New Year celebrations: World ends 2025, welcomes 2026 with fireworks and fragile truces

The world is waving goodbye to 2025 and ringing in 2026 with fireworks from Auckland and Sydney to London and New York.

The world has begun to close out 2025, toasting the end of a year that brought an American pope, precarious peace talks in several parts of the globe and a U.S. president whose impact was felt worldwide.

The island nation of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean was the first to ring in 2026 at 5 a.m. ET, closely followed by the first major city, Auckland, New Zealand.

Sydney, considered the New Year capital of the world, held a colorful if more subdued celebration in the wake of the terrorist attack that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach.

Security was tight, and, before the traditional midnight fireworks, the iconic Harbor Bridge was illuminated in white as a symbol of peace and unity while the Australian city paused for a moment of silence for the victims.

New Year's Day began in Qatar when it was just 4 p.m. in New York City, and midnight struck in Mumbai, India, at 1:30 p.m. ET.