People around the world began toasting the end of 2025, with New Year celebrations taking on a sombre tone in Sydney as revellers held a minute silence for victims of the Bondi Beach shooting before fireworks lit up the city at the stroke of midnight.
A heavy police presence monitored the thousands who thronged to watch the show centred on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, a first for the event.
“Right now, the joy that we usually feel at the start of a new year is tempered by the sadness of the old,” Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a video message, an hour before midnight.
Pacific nations Kiribati and New Zealand were the first to see in 2026, with Seoul and Tokyo following Sydney in celebrations that will stretch to glitzy New York and the Hogmanay festival on the chilly streets of Scotland.
More than two million people are expected to pack Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach for what authorities have called the world's biggest New Year's Eve party.
Indonesia and Hong Kong hold subdued events
In Indonesia, cities scaled back festivities in solidarity with communities devastated by floods and landslides that struck parts of Sumatra island a month ago, claiming more than 1,100 lives.
The capital, Jakarta, held subdued celebrations with a programme centred on prayers for victims. Concerts and fireworks on the tourist island of Bali were replaced with a cultural event featuring traditional dances.
Hong Kong was ringing in 2026 without the usual spectacle over iconic Victoria Harbor after a fire in November killed at least 161 people. The facades of landmarks were turning into countdown clocks presenting a light show at midnight.
Temple bells rang across Japan, and some people climbed mountains to see the year's first sunrise. Others were eating noodles in a traditional wish for long life because of the noodle’s shape. In South Korea's capital, Seoul, a bell tolling was held at the Bosingak Pavilion.
Displaced Gazans hope for end to war
Palestinians in Gaza said they hope the new year brings a definitive end to the war between Israel and Hamas that has battered the enclave for two years, as negotiators push for progress into the ceasefire's challenging second phase.
“We hope that it will be a good year for our people in Palestine,” said Faraj Rasheed, noting that thousands continue to live in harsh conditions in tent camps.
Others described 2025 as a year of loss. “The war humiliated us,” said Mirvat Abed Al Aal, displaced from the southern city of Rafah.
Berliners celebrate in sn
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