December 31, 2014 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Terrorism in Yemen
- A suicide bombing in Ibb, Yemen, kills at least 26 people. (Reuters)
Business and economy
- The United States stock exchange reports ending on a gain of 7.5%. It was the sixth year of continued advancement. (Wall Street Journal)
Disasters and accidents
- Pacific typhoon season
- As Tropical Storm Jangmi (Seniang) weakens, the Philippines death toll reaches 53 people. (AP)
- Explosions at a factory in the southern Chinese city of Foshan kill 17 people and injure 20. (Reuters)
- A New Year's Eve celebration stampede in Shanghai kills at least 36 people and injures 49 others. (BBC)(China Daily)
- The Italian coast guard boards and regains control of a cargo ship that had been sabotaged and abandoned by human traffickers carrying nearly 1,000 passengers, mostly Syrian refugees, that was in imminent jeopardy of crashing into land. (Wall Street Journal) (eNews Channel Africa)
Law and crime
- A riot breaks out at a New Year's Eve festival in Gisborne, New Zealand, leaving 83 people injured and 63 arrested. (NZ Herald)
Politics and elections
- President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano announces his impending resignation, citing "old age". (Business Week)
- President of Gambia Yahya Jammeh remains in power after a failed coup attempt while he was travelling outside the country. (Al Jazeera)
- Nur Bekri resigns as the Chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China to become the Director of the National Energy Administration, and is replaced in the interim by Shohrat Zakir. (Business Standard)
- China relieves Sun Chunlan of her post as Party Committee Secretary of Tianjin, China, and replaces her on an interim basis with Huang Xingguo. (SCMP)
- As part of an agreement with Djibouti's Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil, the country's main opposition party, the Union for National Salvation, decides to return to its eight seats in the National Assembly after having boycotted it since the parliamentary election in 2013. (Deutsche Welle)