Revelers around the world yesterday toasted the start of the new year, bidding farewell to a volatile year when temperatures soared, US President Donald Trump upended global trade and the brutal conflict in Ukraine raged on.
While a fragile truce took hold in devastated Gaza, violence in Sudan continued unabated. A new American pope was installed at the Vatican, the world lost pioneering zoologist Jane Goodall and Labubu dolls sparked a worldwide frenzy.
In Sydney, partygoers paused for a minute of silence to remember the victims of the mass shooting on Bondi Beach before fireworks lit up the skies at the stroke of midnight.
Photo: Reuters
Heavily armed police patrolled the shoreline, packed with hundreds of thousands of people, barely two weeks after 15 people were gunned down at a Jewish festival in Australia’s deadliest mass shooting for almost 30 years.
The famed Sydney Harbour Bridge was bathed in white light to symbolize peace.
Pacific nations including Kiribati and New Zealand were the first to see in the new year, with Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo following Sydney in celebrations that made their way around the globe with each passing hour.
Photo: Reuters
In Hong Kong, a major New Year Eve’s fireworks display was canceled in homage to 161 people killed in a fire in November last year that engulfed several apartment blocks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country was “10 percent” away from a deal to end the fighting with Russia, soon to reach the four-year mark.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin used his traditional New Year address to urge his compatriots to believe that Moscow would deliver a victory in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
Photo: Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un praised North Korea’s “invincible alliance” with Russia, where Pyongyang has sent troops to assist Moscow.
In Vyshgorod, Ukraine, beauty salon manager Daria Lushchyk said the war had made her work “hell,” but that her clients were still showing up.
“Nothing can stop our Ukrainian girls from coming in and getting themselves glam,” Lushchyk said.
Last year brought a mix of stress and excitement for many, war for others still — and a daring jewel heist at the Louvre.
Pop megastar Taylor Swift got engaged to her American football player boyfriend Travis Kelce, and K-pop heartthrobs BTS made their long-awaited return.
Trump returned as US president in January last year, launching a tariff blitz that sent global trade and world stock markets into meltdown.
After two years of war that left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, pressure from Trump helped land a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October last year — although both sides have accused each other of flagrant violations.
“We bid farewell to 2025 with deep sorrow and grief,” Gaza City resident Shireen Al-Kayali said. “We lost a lot of people and our possessions. We lived a difficult and harsh life, displaced from one city to another, under bombardment and in terror.”
In contrast, there was optimism, despite abiding internal challenges, in Syria, where residents of the capital, Damascus, celebrated a full year since the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
“There is no fear, the people are happy, all of Syria is one and united, and God willing ... it will be a good year for the people and the wise leadership,” marketing manager Sahar al-Said, 33, said as bells rang in Damascus.
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