The world welcomes 2025 with light shows, embraces and ice plunges
Revelers wear hats and ponchos as they dance in the rain during the annual New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
| January 1, 2025 11:00 AM
NEW YORK (AP) — From Sydney to Mumbai to Paris to Rio de Janeiro, communities around the world welcomed 2025 with spectacular light shows, embraces and ice plunges.
The New Year's Eve ball dropped in soggy Times Square, where thousands of revelers stuck it out in heavy rain to celebrate the start of 2025 in New York City.
Countries in the South Pacific Ocean were the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball dropped in Times Square. Auckland was the first major city to celebrate, with thousands thronging downtown or climbing the city's ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point.
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