On the other side of the world, 2026 has already arrived. The countries of the South Pacific will be the first to ring in the new year, and midnight struck in New Zealand a full 18 hours before the ball was supposed to drop. Times Square in New York.

New Zealanders in Auckland welcomed 2026 with fireworks from the country’s tallest building, the Sky Tower, in a celebration that drew thousands of people despite the rain.

The five-minute pyrotechnic display included 3,500 fireworks fired from different floors of the 787-foot-tall tower. Small social events were canceled on Wednesday in New Zealand’s North Island due to bad weather.

Australia’s east coast welcomed 2026 just two hours later, but in Sydney, the country’s largest city, the celebration took place under the backdrop of Australia’s worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years. Two gunmen attacked a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, killing 15 people in what authorities said Anti-Semitic terrorist attack inspired by ISIS.

Officials said more than 2,500 officers would be on hand to patrol the area around Sydney’s iconic harbour, the epicenter of New Year’s celebrations. Many had to openly carry automatic rifles, something rarely seen in Sydney.

Thousands of people gathered on the waterfront to watch the fireworks centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

An hour before midnight, a minute’s silence was held to honor the victims of the massacre, while menorah images were projected onto the pylons of the bridge. Those gathered were invited to show solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community by lighting up the harbor with their telephone torches.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has urged Sydneysiders not to stay away out of fear, saying extremists will interpret fewer crowds at New Year’s celebrations as a victory.

“We cannot be in a situation where this horrible, criminal, terrorist event is going to change the way we live in our beautiful city,” Minns told reporters Wednesday. “We must show defiance in the face of this horrific crime and say that we will not bow down to this type of terrorism.”

In Indonesia, one of Australia’s closest neighbours, cities scaled back New Year’s celebrations as a gesture of solidarity with devastated communities. catastrophic floods and landslides which hit parts of the island of Sumatra a month ago, claiming more than 1,100 lives.

The capital, Jakarta, will not ring the bell with the usual fanfare in 2026, instead opting for subdued celebrations with a calm and thoughtful program centered on prayers for the victims, the city’s governor, Pramono Anung, said last week. Concerts and fireworks on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali have been canceled and replaced by a cultural and artistic event featuring 65 groups performing traditional dances.

And Hong Kong was to ring in 2026 without the usual spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky above its iconic Victoria Harbour, after a massive a fire engulfed a residential complex in November and killed at least 161 people.

Instead, the city’s tourism board hosted a music show featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, the business district. The facades of eight landmarks were to be transformed into huge countdown clocks that will present a three-minute light show at midnight.

Many parts of Asia welcome the new year by respecting ancient traditions.

In Japan, crowds will gather at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo for a bell that will strike midnight. In the South Korean capital of Seoul, the ringing and countdown ceremony will take place at the Bosingak Pavilion.

In a New Year’s address carried by state media, Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed his country’s technological advances in areas such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors as it rebuilds threats to Taiwanwhich it claims is part of its sovereign territory.

“We Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a blood and kinship bond,” he said.

“The reunification of our motherland, the trend of the times, is unstoppable,” Xi said, as his country’s military announced the conclusion large military exercises around Taiwan which the leadership of the democratically organized island condemned as “very provocative and thoughtless”.

While most of the United States was probably still asleep, preparations were well underway for celebrations in major cities and towns across the country – including New Orleanswhere a New Year’s terrorist attack left 14 people dead a year ago.

The deployment of the National Guard authorized by President Trump began Tuesday as part of a heavy security presence for New Year’s Eve celebrations in the “Big Easy,” one year after the attack that targeted revelers in the early hours of Jan. 1, 2025, on Bourbon Street.