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NEW YORK (AP) — A million people crammed into New York's Times Square to usher in 2015. Mayor Bill de Blasio, flanked by his wife and two children, pushed the ceremonial button that set the 11,875-pound Waterford crystal ball in motion. With temperatures at about 30 degrees, partygoers were bundled up in parkas, fleece-lined hats and gloves. Twenty-eight-year-old Sonia Dost traveled from San Francisco to see the ball drop. She says, "It was on my bucket list."
UNDATED (AP) — New Year's celebrations also brought tragedy. Thirty-five people were killed in a stampede during China's New Year's celebrations in downtown Shanghai. And in the Philippines, it's believed that firecrackers set off by children started a huge fire in a metropolitan Manila slum Thursday, destroying hundreds of shanties. The blaze was spread quickly by strong winds. Thousands of poor families have been displaced.
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia (AP) — A much needed break in the weather is giving searchers a window to find victims of AirAsia Flight 8501. Seven of the 162 bodies have been recovered. Four of the bodies were loaded onto a transport carrier Thursday morning on Borneo island. Singapore has flown in an unmanned underwater vehicle that can survey the seabed to try to help pinpoint the plane wreckage in the Java Sea.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It could be a step toward a 2016 presidential bid. Jeb Bush has resigned all of his board memberships — both nonprofit and business. An aide says the former Florida governor stepped down from his remaining board memberships on Wednesday. It's a continuation of a process that began earlier in the month when Bush announced plans to actively explore a White House bid.
UNDATED (AP) — Party-goers in some usually sun-soaked cities are bundling up for a frosty New Year's across the West. On the Las Vegas Strip, temperatures are in the mid 30s. And in Pasadena, California, Thursday's Rose Parade may also be affected because of expected near-freezing temperatures. Charles Meier, creative director for Paradiso Parade Floats, says the cold snap could hurt those famous floral floats, turning the tropical flowers black.
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