The first New Year’s celebrations began on Wednesday in the Pacific countries, which said goodbye to a turbulent 2025 marked by conflicts such as Gaza and the return of Donald Trump to the White House.
The year that ends was also one of the warmest ever recorded, with stifling temperatures that fueled forest fires in Europe and caused droughts in Africa and devastating rains in Southeast Asia.
Pacific nations such as Kiribati and Samoa were the first to toast 2026, followed by New Zealand, whose capital Wellington was illuminated with fireworks.
In Sydney, the self-proclaimed “New Year capital of the world”, New Year’s Eve preparations have, however, had a bitter taste.
Just two weeks ago, two men burst into a Jewish party on the popular Bondi beach and killed 15 people, the most serious massacre in the country in three decades.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators packed Sydney Harbor to watch nine tonnes of fireworks amid tight security measures.
Throughout the night, residents and tourists began to gather at the pier and sailboats spread out across the water to secure the best viewing spots near the Australian city’s iconic Opera House.
“Fireworks have always been on my bucket list and I’m very happy to be here,” said Susana Suisuikli, an English tourist. Celebrations are also looking forward to dazzling New York or the cold streets of Scotland with the Hogmanay festival.
But it will be the Brazilian beach of Copacabana that will see the largest New Year’s party on the planet with the expected arrival of 2.5 million people.
The event will feature concerts on three stages, led by the legendary Gilberto Gil, and a show with 1,200 drones, in addition to the traditional pyrotechnics show.
2025 also witnessed the global fashion of Labubu dolls, the spectacular jewel theft at the Louvre in Paris or the long-awaited return of the K-pop group BTS.
Among the personalities whose deaths impacted include the British zoologist Jane Goodall, the Argentine Pope Francis (replaced by Leo XIV, a naturalized Peruvian American) and the American far-right activist Charlie Kirk, victim of a murder that exposed deep political divisions.
The return to power of US President Trump in January also marked the international agenda, beginning with a tariff offensive that plunged markets into chaos.
«Our country is ‘hotter’ than ever. Isn’t it great to have a STRONG BORDER, no inflation, a powerful military and a great economy? “Happy New Year!” he said on Tuesday on his Truth Social platform.
After two years of war in Gaza, American pressure helped bring about a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, although residents are still trying to survive in the ruined territory.
Children warm by the fire next to a sand sculpture by artist Yazed Abo Jarad of the coming year as Displaced Palestinians prepare to usher in the New Year in Deir El-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on December 30, 2025. Beginning in October, a fragile ceasefire has so far halted two years of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip despite both sides trading accusations of truce violations. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
“We hope this nightmare will end in 2026,” said Hanaa Abu Amra, displaced in Gaza City. “The least we can ask for is a normal life: for electricity to be restored, for the streets to return to normal.”
Under Trump, Washington has also increased its military presence in the Caribbean, with numerous attacks against suspected drug trafficking vessels and blocked sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, in an unprecedented escalation with Caracas.
In addition, the Republican’s immigration raids have hit Latin America hard, where millions of people depend on remittances to overcome poverty.
“This is not the end, this is the beginning,” Pedro Gómez, a 29-year-old Mayan indigenous person, told AFP upon arriving at the airport in the Guatemalan capital on Tuesday on one of the last flights of the year with deportees from the United States.
The rest of Latin America is also preparing to celebrate the New Year.
Mexico City organizes the traditional popular festival, attended every year by hundreds of thousands of people to dance and listen to electronic music, amid concern about the economic situation.
“The hope I have is that people will come to invest, there will be sources of work, so that the health services and the services to which we pensioners have access can also be in adequate conditions,” said Enrique Flores, 61 years old.
In Argentina, the economy is worrying, but without forgetting the 2026 Soccer World Cup, which will be held simultaneously in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
“I have a lot of faith and a lot of hope that Argentina will repeat that great feat,” said Celeste Meza, 40, a cleaning employee.
In addition to sport, the next 12 months will be marked by space travel: more than 50 years after the last Apollo lunar mission, 2026 is shaping up to be the year in which humanity will once again set its sights on the Moon.
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