Year EndNat CastañedaDecember 15, 2015Comment

Year in photos from Asia

Year EndNat CastañedaDecember 15, 2015Comment

As 2015 comes to a close, here is a glimpse of some of the Asia-Pacific's most important events of the year, through the eyes of The Associated Press' photojournalists. It was a year of meteorological extremes. In March, hundreds of Kashmiris in India and Pakistan moved to higher ground as rain-swollen rivers swamped parts of the disputed Himalayan region. In April, a strong earthquake and multiple aftershocks shook Nepal's capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley, causing extensive damage with toppled walls and collapsed buildings and killing 8,900 people. In the summer months typhoons drenched parts of the region, while a hazardous haze caused by forest fires in Indonesia blanketed the country and its neighbors. And a gray soupy haze subsumed Beijing landmarks as the city invoked its first-ever red alert for smog, closing many factories and barring half the city's vehicles from the roads.

The region also experienced political change. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou shook hands to mark the first top-level contact between the formerly bitter Cold War foes since they split amid civil war 66 years ago. Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, died at age 91; the city-state mourned the man credited with transforming the resource-poor island into a wealthy finance and trade hub. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared that his country was ready to stand up to any threat posed by the United States as he spoke at a lavish military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the North's ruling party and trumpet his third-generation leadership. Thousands of Rohingya refugees, a Muslim minority in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, landed on the shores of Indonesia's Aceh province after being abandoned at sea in Southeast Asia. And on the fifth anniversary of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's release from house arrest, her party won enough seats in Parliament to allow it to form the country's first truly civilian government in more than half a century.

In August, a warehouse complex storing large amounts of hazardous chemicals caught fire and exploded in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, killing 165 and leaving eight missing. The disaster raised questions about corruption and government efficiency. Days later, a bomb placed at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok's busy tourist central district killed 20 people. The unprecedented act of violence in the Thai capital also left more than 120 injured. Authorities have made arrests but say they still don't know the motive.

The year also brought occasions to celebrate. Beijing was elected to host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, becoming the first city to host both the winter and summer games. In cricket, Australia won its fifth World Cup title with an emphatic win over New Zealand. And millions of Hindus immersed themselves in the Godavari River at this year's Kumbh Mela festival. The waters of a holy river are said to wash away believers' sins.

This gallery was curated by Karly Domb Sadof in Bangkok.

A Nepalese family sleeps sheltered by plastic sheets in an open space after an earthquake hit the region earlier in the day, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 12, 2015. A new earthquake Tuesday spread more fear and misery in Nepal, which is still struggling to recover from a devastating quake nearly three weeks ago that left thousands dead. (AP Photo/Bernat Amangue)

In this Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015, photo, an Indian woman watches from a broken window of a local train at a railway station in New Delhi, India. India's national railways system, which is one of the world's largest, serves more than 23 million passengers a day. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Commuters ride on a city trolley bus, Friday, Sept. 11, 2015 in Pyongyang, North Korea. The city trolley is one of the more common forms of public transportation among North Koreans living in Pyongyang. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

A Kashmiri boy plays on a swing in Srinagar, India, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015. Set in the Himalayas at 5,600 feet above sea level, Kashmir is a green, saucer-shaped valley surrounded by snowy mountain ranges with over 100 lakes dotting its highlands and plains. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

In this Aug. 27, 2015 photo, Naga sadhu, or naked Hindu holy man, pauses inside a tent during Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher festival, at Trimbakeshwar, India. Hindus believe taking a dip in the waters of a holy river during the festival will cleanse them of their sins. The festival is held four times every 12 years. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

In this Aug. 21, 2015 photo, an Indian woman watches from an army boat as she along with others is transported to safer areas from flood affected Jaraguri village, about 160 kilometres (99 miles) west of Gauhati, India. Incessant rainfall in catchment areas have led to rise in water level of the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries, inundating several districts of both Upper and Lower Assam, according to local news reports. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

In this Friday, Jan. 16, 2015 photo, Kashmiri Muslim villagers carry the body of Ishfaq Ahmed Malik, a suspected local militant during his funeral procession in Arwani, some 55 kilometers (35 miles) south of Srinagar, India. Indian soldiers and police killed five suspected rebels during a fierce gun battle Thursday in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, officials said. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Indian youths form a human pyramid to break the "Dahi handi," an earthen pot filled with curd hanging above them, as part of celebrations to mark the Janmashtami festival in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Sept 6. 2015. The festival marks the birth of Hindu god Krishna and the act seeks to reenact the story of Lord Krishna stealing butter during his childhood. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

In this Friday, Jan. 16, 2015 photo, Filipino Catholics take photos, using their phones and tablets, of Pope Francis aboard his Popemobile as his motorcade passes by on the way to another "Meeting With Families" at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Pope Francis waves to Filipinos upon his arrival in Manila, Philippines, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015. The Pope arrived in Manila for a pastoral visit which is expected to draw millions of faithful where about 81-percent of the population is Catholic. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015, photo, small screens show South Korean President Park Geun-hye as participants listen to her speech during a ceremony to celebrate Korean Liberation Day from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, at Seong Cultural Center in Seoul, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

In this Wednesday, July 8, 2015, photo, a Filipino girl tries to keep herself warm as she wades through floodwaters in the coastal village of Malabon, north of Manila, Philippines. Typhoon Chan-Hom passed over the northeastern waters of the Philippines and heading to northern Taiwan on Wednesday, dumping heavy rains over the capital, Manila, and the northern provinces. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

In this March 30, 2015 photo, a Kashmiri man stretches his hand to help a local evacuate from a flood affected area in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir. Hundreds of Kashmiris in both India and Pakistan moved to higher ground Monday as rain-swollen rivers swamped parts of the disputed Himalayan region placed under an emergency flood alert just six months after some 600 people died in flooding that left the region in shambles. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

In this Friday, July 3, 2015, photo, a gust of wind bends the umbrella of a street vendor crossing the road during a heavy downpour in the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar, India. (AP Photo/Biswaranjan Rout)

In this July 30, 2015, photo, a fireman talks on his walkie talkie as he and his team battle peatland fire on a field in Pemulutan, South Sumatra, Indonesia. Government negligence, rampant development and illegal land clearing, often combined, spark wildfires in Indonesia that annually ravage thousands of acres of forest and could cover parts of neighboring Malaysia and Singapore in a thick noxious haze. (AP Photo)

In this Aug. 8, 2015 photo, a street corner is filled with a mangled rooftop brought down by strong winds from Typhoon Soudelor in Taipei, Taiwan. Soudelor brought heavy rains and strong winds to the island Saturday with winds speeds over 170 km per hour (100 mph) and gusts over 200 km per hour (120 mph) according to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)

Rescuers search for victims at the site where an Indonesian air force transport plane crashed in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Wednesday, July 1, 2015. The C-130 Hercules plane crashed into a residential neighborhood in the country's third-largest city on June 30. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Thursday, June 25, 2015, photo, a man watches as Mount Sinabung releases volcanic material into the air in Tiga Serangkai, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The volcano has spewed hot lava almost daily since its alert status was raised early this month to the highest level. Thousands of villagers whose homes are in the danger zone have been evacuated to safer areas. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015 photo, firefighters in protective gear watch as smoke continues to billow out after an explosion at a warehouse in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality. Huge explosions in the warehouse district sent up massive fireballs that turned the night sky into day in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, officials and witnesses said Thursday. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Smoke billows from the site of an explosion that reduced a parking lot filled with new cars to charred remains at a warehouse in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015. Huge explosions in the warehouse district sent up massive fireballs that turned the night sky into day in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, officials and witnesses said Thursday. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

In this photo taken Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, a man walks through the site of an explosion at a warehouse in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality. Rescuers have pulled a survivor from an industrial zone about 32 hours after it was devastated by huge blasts in China???s Tianjin port. Meanwhile, authorities are moving gingerly forward in dealing with a fire still smoldering amid potentially dangerous chemicals. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

In this Friday, May 15, 2015, photo, a newly arrived ethnic Rohingya youth, who said he was injured in the eye during a brawl on the boat, sits inside a temporary shelter at Kuala Langsa Port in Langsa, Aceh province, Indonesia. More than 2,000 desperate Rohingya refugees have landed on the shores of Indonesia's Aceh province. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Wednesday, May 20, 2015, photo, migrants wait to be be rescued by Acehnese fishermen on their boat on the sea off East Aceh, Indonesia. Many of the thousands of migrants abandoned at sea in Southeast Asia this month are Rohingya Muslims who fled their home country of Myanmar. The Rohingya are a Muslim minority in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, also known as Burma. Numbering around 1.3 million, they are concentrated in western Rakhine state, which neighbors Bangladesh. (AP Photo/S. Yulinnas)

In this Wednesday, July 1, 2015, photo, family members of one of the victims of a military plane that crashed on Tuesday comfort each other at a hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The C-130 Hercules crashed shortly after takeoff in the country's third largest city on June 30. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

In this Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015 photo, Wang Baoxia talks to journalists about her missing brother Wang Quan who was at the scene of an explosion in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality. Angry family members of firefighters missing in the explosions that rocked the Chinese port city of Tianjin stormed a government news conference on Saturday, demanding information on their loved ones. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A mother, who lost her home in a huge fire on New Year's day, cuddles her baby as she lines up for a loaf of bread at an evacuation center near the site where hundreds of homes were destroyed along a creek Friday, Jan. 2, 2015 at suburban Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines. The fire, believed to have been ignited by firecrackers, razed hundreds of homes Thursday in one of more than a dozen fires reported across the country as Filipinos welcomed the New Year. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

In this Aug. 29, 2015, photo, Hindu devotees bath a sadhu, or Hindu holy man, center, in the Godavari River during Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher Festival in Nashik, India. Hindus believe taking a dip in the waters of a holy river during the festival will cleanse them of their sins. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)

In this Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015 photo, opposition lawmakers surge toward the chairman's seat to protest as ruling party colleagues rush in to try to protect him during a committee voting of security bills at the upper house of the parliament in Tokyo. Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party pushed contentious security bills through a legislative committee, catching the opposition by surprise and causing chaos in the chamber. If the vote stands, the legislation will go to the upper house of parliament for final approval. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Junko Ishido, mother of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto who was taken hostage by the Islamic State group, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo, Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. Ishido said she was astonished and angered to learn from her daughter-in-law that Goto had left less than two weeks after his child was born, in October, to go to Syria to try to rescue the other hostage, 42-year-old Haruna Yukawa. "My son is not an enemy of the Islamic State," she said in a tearful appearance in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

An Indian homeless man sleeps covered in a blanket early morning in the old quarters of Delhi, India, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

In this Aug. 7, 2015 photo, a relative of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that went missing on March 8, 2014, is carried away by policemen as she and other family members kneel down and cry in front of the media during a protest near the Malaysian embassy in Beijing. Malaysia was intensely criticized early in the Flight 370 mystery for failing to quickly to disclose that its military radar had picked up an unidentified aircraft the night the Boeing 777 disappeared. Now its reticence has given way to what looks like haste compared to other countries involved, at least, and that has left relatives of the missing as exasperated as ever. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

In this Thursday, June 4, 2015, photo, people attend a candlelight vigil at Victoria Park in Hong Kong. Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers joined the candlelight vigil Thursday night marking the 1989 student-led Tiananmen Square protests. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

In this Friday, Nov. 20, 2015 photo, an elderly man tosses fallen gingko leaves into the air in a park in Beijing. China's capital has been hit with unusually cool and wet weather in recent weeks. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A woman touches the portrait of the late Lee Kuan Yew as others light candles as a tribute to him, Friday, March 27, 2015, in Singapore. Lee, 91, died Monday at Singapore General Hospital after more than a month of battling severe pneumonia. The government declared a week of mourning for the leader who is credited with transforming the resource-poor island into a wealthy finance and trade hub with low crime and corruption in a region saddled with graft, instability and poverty. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

In this Sunday, March 29, 2015, photo, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pays his respects during a state funeral of the late Lee Kuan Yew, held at the University Cultural Center, in Singapore. During a week of national mourning that began Monday after Lee's death at age 91, some 450,000 people queued for hours for a glimpse of Lee's coffin at Parliament House. A million people visited tribute sites at community centers across the island and leaders and dignitaries from more than two dozen countries attended the state funeral. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

Nepalese students and volunteers clear the rubble at Kathmandu Durbar Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, April 29, 2015. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Nepal???s capital and the densely populated Kathmandu valley on Saturday devastating the region and leaving tens of thousands shell-shocked and sleeping in streets. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A man sits with a child on his lap as victims of Saturdayís earthquake, wait for ambulances after being evacuated at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, April 27, 2015. The death toll from Nepal's earthquake is expected to rise depended largely on the condition of vulnerable mountain villages that rescue workers were still struggling to reach two days after the disaster. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Sunday, April 26, 2015, photo, rescue workers remove debris as they search for victims of an earthquake in Bhaktapur near Kathmandu, Nepal. A strong magnitude earthquake shook Nepal's capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley before noon Saturday, causing extensive damage with toppled walls and collapsed buildings, officials said. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

In this Tuesday, April 28, 2015, photo, two elderly women sit in the evening sun with blankets in the destroyed village of Paslang near the epicenter of Saturday's massive earthquake in the Gorkha District of Nepal. The death toll from the quake, Nepal's worst in more than 80 years, soared past 7,000 police said. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)

In this Aug. 17, 2015 photo, police investigate the scene at the Erawan Shrine after an explosion in Bangkok. Police in Thailand said Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, they have gathered enough evidence to prosecute two arrested men whom they accuse of carrying out August's deadly Bangkok bombing.(AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Police officers escort a key suspect in last month's Bangkok bombing, yellow shirt, identified by Thai police as Yusufu Mierili, traveling on a Chinese passport, but his nationality remains unconfirmed, outside Hua Lamphong railway station during a reenactment for the Aug. 17 bombing at Bangkok's popular Erawan Shrine that left 20 people dead and more than 120 injured, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

In this Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015 photo, a villager walks on a dried up dam after collecting some water in Rongkop, central Java, Indonesia. Several areas on the densely populated island of Java have been hit by drought during this dry season, forcing villagers to walk long distances to find clean water. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

In this March 6, 2015, photo, a road worker picks up trash along the median of a highway on a smoggy day in Beijing. Chen Jining, China's minister of Environmental Protection, held a press conference on Saturday to talk about the country's efforts to fight pollution. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, left, shake hands at the Shangri-la Hotel on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, in Singapore. The two leaders shook hands at the start of a historic meeting, marking the first top level contact between the formerly bitter Cold War foes since they split amid civil war 66 years ago. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

In this Thursday, May 14, 2015, photo, newly recruited members of the Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) stand during their commencement parade at a base camp on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. The new soldiers will join the Indian security men fighting separatist Islamic guerrillas in Kashmir and Maoist rebels in different parts of India. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Leader of Myanmar's National League for Democracy party, Aung San Suu Kyi visits a polling station on the outskirts Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015. Myanmar voted Sunday in historic elections that will test whether popular mandate will help loosen the military's longstanding hold on power even if opposition leader Suu Kyi's party secures a widely-expected victory. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

In this Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, photo, a supporter of Myanmar's National League for Democracy party braves rain outside the NLD headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party was confident Monday that it was headed for a landslide victory in Myanmar's historic elections, as the democracy icon urged supporters not to provoke losing rivals who mostly represent the former junta that ruled this Southeast Asian nation for a half-century. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

In this Oct. 5, 2015 photo, a Kashmiri Muslim woman wails near the body of a suspected rebel, during his funeral at Barhama, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, Oct. 5, 2015. At least four Indian army soldiers and three suspected rebels were killed in three separated gun battles in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said on Monday. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

In this Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, photo, a man looks at South Korean national flags hanging on a tree to celebrate the upcoming March First Independence Movement Day, the anniversary of the 1919 uprising against Japanese colonial rule during a street campaign in Seoul, South Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

In this July 31, 2015 photo, members of the delegation from Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics candidate city react after the city was elected to host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games at IOC meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

In this Aug. 7, 2015 photo, an Indian fisherman throws a fishing net into the Gomti River in Lucknow, India. It is considered auspicious to take a dip in the waters of the River Gomti so as to rid away the sins, as per the Hindu mythology. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

In this Oct. 10, 2015 photo, North Korean veterans gather before the start of a parade in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared Saturday that his country was ready to stand up to any threat posed by the United States as he spoke at a lavish military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the North's ruling party and trumpet his third-generation leadership. (AP Photo/Maye-E Wong)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, photo, a Hindu devotee performs a holy dip in the Godavari River during Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher Festival, in Nasik, India. Millions of Hindus are expected to immerse themselves in the Godavari River as a way to cleanse themselves of sin and come closer to God at this year's Kumbh Mela festival. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

In this Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015 photo, a man who sells chewable tobacco covers his items as a municipal worker fumigates to prevent mosquitoes from breeding in Lucknow, India. Dengue outbreaks are reported every year after the monsoon season that runs from June to September. Many people have died from the mosquito-borne disease in the country???s capital New Delhi this year. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

People are doused by waves crashing on the Arabian Sea shore marking the arrival of monsoon season in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2015. The annual rains which usually hit India from June to September are crucial for farmers whose crops feed hundreds of millions of people. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

Tens of thousands of people attend a candlelight vigil at Victoria Park in Hong Kong on Thursday, June 4, 2015 to commemorate the 1989 student-led protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

In this Aug. 19, 2015 photo, portraits of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il glow on the facade of a building among others at dawn in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

In this Aug. 26, 2015, photo, a Chinese investor monitors stock prices at a brokerage in Beijing. Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday and Shanghai's index fell despite Beijing's decision to cut a key interest rate to help stabilize gyrating financial markets and counter short liquidity. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

In this Monday, Jan. 5, 2015 photo, a Nepalese woman devotee sits near a bon fire to warm herself before she takes a holy dip in Salinadi River during the first day of month long Swasthani Bratakatha festival in Sankhu, on the outskirts of Katmandu. During this month-long festival, devotees recite Holy Scriptures dedicated to Hindu goddess Swasthani and Lord Shiva. Unmarried women pray to get a good husband while those married pray for the longevity of their husbands by observing a month-long fast. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

In this Saturday, March 21, 2015, photo, a Malaysian Muslim woman poses for a photo during the religious spring festival Holi in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, is celebrated by people throwing colored powder and water at each other. (AP Photo/Joshua Paul)

Sports

In this Thursday, June 4, 2015, photo, Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand serves against her compatriot Busanan Ongbumrungpan during their women's singles second round match at the Indonesia Open badminton tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

In this Aug. 27, 2015, photo, Sweden's Erica Jarder competes in the women's long jump qualification at the World Athletics Championships at the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Text from the AP news story, AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from the Asia-Pacific for 2015, by Karly Domb Sadof.

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