World

In pictures: The world rings in 2025 with fireworks, frivolity, and hopes for a better future

As billions around the world welcomed 2025 with celebrations, spectacular light shows, and midnight kisses, others entered the new year in the shadow of war and unrest.

Fireworks illuminate the skyline, with a bridge and nearby buildings, as boats sail in the foreground.

More than a million people gathered at vantage points around Sydney Harbour to watch the fireworks. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi

The world is ushering in 2025 with huge crowds waving goodbye to the year that brought Olympic glory, a dramatic Donald Trump return, and turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Sydney — the self-proclaimed "New Year's capital of the world" — sprayed nine tonnes of fireworks from the Opera House and Harbour Bridge to begin the year's farewell.

Those who snagged a harbour view were treated to a stunning front-row experience of the glittering display that, for the first time, dazzled the city from both the east and west sides of the bridge.
Composer Luna Pan debuted her 12-minute underwater-themed fireworks soundtrack at midnight, which rang out alongside skyward explosions and artificial intelligence projections.

While Sydney's fireworks display might have been the highlight, there was no shortage of pyrotechnics to ring in 2025 across the rest of Australia — and the world.
Fireworks explode out the top of buildings.
Hundreds of thousands of Melbourne partygoers were treated to a fireworks and laser spectacular. Source: Getty / Asanka Ratnayake
A spectacular pyrotechnics display lit up Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour as Asia joined in popping champagne corks and launching New Year's Eve parties.
A fireworks display lights up the sky above a harbour with boats sailing in the foreground.
Victoria Harbour was lit up for New Year celebrations in Hong Kong. Source: Getty / Anadolu
Thousands thronged the streets of Taipei to watch Taiwan's tallest skyscraper erupt in a dazzling display of fireworks.
Fireworks illuminate a skyscraper as revellers watch, with other buildings featuring screens displaying fireworks and '2025'.
The Taipei 101 skyscraper was the centre of the city's New Year celebrations. Source: AAP / Ritchie B. Tongo/EPA
Thailand welcomed 2025 with eco-friendly fireworks crafted from sticky rice, spanning 1,400 meters across the Chao Phraya River in the heart of Bangkok.
Fireworks explode among skyscrapers.
Bangkok's six-act fireworks display, enhanced with pastel and gold hues, celebrated Thai heritage. Source: Getty / Sirachai Arunrugstichai
There was hope and trepidation as the new year arrived in Syria, which is still reeling after
rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad
.

"We were hesitant to go out this year because of the security situation, but we decided to overcome our fears," lawyer Maram Ayoub, 34, told AFP from the capital, Damascus.
A woman holds a sparkler as she stands amidst a crowd, with smoke filling the sky around them.
Many Syrians flocked to the streets of Damascus to ring in the new year. Source: AAP / Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP
Dubai brought in 2025 with a stunning fireworks display at the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa.
A light show and fireworks illuminate the world's tallest building.
Thousands of revellers gathered in the United Arab Emirates' most populous city to watch an almost nine-minute-long light show featuring fireworks, lasers, and colourful displays. Source: Getty / Fadel Senna/AFP
As Gaza continues to be ravaged by war, residents say their greatest hope for the new year is to see an end to the conflict and to return to their homes — a simple dream that remains an immense challenge to achieve.

"I once had big dreams and ambitions ... this war has destroyed everything, " Deir al-Balah resident Mohammed Masri said.

"I hope we can see the light of hope for the future, to once again pursue all the good things in life, like education and research, and to break free from the devastation brought by the war."
A woman draws '2025' in the sand at a beach.
Dwindling stocks of food, shelter and medicine have made the humanitarian crisis in Gaza even bleaker, but some Palestinians remain optimistic about what the new year may bring. Source: Getty / Anadolu
Many in Sudan also voiced their hopes for peace, as the nation marked its second new year under the shadow of war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

In Ukraine, Kyiv's landmark Maidan Square (Independence Square) remained empty due to a curfew that was introduced after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnkyy remained defiant in his New Year's Eve address, acknowledging that "peace will not be given to us as a gift, but we will do everything to stop Russia and end the war".
People in traditional Ukrainian dress performing in an underground rail station.
Some Ukrainians sang Christmas carols to collect donations for the army at an underground metro station in Kyiv before curfew began at midnight. Source: Getty / Anadolu
Pro-European Georgians rang in 2025 by setting off fireworks at ongoing month-long protests against a ruling party they accuse of being under Russia's influence.
A woman holding a sign with 'We Demand New Elections' written on it.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied outside Georgia's parliament in Tbilisi, calling for fresh elections. Source: Getty / Giorgi Arjevanidze
Greece's ancient Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis had a quiet New Year's Eve with limited fireworks and a small drone display.

The mayor of Athens said this year's celebration took into account
the distress that loud fireworks cause pets and animals
.
Drones form '2025' in the sky next to an ancient temple on a hill.
Athens' new year celebrations were stripped back this year. Source: AP / Petros Giannakouris/AP
In Paris, thousands gathered on the Champs-Élysées to kick off 2025 with massive fireworks that momentarily engulfed the Arc de Triomphe monument in a fiery display.
Fireworks illuminate the sky around a monumental arch.
Fireworks illuminated the sky around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Source: Getty / Thomas Samson/AFP
As London's iconic Big Ben struck midnight, a firework extravaganza lit up the River Thames.

The festivities went ahead despite much of the United Kingdom being subjected to severe weather warnings for the coming week.
Fireworks explode near a clock tower and an observation wheel.
London welcomed 2025 with a dazzling fireworks display. Source: AAP / James Manning/PA
Edinburgh's New Year Hogmanay celebrations, where tens of thousands of revellers gather in the Scottish capital for street parties and fireworks, were cancelled due to bad weather.
People stroll along a lit cobbled street flanked by medieval buildings.
Edinburgh's famous Royal Mile is usually packed with thousands of people on New Year's Eve but was near-deserted after the cancellation of the city's Hogmanay celebrations. Source: AAP / Andy Buchanan/PA
Around a million people are expected to descend on New York's Times Square to watch the famous ball drop in person at midnight.
People wearing 2025 hats.
Organisers planned to drop 3,000 pounds of confetti on revellers in New York's Times Square. Source: AAP / Stefan Jeremiah/AP
Kiribati was the first part of the world to enter 2025, while Baker Island and Howland Island — two uninhabited territories of the United States in the Pacific Ocean — will be the last.
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4 min read
Published 1 January 2025 2:14pm
Source: AFP, AAP, Reuters, SBS

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