Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display.
South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square.
The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s North Island due to forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.
Photo: AFP
Steady rain throughout the day did not deter people last night in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義).
Angelyn, a Taiwan-based Filipino factory worker, said she joined friends at Taipei 101 landmark to celebrate, wishing for greater success and health in the new year.
Leandro, an Argentine marketing professional who lives in the Philippines with his girlfriend, Allora, said they traveled to Taiwan for the festivities.
Photo: EPA
“Taiwan is so close and I’d never been to Taipei 101, so I was curious to see the tower and the fireworks,” Allora, a business owner, added.
In Australia, Sydney began the new year with a fireworks display held under an enhanced police presence, weeks after gunmen killed 15 people at a Jewish event in the city.
Sydney’s annual New Year’s Eve celebrations are known globally for their spectacular fireworks, with 40,000 pyrotechnic effects stretching 7km across buildings and barges along its harbor, including the city’s iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House.
Photo: EPA
Organizers 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 long used to symbolize 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,” Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said ahead of the event.
In Indonesia, cities scaled back New Year’s Eve festivities as a gesture of solidarity with communities devastated by catastrophic floods and landslides that struck parts of Sumatra island a month ago, claiming more than 1,100 lives.
Photo: EPA
Hong Kong, too, was to ring in 2026 without the usual spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbour, after a massive fire in November killed at least 161 people.
In Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in a New Year’s Eve address broadcast by state media hailed his country’s technological progress in areas such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors, while renewing threats against Taiwan.
China this week launched large-scale military drills around Taiwan.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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