10 things you need to know today: January 1, 2015

1. Palestinians ask to join International Criminal Court

The Palestinian Authority submitted a request to join the International Criminal Court on Wednesday, hours after the United Nations Security Council rejected a resolution calling for establishing a Palestinian state by the end of 2017. "The Security Council let us down -- where are we to go?" said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move opened the Palestinians to possible prosecution for supporting Hamas, a Palestinian faction Netanyahu called a terrorist group.

Voice of America

2. Maryland governor commutes sentences to empty the state's death row

Outgoing Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley commuted the death sentences of four inmates on Wednesday, emptying the state's death row. O'Malley, a possible Democratic presidential contender, led the push to abolish the death penalty in the state two years ago, and he said that executing the last remaining death-row inmates "does not serve the public good of the people of Maryland." Outgoing state Attorney General Doug Gansler (D) said carrying out the sentences would have been illegal since the state no longer has a death-penalty law.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Christian Science Monitor The Wall Street Journal

3. North Korea's Kim Jong Un says he is open to talks with South Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year's speech that he was open to holding a summit with his South Korean counterpart. Kim said his government would hold high-level talks "if South Korea sincerely has a position that it wants to improve North-South relations through dialogue." South Korea responded by saying that it was open to talks aiming to prepare for Korea's reunification, and urged the secretive, combative government in Pyongyang to take concrete steps toward normalizing relations.

The Associated Press

4. Dozens die in New Year's stampede in Shanghai

At least 36 people were killed and 47 injured in Shanghai when a crowd stampeded during New Year's celebrations. Authorities could not immediately say what caused the tragedy, which began after 11:35 p.m. in a square where thousands of people had gathered for a midnight light show along the Huangpu River. One witness told the locally based news website Eastday.com that the stampede started when people in a building began dropping green pieces of paper that looked like American $100 bills.

The New York Times

5. Suicide attack kills dozens in Yemen

A suicide bomber dressed as a woman blew himself up at a gathering of Shiite rebel supporters in Yemen on Wednesday, killing 33 people. The attack occurred at a cultural center where rebels known as Houthis were preparing to celebrate the prophet Muhammad's birthday this weekend. Dozens of people were wounded, and Yemeni authorities warned that the death toll could rise. Yemen has been plagued with violence since longtime strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh left power in 2012 under pressure during the Arab Spring revolts.

Agence France Presse

6. Weather delays search for AirAsia plane's flight recorder

Heavy seas have prevented divers from trying to find the black-box flight recorders from AirAsia Flight 8501, which crashed into the Java Sea on Sunday with 162 people on board. The plane was en route from Surabaya to Singapore. Dive crews are on stand-by to check out a large shadow spotted by a search pilot, but Toos Sanitiyoso, an investigator with Indonesia's National Committee for Transportation Safety, said Thursday that it could take a week to find the flight recorders.

Reuters

7. Jeb Bush resigns from boards as he considers a presidential bid

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush has resigned from all of his corporate and nonprofit board positions, the latest in a series of indications he is preparing to launch a bid for the White House in 2016. Bush aides said late Wednesday that Bush, the brother of former president George W. Bush and son of former president George H.W. Bush, wants to focus on exploring a campaign for the GOP nomination.

The Washington Post

8. Mortar attack kills 20 at Afghan wedding

The Afghan government began an investigation Thursday into a mortar blast that killed at least 20 civilians at Dec. 31 wedding in Helmand province. As many as 50 people were wounded. The United Nations Assistance Mission condemned the attack, which is being blamed on the Afghan army, and said most of the victims were women and children. The nongovernmental group Civil Society of Helmand said the blast occurred during a clash between Taliban fighters and Afghan army troops.

The Wall Street Journal

9. New York's murder rate fell to a record low in 2014

The number of murders in New York City dropped to 328 in 2014, the fewest since police there began collecting reliable statistics in 1963. There were 335 murders in the city in 2013. The decline in the murder rate came as the city recorded drops in nearly all major types of crime. New York had a total of 105,428 major crimes citywide in 2013, down from 110,728 in 2013. Crime in New York City has been steadily dropping for two decades, while crime rates have fluctuated in other big cities, such as Los Angeles and Chicago.

The New York Times

10. Actor Edward Herrmann dies at 71

Character actor Edward Herrmann, who played Richard Gilmore on Gilmore Girls, died Wednesday in a New York hospital. He was 71, and had been in intensive care for more than three weeks as he battled brain cancer. Hermann was known for his portrayal of sophisticated, often affluent characters, from a young FDR in highly praised 1970s telepics to a law professor on The Practice, a guest role that won him a 1999 Emmy. Herrmann also won a Tony in 1976 for the play Mrs. Warren's Profession, and appeared with Macaulay Culkin in the 1994 film Richie Rich.

Boston Herald TMZ