The world has begun to close out 2025, toasting the end of a year that brought anAmerican pope, precariouspeace talksand a president whose impact was felt across the globe.
The island nation of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean was the first to ring in 2026 at 5 a.m. ET, with celebrations planned in major cities — from Beijing to New York — throughout the day.
Sydney, considered the New Year capital of the world, will hold a defiant if more subdued celebration in the wake of theterrorist attackat a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach that killed 15 people.
Security will be tight, and before the traditional midnight fireworks the iconic Harbor Bridge will be illuminated in white as a symbol of peace and unity. The Australian city will also pause 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 make peace and remake the global economic order.
Trump ruffled feathers early in 2025 with his ambitions over the Arctic island ofGreenland, 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 on China, whichretaliatedbefore the world's two largest economies pulled back.
Trump helped broker ahistoric ceasefire in Gazain October, ending two years of bloodshed in the Palestinian enclave. His peace plan has seen all but one of the Israeli hostages released, but the truce remains unstable with hundreds killed in Gaza and uncertainty over each side's commitment to thecomplex second phase.
Trump has also claimed a role in halting numerous conflicts, including thewar between Thailand and Cambodia. The ceasefire he helped to broker there has also been shaky, but the year ended with arenewed truce.
Russia and Ukraine will enter 2026 still at war, approaching four years since theKremlin'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 aspectacular shouting matchwith Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, ared-carpet welcomefor Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska, and aproposed peace planthat 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 watchedAmerican-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevostbecome the next pope in May, taking the name Pope Leo XIV. He replacedPope Francis, who died at the age of 88 in April.
TheLouvre heistcaptured 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 adevastating apartment firekilled 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 Milanin February and the biggest-ever men's soccerWorld Cup, jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico this summer.