The world ushered in 2025 on Tuesday, with huge crowds waving goodbye to the old year that brought Olympic glory, a dramatic Donald Trump return and turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine.
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The 9pm fireworks are seen during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday. AP
From Sydney to Vladivostok, communities worldwide are ushering in 2025 with dazzling light displays, warm embraces, and icy plunges.
Auckland kicked off the celebrations as the first major city to welcome the New Year, drawing thousands to the downtown area and the city’s volcanic peaks for optimal views of the fireworks. A special light show also honored Indigenous peoples, The Associated Press reported.
The South Pacific nations were among the first to celebrate, with midnight in New Zealand arriving 18 hours before the iconic ball drop in Times Square, New York.
In contrast, conflict overshadowed New Year’s celebrations in regions like the Middle East, Sudan, and Ukraine.
Sydney, often dubbed the “New Year’s capital of the world,” illuminated the night sky with nine tonnes of fireworks launched from the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge at midnight local time (1300 GMT).
“Just to see all the beautiful colours and enjoy being in this situation with so many people in wonderful Australia,” AFP quoted 71-year-old retired nurse Ruth Rowse as saying ahead of the display.
As champagne corks popped and New Year’s Eve parties kicked into gear along picturesque Sydney Harbour, many revellers were relieved to see the past 12 months in the rearview mirror.
“It would be nice for the world if it all sort of fixed itself, sorted itself out,” insurance worker Stuart Edwards, 32, told AFP before the fireworks.
Taylor Swift brought the curtain down on her Eras tour this year, pygmy hippo Moo Deng went viral and teenage football prodigy Lamine Yamal helped Spain conquer the Euros.
The Paris Olympics united the world for a brief few weeks in July and August.
Athletes swam in the Seine, raced in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower and rode horses across the manicured lawns outside the Palace of Versailles.
Election upheaval
It was a global year of elections, with countless millions going to the polls across more than 60 countries.
Vladimir Putin prevailed in a Russian ballot widely dismissed as a sham, while a student uprising toppled Bangladesh’s reigning prime minister.
However, no vote was as closely watched as the November 5 contest that will soon see Trump back in the White House.
From Mexico to the Middle East, his looming return as commander-in-chief is already making waves.
The president-elect has threatened to pile economic pain on China and boasted of his ability to halt the Ukraine war within “24 hours”.
Hope and trepidation
Turmoil rippled across the Middle East as Bashar al-Assad fled Syria, Israel marched into southern Lebanon and doctored electronics exploded in a wave of Israeli assassinations targeting Hezbollah.
Civilians grew weary of the grinding war in Gaza, where dwindling stocks of food, shelter and medicine made a humanitarian crisis even bleaker.
“I lost many loved ones, including my father and close friends, starting from the beginning of the year,” Wafaa Hajjaj told AFP from Deir el-Balah, where masses of displaced residents now cram into crowded tents.
“May security and safety return, and