Crowds will marvel at fireworks and champagne toasts to welcome 2025 on Tuesday, bidding farewell to a year that brought Olympic glory, a dramatic return of Donald Trump and turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine.
2024 is certain to be the hottest year on record, with climate disasters wreaking havoc from the plains of Europe to the Kathmandu Valley.
As New Year’s Eve parties kicked off along Sydney’s picturesque harbor in Australia on Tuesday afternoon, many revelers were relieved to see the last 12 months in the mirror.
“It would be nice for the world if everything was fixed, sorted out,” said 32-year-old insurance worker Stuart Edwards. AFP.
The self-proclaimed ‘New Year’s Eve capital of the world’ will spray nine tonnes of fireworks from the famous Opera House and Harbor Bridge at midnight.
“Just to see all the beautiful colors and enjoy being in this situation with so many people in beautiful Australia,” said retired nurse Ruth Rowse, 71.
Taylor Swift brought down the curtain on this year’s Eras tour, Mo Deng the pygmy hippo went viral and soccer prodigy Lamine Yamal helped Spain win the Euros.
The Paris Olympics brought the world together for a few weeks in July and August.
Athletes swam the Seine, ran in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower and rode horses across the manicured lawns outside the Palace of Versailles.
Electoral upheaval
It was a global election year, with countless millions heading to the polls in more than 60 countries.
Vladimir Putin prevailed in a Russian ballot widely dismissed as fraudulent, while a student uprising in Bangladesh ousted the ruling prime minister.
But no vote has been as closely watched as the Nov. 5 contest that will soon see Trump back in the White House.
From Mexico to the Middle East, his impending return as commander-in-chief is already making waves.
The president-elect has threatened to heap economic pain on China and boasted of his ability to end the war in Ukraine within “24 hours.”
Hope and terror
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is approaching its three-year anniversary in February.
Destroyed on its eastern flank, Ukraine must now face a Trump administration that appears intent on cutting critical military aid.
On the streets of Kyiv, teacher Kateryna Chemeryz wanted “finally to achieve peace for Ukraine.”
Returns, football, festivals
With advances in artificial intelligence on the horizon and rampant inflation slowing, there is much to look forward to in 2025.
Britpop bad boys Oasis will make a long-awaited reunion, while K-pop megastars BTS return to the stage after military service in South Korea.
Soccer fans will be treated to a revamped 32-team Club World Cup hosted by the United States.
And some 400 million pilgrims are expected at the spectacular Kumbh Mela festival on India’s sacred riverbanks — billed as the largest gathering of humanity on the planet.
The UK Met Office has already forecast high global temperatures for 2025, suggesting it is likely to rank among the hottest years on record.
Meanwhile, in wintry northern Japan, heavy snowfall meant some passengers at Hokkaido’s main airport may see 2025 in the departure lounge.
“It was great to see snow, but I didn’t think I’d be trapped here,” one man told a local TV station HTB as flights were cancelled.
“I might have to stay at the airport tonight.”
With electric vehicle sales increasing and renewable energy on the rise, there is a glimmer of hope that glacial progress on climate change may finally gain momentum in 2025.
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