Overview
- Sydney staged its signature harbour fireworks after a 11 p.m. minute of silence for Bondi victims, with roughly 3,000 police deployed and long-arm firearms visible for the first time.
- Hong Kong cancelled its Victoria Harbour fireworks to honor about 161 people killed in a November apartment fire, while Indonesian cities scaled back events after deadly Sumatra floods.
- New York prepared the Times Square ball drop with added antiterrorism steps, including mobile screening teams, which the NYPD said were not tied to a specific threat.
- Major spectacles went ahead elsewhere, including Dubai’s Burj Khalifa fireworks and laser show and Rio’s Copacabana celebration expected to draw more than two million people.
- Leaders used year-end messages to frame ongoing conflicts, with Vladimir Putin praising Russian forces and Volodymyr Zelensky saying Ukraine was “10 percent” from a deal to end the fighting.