused him of sex trafficking and gang rape.
In February 2024, he was accused of 'grooming' by music producer Rodney Jones Jr, who has filed a NZ$50 million lawsuit against him.
Police and members of the media gather outside the home of US producer and musician Sean "Diddy" Combs in Los Angeles on 25 March, 2024. Photo: AFP / David Swanson
A couple of months later, the US Department of Homeland Security raided Diddy's mansions in Los Angeles and Florida. Associated Press reported that the properties were searched "as part of an ongoing sex-trafficking investigation".
It wasn't clear then whether Combs himself was the target of the investigation, but the raid sparked a lot of speculation about his whereabouts. Court documents now show that authorities found drugs and 1000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, along with AR-15 rifles with defaced serial numbers.
A screenshot of a video released by CNN appearing to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs assaulting singer Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016. Photo: CNN
Things got worse for him a few weeks later. In May 2024, CNN published a hotel surveillance video from 2016 that showed Combs appearing to grab, shove and kick Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
In September, he was arrested in a Manhattan hotel and taken into custody. He was charged with three counts of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering. Prosecutors accused Combs of running a criminal enterprise to facilitate his exploitation of women, dating back at least 16 years. According to the 14-page federal criminal indictment of Combs, the rapper was responsible for coordinating days-long sexual parties - known to the people involved in them as "freak offs".
While Combs' defence lawyers tried to have him released on a US$50 million bond, prosecutors told the judge that Combs was "extremely dangerous to the community".
In late November, he was denied bail for a third time. He remains in custody pending trial.
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