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 of 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 at a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach that killed 15 people.
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.
Trump, truces and tariffs
The year began with President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, promising to bring peace to the ongoing world conflicts and to remake the global economic order.
Trump ruffled feathers early in 2025 with his ambitions over the Arctic island of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, as well as Canada and the Panama Canal. He then unleashed sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners around the world, including China, which retaliated before the world's two largest economies pulled back.
President Xi Jinping said in his New Year's address that the trend of China's national reunification was "unstoppable," renewing his vow to annex Taiwan after Beijing ended the year firing a warning to the U.S. with war games around the self-governing island.
Trump helped broker a historic ceasefire in Gaza in October, ending two years of bloodshed in the Palestinian enclave. His peace plan allowed for all but one of the Israeli hostages to be released, but the truce remains unstable, with hundreds killed in Gaza and uncertainty over each side's commitment to the complex second phase.
Trump has also claimed a role in halting numerous conflicts, including the war between Thailand and Cambodia. The ceasefire he helped to broker there has also been shaky, but the year ended with a renewed truce.
Russia and Ukraine will enter 2026 still at war, approaching four years since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
Trump promised to end the war in a day, but a deal has evaded the president despite months of intense diplomacy — including a spectacular shouting match with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, a red-carpet welcome for Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska, and a proposed peace plan that has fueled a mix of hope, dismay and uncertainty across Europe.
There will be no public New Year celebrations in Kyiv, as many Ukrainians again spend long hours in the dark under Moscow's unrelenting attacks.
Aside from the conflicts dominating the news in 2025, the world also watched American-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost become pope in May, taking the name Pope Leo XIV. He replaced Pope Francis, who died at the age of 88 in April.
The Louvre heist captured the world’s attention, and the year ends with the priceless jewels still not recovered after the daring daylight robbery. Hong Kong, meanwhile, has canceled its traditional firework display after a devastating apartment fire killed more than 160 people in the Chinese territory.
Next year will see the U.S. vote in the 2026 midterm elections, a chance for the public to signal its feelings about the second Trump administration.
The year will also bring two major sporting events — the Winter Olympics in Milan in February and the biggest-ever men’s soccer World Cup, jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico this summer.
Among the favorites for the tournament will be Brazil, which is also planning to kick off the year in style. Last year's 2.5 million-strong party on Copacabana beach, in Rio de Janeiro, was officially recognized Tuesday as the biggest New Year’s Eve celebration in the world. This year, revelers will be treated to the largest firework display ever held in Rio.
