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Auckland The 2026 New Year has been ringing in with a city center fireworks display blasting off from New Zealand’s tallest building, the Sky Tower, making it the first major city to celebrate the New Year amid heavy rain.
South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. In Oakland, a city of 1.7 million people, the clock struck midnight, 18 hours before the famous ball dropped in New York’s Times Square.
The five-minute fireworks show features 3,500 fireworks fired from various floors of the 240-meter (787-foot) Sky Tower. Small community events were canceled on New Zealand’s North Island on Wednesday due to forecast rain and thunderstorms.
Australia Defiance celebrations planned after country’s worst mass shooting
Australia’s east coast welcomes 2026 two hours later than New Zealand, but SydneyCelebrations in Australia’s largest city will take place in the shadow of Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years. On December 14, two gunmen attacked a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people and injuring 40 others.
On Wednesday, a heavy police presence monitored thousands of people who flocked to the city’s city waterfront to watch a fireworks display centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, a first for the annual event.
An hour before midnight, a minute’s silence will be observed for the victims of the Holocaust, while images of menorahs will be projected on the bridge towers. Crowds were invited to show their solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community by shining mobile phone flashlights over the harbour.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns urged Sydney residents not to stay away out of fear, saying extremists would see smaller crowds at New Year’s Eve celebrations as a victory.
“We cannot allow this horrific criminal horror to change the way we live our lives in our beautiful city,” Mings told reporters Wednesday.
He added: “In the face of this horrific crime, we must show defiance and say we will not be intimidated by this kind of terrorism.”
Indonesia and Hongkong Keep the event low-key
In Indonesia, one of Australia’s closest neighbors, cities have scaled back New Year’s Eve celebrations to show solidarity with communities devastated by catastrophic floods and landslides that killed more than 1,100 people in parts of Sumatra a month ago.
Pramono Anung, the governor of the capital Jakarta, said last week that there would be no usual fanfare in 2026, instead opting for low-key celebrations with calm and reflective prayers for the victims.
Makassar Mayor Munafri Arifuddin urged residents of one of Indonesia’s largest cities to abandon gatherings altogether and instead engage in prayer and reflection. “Empathy and restraint mean more than fireworks and crowds,” he said.
Concerts and fireworks displays on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali have been canceled and replaced with a cultural arts event featuring 65 groups performing traditional dances.
In 2026, Hong Kong will also be free of the spectacular and colorful explosions that were common over iconic Victoria Harbor after a fire in November killed at least 161 people.
The city’s Tourism Bureau will host a musical performance featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in the Central business district. The facades of eight landmark buildings will be transformed into giant countdown clocks, with a three-minute light show at midnight.
Many parts of Asia welcome the New Year by following ancient traditions.
In Japan, crowds will gather at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo to await the stroke of midnight. In Seoul, the capital of South Korea, a bell-ringing countdown ceremony will be held at Bosingak Pavilion.
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Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.