South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks strike midnight in Auckland, a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball drops in New York’s Times Square.
The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from various floors of the 240-meter (787-foot) Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s North Island on Wednesday due to forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.
In Australia, the welcoming of the new year comes amid a backdrop of continued national mourning over the massacre of more than 15 Jews during a Hanukak celebration at Bondi Beach a few weeks ago.
A heavy police presence monitored the thousands who thronged to the downtown waterfront on Wednesday to watch a fireworks show centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, in a first for the annual event.
An hour before midnight, the massacre victims were commemorated with one minute of silence while images of a menorah were projected on the bridge pylons. The crowd was been invited to show their solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community by shining their phone torches across the harbor.
