NEW YORK (AP) — From Sydney to Paris to New York City, crowds are lining up New Year with exuberant celebrations filled with thunderous fireworks or light shows, while others took a more subdued approach.
As the clock struck midnight in Japan, temple bells rang and some climbed mountains to catch the first sunrise of the year, while a light show glittered with somersaults on jet skis in Dubai. The countdown to 2026 was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, while people celebrated in the snow in Moscow.
In New York’s Times Square, revelers braved freezing temperatures to celebrate the famous New Year’s Eve ball.
In Rio de Janeiro, crowds filled more than 4 kilometers (2 1/2 miles) of the city’s Copacabana beach for concerts and a 12-minute fireworks display, despite high tide and large waves rocking fireworks boats.
Other events were more subdued. Hong Kong held limited celebrations after a recent apartment complex fire that killed 161 people. Australia welcomed the new year in defiance less than a month after the worst mass shooting in almost 30 years.
The disaster happened in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana, where fire in the bar killed several people in the early hours of the new year.
New York ball drop
Crowds gathered against the chilly temperatures cheered and hugged as a New Year’s Eve ball covered in more than 5,000 crystals descended the pole and confetti fell in Times Square.
Admirers in tall celebratory hats and light-up necklaces waited for hours to watch the 12,350-pound (5,602-kilogram) ball descend. The celebrations also included the Tones and I playing John Lennon’s “Imagine” just before midnight.
Television hosts interviewed visitors who attended from such places as Florida, Mexico and South Korea and read their New Year’s wishes. The sixth grader from Dallas, Texas told one of the hosts that he wants to get good grades and have a better year in 2026.
Police in the city have planned further anti-terror measures to drop the ball with “mobile investigation teams”. According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, this was not a response to a specific threat.
A moment after the ball fell, it rose again, sparkling in red, white, and blue, to signify that the country’s upcoming 250th birthday.
A few kilometers away in a disused subway station, Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor during a private event just after midnight Thursday.
Greater security in Sydney
A heavy police presence monitored crowds watching Sydney’s fireworks. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, a first for the event, after two gunmen aimed at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on 14 December, killed 15
An hour before midnight, a minute’s silence was observed for the victims and the crowd was invited to show solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns urged residents not to hold back the festivities, saying extremists would interpret the smaller crowds as a victory: “We need to show our defiance of this terrible crime.”
Shadows of wars and disasters
Indonesia has scaled back celebrations in solidarity with the communities it has devastated floods and landslides in parts of Sumatra a month ago that killed over 1,100. Fireworks on the tourist island of Bali replaced traditional dances.
Hong Kong rang in 2026 no fireworks over Victoria Harbor Mon massive fire in November. The facades of the monuments turned into a countdown clock and light show at midnight.
And in Gaza, Palestinians said they hoped the new year would bring an end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“The war has humiliated us,” said Mirvat Abed Al-Aal, displaced from the southern city of Rafah.
Around Europe
Pope Leo XIV he closed the year with a plea that the city of Rome welcome the stranger and the fragile. Fireworks burst over European landmarks, from the Colosseum in Rome to the London Eye.
In Paris, revelers gathered around the glittering Champs-Élysées. Taissiya Girda, a 27-year-old tourist from Kazakhstan, expressed hope for a calmer 2026.
“I would like to see happy people around me, no war anywhere,” she said. “Russia, Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, I want everyone to be happy and at peace.”
In Scotland, where the New Year is known as Hogmanay, Prime Minister John Swinney urged Scots to follow the message of national poet Robert Burns’ “Auld Lang Syne” and show small acts of kindness.
Greece and Cyprus turned down the volumereplacing traditional fireworks with low-noise pyrotechnics in capital cities. Officials said the goal of the change was to make the celebrations more pleasant for children and pets.
A fire that tore through a bar in Crans-Montana at 1:30 a.m. left a heavy toll, according to police, who gave no exact death toll but scheduled a news conference for later in the morning.
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Ted Shaffrey and Hallie Golden of the Associated Press. Golden was reporting from Seattle. Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.
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