World greets 2025 after sweltering year of Olympics, turmoil, Trump

Crowds marveled at fireworks and toasted champagne to greet 2025, waving goodbye to a year that brought Olympic glory, a dramatic Donald Trump return and turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine.

It is all but certain 2024 will go down as the hottest year on record, climate-fueled disasters wreaking havoc from the plains of Europe to the Kathmandu Valley.

As New Year's Eve parties kicked into gear along Australia's picturesque Sydney Harbor, many revellers were relieved to see the past 12 months in the rearview mirror.

“Obviously there’s a lot of war and disruption going on in various places,” insurance worker Stuart Edwards, 32, told AFP as early crowds swelled on Sydney’s waterfront.

“It would be nice for the world if it all sort of fixed itself, sorted itself out.”

The self-proclaimed “New Year’s capital of the world” will spray nine tons of fireworks from its famed Opera House and Harbor Bridge at midnight.

More than a million spectators are expected to pack the city’s foreshore to catch a glimpse of the pyrotechnics.

“Just to see all the beautiful colors and enjoy being in this situation with so many people in wonderful Australia,” said 71-year-old retired nurse Ruth Rowse.

Taylor Swift brought the curtain down on her Eras tour this year, pygmy hippo Moo Deng went viral and 16-year-old football prodigy Lamine Yamal helped Spain conquer the Euros.

The Paris Olympics united the world for a brief few weeks in July and August.