New Year's Eve violence and attacks on emergency services in Berlin have prompted calls for a national ban on fireworks, with viral online videos accusing "migrant gangs" of being behind the riots that left scores injured and arrested. In this edition of Truth or Fake with Vedika Bahl, we tell you where the videos really come from.

Internet sleuths are setting social media alight with claims that the Russian President used "paid extras" in his New Years Eve address, after finding previous official photographs alongside a blonde woman with a striking resemblance - and these claims have hit media headlines across the globe. We take a look in this edition of Truth or Fake with Vedika Bahl.

Heavy snowfalls batter north, northeast of Japan

Fireworks countdown from the Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world in Dubai, on Jan 1, 2023.

People in Germany will be allowed to legally purchase fireworks to celebrate New Year's Eve. They had been banned for the past two years to avoid injuries that could overburden hospitals during the COVID pandemic.

People gathered to hear the sounds of London's Big Ben ring in the New Year for the first time since 2017 on Friday evening, despite the a surge in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Big Ben, housed within the Elizabeth Tower that adjoins the Houses of Parliament, has been subject to restoration work for over three years.

Britain's Brexit transition period is over; the country has left the EU's Customs Union and Single Market. Friday's public holiday meant little cross-Channel freight traffic and none of the much-feared border queues.

Scuba divers plunged underwater at Lotte World Aquarium on Sunday dressed in ‘hanbok’ - traditional Korean clothing - to share New Year’s greetings. Visitors took photos in front of the divers who posed as manta rays and large fish swam around them. The event will be held every weekend until the middle of February.

Confetti fluttered on to frontline workers scattered across Times Square after fireworks burst above eerily quiet landmarks from Puerta del Sol to Copacabana beach, as the world ushered in the New Year with muted celebrations and said good riddance to a pandemic-ridden 2020.

Cities in Oceania and Asia welcome the new year, with different apporaches to festivities taken depending on the current status of Covid-19 in a territory. Crowds pack Auckland, Wuhan, Pyongyang and Taipei, while Bangkok has fireworks but no crowd - a precursor for New Year's celebrations to follow in other Covid-hit parts of the world.

French DJ David Guetta has "a message of hope" and remains upbeat as he talks about livestreaming a New Year concert, the profits from which will go to Unicef and the French 'Restos du Coeur' charity.

Rio de Janeiro residents react after several Brazilian media report that football star Neymar is organising a huge New Year's Eve party at his luxury beachside mansion near the city amid the coronavirus pandemic, a claim his lawyers have denied.