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Elephants make a splash ahead of Thai New Year

Elephants in Thailand’s ancient capital of Ayutthaya sprayed water from their trunks at people on Tuesday (April 11), ahead of the start of Thailand’s traditional New…

World News

The Year of the Fire Rooster marked across Asia

Beijing celebrates New Year despite extreme pollution

China

Chinese New Year explained

According to the Gregorian calendar 2017 began 27 days ago.

China

New Year goes dark in China

Smog fears have prompted the Beijing city government to tell officials not to set off fireworks or firecrackers to welcome the Lunar New Year. The Chinese New Year holiday begins on New Year's Eve on

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Trump to "fly" over China for New Year celebrations

A Chinese factory is producing giant inflatable roosters which bear a close resemblance to US president-elect Donald Trump, ushering in a new pecking order ahead of the lunar new year and possible ruf

India

Claims of mass New Year assaults on Indian women attributed to "western" copycats

A state minister in India dismisses claims of sexual assaults in Bengaluru as young men copying western behaviour and clothing

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Paris welcomes 2017

Crowds flocked to Paris’ iconic Champs-Elysees avenue for New Year celebrations, witnessing a spectacular light show projected onto the Arc de Triomphe as well as a fireworks display as the clock stru

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Hundreds take New Year plunge in Dutch seaside town

Hundreds of people plunged into the icy cold North Sea as part of a New Year’s Day tradition in the Dutch seaside town of Scheveningen.

United Kingdom

London's New Year's Day parade shrugs off rain

Despite heavy rain at times London's New Year's Day parade brought some glitz and glamour to the streets of the capital.

USA

Philadelphia holds its traditional 'Mummers parade'

Thousands have taken part in one of the US’s oldest January the first parades.

Sport

Diving me mad: the New Year plunges into Rome's Tiber

Making a New Year splash in Rome's Tiber

Turkey

Turkey steps up manhunt for nightclub gunman who killed dozens

As the hunt intensifies for the gunman behind Turkey’s New Year nightclub massacre, security forces are seeking clues at the scene of the bloodbath.

Vatican

Pope Francis condemns 'plague of terrorism' after Istanbul attack

Pope Francis has condemned the deadly attack in Istanbul and offered prayers for the victims, their families and the entire Turkish people.

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Fireworks and confetti mark the New Year at Times Square

Hundreds of thousands of merrymakers witnessed the descent of the kaleidoscopic New Year’s Eve ball in Times Square at midnight on Sunday, celebrating a century-old New York tradition under an unprece

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New Year in Portugal: Huge crowds celebrate

Revellers packed Terreiro do Paço Square in Lisbon to ring in the New Year.

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Japan sticks to tradition to mark 2017

A bell tolled to mark the New Year at Japan’s Zentsu Temple in Zentsuji City.

World News

Western Europe rings in 2017

From Giza to London, Amsterdam to Dubai, the world rings in 2017.

World News

From Dubai to Istanbul, millions welcome in 2017

Millions of people are welcoming in 2017.

World News

New Year's fireworks see in 2017, from Auckland to Pyongyang

Millions of people have already been celebrating the arrival of 2017.

Germany

Merkel says Germany is 'stronger than terrorism'

With Germany still reeling from the deadly Berlin truck attack, Angela Merkel has used her annual New Year’s message to insist the country and its democratic values are ‘stronger than…