Asia rings in 2026 with Sydney remembering its worst mass shooting

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Auckland was the first major city to ring in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, followed by a defiant celebration in Australia in the aftermath of its worst mass shooting.

South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025.

Clocks stuck midnight in Auckland, a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball drops in New York’s Times Square.

The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from various floors of the 240-meter (787-foot) Sky Tower. Smaller community events were cancelled across New Zealand’s North Island on Wednesday due to forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.

Australia’s east coast welcomed 2026 two hours after New Zealand, but in Sydney, the country’s largest city, celebrations were held under the pall of Australia’s worst mass shooting in almost 30 years.

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Two gunmen targeted a Hannukah celebration at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, killing 15 and wounding 40.

A heavy police presence monitored the thousands who thronged to the downtown waterfront on Wednesday to watch a dazzling fireworks show centred on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, in a first for the annual event.

An hour before midnight, the massacre victims were commemorated with one minute of silence as people held lit-up candles and switched on their phone flashlights while images of a menorah were projected on the bridge pylons. The crowd was invited to show their solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community.

In Indonesia, one of Australia’s nearest neighbours, cities scaled back New Year’s Eve festivities as a gesture of solidarity with communities devastated by catastrophic floods and landslides that struck parts of Sumatra island a month ago, claiming more than 1,100 lives.

The capital, Jakarta, will not ring in 2026 with its usual fanfare, choosing instead subdued celebrations with a calm and reflective program centred on prayers for victims, city Gov. Pramono Anung said last week.

Makassar Mayor Munafri Arifuddin urged residents of one of Indonesia’s largest cities to forgo parties altogether, calling for prayer and reflection instead.

“Empathy and restraint are more meaningful than fireworks and crowds,” he said.

Concerts and fireworks on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali have been cancelled and replaced with a cultural arts event featuring 65 groups performing traditional dances.

Hong Kong, too, will ring in 2026 without the usual spectacular and colourful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor, after a massive fire in November killed at least 161 people.

The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.

Many parts of Asia welcome the new year by observing age-old traditions.

In Japan, crowds will gather at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo for a bell striking at midnight. In the South Korean capital Seoul, a bell tolling and countdown ceremony will be held at the Bosingak Pavilion.

Chinese President Xi Jinping in a New Year’s Eve address broadcast by state media hailed his country’s technological progress in areas such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors while renewing threats against Taiwan, which it claims as part of its sovereign territory.

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

“The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable.” China this week launched large-scale military drills around the island.