WELLINGTON (AP) – Cities around the world rang in the New Year with celebrations highlighting local cultures and traditions, after a year roiled by ongoing conflict and political instability.
Countries in the South Pacific Ocean was the first to welcome 2025, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball drop in Times Square in New York.
In New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, thousands thronged the downtown or climb the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point – and a light display recognising Auckland’s Indigenous tribes. It follows a year marked by protests over Māori rights in the nation of five million.
Two hours later in Australia, more than one million people gathered at Sydney Harbour for the traditional fireworks. British pop star Robbie Williams led a singalong and Indigenous ceremonies and performances will acknowledge the land’s first people.
ASIA GETS READY FOR THE YEAR OF THE SNAKE
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.
The 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 today, 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 South Korea, celebrations were cut back or cancelled as the country observes a period of national mourning following the Sunday crash of a Jeju Air flight at Muan that killed 179 people.
WEST’S RIVALS EXCHANGE GOODWILL
Chinese state media covered an exchange of New Year’s greetings between leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Xi told Putin that their countries will “always move forward hand in hand”, the official Xinhua News Agency said yesterday.
PARIS RECAPTURES THE OLYMPIC SPIRIT
Paris capped 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 Iextremist attacks in 2015.
BRITONS BRAVE WINTRY WEATHER
London rang in the New Year with a pyrotechnic display along the River Thames and a parade through the city centre featuring 10,000 performers.
The fireworks exploded against the backdrop of the London Eye, the massive Ferris wheel across the river from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
With a storm bringing bitter weather to other parts of the United Kingdom (UK), however, festivities in Edinburgh, Scotland – including the Hogmanay Street party, garden concert and castle pyrotechnics show – were already cancelled.
TWO MILLION REVELLERS IN RIO
Rio de Janeiro threw 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 witnessed the show up close.
Rio’s City Hall was closely guarding its plans for a display of lights and sounds. More than two million people gathered at the Copacabana, hoping to squeeze in to concerts by superstar Brazilian artistes such as pop singer Anitta and Grammy-award winner Caetano Veloso.
AMERICAN TRADITIONS OLD AND NEW
In New York City, the organisation 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 included musical performances by TLC, Jonas Brothers, Rita Ora and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
The party, covering multiple blocks around the city’s main tourism and theatre hub, drew large crowds despite rain and chilly weather.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas bade farewell to 2024 with old – and some new – traditions. Its annual eight-minute pyrotechnic show went on in the Las Vegas Strip, with 340,000 people gathered as fireworks were launched from the rooftops of nine casinos.
Nearby, the massive Sphere venue displayed for the first time countdowns to midnight in different time zones.
COUNTRY MUSIC, FOOTBALL AND A MIDNIGHT RACE
In Pasadena, enthusiastic Rose Parade spectators camped out on the cold streets and rang in the New Year at prime spots for the iconic Southern California tradition. The parade preceded the Rose Bowl football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oregon Ducks today.
Thousands participated in a midnight 5K race following the parade route.
Some 200,000 people flocked to a party in Nashville, Tennessee, 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 dropped as fireworks lit the sky.
Celebrations echoed 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. – Charlotte Graham-McLay
