January 1, 2015 Edition

New Year celebrations turned to tragedy in China on Thursday when 35 people were killed in a stampede in Shanghai. As the rest of the world ushered in 2015 with a spectacular fireworks displays in cities from Sydney to Moscow, chaos broke out in China’s financial hub. The crush happened in crowded conditions shortly before midnight, as people packed the Bund district to welcome the New Year, the city’s government said in a statement. An additional 42 people were injured in the accident.

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The death toll from Tropical Storm Seniang (international name: Jangmi) has risen to 54 as of 4 am Thursday, January 1, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said. A total of 40 individuals were injured while at least 7 people remained missing, the NDRRMC said. Seniang, which has been downgraded to a low pressure area, damaged at least 1,533 houses, with 1,168 partially damaged and 365 completely destroyed.

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Soldiers acting as pall bearers Wednesday, December 31, carried coffins containing the first two bodies from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 into Surabaya airport from where the ill-fated plane departed, as sombre relatives gave their DNA to help identify loved ones. The bodies were taken from an air force plane to a military ambulance to be transported to a hospital for examination and identification – but many exhausted families were left waiting for news as bad weather hampered search efforts. Officials had hoped to recover most of the bodies but rough conditions made it difficult for helicopters to fly over the area in the Java Sea where several corpses and debris from the ill-fated Airbus A320-200 were found a day earlier.

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President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, December 31, signed a Palestinian request to join the International Criminal Court, seeking a new avenue for action against Israel after a failed UN resolution on ending the occupation. Abbas signed the request along with applications to join 20 other international conventions during a meeting broadcast live on Palestinian television. The Palestinians hope an ICC membership will pave the way for war crimes prosecutions against Israeli officials for their actions in the occupied territories. Israel warned that joining the court would also expose the Palestinians to prosecution. The applications came one day after the UN Security Council rejected a resolution on ending the Israeli occupation.

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Read more about the failed Palestinian resolution on Rappler.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, December 31, sent a New Year’s greeting to US counterpart Barack Obama, saying the two countries share mutual responsibility to ensure world peace. In a statement showing Putin’s New Year’s messages to heads of state across the world, the Russian leader addressed Obama despite the crisis in US-Russian relations over Ukraine, saying the “Russian-American partnership could have been developing successfully.”The list of Putin’s greetings spans from Abkhazia – a breakaway region of Georgia that Moscow recognises as independent – to Japan. Putin also sent regards to several individuals no longer in office, including Silvio Berlusconi, George Bush, and Nicolas Sarkozy.

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Greece’s coastguard only ran a cursory check on a cargo ship carrying 900 Syrian refugees that was on a collision course with the Italian shoreline, a source within the agency said on Wednesday, December 31. “The coastguard contacted the captain of the ship, who said there was no problem on board,” the source told Agence France-Presse. The Italian coastguard on Tuesday scrambled two helicopters overnight after realising that the ship, the Moldovan-registered Blue Sky M, was headed for disaster. It later revealed that the ship’s engine had been locked on with the steering set on a direction that would have meant it would have crashed ashore somewhere in the Puglia region on the “heel” of Italy.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un called Thursday, January 1, for improved inter-Korean relations saying he was open to the “highest-level” talks with South Korea. The offer came in Kim’s traditional New Year message broadcast live on state television, according to Yonhap news agency.

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In the depths of an Indonesian rainforest, scientists have identified the first known frog that gives birth to tadpoles instead of laying eggs, according to research published Wednesday, December 31. Known as Limnonectes larvaepartus, this member of the Asian group of fanged frogs was first discovered decades ago by Indonesian researcher Djoko Iskandar. Scientists have long thought these particular frogs likely gave birth to tadpoles, but they had never seen the creatures mate or spawn firsthand.

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International R&B singer Chris Brown did not make it to his scheduled performance at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan on New Year’s Eve, December 31. According to the Maligaya Development Corporation (MDC), the singer’s camp informed them he had lost his passport prior to his flight to Manila. Pinnacle Live Concepts, in charge of bringing the singer to the country, said that Brown “tried his physical best to fly over for the evening. The local representative of Chris Brown and we were informed that Chris is still in Los Angeles because according to them, Chris Brown lost his passport the day before the scheduled event,” MDC said in a statement.

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Everywhere around the world, citizens are ringing in 2015, whether it’s with a large-scale fireworks display, a symbolic gathering, or a somber remembrance. As some countries meet the new year, Rappler has an album up of fireworks displays and celebrations from here and other parts of the world.

See New Year’s celebrations around the world on Rappler.