Investigators have set about the painful task of identifying the burned bodies of a blaze that engulfed a crowded bar and killed around 40 people at a New Year's Eve party in the upscale Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana.

Democrat Zohran Mamdani has become New York City's mayor, vowing during a public swearing-in ceremony on the steps of City Hall to enact an aggressive agenda aimed at making the nation's largest city more affordable for working people.

More than 1000 revellers gathered in the Coromandel Peninsula on Thursday night, some hurling bottles at police and recklessly setting off fireworks.

Three people have drowned and two people are missing and feared dead, as the new year gets off to a tragic start on the east coast of Australia.

The operator of a ferris wheel in Christchurch says three men were warned to stop swinging their bucket, just before they fell from the ride.