News Desk
From Sydney to New York’s Time Square to Nairobi, communities around the world welcomed 2025 with spectacular light shows, warm embraces, joy, happiness and ice plunges.
New Zealand’s Auckland became the first major city to celebrate, as thousands thronged downtown or climbed the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point.
Countries 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 New York’s Times Square, where revellers donning silver top hats emblazoned with “2025” gathered hours early.
Conflict muted acknowledgements of the start of 2025 in places like the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.
Earliest fireworks
Fireworks blasted off the Sydney Harbour Bridge and across the bay. More than a million Australians and others gathered at iconic Sydney Harbour for the celebration. British pop star Robbie Williams led a singalong with the crowd. The celebration also featured Indigenous ceremonies and performances that acknowledged the land’s first people.
