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.
Many also climbed the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point, as well as a light display recognising Auckland’s Indigenous tribes. It follows a year marked by protests over Maori rights in the nation of five million.
Countries in the South Pacific Ocean are the…