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UNDATED (AP) — It's 2015 in New Zealand. They've welcomed in the new year with a fireworks show at Auckland's Sky Tower. At 8 a.m. Eastern Time, Australia rings in the new year with its annual celebration at Sydney Harbour. In New York, at midnight tonight, a big Waterford crystal ball will drop in Times Square. And in Las Cruces, New Mexico, they'll spice things up with a New Year's Eve chili drop.
MOSCOW (AP) —Russian President Vladimir Putin says in his New Year's message to President Barack Obama that Moscow is looking for equality in bilateral relations next year. Putin reminds Obama of the upcoming 70th anniversary of the allied victory in World War II and says that it should serve as a reminder of "the responsibility that Russia and the United States bear for maintaining peace and international stability." Moscow is anxious for the relations to advance but only as long as there is "equality and mutual respect."
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia (AP) — A pastor whose church lost about 40 members in the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501 says, "Help us, God, to move forward, even though we are surrounded by darkness." The Rev. Philip Mantofa today comforted families in a waiting room at the airport in Surabaya, Indonesia, where the jetliner took off Sunday and plunged into the Java Sea before it could reach its destination of Singapore. So far only the bodies of seven of the 162 people on board have been recovered. Strong currents are moving what are believed to be large parts of the plane.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran is denying reports that Washington offered to trade Iranian prisoners for a former U.S. Marine jailed since 2011. Iran's Foreign Ministry says there's been no formal request to trade U.S.-held prisoners for 31-year-old Amir Hekmati, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen born in Arizona, who was arrested in August 2011. The U.S. has also flatly denied the report and reiterates its call for Hekmati's release on humanitarian grounds.
BEIJING (AP) — Three police officers in China have been arrested in the videotaped beating death of a female migrant worker who showed up at a construction site in December to collect her wages. The video, which has spread widely in China, shows officers also beating the woman's husband and apparently standing on her hair as she lay unconscious on the ground. The official Xinhua (shihn-wah) News Agency says one officer is accused of causing the 47-year-old woman's death and two others are accused of abusing their power.
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