From Sydney to Vladivostok to Mumbai, communities around the world have begun welcoming 2025 with spectacular light shows, embraces and exciting live performances.
Auckland became the first major city to celebrate as 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.
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.
Conflict muted acknowledgements of the new year in places like the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine.
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.
Stores in Japan, which observes the zodiac cycle from January 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 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.
A performance by popular rap singer Lisa, the Thai member of the South Korean girl group Blackpink, was scheduled just before midnight.
A fireworks display in Indonesia’s Jakarta featured 800 drones.
Mr Xi told Mr Putin that their countries would “always move forward hand-in-hand”, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
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 Mr Putin.
In his address to the nation, Mr Putin said Russia has “set big goals for ourselves and achieved them, and we overcame difficulties more than once because we were together”.
In India, thousands of revellers in the financial hub of Mumbai flocked to the city’s bustling promenade facing the Arabian Sea.
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.
Francis celebrated vespers at St Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday evening and will hold Mass on Wednesday when he is expected to again appeal for peace amid wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
More than 1.2 million out of 1.47 million customers were without power, according to Luma Energy, a private company that oversees electricity transmission and distribution on the island.
It was not immediately clear what caused the widespread outage or when power would be restored.
