MOST things that happen in our life, and in the world, cannot be predicted. And yet some events have been planned in advance. Here are some things to expect in the year 2015.

January

LIGHT YEAR: 2015 is designated by the United Nations (UN, 聯合國) as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies. The opening ceremonies will be held from 19-20 January in Paris (巴黎), France.

Rocky US (美國): Both houses of the US, led by the Republican Party (共和黨), are sworn in. This will signal an increasingly rocky road for Democrat (民主黨的) president Barack Obama’s (奧巴馬) final two years in office.

February

GOAT YEAR: The Lunar New Year falls on 19 February this year. We will say goodbye to the Year of the Horse and welcome the Year of the Goat.

UNCHANGED NIGERIA (尼日利亞): The present President Goodluck Jonathan (喬納森) is the favourite to win the elections in Africa’s (非洲) largest economy and biggest oil producer, despite questions over whether he is legally allowed to do so.

March

FOURTH TERM: Israeli (以色列的) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (內塔尼亞胡) is seeking a fourth term in elections. This is seen as a referendum on his leadership.

DISASTER REDUCTION: A global disaster risk reduction plan is expected to be approved after UN figures showed 2 million deaths and US$2.4 trillion (HK$18.7 trillion) of economic losses from 8,835 disasters, not including volcanoes and earthquakes, between 1970 and 2012.

April

REACHING CERES (穀神星): Nasa’s (美國太空總署) Dawn (黎明號) spacecraft is expected to arrive at the dwarf planet Ceres.

GEORGE’S FUTURE SIBLING: Britain’s (英國) Prince William (威廉王子), son of the heir to the throne, and his wife Kate (凱特), expect the arrival of their second baby, a brother or sister for Prince George (喬治王子).

May

UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION (世界博覽會): Expo 2015 – the first Universal Exposition since 2012 – will be opened on 5 May in Milan (米蘭), Italy (意大利). It ends on 31 October.

CONTINUED COALITION: A general election in Britain, with the anti-immigration UK Independence Party (UKIP, 英國獨立黨) expected to win more votes, is likely to lead to a continued coalition government by the Conservative Party (保守黨) and the Liberal Democrats (自由民主黨).

June

EBOLA (伊波拉) vaccines: The World Health Organization (世界衛生組織) says hundreds of thousands of doses of the first Ebola vaccines may be available after trials of seven products have been fast-tracked.

G7 SUMMIT (七大工業國峰會): German (德國的) Chancellor Angela Merkel (默克爾) hosts leaders of the world’s richest countries at the Group of 7 (G7) summit in Germany. The recent G8 summit is reduced to G7 because Russia’s (俄羅斯) membership has been suspended.