People around the world said goodbye to a sometimes challenging 2025 and expressed hopes for the new year to come. Midnight arrived first on the islands closest to the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean, including Kiritimati, Tonga and New Zealand.
In Australia, Sydney began 2026 with a spectacular fireworks display, as per tradition. Some 40,000 pyrotechnic effects stretched 7 km (over 4 miles) across buildings and barges along its harbour and featured a waterfall effect from the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
This year, it was held under an enhanced police presence, weeks after gunmen killed 15 people at a Jewish event in the city.
"After a tragic end to the year for our city, we hope that New Year's Eve will provide an opportunity to come together and look with hope for a peaceful and happy 2026," Sydney's Lord Mayor Clover Moore said ahead of the event.
In Seoul, thousands gathered at the Bosingak bell pavilion, where a bronze bell was struck 33 times at midnight - a tradition rooted in Buddhist cosmology, symbolising the 33 heavens.
DRUMS AT THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
An hour to the west, there were celebrations and a drum performance at the Juyong Pass, at the Great Wall of China just outside Beijing.
Revellers wore headgear and waved boards emblazoned with "2026" and the symbol of a horse. February will mark the arrival of the Year of the Horse on the Chinese lunar calendar.
In Hong Kong, the annual New Year's fireworks display was called off after the apartment complex blaze in November that killed 161 people. Instead, a light show with the theme of 'New hopes, new beginnings' transformed facades in the Central district.
In Croatia, revels got off to an early start. Since 2000, the town of Fuzine has held its countdown at noon, a tradition that has since spread across the country.
Crowds cheered, toasted each other with champagne and danced to music - all in the middle of the day. Some brave souls in Santa hats took a plunge into the icy waters of Lake Bajer.
Elsewhere, preparations got under way for the more traditional midnight toast. In subzero temperatures in New York, organisers began putting up security barriers and stages ahead of the crowds that will flock to Times Square for the annual ball drop.
Similarly, on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro - albeit with warmer weather - staging was being set up for a massive music and fireworks party known as "Reveillon."
Organisers were hoping to beat their 2024 Guinness World Record for the biggest New Year's Eve celebration.
Greece's ancient Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis had a quiet New Year. The mayor of Athens said silent, environmentally friendly fireworks were used, citing distress caused by loud displays to pets, animals and some people.
In snowy Kyiv and Moscow, both Ukrainians and Russians saw in the new year, expressing hopes of peace after nearly four years of conflict.
"I wish for the war to end, I think that this is the main and most important topic for our country," said a woman in central Moscow who gave her name only as Larisa and said she had traveled from distant Altai Krai to see the Russian capital in the winter holidays with her family.
Many Ukrainians lamented that peace still seemed a distant prospect.
Israeli forces have maintained a tight closure on Hebron in the occupied West Bank for a second day, with Palestinian media reporting home raids, m...
Around 11,000 people joined a demonstration in Orléans on Saturday against the National Rally congress, according to the local prefecture....
German police have detained a suspect after a major fire broke out at the historic Kehlsteinhaus, known as the “Eagle’s Nest&rdqu...
Israeli military bulldozers have begun demolishing buildings in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, 23 October, following armed clashes with Palestinians that left two Israeli soldiers dead, according to the Israeli military.
Around 11,000 people joined a demonstration in Orléans on Saturday against the National Rally congress, according to the local prefecture.
Typhoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday, leaving one person dead and more than 500 injured as strong winds and torrential rain brought down trees, cut power and disrupted transport across the island.
A powerful magnitude 7 earthquake has struck Tibet in southwestern China, killing 16 people and injuring 65, while forcing more than 12,000 residents to relocate as rescue teams respond to widespread aftershocks.
Missile and drone attacks have put Saudi Arabia on high alert, disrupting life in Riyadh and testing a new defence pact with Türkiye and Pakistan as regional tensions escalate.
Around 11,000 people joined a demonstration in Orléans on Saturday against the National Rally congress, according to the local prefecture.
German police have detained a suspect after a major fire broke out at the historic Kehlsteinhaus, known as the “Eagle’s Nest”, a mountain retreat once used by senior Nazi officials, including Adolf Hitler.
Typhoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday, leaving one person dead and more than 500 injured as strong winds and torrential rain brought down trees, cut power and disrupted transport across the island.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday dismissed accusations that Canada planned to interfere in next month’s U.S. midterm elections, saying he was disappointed by comments from the American ambassador.
Kenya has recorded a second death from Ebola, the health ministry said late on Friday, as the outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to spread across Africa.
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