World greets 2025 after sweltering year of Olympics, turmoil and Trump
World
Huge crowds waving goodbye to 2024 that turmoil in the middle East and Ukraine
PARIS (AFP) - The world ushered in 2025 on Tuesday, with huge crowds waving goodbye to the old year that brought Olympic glory, a dramatic Donald Trump return and turmoil in the middle East and Ukraine.
It is all but certain that 2024 will go down as the hottest year on record, with climate-fuelled disasters wreaking havoc from the plains of Europe to the Kathmandu Valley.
Sydney -- the self-proclaimed "New Year's capital of the world" -- sprayed nine tonnes of fireworks from its famed Opera House and Harbour Bridge at midnight local time (1300 GMT).
A spectacular fireworks display lit up Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour three hours later as Asia joined in popping champagne corks and launching New Year's Eve parties.
Thousands thronged the streets of Taipei to watch Taiwan's tallest skyscraper erupt in a dazzling display of fireworks, where university student Justin Chang, who studies chemistry, told AFP that he hopes to "study well and get more money" in 2025.
At the picturesque Sydney Harbour, many revellers were relieved to see the past 12 months in the rearview mirror.
"It would be nice for the world if it all sort of fixed itself," insurance worker Stuart Edwards, 32, told AFP before the pyrotechnics.
Taylor Swift brought the curtain down on her Eras tour this year, pygmy hippo Moo Deng went viral and teenage football prodigy Lamine Yamal helped Spain conquer the Euros.
The Paris Olympics united the world for a brief few weeks in July and August.
Athletes swam in the Seine, raced in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower and rode horses across the manicured lawns outside the Palace of Versailles.
ELECTION UPHEAVAL
It was a global year of elections, with countless millions going to the polls across more than 60 countries.
Vladimir Putin prevailed in a Russian ballot widely dismissed as a sham, while a student uprising toppled Bangladesh's reigning prime minister.
However, no vote was as closely watched as the November 5 contest that will soon see Trump back in the White House.
From Mexico to the Middle East, his looming return as commander-in-chief is already making waves.
The president-elect has threatened to pile economic pain on China and boasted of his ability to halt the Ukraine war within "24 hours".
A change of government is likewise afoot in Ghana, where president-elect John Mahama will be sworn in on January 7, leading many there to feel a sense of expectation for 2025.
"The peaceful transition after the election gave me hope that maybe things will improve for people like me," Kwesi Antwi, 26, an unemployed graduate, told AFP in the capital Accra amid fireworks and music.
HOPE AND TREPIDATION
Turmoil rippled across the Middle East as Bashar al-Assad fled Syria, Israel marched into southern Lebanon and doctored electronics exploded in a wave of Israeli assassinations targeting Hezbollah.
Civilians grew weary of the grinding war in Gaza, where dwindling stocks of food, shelter and medicine made a humanitarian crisis even bleaker.
"May security and safety return, and may the war finally come to an end," Wafaa Hajjaj told AFP from Deir el-Balah, where masses of displaced residents now cram into crowded tents.
There was hope and trepidation as the new year approached in Syria, which is still reeling after Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime ruler Assad.
"We were hesitant to go out this year because of the security situation, but we decided to overcome our fears," lawyer Maram Ayoub, 34, told AFP from the capital Damascus.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine inches towards its three-year anniversary in February.
Outgunned on its eastern flank, Ukraine must now contend with a Trump administration seemingly intent on winding back crucial military aid.
In his New Year's Eve address, Putin did not explicitly mention the war but praised the "courage and bravery" of Russia's soldiers.
On the streets of Kyiv, teacher Kateryna Chemeryz wanted "peace to finally be obtained for Ukraine".
COMEBACKS, FOOTBALL, FESTIVALS
With AI advances on the horizon and rampant inflation tipped to slow, there is plenty 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.
Football aficionados will discover a revamped 32-team Club World Cup hosted by the United States in an already crowded Calendar.
And about 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 weather service has already forecast sweltering global temperatures for 2025, suggesting it is likely to rank among the hottest years recorded.
Yet forecasts of typically Scottish bad weather forced the cancellation of Edinburgh's Hogmanay street party, a major tourist draw which was expected to attract 50,000 people.
"It's a really difficult decision that has to be made," Hogmanay co-director Al Thompson told AFP. "Nobody wants to be in this position."
There was unlikely going to be much fanfare either in France's Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, where Cyclone Chido devastated the country's poorest department in mid-December, killing at least 39 people.
"We have children who have been traumatised by Cyclone Chido, so we haven't made any plans for tonight," said Nouria Rama, 45, who works at the island's education board.
In northern France, hardy souls donned traditional bathing suits to brave the cold waters of the English Channel in the traditional last swim of the year.
Meanwhile, in wintry northern Japan, heavy snowfall stranded some travellers in airport departure lounges, as flights were scrapped.
With electric vehicle sales growing and renewable energy on the rise, there is a shred of hope that glacial progress on climate change may finally gain momentum in 2025.
On the stock front, Wall Street and Europe's major indexes rang out the year with solid gains, as investors' eyes turned to the impact Trump's policies will have on the world economy.
