New Year's fireworks explode over the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in Sydney.
Time zone by time zone, the planet is saying goodbye to 2015.
The end of the year is still hours away in the U.S., but Australia has already hailed the new year with fireworks like those (see above) in Sydney Harbour.
In Japan's capital, balloons were released from Tokyo Tower.
A few highlights from other celebrations planned around the globe:
Pyongyang, North Korea, will have a live fireworks display at 10:30 a.m. EST. (North Korea turned its clocks back by 30 minutes this summer, apparently marking the 70th anniversary of its liberation from Japan. When Japan colonized Korea more than 100 years ago, Korea's clocks were shifted to match Japan's time zone.)
Taipei, Taiwan, will be shooting fireworks from Taipei's tallest building, the Taipei 101 — which was the tallest building in the world, until the Burj Khalifa was built in Dubai in 2010.
The Burj Khalifa, of course, will also be the site of a fireworks spectacle — as will Dubai's Burj Al Arab and the city's marina. (Update: The fireworks went off as planned despite a fire that engulfed much of a 63-story hotel and residential building near the Burj Khalifa.)
Beijing will be celebrating with fireworks at the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the Forbidden City.
Shanghai will be having muted celebrations this year, after a stampede at last year's festivities killed dozens of people. Subway stations near the city's waterfront, the site of the disaster, will be closing before midnight.
In Cairo, fireworks will light up the sky over the pyramids of Giza.
In Rio de Janeiro, New Year's Eve festivities will be paired with some pre-Olympics pomp and circumstance: The Olympic Rings will be unveiled by Copacabana Beach. (Some drunken swimming mishaps are also anticipated.)
In many cases, New Year's Eve celebrations are taking place amid heightened security. Malaysia's biggest city, Kuala Lumpur, and Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, are among the cities that have bolstered security after foiling various plans for Islamist militant attacks, according to authorities.
Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
/
Getty Images
Fireworks explode over the National Monument (Monas) in Jakarta, Indonesia.
About 60,000 law enforcement and military personnel will be deployed across France on New Year's Eve, reports The Associated Press, and Paris has canceled its customary fireworks display.
SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.
SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.
Federal funding is gone.
Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.
That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.
The future of public media is in your hands.
All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.
This band of airborne health workers bring essential medical care to isolated communities in the southern African nation. In addition to turbulence, they face a new obstacle: budget cuts.
Ilia Malinin's painful falls at the Milan Cortina Games follow in a long tradition of great U.S. athletes who get the "yips" or the "twisties" during the Olympics.
