2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, January 2015
New Radiant's Mohamed Rasheed was sent off during the last 15 minutes of the game for the dangerous foul on LionsXII's Wahyudi Wahid and the club not only made Mohamed Rasheed to apologise from Wahydui Wahid and LionsXII but also from New Radiant's players and the supporters also. managed to end the tournament with a single point after a goalless draw against Maziya in the final group stage match of the tournament on 26 January 2015. Mohamed Shifan was shown a direct red card for using foul language against the assistant referee in this match.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, February 2015
On 4 February 2015, New Radiant terminated captain Mohamed Umair's contract on mutual consent and signed to the rival side Maziya on a 1-year contract. Umair was under a heavy criticism from the club's fans because he was not being able to play at his peak throughout the pre-season friendly tournament POMIS Cup, and a club official also confirmed to the media that the club and the player believes that it will be the best decision for both club and for the player.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, February 2015
New Radiant also terminated the contract of three foreign players; Pedro Marenco, Everton Souza Santos and Rafael Betim Marti on 5 February 2015 as they could not impress the team officials during the 2015 POMIS Cup. Later that day, Everton Souza Santos and Rafael Betim Marti signed to the T.C. Sports.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, February 2015
On 6 February 2015, New Radiant traveled to K. Thulusdhoo to play a friendly match, where a very youthful New Radiant team they defeated the Thulusdhoo team by 13–0. Hamza Mohamed scored 5 goals, Ahmed Suhail, Mohamed Samir and Isham Ibrahim scored twice while Shafiu Ahmed and Akram Abdul Ghanee scored 1 goal each.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, February 2015
On 10 February 2015, New Radiant announced the signing of David Moli from Boreham Wood and Viliam Macko from Ang Thong. Later that day, club also announced the signing of final two foreign slots; Patrick Sunday Okoro from the Al-Ahli Club of Atbara and Alisher Akhmedov from FC Gefest.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, February 2015
On 14 February 2015, New Radiant defeated Dhiffushi in a friendly game 7–1, with David Moli's hat-trick, Viliam Macko's brace, Ahmed Suhail and Mohamed Shifan's goals on the score sheet. They were defeated 2–1 by the newly promoted T.C. Sports Club in a friendly match played on 19 February 2015, Okoro scoring their only goal.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, February 2015
Following the departure of newly appointed captain Mohamed Umair, New Radiant appointed their new signing Ashad Ali as the captain for the 2015 season, on 20 February 2015. Mohamed Shifan was declared as their third-captain on the same day, while Ali Fasir remains as the vice-captain.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, February 2015
On 25 February 2015, New Radiant played their first game of the season, in the 2015 AFC Cup against Indonesian side Persib Bandung and they lost 4–1 at the Jalak Harupat Soreang Stadium, where captain Ashad Ali scored their only goal of the match.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, March 2015
On 2 March 2015, club terminated the contract of coach Mika Lönnström and also the contract of assistant coach Ismail Anil on the following day. New Radiant appointed their defender Sobah Mohamed as the caretaker until the arrival of a new head-coach.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, March 2015
On the match day, New Radiant appointed Amir Alagic from Bosnia and Herzegovina as their new head coach before the match but played theirsecond AFC Cup match under the instruction of Sobah Mohamed and won 2–1 at home, against Lao Toyota FC of Laos, Okoro coming from behind to score the equalizer and captain Ashad converting it from the spot to score the winner, in just two minutes remaining for the full-time.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, March 2015
On 12 March 2015, New Radiant announced their new signing Mohamed Shaffaz. New Radiant were defeated in the AFC Cup third game against Ayeyawady United of Myanmar 3–0 at home, in the first game under coach Amir Alagic.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, April 2015
On 5 April 2015, Club terminated the contract with the Nigerian player Okoro.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, April 2015
New Radiant played the Maldivian football season opening match against Maziya on 6 April 2015, where they lost 2–0 at the 2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield. On 12 April 2015, coach Alagic resigned from the position of team head-coach due to some family issues, and Sobah again took the responsibility as a player-assistant coach. Club ended their AFC Cup away match as a goalless draw; the second match under Sobah, on 15 April 2015.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, April 2015
On 20 April 2015, New Radiant played their first Dhivehi Premier League match, winning crucially against Victory; 3–1. Viliam took the lead in the first half with the help of Ibrahim Fazeel but the score got leveled in the last 15 minutes. When Rilwan Waheed was sent off for attacking a player out of play, club sealed the victory from a Fazeel's penalty in the first minute of the injury time and another was scored in the last second by Ali Fasir, playing with 10 men.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Month by month review, April 2015
On 23 April 2015, FAM announced in a press release, that based on the 37th clause on disciplinary code, they have decided to suspend Mohamed Rasheed for seven games of 2015 Dhivehi Premier League with a fine of MVR 15,000, for his conduct during the LionsXII match in the People's Cup on 24 January 2015, based on the match commissioners report and match referee's report.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, First team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Statistics, Goalscorers
Last updated: 20 April 2015. The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.


2015 New Radiant S.C. season, Statistics, Clean sheets
Last updated: 15 April 2015. The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal.


2015 New South Wales Cup
The 2015 New South Wales Cup season, was the second tier rugby league competition held in New South Wales, after the National Rugby League. The 2015 season kicked off on 7 March 2015 and was won by the Newcastle Knights.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Clubs
In 2015, 12 clubs are fielding teams in the New South Wales Cup.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Clubs
It was announced in 2014 that the longstanding relationship between the Sydney Roosters and the Newtown Jets has come to an end, with the NRL Club deciding to now link with the Wyong Roos in the NSW Cup as their feeder club. The Cronulla Sharks have decided to pull their own team from the competition opting into taking the Newtown Jets on as their feeder club, forming a new relationship with a 3-year agreement between the clubs.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Clubs
* : The season the team joined is in the NSW Cup, not any other competition before this.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Finals series
For the fourth year in a row, the NSWRL will use the finals system previously implemented by the ARL competition from the 1990s (also used by the Australian Football League) to decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams.


2015 New South Wales Cup, 2015 NRL State Championship match
From 2014 New South Wales Cup Premiers play against the Queensland Cup Premiers with the winner to be crowned the NRL State Champions.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Broadcast Information, Television, Fox Sports (Australia)
Fox Sports 1 provide live coverage of at least one match each week throughout the regular season along with selected finals.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Broadcast Information, Television, Sky Sport (New Zealand)
Sky Sports NZ cover a number of New Zealand Warriors home matches. Some of these matches will be simulcast in Australia on Fox Sports 1 at their discretion.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Broadcast Information, Radio, Hawkesbury Radio
Hawkesbury Radio call a number of Panthers VB NSW Cup games  and some of Windsor Wolves games in the Ron Massey Cup where possible.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Broadcast Information, Radio, 2GLF
2GLF provide coverage of a host of VB NSW Cup games with a specific charter of servicing teams such as the Tigers, Mounties, Bulldogs and Magpies.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Broadcast Information, Radio, Alive 90.5
ALIVE fm call selected Wentworthville Magpies home fixtures from Ringrose Park.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Broadcast Information, Radio, Triple H 100.1FM
Triple H call a few VB NSW Cup games from time to time where possible.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Broadcast Information, Radio, ABC Grandstand
Provide Full Time scores to their listeners as they become available throughout the weekend.


2015 New South Wales Cup, Sydney Shield, Ladder
Two points deducted from Windsor for playing an unregistered player.


2015 New South Wales Handball League
The 2015 Club Season started in May 2015 and went through until August 2015. Competitions are held for open women’s and open men’s teams. There is also a schools competition. The winner of the men's competition qualifies for the National Club championship.


2015 New South Wales Handball League, Results, Schools competition
The XX Schools’ Championships were held at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Halls on April 29 (girls) and April 30 (boys), 2015. Many schools participated from across Sydney and Wollongong and all teams improved over the course of each day, with some great handball displays from the seasoned competitors through to the teams who had never played until the tournament.


2015 New South Wales Swifts season
The 2015 New South Wales Swifts season saw New South Wales Swifts compete in the 2015 ANZ Championship. Swifts finished the regular season in second place in the Australian Conference. In the play-offs, they defeated West Coast Fever and Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic but twice lost narrowly to Queensland Firebirds in both the Australian Conference final and the Grand Final. It was Swifts' first appearance in the title decider since their successful 2008 campaign.


2015 New South Wales Swifts season, Players, 2015 roster
Manager: Toni KidwellPhysiotherapist: Paula PeraltaDaniel VukovicStrength and conditioning: Jason HowellPerformance Analyst:Bjorn Maddern Doctor:Dr Grace Bryant OAMSport Psychologist:Sam Rand Dietician:Karen Haddad


2015 New South Wales Swifts season, Players, Gold medallists
Julie Corletto, Kimberlee Green, Paige Hadley, Sharni Layton and  Caitlin Thwaites were all members of the Australia team that won the gold medal at the 2015 Netball World Cup. The squad also included former Swifts' players, Erin Bell and Rebecca Bulley.


2015 New South Wales Swifts season, Summer Shootout
Between 6 and 8 February, Netball New South Wales hosted the Summer Shootout at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre. All ten ANZ Championship teams participated in the three-day tournament. A total of 25 games, consisting of both full length and shortened games consisting of two 15-minute periods, were played over the weekend. Swifts finished the weekend with four wins and one defeat.


2015 New South Wales Waratahs season
The 2015 New South Wales Waratahs season was the club's 19th season since the inception of Super Rugby in 1996.


2015 New South Wales Waratahs season, Players, Squad
(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped.


2015 New South Wales Waratahs season, Standings
The top six teams will qualify to the finals, with their final positions in the overall log determining their seedings in the finals. The third-placed team (i.e. the conference winners with the worst overall record) will host the sixth-placed team in the qualifiers, while the fourth-placed team will host the fifth-placed team.


2015 New South Wales Waratahs season, Standings
The top two teams (i.e. the two conference winners with the best overall record) will qualify directly to the semi-finals, where they will have home advantage against the two qualifier winners, with the top team hosting the qualifier winner with the lower seeding and the second-placed team hosting the qualifier winner with the higher seeding. The two semi-final winners will progress to the final, with the team with the higher seeding having home advantage.


2015 New South Wales Waratahs season, Standings
Points breakdown:* 4 points for a win* 2 points for a draw* 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less* 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match


2015 New South Wales Waratahs season, Standings
Classification:Teams standings are calculated as follows:* Conference Leaders (i.e. conference leaders will always be ranked in the top three)* Log points* Number of games won* Overall points difference* Number of tries scored* Overall try difference


2015 New South Wales Waratahs season, Detailed season summary, Finals
As the Waratahs came second on the overall standings, they directly qualified for the semi-finals bypassing the first week of qualifying finals.


2015 New South Wales state election
A general election for the 56th Parliament of New South Wales (NSW) was held on Saturday 28 March 2015. Members were elected to all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly using optional preferential voting. Members were also elected to 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council using optional preferential proportional representation voting. The election was conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission.


2015 New South Wales state election
The one-term incumbent Liberal/National Coalition Government led by Premier Mike Baird and Deputy Premier Troy Grant was re-elected to a second four-year term with a slightly reduced majority in the Legislative Assembly, where government is formed. The main Opposition Labor Party under Luke Foley won an increased share of the vote in most districts, though the party lost ground in some key races, including Foley's seat of Auburn. It managed to take 14 seats off the Coalition, mostly in areas of Labor "heartland" lost to the Liberals during the landslide in 2011. Most notably, Labor regained seats in west Sydney, the Central Coast and the lower Hunter.


2015 New South Wales state election
Baird had campaigned on a controversial plan to lease 49 per cent of the state-owned electricity distribution network (known as the "poles and wires") in order to deliver an ambitious transport and social infrastructure program. Labor, supported by the state's union movement, ran on an anti-privatisation platform, while also promising a moratorium on coal-seam gas (CSG) extraction, and encouraging voters to register a protest vote against the Liberal-led Coalition federal government. Although the poles-and-wires proposal was poorly received in opinion polls, Baird himself was widely liked by the electorate.


2015 New South Wales state election
Candidate nominations closed on 12 March and early voting began on the 16th.


2015 New South Wales state election, Results, Lower house
New South Wales state election, 28 March 2015Legislative Assembly << 2011–2019 >>


2015 New South Wales state election, Results, Seats changing hands
Eleven seats won by the Liberals and Nationals in 2011 went to other parties in 2015. Incumbent Liberal MPs were defeated by Labor challengers in Blue Mountains, Campbelltown, Granville, Rockdale and Strathfield. Incumbents Don Page (a National) and Robyn Parker (a Liberal) retired, with the Greens taking Page's seat of Ballina and Labor taking Parker's seat of Maitland. Londonderry, Port Stephens and Wyong, whose Liberal incumbents had been sitting as independents since 2013 and retired in 2015, returned to Labor. Former Liberal Edwards, in Swansea, re-contested the seat as an independent but lost to Labor challenger Yasmin Catley.


2015 New South Wales state election, Results, Seats changing hands
Miranda Labor MP Collier had retired at the 2011 election, with the Liberals' Annesley picking up the seat on a swing of nearly 22 points. When Annesley quit politics in 2013, Collier returned to contest the by-election, securing a 27-point swing – the largest-ever at a NSW by-election. Collier decided not to re-contest the seat in 2015, and the Liberals' Eleni Petinos took it with 63 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote.


2015 New South Wales state election, Results, Seats changing hands
Northern Tablelands, won by an independent in 2011 and lost to the Nationals in 2013, was retained by the Nationals. Charlestown and Newcastle, won by the Liberals in 2011 and lost to Labor at by-elections in 2014, were retained by Labor.


2015 New South Wales state election, Results, Seats changing hands
Following the 2013 redistribution (see below) the ABC recalculated the 2011 election results based on the new boundaries. These calculations deemed Macquarie Fields, a Labor marginal, notionally Liberal. The new seat of Prospect, which replaced Liberal-held Smithfield, was also considered notionally Liberal, albeit by a reduced margin. In Macquarie Fields, incumbent Labor MP Andrew McDonald did not re-contest and Labor candidate Anoulack Chanthivong defeated Liberal Pat Farmer. In Prospect, the sitting Smithfield MP, Andrew Rohan, was defeated by Labor candidate Hugh McDermott.


2015 New South Wales state election, Background
Labor governed NSW from 1995 until 2011. Over the course of its last two terms, a succession of leadership changes, criminal convictions, corruption scandals and cancelled infrastructure projects began to eat away at Labor's support base. In a harbinger of things to come, the previously safe Labor seats of Ryde and Penrith were both resoundingly lost to the Liberals, in both cases turning into safe Liberal seats in one stroke.


2015 New South Wales state election, Background
In March 2011, the Liberals and Nationals, led by the Liberals' Barry O'Farrell, won one of the most comprehensive state-level victories since Federation, taking 69 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The new Government embarked on a modest reform program, franchising the operation of Sydney Ferries, leasing three port corporations, establishing 'one-stop shop' government service centres, abolishing car registration stickers, decentralising government offices, and reducing back-office bureaucracy by merging or abolishing a number of state agencies. At the same time, the Government embarked on a major infrastructure program, including the North West Rail Link, CBD and South East Light Rail, Newcastle Light Rail, Northern Sydney Freight Corridor, WestConnex, NorthConnex, upgrades to the Pacific and Princes highways, and preparations for a new Western Sydney Airport.


2015 New South Wales state election, Background
In 2013, the Nationals won a by-election in Northern Tablelands after independent MP Richard Torbay resigned over corruption allegations.


2015 New South Wales state election, Background, The Government party room shrinks
The win in Northern Tablelands represented the high point for the Government party room. At the next by-election, caused when Sports Minister and member for Miranda Graham Annesley resigned to take a job in Queensland, the Liberals suffered the largest two-party-preferred swing in state history—26 points—and former MP Barry Collier reclaimed the seat for Labor.


2015 New South Wales state election, Background, The Government party room shrinks
Things got worse for the Government when news broke of Operation Spicer, an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation into allegedly illegal campaign donations to a number of Liberal MPs from the Hunter and Central Coast. Throughout 2014, a succession of implicated MPs quit the parliamentary Liberal party to sit as independents: Craig Baumann (Port Stephens), Andrew Cornwell (Charlestown), Garry Edwards (Swansea), Marie Ficarra (Legislative Council), Mike Gallacher (Legislative Council), Chris Hartcher (Terrigal), Tim Owen (Newcastle), Chris Spence (The Entrance) and Darren Webber (Wyong).


2015 New South Wales state election, Background, The Government party room shrinks
Bart Bassett, MP for the Western Sydney seat of Londonderry, was also implicated and quit the parliamentary party. Cornwell and Owen later resigned from parliament following damning evidence presented at the Spicer public hearing, triggering by-elections in Charlestown and Newcastle. In what the Liberals described as an "act of atonement" for Owen and Cornwell's actions, the party did not contest either by-election, and Labor easily reclaimed both seats. All but Edwards indicated their intention not to stand for re-election in 2015 (Gallacher's Legislative Council term does not expire until 2019); Edwards would be heavily defeated by Labor's Catley.


2015 New South Wales state election, Background, Baird replaces O'Farrell
However, Spicer's biggest scalp was that of Premier O'Farrell, who found he'd inadvertently misled the Commission over a bottle of wine he'd received as a gift from lobbyist Nick Di Girolamo. O'Farrell called a press conference and announced his resignation on 17 April 2014. The frontrunners to replace him were Treasurer Mike Baird and Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian, though in the event Baird stood unopposed, with Berejiklian elected unopposed as his deputy.


2015 New South Wales state election, Background, Baird replaces O'Farrell
A Cabinet reshuffle followed, with ministers Robyn Parker, Don Page, Greg Smith and George Souris dumped to make way for Troy Grant, Jai Rowell, Rob Stokes and Paul Toole. The Nationals followed suit six months later, with leader and Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner stepping down due to undisclosed family issues on 15 October. Stoner was quickly removed from Cabinet, replaced by John Barilaro; Grant succeeded him as Nationals leader and Deputy Premier.


2015 New South Wales state election, Background, Baird replaces O'Farrell
Soon after taking office, Baird and Grant put a massive infrastructure program, funded by partial privatisation of the state's electricity networks, at the heart of the Government's re-election campaign.


2015 New South Wales state election, Background, Lead-up to the election
Labor soon faced leadership problems of its own. In the aftermath of a hostage drama at a café in central Sydney, it emerged that Opposition Leader John Robertson had, in his capacity as member for Blacktown, made a representation on behalf of the gunman, Man Haron Monis, three years earlier. Facing threats of being voted out, Robertson stepped down on 23 December. Though frontbenchers Michael Daley and Steve Whan considered running, both men withdrew in favour of the party's Planning spokesman and leader in the Legislative Council, Luke Foley.


2015 New South Wales state election, Background, Lead-up to the election
Working in the Government's favour was a highly popular leader and a fully funded plan to build additional roads and rail lines in Sydney, easing congestion. However, the Government now faced significant headwinds on its way to the March election. The Opposition had a new leader relatively untainted by the corruption that had marred the previous Labor government. The federal Liberal/National government in Canberra was unpopular following a poorly received austerity budget. Their policy platform was a form of privatisation, something with limited electoral appeal, that sparked a well-resourced union scare campaign.


2015 New South Wales state election, Background, Lead-up to the election
Lingering anger over revelations from Operation Spicer remained in many seats. In regional areas, the Nationals had long faced a scare campaign on coal-seam gas. Earlier, first-term conservative premiers had been toppled in Victoria, then Queensland. Despite the Government's continuing lead in opinion polls, the ABC's Antony Green tipped a much closer contest than the numbers suggested, "with the government at risk of losing its majority."


2015 New South Wales state election, Redistribution
The 2007 and 2011 elections were conducted using boundaries set in 2004. The state constitution requires the Electoral Commission to review electoral district boundaries after every two elections, to ensure that the number of voters in each district is within 10 per cent of the "quota" – the number of voters divided by the number of Legislative Assembly seats. In 2012, the Commission began work on determining new boundaries for the 2015 election, a process commonly known as "redistribution". The quota was 52,770, meaning that each district needed to have between 47,000 and 58,000 enrolled electors.


2015 New South Wales state election, Redistribution
The Nationals-held district of Murrumbidgee was abolished, and the Nationals-held districts of Burrinjuck and Murray-Darling renamed Cootamundra and Murray respectively. Burrinjuck MP Katrina Hodgkinson initially announced her intention to run for Goulburn, taking on her cabinet colleague, Liberal Pru Goward, on the grounds that much of the area she now represented would be in the Goulburn district come 2015. O'Farrell reportedly persuaded Hodgkinson to back down, to avoid splitting the conservative vote and potentially losing Goulburn to Labor. Hodgkinson went on to contest Cootamundra, while Murrumbidgee MP Adrian Piccoli contested Murray and Murray-Darling MP John Williams joined the party's upper house ticket.


2015 New South Wales state election, Redistribution
In Sydney, replaced Liberal-held Menai was renamed Holsworthy, Liberal-held Smithfield was renamed Prospect, Labor-held Toongabbie was renamed Seven Hills, and Labor-held Marrickville was renamed Summer Hill. A new inner-city district, Newtown, was also created. Based on 2011 voting patterns, the ABC calculated that Seven Hills and Macquarie Fields were notionally Liberal seats, while Newtown was notionally Greens-held.


2015 New South Wales state election, Redistribution
The new boundaries were gazetted on 18 September 2013, with effect from the 2015 election. The ABC calculated that in 2011 the new boundaries would have increased Liberal representation from 51 to 53, reduced Nationals representation from 18 to 17, increased Greens representation from one to two, and reduced Labor representation from 20 to 18.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates
For a full list of candidates, see Candidates of the 2015 New South Wales state election


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Mike Baird
Mike Baird MP (born 1 April 1968) was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Western Sydney, and the Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party from April 2014 until January 2017. He represented the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Manly for the Liberal Party of Australia from 2007 until 2017. Before becoming Premier, he was the Treasurer of New South Wales in the O'Farrell government between 2011 and 2014. Baird has completed a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) at the University of Sydney and previously worked as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank, NAB and HSBC. Baird is married to Kerryn and they have three children.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Luke Foley
Luke Foley took over as Labor leader from Robertson following the latter's resignation in December 2014. Foley had initially faced two challengers for the job – Michael Daley and Steve Whan – though both men ultimately withdrew from the race. As a member of the Legislative Council, Foley was required by convention to seek a seat in the Legislative Assembly, and so nominated for the inner western Sydney seat of Auburn. Both the incumbent MP, Barbara Perry, and her preselection challenger, Hicham Zraika, withdrew, allowing Foley to take the nomination unopposed.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Luke Foley
During the campaign, Foley was unable to match his opponent's appeal, consistently recording net satisfaction ratings under 10 and "better premier" ratings around half that of Baird's (see below).


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Luke Foley
Hailing from the party's Socialist Left faction, Foley is a former National Union of Students president, Australian Services Union state secretary, Labor assistant state secretary and parliamentary staffer. In the Legislative Council, Foley served as both Opposition Leader in that House and the party's shadow minister for Planning. Foley is married to Edel McKenna and they have three children.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Legislative Assembly
Before the election, the governing Liberal and National parties held 42 and 19 seats, respectively. The main opposition Labor party held 23. The crossbench was composed of nine MPs: the Greens' Jamie Parker; independents Alex Greenwich and Greg Piper; and six MPs elected as Liberals in 2011 but who resigned from the parliamentary party following ICAC's Operation Spicer.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Legislative Assembly
In 2015, the Liberals contested 74 seats and the Nationals 19. (The 2013 redistribution eliminated one Nationals seat in south-western NSW. The only Labor-held seat in which the Nationals stood a candidate was Cessnock.) Labor contested all 93 seats. Of the crossbenchers, only Parker, Greenwich and Piper recontested, along with former Liberal Garry Edwards.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Legislative Council
All six parties represented before the election in the Legislative Council nominated candidates.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Legislative Council
As in previous elections, the governing Liberal and National parties fielded a joint ticket. Between them, the parties won eight Council seats in 2007, among them the seats of ministers John Ajaka and Matthew Mason-Cox. Eleven Liberal and Nationals members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) were elected in 2011 and did not face election in 2015. The 2015 ticket was headed by Ajaka for the Liberals and, facing his first electoral test, the former Nationals State Director Ben Franklin. The Liberals and Nationals directed their Legislative Council preferences, indeed "swap preferences", to the Christian Democrats.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Legislative Council
The Labor ticket was branded as "Labor / Country Labor". Labor won nine Council seats in 2007, among them the seat occupied by Foley. (Foley was appointed to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation in 2010 of disgraced former minister Ian Macdonald.) Five Labor MLCs were elected in 2011 and did not face election in 2015. The 2015 Labor ticket was headed by former union official Sophie Cotsis. Labor directed its Legislative Council preferences to the Greens.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Legislative Council
The Greens won two seats in 2007 – by Lee Rhiannon (now a federal NSW senator) and John Kaye. Rhiannon was later replaced by Cate Faehrmann, who in turn was replaced by Mehreen Faruqi. Kaye and Faruqi recontested in 2015. Three Greens MLCs were elected in 2011 and did not face election in 2015. The Greens directed their Legislative Council preferences to what they considered as 'progressive' micro parties, followed by Labor.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Legislative Council
The Christian Democratic Party (CDP) had two seats, of which one faced election. Party leader Fred Nile headed the 2015 ticket. The CDP directed their Legislative Council preferences to, indeed "swap preferences with", the Liberals and Nationals.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Legislative Council
The Shooters and Fishers Party (SFP) had two seats, of which one faced election. Incumbent Robert Borsak headed the 2015 ticket.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Legislative Council
Two MLCs elected as Liberals, former Police Minister Mike Gallacher and former Hurstville mayor Marie Ficarra, had sat as independents following Operation Spicer. Ficarra, whose term expired in 2015, did not recontest. Gallacher, who was re-elected in 2011, remained an MLC.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Legislative Council
A further 11 groups registered party names and fielded candidates:


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Legislative Council
Eight groups nominated without a registered party name. Seventeen candidates nominated without groups.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Retiring members
Former Premier O'Farrell (Liberal, Ku-ring-gai) did not re-contest his seat, along with dumped former ministers Greg Smith (Liberal, Epping), Don Page (Nationals, Ballina), Robyn Parker (Liberal, Maitland), George Souris (Nationals, Upper Hunter) and Andrew Stoner (Nationals, Oxley). Long-serving MLCs Charlie Lynn (Liberal) and Jenny Gardiner (Nationals) also announced they would not be running again. Lynn, then aged 70, planned to run for the state presidency of the Returned and Services League.


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Retiring members
All but two of the former Liberal MPs implicated by Operation Spicer announced they would not re-contest: Bassett (Londonderry), Baumann (Port Stephens), Hartcher (Terrigal), Spence (The Entrance), Webber (Wyong) and Ficarra (Legislative Council).


2015 New South Wales state election, Candidates, Retiring members
On the Labor side, Barbara Perry, who had been facing a preselection challenge for her seat of Auburn, withdrew to allow Foley to win Labor's nomination unopposed. Former Premier Nathan Rees (Toongabbie), former deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt (Marrickville) and Father of the House Richard Amery (Mount Druitt) also announced their intention to quit politics, along with Cherie Burton (Kogarah), Barry Collier (Miranda), Amanda Fazio (after losing preselection for her Legislative Council seat), Robert Furolo (Lakemba), and Andrew McDonald (Macquarie Fields).


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign
The Liberal campaign slogans were "Back Baird" and "Keep NSW Working". Labor ran on "A New Approach for NSW".


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Poles and wires
Baird sought a mandate to lease 49% of the government's electricity distributors, known locally as the "poles and wires", for 99 years and invest the proceeds in new road, public transport, water, health and education infrastructure. With opposition to the lease forming the centrepiece of Labor's campaign, the election was widely viewed as a referendum on the proposal.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Poles and wires
The government's plan involved the lease of 100% of high-voltage distributor TransGrid and majority stakes in Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy, which together cover local distribution in metropolitan NSW. Country-based Essential Energy was not part of the proposal. The proceeds, estimated at $20 billion, were to be spent on major projects including an extension of the under-construction North West Rail Link to the city centre and on to Bankstown.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Poles and wires
The plan enjoyed support, from business groups, such as the Energy Users' Association, the Business Council and the Australian Industry Group; and by transport lobby groups Infrastructure Partnerships Australia and the Tourism and Transport Forum. In addition, a number of senior Labor figures came out in support, including former Prime Minister Paul Keating, former NSW Treasurer Michael Costa, and former federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson. Following the election, former Labor Premiers Bob Carr and Morris Iemma and former Labor Treasurer Michael Egan added their voices in support. Full privatisation of poles and wires also had the support of Australia's Productivity Commission.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Poles and wires
The plan was opposed by Labor, the Greens, the Shooters & Fishers and a number of unions. The plan also polled poorly and attracted little support on the ABC's Vote Compass site.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Poles and wires
Labor's campaign in opposition, supported by the union-funded television, outdoor and direct-mail advertising, rested on three arguments:


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Poles and wires
The party's claims on price increases were debunked by separate reports from Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Deloitte Access Economics and the Grattan Institute. Dr Tom Parry, formerly the head of NSW's Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, told The Australian "all the evidence" was that privatised networks "have much better cost controls ... I don't see why there's any basis to suggest that network charges will go up as a result of privatisation."


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Poles and wires
Some of the most savage criticism came from within the Labor party itself. Keating dismissed the campaign as the work of  "some obscurantists". Ferguson went further, saying he was "ashamed of the Party" and accusing Foley and the unions of "deliberately misleading the public, creating unnecessary fear and trying to scare people." Costa, whose own privatisation plan had been rejected by Labor's state conference, slammed "a small, privileged special interest group, the electricity unions" for repeating "lie after desperate lie" on the government's plan. Egan said simply "I would've thought the Labor Party had grown up on that issue."


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Poles and wires
Foley's suggestion that Chinese investment represented a national security risk was dismissed as racist "dog-whistle politics" by treasurer Andrew Constance and Egan. Federal Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane, himself a former Labor staffer, implored Labor and the unions on Twitter not to "licence xenophobia".


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Coal-seam gas
Coal-seam gas (CSG) extraction became a major issue, particularly on the fringes of the metropolitan area and in the Northern Rivers region. When it left office, Labor had awarded CSG licences covering about 60 per cent of the state's land area. The Liberals and Nationals also supported CSG as a means to create regional jobs and prevent an expected increase in domestic natural gas prices.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Coal-seam gas
Responding to what was described as "a climate of community unease" about land access and the possibility of environmental damage, the Government asked the state's independent Chief Scientist, Professor Mary O'Kane, to review the CSG industry in NSW. O'Kane concluded that "the technical challenges and risks posed by the CSG industry can in general be managed", allowing extraction to continue. Nonetheless, the Government had gas firms hand back many of the most contentious outstanding undeveloped licences in Sydney, the Central Coast and the Northern Rivers.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Coal-seam gas
Labor promised to go further, simply banning CSG extraction statewide, an approach which would have led to higher natural gas prices, triggered compensation payments to gas investors and, according to the industry, revealed "a stubborn refusal to face the facts" in the light of the O'Kane report. The Greens, who had always opposed CSG, went on to beat Labor into second place on primary votes in two Nationals-held Northern Rivers seats, Ballina and Lismore.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Newcastle revitalisation
In December 2013, the government had suspended services on the surface-level train line that separates the Newcastle city centre from the Hunter River waterfront. The line had long been considered an impediment to the city's development, and the government's plan was to close the line and build a light rail system in its place. Labor, which had advocated for such a plan in government, now led opposition to it.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Character and experience
Labor attacked Baird for his former career in banking and his friendship with prime minister Tony Abbott, whose electorate of Warringah overlaps Baird's seat of Manly. At the time of the election, Abbott was polling poorly. In an echo of the Liberals' successful 2004 campaign against then Opposition Leader Mark Latham, the Government branded Foley an 'L-plate' leader on the basis of his lack of ministerial and leadership experience.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Incidents
Baird's campaign bus was attacked by graffiti vandals during an overnight stop in Katoomba. Foley later joked on radio: “Fancy leaving your bus out overnight in Katoomba, unguarded. You’re asking for trouble. I’m surprised there are still wheels." Foley's comments drew criticism from both Blue Mountains MP Roza Sage and the local Chamber of Commerce.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Incidents
An error on the Electoral Commission's "iVote" electronic pre-poll voting system reportedly omitted the Animal Justice Party from the "above the line" section of the Legislative Council ballot for 36 hours, during which time 19,000 votes were cast. Animal Justice, a micro-party that received less than two per cent of the vote, is nonetheless considered a contender for the 21st and final Council seat, thanks to a preference deal with the Greens. The party's lead candidate, Mark Pearson, said he was considering legal action if he did not gain a seat.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Incidents
On 26 March, a 20-year-old Liberal campaign volunteer in Cabramatta was allegedly struck by a Labor volunteer during an altercation outside a pre-poll centre. A video of the incident was captured by the alleged victim on her mobile phone. Police were reportedly investigating the incident.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Incidents
East Hills Labor candidate Cameron Murphy alleged he had been the victim of a dirty tricks campaign, involving leaflets and stickers branding the civil libertarian as a "paedophile lover" because of his work as president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties. East Hills, held by Labor continuously from 1953 to 2011, was won in 2011 by Liberal Glenn Brookes with a margin of 0.2 points (adjusting for boundary changes in 2013). Murphy told the press he had lodged a complaint with the Electoral Commission and was seeking legal advice.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Incidents
The newly registered No Land Tax Party fielded candidates in all 93 electoral districts, thus maximising their chances of receiving public funding. Party leader Peter Jones conceded he had not met half of the candidates, many of whom did not live in the districts they hoped to represent. In Bega, held by Treasurer Andrew Constance for the Liberals, reports surfaced during the campaign that No Land Tax candidate Clyde Archard had in fact died in Borneo as a prisoner of war in 1945. He nonetheless received 2.3 per cent of the vote.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Newspaper endorsements
In the final week of the campaign, the Liberals and Nationals received the endorsement of the main daily and Sunday newspapers in the state: The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, The Sun-Herald and The Sydney Morning Herald.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Election night
Election night coverage was provided by the ABC, Seven, Nine and Sky News Australia. Collectively, the three free-to-air programs had 371,000 viewers in the Sydney market.


2015 New South Wales state election, Campaign, Election night
Labor supporters gathered at Dooley's Catholic Club in Lidcombe. Foley conceded defeat at 9.20 pm, saying "a majority of voters have decided that now is too soon for Labor to return to government." Liberal supporters gathered at Sydney's Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, where Baird claimed victory at 9.45 pm. "The reason I love this state is because of its people," Baird told the crowd, "And tonight they have chosen hope over fear."


2015 New South Wales state election, Aftermath
On 1 April Baird announced a reshuffle of the ministry. His deputy, Berejiklian, was promoted to Treasurer, while Constance moved to Transport. Nationals leader Grant took on Justice and Police. Rob Stokes was promoted from Environment to Planning; Gabrielle Upton from Community Services to Attorney-General. Goward was demoted from Planning to Mental Health. Ministers Hodgkinson and Mason-Cox, along with Liberal Jai Rowell and National Kevin Humphries were dropped from the ministry in favour of Liberals David Elliott and Mark Speakman and Nationals Niall Blair and Leslie Williams.


2015 New South Wales state election, Aftermath
On election night Foley told supporters he intended to stay on as party leader. Daley, his former leadership rival, ruled out a challenge, saying the party was in a "rebuilding phase".


2015 New South Wales state election, Aftermath
Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Dave Oliver, NSW Labor secretary Jamie Clements, Senator Sam Dastyari and other Labor figures called for Ferguson to be expelled from Labor for him slamming   the party's stance on the privatization  – something Dastyari characterised as "high treason" and a "bastard act".


2015 New South Wales state election, Aftermath
Ferguson, a 40-year veteran of the party, former ACTU president and former federal minister, stood by his remarks during the campaign, saying "I've done nothing but express a consistent policy position that in the end will mean lower energy prices for the traditional base that the Labor Party is supposed to represent." Labor was not united in the push to expel Ferguson, however, with former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty and former NSW Premier Morris Iemma among those coming to his defence. Iemma described the expulsion push as "petty and vindictive", exposing the party as "intolerant and incapable of embracing divergent views."


2015 New South Wales state election, Aftermath
A number of campaign workers for the No Land Tax Party came forward after the election claiming they had not been paid as promised by party leader Peter Jones. Others claimed they had signed up thinking they would be working for the Electoral Commission. Jones later took up the iVote complaint, even though it did not affect his party, saying "The only way the election won't be overturned is if the judge is on the take or on crystal meth."


2015 New Taipei water park fire
On 27 June 2015, a dust fire occurred at Formosa Fun Coast, a water park in Bali, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Staff of an outdoor "colour powder party" sprayed clouds of corn starch towards the participants, which ignited. The fire lasted 40 seconds and burned 508 people, killing 15 and leaving 199 in critical condition.


2015 New Taipei water park fire
Initially, only patches of airborne corn starch caught fire and extinguished almost instantly, but the staff sprayed carbon-dioxide fire extinguishers towards the participants, which, compounded by the running of the participants, dispersed the airborne corn starch into multiple dust clouds, responsible for most of the burning. The dust fire was widely misreported to have been an explosion.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Background
The "Colour Play Asia" party was inspired by the colored powder used in the Hindu religious festival "Holi", also called "festival of colours", which is celebrated in India, Nepal, and other countries with large Hindu populations. In August 2013, the first Taiwanese colour party took place in Sizihwan, Kaohsiung City. It was organized by the same event company that organized "Colour Play Asia".


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Background
That same year, a National Tsing Hua University expert warned that the coloured powder used during the Colour Play Asia parties might cause a dust explosion if the material was combustible.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Event
On 27 June 2015, the "Color Play Asia" party was held at the Formosa Fun Coast water park. Party-goers were singing and dancing on the stage, which holds up to 1,000. Other party-goers danced in a drained pool nearby.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Event
The concert organizers deployed colored corn starch powder in the festivities. The method of powder application at the concert created "an extremely dense dust cloud over the stage and its immediate vicinity", people near the stage were standing "almost ankle-deep" in colored corn starch powder, and the powder was repeatedly suspended into the air using air blowers as well as compressed gas canisters.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Event
At about 20:30, a large deflagration occurred when a cloud of colored powder ignited after being discharged from the stage onto a crowd of 1,000 people during a concert. Some of the crowd breathed in the powder, causing respiratory problems. As recorded in an amateur video by an audience member, a massive fireball suddenly engulfed the stage. The powder caught fire along the ground, resulting in burns mainly to victims' limbs and torsos. According to the authorities, the fire was quickly extinguished. The rescue included help from army vehicles and soldiers, along with medical services. Many people were taken to hospitals via taxis due to the lack of ambulances in the area.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Injuries and fatalities
The injured were treated in over 50 hospitals across Taiwan. As of 29 November 2015, 15 of the 497 injured had died, 44 victims remained hospitalized, and 11 were being treated at intensive care wards, while fifty-seven others were discharged from hospitals after treatment. Most of the injured were tertiary students in their twenties and late teens who had just started their summer vacation. An earlier estimate of 519 injured was due to double-counting of patients that were transferred between hospitals.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Injuries and fatalities
Many victims were lightly clad because of hot weather (36.6 °C (97.9 °F)) and the water park venue, and suffered burns over large portions of their bodies. Some victims suffered burns to 80–90% of their skin.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Injuries and fatalities
Four foreigners injured in the event were flown home via International SOS flights for follow-up medical treatment on 29 June: two to Hong Kong (Queen Mary Hospital and Prince of Wales Hospital), one to Shanghai (Ruijin Hospital) and one to Singapore (Singapore General Hospital).


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Injuries and fatalities
Two suicides were linked to the event: a father of a surviving burn victim committed suicide, while another suicidal man donated his skin to the victims.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Response
New Taipei City's mayor Eric Chu ordered an immediate shutdown of the water park pending an investigation. The man responsible for the event was detained by police for investigation. On 28 June, Taiwan Premier Mao Chi-kuo banned the use of colored powders at private events until the investigation is concluded and the powder can be considered safe.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Response
The event's organizer and hardware engineer were questioned and then given bail on the condition that they not leave the country. Lu Chung-chi apologized for the explosion on 28 June. On 28 June a spokesman for (mainland) China's Taiwan Affairs Office, Ma Xiaoguang, expressed sympathy for the victims and hoped they all received timely and appropriate treatment.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Response
On 30 June Taiwan's Organ Registry and Sharing Center called for urgent donations of cadaver skin, since there were just 115 rolls left in the country's cadaver skin stocks. According to Chairman Lee Po-chang (李伯璋; Lǐ Bózhāng), cadaver skin is more effective in blocking burn wounds from contamination sources and promoting skin regeneration than hog skin or synthetic skin.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Response
According to officials, the Ministry of Health and Welfare collaborated with the New Taipei City Public Health Department and made an announcement that all medical expenses of the burn patients from 27 June to 30 September will be covered by the National Health Insurance Administration and the National Health Insurance Program.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Response
On 2 July, a spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office said it was ready to provide medical assistance to help treat the hundreds of people injured in the explosion. On 3 July, Taiwanese Minister of Health and Welfare Chiang Been-huang said he was grateful for China's offer to provide medical assistance, including donations of cadaver skin to Taiwan, but it should be first confirmed that the skin was not from executed prisoners.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Response
Cadaver skin from the United States and Netherlands was sent to Taiwan.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Investigation
Investigators raised the question of whether the powder was ignited by a cigarette or spark; the supplier of the flammable, starch-based powder said "if it's in dense quantities and if it's hot, it can catch fire". Organizers had purchased three tons of the powder, and wrote on their Facebook page that it consisted of cornstarch and food coloring. The powder was sprayed from the stage onto concert-goers "at high velocity".


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Investigation
The vice president of Tai Won Food Industrial Co, which makes the powder, says that there are warnings on the packages not to use them in closed spaces or under high temperatures. The New Taipei City news department head stated: "It's still not clear what happened, but there were a number of people smoking and the weather was warm."


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Investigation
The Fire Department's preliminary conclusion was that the fire was caused by the sprayed powder, and that stage lights may have been the source of ignition.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Investigation
WuFeng University fire science department instructor and Taichung Harbor Fire Department deputy captain Lu Shou-chien commented in a letter to the Chinese-language United Daily News that the event organizers had set up necessary conditions for a disaster, and had not used water sprays which would have reduced the risk of ignition. Smoking was permitted at the event, and approximately 40 cigarette butts were found afterwards.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Investigation
In October 2015, the committee set up by the New Taipei City government to oversee monetary donations related to the explosion announced plans to distribute the collected funds. Survivors were to receive between NT$65,000 and NT$6.5 million, depending on the severity of injuries sustained in the dust explosion. The families of the twelve people who had died were compensated NT$8.25 million.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Investigation
On 16 October 2015, Shilin District prosecutors charged the event organizer, Lu Chung-chi, with negligence during the disaster; owners of the park were not indicted. Lu was found guilty of the charges in April 2016. In 2018, Lu was sentenced to five years in prison. In June 2016, the Supreme Court authorized the seizure of NT$507 million in assets from the park's senior administration. The National Health Insurance Administration also sought compensation worth NT$436 million from event organizers in court, claiming that the medical cost incurred by the NHIA totaled NT$765 million.


2015 New Taipei water park fire, Aftermath
After the accident, the government has adopted several emergency-related measures, such as the easing of the requirements for National Health Insurance coverage for burn victims, and importing large amount of artificial and cadaver skin.


2015 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations at the start of January.


2015 New Year Honours
The recipients of honours are displayed as they were styled before their new honour. They are arranged by the country (in order of precedence) whose ministers advised the Queen on the appointments, then by honour with grades, i.e. Knight/Dame Grand Cross, Knight/Dame Commander etc., and then by divisions, i.e. Civil, Diplomatic and Military as appropriate.


2015 New Year Honours, United Kingdom
Below are the individuals appointed by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of the United Kingdom with honours within her own gift and with the advice of the Government for other honours.


2015 New Year Honours, Cook Islands
Below are the individuals appointed by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of New Zealand, on advice of the Cook Islands Government.


2015 New Year Honours, Barbados
Below are the individuals appointed by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of Barbados, on advice of the Barbadian Government.


2015 New Year Honours, Grenada
Below are the individuals appointed by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of Grenada, on advice of the Grenadian Government.


2015 New Year Honours, Solomon Islands
Below are the individuals appointed by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of the Solomon Islands, on advice of the Solomon Islands Government.


2015 New Year Honours, Tuvalu
Below are the individuals appointed by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of Tuvalu, on advice of the Tuvalu Government.


2015 New Year Honours, Belize
Below are the individuals appointed by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of Belize, on advice of the Belizean Government.


2015 New Year Honours, Antigua and Barbuda
Below are the individuals appointed by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of Antigua and Barbuda, on advice of the Antiguan and Barbudan Government.


2015 New Year Honours, Saint Christopher and Nevis
Below are the individuals appointed by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of Saint Kitts and Nevis, on advice of the Kittian and Nevisian Government.


2015 New Year Honours (New Zealand)
The 2015 New Year Honours in New Zealand were appointments by Elizabeth II in her right as Queen of New Zealand, on the advice of the New Zealand government, to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by New Zealanders, and to celebrate the passing of 2014 and the beginning of 2015. They were announced on 31 December 2014.


2015 New Year Honours (New Zealand)
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour.


2015 New Year Honours (New Zealand), New Zealand Bravery Medal (NZBM)
On 19 November 2010 a methane explosion occurred at Pike River Coal Mine, killing 29 miners working deep in the mine. The explosion cut the electricity supply to the mine, shutting off lighting and ventilation systems. The mine began to fill with smoke and carbon monoxide.


2015 New Year Honours (New Zealand), New Zealand Bravery Medal (NZBM)
Daniel Rockhouse was driving a loader approximately 1,700 metres into the main drive of the mine when the explosion occurred and he was thrown to the ground and knocked unconscious. When he regained consciousness Mr Rockhouse put on his self-rescuer (breathing apparatus) and dragged himself to a nearby telephone. He rang Service Control and spoke to the mine manager, who told him to make his way to the fresh air base (FAB) near the mine portal, and contact him again. Mr Rockhouse started making his way to the FAB, following water pipes along the wall.


2015 New Year Honours (New Zealand), New Zealand Bravery Medal (NZBM)
He came across another miner, lying on the ground semi-conscious and disoriented. He attempted to give the miner his self-rescuer, but he could not close his mouth around the unit. Mr Rockhouse dragged him to the FAB, where they found the door open and the FAB full of carbon monoxide. Mr Rockhouse continued to drag the miner towards the mine portal. They were able to breathe some fresh air from compressed air lines along the way, and eventually the miner's condition improved enough to walk. They then supported each other and hobbled out of the mine.


2015 New Year Honours (New Zealand), New Zealand Bravery Medal (NZBM)
The rescue of the other man had taken Mr Rockhouse approximately two hours. By the time he reached the mine exit, Mr Rockhouse was disoriented, and was suffering from the effects of smoke and gas inhalation. Both men were taken to Greymouth Hospital where Mr Rockhouse was treated for smoke and gas inhalation, and carbon monoxide poisoning.


2015 New Year Honours (New Zealand), New Zealand Bravery Medal (NZBM)
Without Mr Rockhouse's assistance, the other miner would have remained lying in the mine. It is highly unlikely that he would have been able to rescue himself. Mr Rockhouse's determination to rescue him slowed down his own escape from the mine, through poisonous gas and smoke and constantly fearing further explosions.


2015 New Year's attack plots
In late December 2015, authorities in several countries announced the discovery of attack plots, organized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), targeting New Year's celebrations. Police in North America and Europe were on high alert in December 2015 because of a series of terrorist attacks and attack plots, including the November 2015 Paris attacks, and because of information picked up by security agencies indicating that militants might plan to attack public New Year's Eve celebrations.


2015 New Year's attack plots
New Year's Eve celebrations were cancelled following intelligence reports of planned attacks and several arrests in Brussels, while in Munich, rail service was suspended as suspected attack plots were uncovered. In other cities, security was increased amid heightened fears in the wake of the Paris attacks. There were unprecedented security measures in several major European cities, including Paris, London and Moscow.


2015 New Year's attack plots, New Year's attack plots, Brussels
Belgian police arrested two men on 27 and 28 December and charged them with involvement in an ISIL-related plan to attack New Year's celebrations in Brussels, reportedly having discussed attacking the Grand Place. Four others were arrested during raids and questioned but subsequently released. Public New Year's Eve celebrations and fireworks were cancelled in Brussels due to the heightened terror threat. No charges were pressed for planning an attack, but the two men were convicted of being members of a terrorist organization and sentenced to prison.


2015 New Year's attack plots, New Year's attack plots, Ankara
Turkish police seized bomb-making equipment, a suicide vest and other equipment during a raid of a house in Ankara on 30 December, and detained two ISIL militants on charges of plotting a New Year's attack. A main target was reported to be the Kizilay Square where large crowds gather to celebrate New Year's Eve.


2015 New Year's attack plots, New Year's attack plots, Munich train stations plot
In Munich, ISIL terrorists reportedly planned attacks on two train stations on New Year's Eve. German police stated that they thwarted the plots after they received a "very concrete tip" around 7:40 p.m. on New Year's Eve from intelligence sources in the United States and France. According to Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann, between five and seven suicide bombers planned to blow themselves up at locations that included two train stations. A 550-strong police manhunt ensued after the possible suspects. The investigation was dropped in February 2016 due to "lack of clues" amid a failure to uncover leads on the seven names given in the warning.


2015 New Year's attack plots, New Year's attack plots, Rochester, New York
Emanuel Lutchman, age 25, was arrested in Rochester, New York by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force on December 30 and charged with offering to provide material support to a terrorist group. He had specifically planned an attack on the Merchants Grill restaurant. He told the Federal Bureau of Investigation that he had also planned on killing his wife. On August 11, 2016, Lutchman pleaded guilty for planning the attack. On January 26, 2017, he was given the maximum sentence of twenty years in prison.


2015 New Year's attack plots, New Year's attack plots, Other plots
Turkish police later revealed that they had informed other countries after finding evidence on a laptop retrieved during the Ankara raid of an EU-wide plot against Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom and Turkey by a group of thirteen prepared suicide bombers who had left the ISIL headquarters in Raqqa. Austrian police heightened security measures and investigated suspects in Vienna before New Year's Eve, without finding "concrete further results".


2015 New York City FC season
The 2015 New York City FC season was the club's first season of existence, their first season in the top tier of American soccer, and their first season in Major League Soccer. New York City FC played their home games at Yankee Stadium in the New York City borough of The Bronx.


2015 New York City FC season, Background
MLS commissioner Don Garber announced the league's intent to award a second team in the New York area in 2010, with the new team originally aimed to begin operations by 2013. Initially, the league held talks with New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon about a second NY club and with owners of the rebooted New York Cosmos. The Wilpons' interest in MLS reportedly faded following the family's losses in the Madoff investment scandal, while the Cosmos began playing in the second-tier North American Soccer League in 2013.


2015 New York City FC season, Background
Garber had previously cultivated an interest in acquiring investment from a major European soccer team to be owners of a future franchise, and in December 2008, he announced a bid for a Miami expansion team led by FC Barcelona that was to begin play in 2010, though the bid eventually fell through (Garber also briefly discussed Barcelona investing in a New York franchise before moving the focus to Miami).


2015 New York City FC season, Background
But when Ferran Soriano, Barcelona's vice president at the time of the Miami bid, was appointed Manchester City CEO in August 2012, Garber reached out to him about a New York City team. In December 2012, unnamed sources told the media that Manchester City were close to being announced as the new owners of the 20th team of MLS, and the brand name "New York City Football Club" was trademarked, although the club quickly denied the report. However, Garber announced in March 2013 that he was almost ready to unveil the new expansion team,


2015 New York City FC season, Background
New York City Football Club, LLC was registered with the New York State Department on May 7, 2013, and on May 21 the team was officially announced as the 20th Major League Soccer franchise.


2015 New York City FC season, Background
The team announced an English-language radio deal with WFAN on October 3, 2013.


2015 New York City FC season, Non-competitive, Pre-season, Manchester training camp
N.B. The friendly against St Mirren deemed the club's first ever match according to the club itself.


2015 New York City FC season, Competitions, U.S. Open Cup
New York City FC entered the 2015 U.S. Open Cup with all other Major League Soccer teams in the fourth round.


2015 New York City FC season, Honors, Etihad Airways Player of the Month award
Awarded to the player who receives the most votes in a poll conducted each month on the NYCFC website


2015 New York City Marathon
The 2015 New York City Marathon was the 45th running of the annual marathon race in New York City, United States, which took place on November 1. The event was organised by the New York Road Runners and sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The main race saw the third successive time that Kenyans won both races. Stanley Biwott won the men's division with a time of 2:10:34. His compatriot Mary Jepkosgei Keitany claimed the women's division with a time of 2:24:25, her second consecutive win in New York. In the wheelchair divisions, South African Ernst van Dyk won the men's division with a time of 1:30:54 and American Tatyana McFadden won the women's division with a new record of 1:43:04.


2015 New York City Marathon
A total of 50,229 runners were registered to take part in the event. Amongst them, 49,828 runners finished the race, comprising 28,804 men and 21,024  women.


2015 New York City Marathon, Course
The 26.2-mile (42.2 km) course covers all five boroughs of New York City. It begins on Staten Island, in Fort Wadsworth, near the approach to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The bridge, which normally carries only vehicular traffic, is closed for the event. Runners use both sides of the upper level of the bridge and the westbound side of the lower level. In the opening minutes of the race, the bridge is filled with runners, creating a dramatic spectacle that is closely associated with the event.


2015 New York City Marathon, Course
After descending the bridge, the course winds through Brooklyn, mostly along Fourth Avenue and Bedford Avenue, for approximately the next 11 miles (18 km). Runners pass through a variety of neighborhoods, including: Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Park Slope, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint. At 13.1 miles (21.1 km), runners cross the Pulaski Bridge, marking the halfway point of the race and the entrance into Long Island City, Queens. After about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) in Queens, runners cross the East River via the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan.


2015 New York City Marathon, Course
Reaching Manhattan after about 16 miles (26 km), the race proceeds north on First Avenue, then crosses briefly into The Bronx via the Willis Avenue Bridge for a mile before returning into Manhattan via the Madison Avenue Bridge. It then proceeds south through Harlem down Fifth Avenue and into Central Park. At the southern end of the park, the race proceeds across Central Park South, where thousands of spectators cheer runners on during the last mile. At Columbus Circle, the race re-enters the park and finishes outside Tavern on the Green.


2015 New York City Marathon, Race summary
The wheelchair division was scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. EST, the women's division at 9:20 a.m., and the men's division at 9:50 a.m. The last wave of runners was scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. The weather was generally overcast with negligible wind. The recorded temperature at the start of the race was 57 °F (14 °C), rising to 62 °F (17 °C) at the finishing line.


2015 New York City Marathon, Race summary, Women's division
The first runners hit the 3.1-mile (5 km) point in 17:21 and the 6.2-mile (10 km) mark in 34:27. By the halfway point (1:12:54), a nine-woman lead pack had emerged led by Portuguese runner Sara Moreira. They remained together until the 18-mile (29 km) mark, where a group containing Kenyans Mary Jepkosgei Keitany and Priscah Jeptoo, along with Ethiopians Aselefech Mergia and Tigist Tufa started to pull away. At the 20-mile (32 km) mark, Keitany increased her pace and began recording sub 5:20 miles. Tufa kept up with Keitany until the 22-mile (35 km) point before falling away.


2015 New York City Marathon, Race summary, Women's division
Keitany won the race in 2:24:25, a full minute and seven seconds in front of second placed Mergia who had overtaken Tufa in the final mile. Tufa trailed a further eighteen seconds behind in third place. Keitany's win marked the first time a woman had defended the New York Marathon title since Briton Paula Radcliffe in 2008.


2015 New York City Marathon, Race summary, Women's division
Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys completed a charity run of the course in 5:50:52.


2015 New York City Marathon, Race summary, Men's division
The first runners hit the 3.1-mile (5 km) point in 15:47 and the 6.2-mile (10 km) mark in 31:30. By the halfway point (1:06:49), a thirteen-man lead pack had emerged led by Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa. At the 20-mile (32 km) mark, the lead pack had reduced to four, containing Kenyans Geoffrey Kamworor, Stanley Biwott and Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, along with Desisa. Biwott took the lead in the 23-mile (37 km) and held on to win his first World Marathon Majors title in 2:10:34. Kamworor was fourteen seconds behind him to claim second and Desisa a further minute 22 seconds off in third.


2015 New York City Marathon, Race summary, Men's division
Former professional tennis player James Blake finished the course in 3:51:19 and actor Ethan Hawke recorded a time of 4:25:30.


2015 New York Cosmos season
The 2015 New York Cosmos season was the new Cosmos' third season of existence, playing in the new North American Soccer League. Including the previous franchise, this is the seventeenth season of a club entitled New York Cosmos playing professional soccer in the New York metropolitan area.


2015 New York Cosmos season, Competitions, NASL Spring Season
The Spring season lasted for 10 games beginning on April 4 and ending on June 13. The schedule featured a single round robin format with each team playing every other team in the league a single time.


2015 New York Cosmos season, Competitions, NASL Fall Season
The Fall season lasted for 20 games beginning on July 12 and ending on November 1. The schedule featured a double round robin format with each team playing every other team in the league twice, one at home and one on the road.


2015 New York Cosmos season, Competitions, U.S. Open Cup
The Cosmos competed in the 2015 edition of the Open Cup, entering in the Third Round of the tournament.


2015 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
The 81st New York Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in film for 2015, were announced on December 2, 2015 and presented on January 4, 2016.


2015 New York Film Festival
The 53rd New York Film Festival was held September 25 – October 11, 2015.


2015 New York Film Festival
The Festival also included various talks and free screenings. The primary selection committee included Kent Jones (chair), Dennis Lim, Marian Masone, Gavin Smith, and Amy Taubin. The Shorts Programs were selected by Sarah Mankoff, Laura Kern, Matt Bolish, Florence Almozini, and Dan Sullivan. Projections was programmed by Dennis Lim, Aily Nash, and Gavin Smith. The Dorsky/Hiler retrospective was programmed by Gavin Smith, and Convergence was curated by Matt Bolish.


2015 New York Giants season
The 2015 New York Giants season was the franchise's 91st season in the National Football League and their sixth season playing their home games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Tom Coughlin returned for his 12th and final season as the team's head coach. The Giants attempted to secure a playoff berth for the first time since their 2011 season, which concluded with their victory in Super Bowl XLVI. To honor the late Frank Gifford and Ann Mara, both of whom died earlier in 2015, the Giants added a number 16 decal on their helmets and special patch for Gifford and Mara respectively.


2015 New York Giants season
The Giants began the season 0–2 for the third straight year, and in doing so became the first team in NFL history to go 0–2 while holding double digit leads in the 4th quarter in both games. However, they rebounded to win their next three games before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants 2015 season was plagued by their inability to close out games, as the Giants lost 6 games in which they held leads or were tied within the final 2 minutes.


2015 New York Giants season
These losses included their opening game in Dallas, their home opener against the Falcons, a road loss in New Orleans and 2 home defeats against the Patriots and the Jets. Had the Giants won these games, they would've been 11–5 and would've won the NFC East.


2015 New York Giants season
After the Redskins defeated the Eagles on December 26 during a Saturday Edition of Thursday Night Football, the Redskins clinched the division title of the NFC East, eliminating the Giants from playoff contention for the fourth consecutive year and officially ending the Coughlin/Eli era in New York, after having made the playoffs 5 times and won two Super Bowls, both times against the New England Patriots.


2015 New York Giants season, Offseason, Offseason activities
The New York Giants started offseason activities with a rookie minicamp starting on May 9. Organized team activities ran from May 27–29, June 1–2, June 4, June 8–9, June 11–12. Mandatory mini-camp was held June 16–18.


2015 New York Giants season, Staff, Staff changes
The Giants' most notable staff change involves their defensive coordinator position. Following the 2014 season the team fired Perry Fewell after five seasons. To replace him the Giants brought back Steve Spagnuolo, who had been the team's coordinator for the 2007 and 2008 seasons and who was most recently the secondary coach for the Baltimore Ravens.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 1: at Dallas Cowboys
Towards the end of the game, the Cowboys did not have any timeouts, and the Giants were facing 3rd and goal from the Cowboys 1-yard line with 1:43 remaining. However, instead of just kneeing the ball and letting the clock run out, the Giants decided to throw the ball instead. Eli Manning's pass was thrown away, and the clock stopped. Josh Brown would kick a 19-yard field goal to give the Giants a 26-20 lead. The Cowboys marched down the field and got into Giants territory.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 1: at Dallas Cowboys
The drive concluded when Tony Romo threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Jason Witten with 7 seconds left to give the Cowboys the win. Following the game, the Giants were met with heavy criticism from their fans and the media for the throwing play earlier, with most of the criticism being aimed at head coach Tom Coughlin, who later admitted that it was his fault and that the strategy for the game was wrong at the end.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 2: vs. Atlanta Falcons
For the second time in two weeks, the Giants blew a fourth quarter lead inside of 2 minutes. The Falcons went down the field to score with 1:14 remaining after Devonta Freeman ran in for a 1-yard touchdown. The Giants tried to go down the field, but the drive failed, and the Giants lost 24-20.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Washington Redskins
The Giants finally got their first win of the season, beating the Redskins 32-21 on Thursday Night Football. The game began with the safety, making this the first game since Super Bowl XLVIII that the first score of the game was a safety.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 4: at Buffalo Bills
Prior to the season, Bills head coach Rex Ryan expressed that he wanted his team to be last in the league in penalties (the Bills had led the league in penalties in 2014). In that respect, this game was notably embarrassing for the Bills as they committed an outrageous 17 penalties for 135 yards. Five of them were either personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct, and two of them negated Bills touchdowns.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 5: vs. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers went down the field to score with 1:45 remaining. The game appeared over after Tramaine Brock appeared to have an interception. However, the interception was reviewed, and after review, the call was overturned, because replay concluded that the ball had hit the ground before Brock was able to control it. The next play, Kenneth Acker was called for pass interference which gave the Giants the ball on the goal line. Larry Donnell caught the game-winning touchdown with 21 seconds left to give the Giants the win.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 6: at Philadelphia Eagles
The Giants led 7-0 after they scored first on their opening drive. However, the Eagles outscored them 27-0 the rest of the way.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 7: vs. Dallas Cowboys
The Giants ended a five-game losing streak to the Cowboys dating to October 28, 2012 at AT&T Stadium, doing so despite only 289 aggregate yards of offense. Two touchdowns were scored by either defense or special teams, first on a Matt Cassel pick-six run back 58 yards by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the third quarter; in the fourth following a game-tying Cassel score to Devin Street the ensuing kickoff was run back 100 yards by Dwayne Harris.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 7: vs. Dallas Cowboys
The game earned additional notoriety; in response to the presence on the Cowboys roster of Greg Hardy with domestic violence controversy surrounding him the Giants invited actress and outspoken advocate of domestic-violence victims Mariska Hargitay along with her husband Peter Hermann and their son August Miklos Hermann to be honorary captains; Hargitay and Hermann wore Mark Herzlich jerseys while August wore a jersey of Odell Beckham Jr.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 7: vs. Dallas Cowboys
This was Tom Coughlin's last home victory as coach of the Giants.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 8: at New Orleans Saints
Eli Manning's six touchdown passes, with three of them to Odell Beckham Jr. were not enough as a late field goal by the Saints sealed the 52-49 victory in a battle of passing offenses. The game lead tied or changed ten times and Manning's six scores and 350 yards were bettered by Drew Brees with 505 yards and seven touchdowns, all overcoming two interceptions.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 8: at New Orleans Saints
The 101 combined points scored are tied for the fourth most in NFL history.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 9: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jason Pierre-Paul, who suffered an off-season fireworks incident on July 4, made his season debut as the Giants defeated the Buccaneers 32-18.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 10: vs. New England Patriots
Meeting for the first time since Super Bowl XLVI, the Giants hosted the undefeated Patriots. Commissioner Roger Goodell was in attendance. The Giants looked to stop the streaking Patriots in a game where both teams saw touchdowns wiped out on penalties.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 10: vs. New England Patriots
The Giants trailed by 2 at the two-minute warning, and on second down Eli Manning tossed a pass in the end zone to Odell Beckham Jr.. Beckham appeared to have the catch, but as he brought the ball up in celebration, it was knocked out by Malcolm Butler in a play eerily similar to a drop by Lee Evans in the closing seconds of the 2011 AFC Championship Game. Manning scrambled for a loss on third down, and Josh Brown kicked the go-ahead field goal to give New York a lead. However, a last second game-winning field goal by the Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski ended the Giants' hopes. Although he was cleared to play, Victor Cruz, a day later, announced he would not play this season as he underwent surgery to repair an injured left calf.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 12: at Washington Redskins
Odell Beckham Jr. made a tremendous catch during this game, as he made another one-handed catch for a touchdown. However, the catch was not enough, as the Giants trailed 20-0 and could not come back.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 13: vs. New York Jets
The Giants would lead 20-10 in the fourth quarter. However, the Jets would march down the field to tie the game with 27 seconds remaining. Randy Bullock would give the Jets the lead in overtime after he converted a 31-yard field goal. The Giants would go down the field, but a critical drop by Odell Beckham Jr. would prove them costly. Josh Brown would miss a 48-yard field goal during overtime, giving the Jets the win. This game was the 5th this season that the Giants have lost when leading with 2 minutes or less in the 4th quarter, with 3 of them coming at home.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 14: at Miami Dolphins
It was the first Monday Night meeting between the Giants and the Dolphins.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 14: at Miami Dolphins
The game was a shootout and Eli Manning was spectacular, completing 27 of 31 passes, 4 of them touchdowns in a 31-24 win.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 14: at Miami Dolphins
This was Tom Coughlin's last win as the Giants head coach.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 15: vs. Carolina Panthers
The Giants hosted the undefeated Panthers, which gained attention for the fight between Beckham and Panthers cornerback Josh Norman, which lasted for nearly the entire game. Beckham would draw three personal fouls for his involvement. The Giants managed to erase a 28-point deficit but failed to stop Cam Newton on the Panthers final drive, losing after a game-winning field goal.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 16: at Minnesota Vikings
The deflated Giants traveled to Minnesota to take on the Vikings. Already eliminated from the playoffs due to Washington beating Philadelphia the night before to secure the NFC East for the first time since 2012, they were without their star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as he was suspended for his actions in a Week 15 loss against Carolina. The Vikings stingy defense put pressure on Eli Manning all game, forcing Tom Coughlin to bench Manning after three interceptions. The Giants defense was not a factor as they failed to contain the Vikings rushing attack all game long. Linebacker JT Thomas was ejected from the game in the 4th quarter for throwing a punch.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 16: at Minnesota Vikings
The loss of Beckham was too steep to overcome and the Giants wound up losing 49-17, dropping to 6-9.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
With Odell Beckham Jr. back from his suspension, the Giants hosted the Eagles for the final game of both their seasons, which was also played on Eli Manning's 35th birthday. The Giants offense put up a fight, but a 3rd quarter fumble by Manning that was returned for a touchdown did the Giants in. The Giants attempted a comeback, but down 5 in the final minutes, Manning could not lead the Giants into the end zone.


2015 New York Giants season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
This loss dropped the Giants to 6-10 for the second straight season, and the game proved to be Tom Coughlin's final game coaching the Giants. Coughlin ended with just nine wins in 25 career games against the Eagles. This was the last time the Giants would score 30 points in a game until October 7, 2018.


2015 New York Jets season
The 2015 New York Jets season was the franchise's 46th season in the National Football League and the 56th overall. The team improved on their 4–12 record in 2014 under former head Coach Rex Ryan. Under new head coach Todd Bowles, they succeeded in matching their record in just five games, starting 4–1. Prior to the season, the Jets made a number of moves, including, re-acquiring Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie, two cornerbacks who were instrumental in the Jets previous defensive success, and obtaining Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brandon Marshall in trades.


2015 New York Jets season
The team regressed to 5–5, before going on a five-game winning streak, clinching their first winning season since 2010. However, it wasn't enough to make the playoffs, as they lost to the Buffalo Bills in Week 17 and the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers and Jets both finished 10–6, but the Steelers clinched the final AFC playoff spot over the Jets based on a better record vs. common opponents. The Jets finished the season as the league's only team with a winning record to not make the playoffs. As of 2020, this was also tied with the 2020 Miami Dolphins season as the closest quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has came to making the playoffs in his 15-year career.


2015 New York Jets season, Schedule
On November 6, 2014, the NFL announced that the Jets were scheduled to visit the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium in London, England as part of the International Series. This became the first time that a divisional match has taken place in London. The game occurred on Sunday, October 4, and aired on CBS in the United States. The kickoff time was 9:30 a.m. EDT (2:30 p.m. local time). Miami is to be the designated home team for this game, and both teams will have their bye the following week.


2015 New York Jets season, Schedule
The remainder of the Jets' 2015 schedule was announced on April 21.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 1: vs. Cleveland Browns
The Jets open the 2015 season with a resounding 31-10 win over the Cleveland Browns at Metlife Stadium to open Todd Bowles' tenure as Jets HC, replacing Rex Ryan, who manned the sidelines for the past six seasons. The Jets had five takeaways against Cleveland, including a Johnny Manziel interception. Fitzpatrick had a solid debut, throwing 2 TDs to Marshall (1 yard) and Decker (15 yards) respectively. Chris Ivory also had a good day, rushing for 91 yards and 2 TDs, the second of which sealed the game in the 4th quarter.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 2: at Indianapolis Colts
The Jets defeated the Indianapolis Colts 20-7 in a sloppy Monday Night Matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Jets defense forced five turnovers, intercepting Andrew Luck, the league leader in TD passes last year, three times. A 26-yd touchdown reception by Donte Moncrief cut the Jets lead to three points (10-7), before a clutch seven-play, 80-yd TD drive culminating in a 15-yd TD pass to Marshall sealed the win for New York.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 3: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
After the Jets' upset win against the Colts on Monday night, they headed back to MetLife Stadium to face the Eagles. With 2014 rushing champ DeMarco Murray, who had rushed for 11 yards on 21 carries, injured, the Eagles rushing attack was explosive under Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles. Philadelphia quickly jumped to a 24-0 lead in the 2nd quarter, intercepting Ryan Fitzpatrick 3 times (although 2 of them were batted passes or botched catches). New York scored 17 unanswered, however the Jets couldn't capitalize on many opportunities and Philadelphia won 24-17. The Eagles remain as the only NFL team that the Jets have never defeated in franchise history, as the Eagles improved their all-time head-to-head record against the Jets to 10–0.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 4: at Miami Dolphins
The New York Jets traveled across the pond for the first time in franchise history to face their AFC East rival, the Miami Dolphins. The offense, led by QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, got off to a quick start with a 58-yard heave to Brandon Marshall and a 3-yard touchdown run by Chris Ivory to put the Jets up 7-0. The Jets defense dominated the Dolphins offense for the majority of the game, shutting down Ryan Tannehill, however the Dolphins pulled within 2 scores in the 4th quarter. NYJ forced 2 interceptions, both in the fourth quarter, to put the game away. The New York Jets won 27-14, and improved their record to 3-1 heading into their bye week.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 6: vs. Washington Redskins
After their bye week, New York returned home to face the Washington Redskins. In the first half, Washington played extremely aggressive on defense, forcing 3 turnovers. In the third quarter, the Jets' offense exploded, scoring 17 points, and the defense intercepted Washington QB Kirk Cousins twice to seal the deal. In the victory, Brandon Marshall became the first Jets receiver since Don Maynard in 1968 to have 4 straight 100-yard games, and Chris Ivory recorded a career-high 196 total yards With the win, the Jets improved to 4-1.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 7: at New England Patriots
The Jets travel to New England to take on the Patriots. With the Jets leading 17-16 in the second half, the Jets were in position to strengthen their lead when Brandon Marshall dropped a TD, leading to a FG making the advantage 20-16. However, touchdowns to Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski ended those hopes and the Jets would go on to lose, 30-23 in which many plays and questionable decisions were left on the field by the coaching staff.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 9: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
With the win, the Jets broke their 2-game losing streak.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 10: vs. Buffalo Bills
As part of Nike's NFL color rush on Thursday Night Football, the Jets wore kelly green uniforms.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 11: at Houston Texans
The Jets not only lost the game, but they lost their No 1 cornerback Darelle Revis to a concussion after he was scorched by Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins for a 69-yard touchdown. With the loss, they fell to 5-5.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 13: at New York Giants
The New York Jets came back from a 20-10 deficit to beat the New York Giants with an interception by Rontez Miles and a Randy Bullock field goal with a late 4th quarter touchdown to Brandon Marshall to send it to overtime. Randy Bullock's field goal put the Jets up 23-20. The Jets sealed the victory with Josh Brown missing his third field goal attempt of the game. The Jets improve to 5-8 all time against the Giants.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 15: at Dallas Cowboys
With the win, the Jets improved to 9-5 and secured their first winning season since 2010, as well as eliminating the Cowboys from playoff contention.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 16: vs. New England Patriots
This game is perhaps well known for the coin toss to start overtime. The Patriots would win the toss, choosing heads. However, instead of receiving the ball to give Tom Brady the first chance to score, the Patriots elected to kick. This caused much confusion in Patriots captain Matthew Slater, as he questioned after the toss if the Patriots, because they won the toss, would also get to choose which end of the field they would like to kick.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 16: vs. New England Patriots
However, referee Clete Blakeman said "You elected to kick", and the Patriots were unable to choose which end of the field to kick off to, as in the NFL rule book, the team that loses the coin toss gets to choose which end to receive the ball, if the team that wins the toss elects to defer. If the team that wins the coin toss receives, the team that loses the toss will elect which way to kick. The Jets would get the ball first. They would march right down the field to score the game-winning touchdown on their first possession as Ryan Fitzpatrick found Eric Decker to end the game with a touchdown. With their fifth straight win, the Jets improved to 10-5.


2015 New York Jets season, Regular season results, Week 17: at Buffalo Bills
With the loss, and with the Steelers defeating the Browns the same day, the Jets finished their season 10-6 and were eliminated from the playoffs. This was also the first time since 2004 that one NFL team defeated another twice in the same season and both games ended with the same score. The Jets were also seeking a 6-game winning streak for the first time since 1986. It was also quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick's first return to Buffalo since the Bills released him following the 2012 season. Fitzpatrick played for the Bills from 2009-2012.


2015 New York Liberty season
The 2015 WNBA season, was the 19th season for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association. Bill Laimbeer returned as head coach.


2015 New York Liberty season, Transactions, WNBA Draft
The following are the Liberty's selections in the 2015 WNBA Draft.


2015 New York Mets season
The 2015 season was the 54th season in the history of the New York Mets. The Mets finished the regular season with a record of 90–72, winning the National League East title on September 26, their first division title since 2006 and sixth overall. They defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series in five games and swept the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series. They lost to the Kansas City Royals in five games in the 2015 World Series. It was the Mets' first appearance in the World Series since 2000 when they lost to the New York Yankees. It marked the team's first winning season since Citi Field opened in 2009 (and their first since 2008, their last season at Citi Field's predecessor, Shea Stadium).


2015 New York Mets season, Offseason
On November 10, 2014, the Mets signed Michael Cuddyer to a two-year $21 million deal. On December 2, 2014, the Mets  officially non-tendered Eric Young Jr.On December 11, 2014, the Mets agreed to a one-year contract with John Mayberry Jr.


2015 New York Mets season, Offseason, Spring training
During Spring training, the Mets made trades for relief pitchers Jerry Blevins from the Washington Nationals and Alex Torres from the San Diego Padres.


2015 New York Mets season, Regular season, Opening Day
On Opening Day, the Mets faced the Washington Nationals, whose starting pitcher Max Scherzer held the Mets hitless until the 6th inning. The Mets capitalized on two errors by Washington in the 6th inning: Ian Desmond committed a throwing error and Dan Uggla dropped a David Wright pop-up, and Lucas Duda finished off the rally with a two-run single into the right-center gap off a 98-MPH fastball from Scherzer. Mets starter Bartolo Colón allowed only a solo home run to Bryce Harper. After Colon left the game, Buddy Carlyle, filling in for an injured Jenrry Mejía, earned the save, giving the Mets a 3–1 victory.


2015 New York Mets season, Regular season, April
After their opening series in Washington, former closer Jenrry Mejía was suspended 80 games for the use of stanozolol, a performance-enhancing drug (PED) banned by Major League Baseball. The Mets lost three of their first five games. After losing the first two in Atlanta to start their second series, the Mets began an 11-game win streak that started with Colón picking up his second win. The Mets then returned home, and swept the Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, and Atlanta Braves.