WELLINGTON, New Zealand: From Sydney to Mumbai to Nairobi, communities around the world began welcoming 2025 with spectacular light shows, embraces and ice plunges.
\nAuckland became the first major city to celebrate, as thousands thronged downtown or climbed the city\u2019s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point. A light display recognized Indigenous people.
\nCountries in the South Pacific Ocean were the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball drop in Times Square in New York.
\nConflict muted acknowledgements of the start of 2025 in places like the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.
\nEarliest fireworks
\nFireworks blasted off the Sydney Harbor Bridge and across the bay. More than a million Australians and others gathered at iconic Sydney Harbor for the celebration. British pop star Robbie Williams led a singalong with the crowd.
\nThe celebration also featured Indigenous ceremonies and performances that acknowledged the land\u2019s first people.
\nAsia prepares for Year of the Snake
\nMuch of Japan shut down ahead of the nation\u2019s biggest holiday, as temples and homes underwent a thorough cleaning.
\nThe upcoming Year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac is heralded as one of rebirth \u2014 alluding to the reptile\u2019s shedding skin. Other places in Asia will mark the Year of the Snake later, with the Lunar New Year.
\nIn South Korea, celebrations were cut back or canceled during a period of national mourning following Sunday\u2019s crash of a Jeju Air flight in Muan that killed 179 people.
\nIn Thailand\u2019s Bangkok, shopping malls competed for crowds with live musical acts and fireworks shows. A fireworks display in Indonesia\u2019s Jakarta featured 800 drones.
\nChina and Russia exchange goodwill
\nChinese state media covered an exchange of New Year\u2019s greetings between leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a reminder of growing closeness between two leaders who face tensions with the West.
\nXi told Putin their countries will \u201calways move forward hand in hand,\u201d the official Xinhua News Agency said.
\nChina has maintained ties and robust trade with Russia since the latter invaded Ukraine in 2022, helping to offset Western sanctions and attempts to isolate Putin.
\nSeaside celebrations and beyond
\nIn India, thousands of revelers in the financial hub of Mumbai flocked to the city\u2019s bustling promenade facing the Arabian Sea. In Sri Lanka, people gathered at Buddhist temples to light oil lamps and incense sticks and pray.
\nIn Dubai, thousands attended a fireworks show at the Burj Khalifa, the world\u2019s tallest skyscraper. And in Nairobi, Kenya, scattered fireworks were heard as midnight approached.
\nA Holy Year begins
\nRome\u2019s traditional New Year\u2019s Eve festivities have an additional draw: the start of Pope Francis\u2019 Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration projected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.
\nOn Tuesday, Francis will celebrate a vespers at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, followed by Mass on Wednesday, when he is expected to again appeal for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.
\nJan. 1 is a day of obligation for Catholics, marking the Solemnity of Mary.
\nParis recaptures the Olympic spirit
\nParis capped a momentous 2024 with its traditional countdown and fireworks extravaganza on the Champs-Elys\u00e9es. The city\u2019s emblematic Arc de Triomphe monument was turned into a giant tableau for a light show that celebrated the city\u2019s landmarks and the passage of time, with whirring clocks.
\n\u201cParis is a party,\u201d proclaimed Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
\nThe Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games hosted in the French capital from July to September had transformed the city into a site of joy, fraternity and astonishing sporting achievements.
\nFrank and Rowena Klar from San Francisco visited the French capital to celebrate 31 years together. \u201cIf you start it big, we think we\u2019re going to have a great year,\u201d he said.
\nWintry weather, for good and bad
\nLondon rang in the New Year with a pyrotechnic display along the River Thames. With a storm bringing bitter weather to other parts of the United Kingdom, however, festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland, were canceled.
\nBut in Switzerland and some other places, people embraced the cold, stripping and plunging into the water in freezing temperatures.
\nRio expects 2 million revelers
\nRio de Janeiro will throw Brazil\u2019s main New Year\u2019s Eve bash on Copacabana Beach, with ferries offshore bearing 12 straight minutes of fireworks. Thousands of tourists in cruise ships will witness the show up close.
\nMore than 2 million people were expected at the Copacabana, hoping to squeeze into concerts by superstar Brazilian artists such as pop singer Anitta and Grammy-award winner Caetano Veloso.
\nAmerican traditions, old and new
\nIn New York City, the organization managing Times Square has tested its famous ball drop and inspected 2025 numerals, lights and thousands of crystals as part of a tradition going back to 1907. This year\u2019s celebration will include musical performances by TLC, Jonas Brothers, Rita Ora and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
\nLas Vegas\u2019 pyrotechnic show will be on the Strip, with 340,000 people anticipated as fireworks are launched from the rooftops of casinos. Nearby, the Sphere venue will display for the first time countdowns to midnight in different time zones.
\nIn Pasadena, California, Rose Parade spectators were camping out and hoping for prime spots. And some 200,000 people were flocking to a country music party in Nashville, Tennessee.
\nAmerican Samoa will be among the last to welcome 2025, a full 24 hours after New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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