Syria has celebrated its first New Year since the ousting of dictator Bashar Al Assad after more than 43 years of his family’s rule.
A group of people dressed as Santa Claus posed for a picture with an armed guard on the streets of Damascus.
Gunfire and fireworks rang out in the capital, where a DJ performed for a crowd of thousands.
Some waved flags of the Free Syrian Army, a sight unimaginable just a few weeks ago.
The group was one of several fighting against the Al Assad’s regime, which was responsible for imprisoning, torturing and murdering tens of thousands of people.
North Korea celebrated 2025 not with fireworks, a Robbie Williams show, like Australia, or even with bells – but with a slideshow of Kim Jong-un.
An inspection of an intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) site near Pyongyang; a visit to a chicken factory with his daughter; shaking hands with Vladimir Putin – these are some of the images included in the bizarre line-up.
The secluded nation marked midnight a little over an hour ago, at 3pm UK time.
Earlier today, New Zealand has became one of the very first countries in the world to ring in 2025.
Fireworks erupted from Auckland’s Sky Tower, the tallest structure in the nation, to welcome the New Year.
It was an hour before that the Pacific island nation of Kiribati celebrated the arrival of January 1 as the clock struck midnight.
Since a change of clocks 20 years ago, in 1994, it has been the first nation in the world to enter the new year, followed shortly by New Zealand.
Thousands of people gathered in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, to watch the colourful fireworks display and a light show, which honours its Indigenous tribes.
Countries in the South Pacific Ocean are the first to mark January 1, with midnight in New Zealand striking 13 hours before London.
The final nations to ring in the new year will be the uninhabited islands of Baker and Howland.
It will already be January 2, 2025, by the time the new year arrived at Baker Island.
In Australia, more than one million people flocked to Sydney Harbor for the traditional fireworks.
Midnight finally struck in Sydney, unleashing a show like no other that has now been ongoing for more than 10 minutes.
People had queued for hours to get the best view of the celebrations over the iconic bridge and the Opera House.
Pop star Robbie Williams lead a singalong moments before midnight.
Midnight has also struck in several countries in Asia with firework displays taking place in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The United Arab Emirates launched thousands of drones and put on an hour-long fireworks show in an attempt to break multiple records at once.
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But it’s not all fireworks and lightshows around the world.
In Thailand, on top of the explosives, Buddhist monks gathered to chant to welcome the year of the snake.
This is associated with wisdom, fertility and wealthy.
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