The new year has been brought in around with world with sparkles, fireworks and celebrations.
Auckland became the first major city in the world to welcome 2025. Thousands of revellers counted down to the new year and cheered colourful fireworks launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, the Sky Tower, as part of a spectacular light show.
Many also climbed the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point, as well as a light display recognising Auckland’s Indigenous tribes. It follows a year marked by protests over Māori rights in the nation of five million.
Countries in the South Pacific Ocean are the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking a full 18 hours before the ball drop in Times Square in New York. Other cities around the world are readying with celebrations highlighting local cultures and traditions, after a year roiled by ongoing conflict and political instability.
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In Australia, more than one million people were expected at Sydney Harbour for the traditional fireworks. British pop star Robbie Williams led a singalong and Indigenous ceremonies, and performances acknowledged the land’s first people.
Much of Japan has shut down ahead of the nation’s biggest holiday, as temples and homes underwent a thorough cleaning, including swatting floor mats called “tatami” with big sticks before the Lunar New Year.
And in South Korea, celebrations were cut back or cancelled as the country observes a period of national mourning following the crash on Sunday of a Jeju Air flight at Muan that killed 179 people.
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