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In pictures: World bids goodbye to 2025 with fireworks, light shows and icy plunges

sbs.com.au | Thursday, January 1, 2026 
In pictures: World bids goodbye to 2025 with fireworks, light shows and icy plunges

As Wednesday turned to Thursday, 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 (Christmas Island), Tonga and New Zealand. Fireworks lit up Sydney – In Australia, Sydney began 2026 with a spectacular fireworks display, as per tradition. Some 40,000 pyrotechnic effects stretched seven kilometres 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. Patrolling police carried long-arm guns — an unusual sight in Australia. Organisers held a minute’s silence for the victims of the attack at 11pm, with the Harbour Bridge lit up in white and a menorah — a symbol of Judaism — projected onto its pylons. “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,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said ahead of the event. See pictures from many parts of the world…
 

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