New Zealand welcomes in the new year with a fireworks display at the Auckland Sky Tower, Jan. 1, 2025. Reuters

People are ushering in 2025 with celebrations around the world. Grand light shows, embraces and ice plunges are some of the ways communities have begun to ring in the new year.

Auckland became the first major city to welcome 2025, with thousands of revelers counting down to the new year and cheering at colorful fireworks launched from New Zealand's tallest structure, Sky Tower, and a spectacular downtown light show.

Thousands also thronged to downtown or climbed the city's ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point and a light display recognizing Auckland's Indigenous tribes. It follows a year marked by protests over M?ori rights in the nation of 5 million.

Countries in the South Pacific Ocean are 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.

Other cities around the world were readying with celebrations highlighting local cultures and traditions, after a year roiled by ongoing conflict and political instability. Conflict muted celebratios of the new year in places like the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.

Earliest fireworks
In Australia, more than 1 million people flocked to see the traditional fireworks at Sydney Harbor. British pop star Robbie Williams was leading a singalong and Indigenous ceremonies and performances had been planned to acknowledge the land's first people.

Much of Japan had 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.

The new Year of the Snake in the Asian zodiac is heralded as one of rebirth — alluding to the reptile's shedding skin. Stores in Japan, which observes the zodiac cycle from Jan. 1, have been selling tiny figures of smiling snakes and other snake-themed products.

Other places in Asia will start marking the Year of the Snake later, with the Lunar New Year.

In Bangkok, shopping malls competed for crowds with live musical acts and fireworks shows. A performance by popular rap singer Lisa, the Thai member of the South Korean girl group Blackpink, was scheduled just before midnight.

New Year celebrations in Jakarta featured a dazzling fireworks display, including a drone show with 800 drones, followed by countdowns to midnight at the city's iconic Hotel Indonesia Roundabout.

In South Korea, celebrations were cut back or canceled as the country observes a period of national mourning following the Sunday crash of a Jeju Air flight at Muan that killed 179 people.

New Year commemorations amid war and strife
Chinese state media covered an exchange of New Year's 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.

Xi told Putin that their countries will "always move forward hand in hand," the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.

Xi also addressed Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing: "We Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same family. No one can ever sever the bond of kinship between us."

In his address to the nation, Putin said Russia has "set big goals for ourselves and achieved them, and we overcame difficulties more than once because we were together."

China 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. New Year's celebrations are likely to be subdued in Israel as its war with Hamas in Gaza grinds through a 15th month and scores of hostages remain in captivity.

Lebanon is in the grip of a severe economic crisis, and many areas were heavily damaged during the , which ended with a shaky ceasefire. Syrians are meanwhile expressing hope and uncertainty for the coming year after the overthrow of longtime dictator President Bashar al-Assad.

Other celebrations around the world
In India, thousands of revelers in the financial hub of Mumbai flocked to the city's bustling promenade facing the Arabian Sea.

And in Dubai, thousands were attending a fireworks show at the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper.

Rome's traditional New Year's Eve festivities have an additional draw: the start of Pope Francis' Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration projected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to the Eternal City in 2025.

On Tuesday, Francis will celebrate a vespers at St. Peter's Basilica, followed by Mass on Wednesday, when he is expected to once again appeal for peace amid the wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Hours before Germany rings in the new year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on the country's 84 million residents to stick together despite the many global crises and wars, the country's ailing economy and a deadly Christmas market attack that shocked the nation.

"We are a country of togetherness. And we can draw strength from this — especially in difficult times like these," Scholz said in his prerecorded speech.

Paris will cap a momentous 2024 with its traditional festive countdown and fireworks extravaganza on the famed Champs-Elysées.

The Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games hosted in the French capital from July to September transformed the city into a site of joy, fraternity and astonishing sporting achievements, and marked another major milestone in its recovery from deadly extremist attacks in 2015 by al-Qaeda and ISIS.

London is due to ring in the New Year with a pyrotechnic display along the River Thames and a parade through the city center on Wednesday featuring 10,000 performers. The fireworks will explode against the backdrop of the London Eye, the massive Ferris wheel across the river from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament — assuming high winds and rough weather that was expected to be much worse farther north in the U.K. don't force a last-minute cancelation.

With a storm forecast to bring bitter weather in the north of the U.K., however, festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland — including the renowned Hogmanay Street party, garden concert and castle pyrotechnics show — were canceled in advance.

Rio de Janeiro will throw Brazil's main New Year's Eve bash on Copacabana Beach, with 10 ferries offshore bearing 12 straight minutes of fireworks. Thousands of tourists in six cruise ships will witness the show up close.

Rio's City Hall was closely guarding its plans for a display of lights and sounds. More than 2 million people are expected at the Copacabana, hoping to squeeze into concerts by superstar Brazilian artists such as pop singer Anitta and Grammy-award winner Caetano Veloso.

Times Square and around the U.S.
In 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's celebration will include musical performances by TLC, the Jonas Brothers, Rita Ora and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

The party, covering multiple blocks around the city's main tourism and theater hub, is expected to draw large crowds despite rain and chilly weather.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas will bid farewell to 2024 with old — and some new — traditions. Its annual eight-minute pyrotechnic show will be on in the Las Vegas Strip, with 340,000 people anticipated as fireworks are launched from the rooftops of nine casinos.

Nearby, the massive Sphere venue will display for the first time countdowns to midnight in different time zones.

In Pasadena, enthusiastic Rose Parade spectators were to camp out on the cold streets and ring in the new year hoping for prime spots for the iconic Southern California tradition. The parade precedes the Rose Bowl football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oregon Ducks on Jan. 1.

Thousands are to participate in a midnight 5K race following the parade route.

Some 200,000 people will flock to a party in Nashville featuring a five-hour show by some of country music's biggest stars. At midnight — an hour after New York's — a 16-feet tall music note weighing 400 pounds will drop as fireworks light the sky.

Celebrations will echo around the globe as the new year arrives in different time zones, with American Samoa among the last to welcome 2025 — a full 24 hours after New Zealand.


Fireworks light up the midnight sky over Sydney Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House during 2025 New Year's Day celebrations in Sydney, Australia, Jan. 1, 2025. SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty


Performers prepare to ring in the new year during a count down event held in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. Ng Han Guan / AP


A woman wears a 2025 headband in the main business district on New Year's Eve in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. Tatan Syuflana / AP


A Christian women prepares a Rangoli, a traditional art work of colored powder, on the eve of New Year at Our Lady of Light Shrine (Luz Church) in Chennai, India, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. Mahesh Kumar A. / AP


Pope Francis waves faithfuls after celebrating over New Year's Eve Vespers and Te Deum, in St.Peter's Square at the Vatican, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. Andrew Medichini / AP

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