NEW YORK -- From Sydney to Mumbai to Nairobi, communities around the world welcomed 2025 with spectacular light shows, embraces, and ice plunges.
The New Year's Eve ball dropped in soggy Times Square, where thousands of revelers stuck it out in heavy rain to celebrate the start of 2025 in New York City.
Auckland became the first major city to celebrate, as thousands thronged downtown or climbed the city's ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point.
Countries in the South Pacific Ocean were the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball drop in Times Square.
Conflict muted acknowledgements of the start of 2025 in places such as the Middle East, Sudan, and Ukraine.
Asia Celebrations
Fireworks blasted off the Sydney Harbor Bridge and across the bay. More than a million Australians and others gathered at iconic Sydney Harbor for the celebration. British pop star Robbie Williams led a singalong with the crowd.
The celebration also featured Indigenous ceremonies and performances that acknowledged the land's first people.
Much of Japan shut down ahead of the nation's biggest holiday, as temples and homes underwent a thorough cleaning.
European Festivities
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.
Paris capped a momentous 2024 with its traditional countdown and fireworks extravaganza on the Champs-Elysées. The city's emblematic Arc de Triomphe monument was turned into a giant tableau for a light show that celebrated the city's landmarks and the passage of time, with whirring clocks.
Celebrating in the Americas
Rio de Janeiro threw Brazil's main New Year's Eve bash on Copacabana Beach, with barges shooting off 12 straight minutes of fireworks. Thousands of tourists in cruise ships and charter boats dropped anchor to witness the show up close, while many streamed onto the sand to find their spot.
In New York City, crowds cheered and couples kissed when the crystal-covered ball weighing almost 6 tons and featuring 2,688 crystal triangles descended down a pole in Times Square. The celebration also included musical performances by TLC and Jonas Brothers.
