NEW YORK (AP) — From Sydney to Mumbai to Paris to Rio de Janeiro, communities around the world are welcoming 2025 with spectacular light shows, embraces and ice plunges. Auckland became the first major city to celebrate. Countries in the South Pacific Ocean were the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball dropped in Times Square in New York. Conflict muted acknowledgements of 2025 in places like the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine. American Samoa will be among the last to welcome the New Year, a full 24 hours after New Zealand.