Sri Lanka usher in 2026 with vibrant New Year’s celebrations

Colombo was illuminated by a fireworks show as Sri Lanka welcomed the dawn of the new year.

In the country’s commercial capital, fireworks exploded over Galle Face Green, port city and Lotus Tower, much to the jubilation of the revelers.

Sri Lanka ushered in the New Year after a number of Asian countries including Singapore, China and Japan welcomed 2026.

Meanwhile, New Year’s Eve revellers toasted the end of 2025 on Wednesday (Dec 31), waving goodbye to 12 months packed with Trump tariffs, a Gaza truce and vain hopes for peace in Ukraine.

It was one of the warmest years on record, the stifling heat stoking wildfires in Europe, droughts in Africa and deadly rains across Southeast Asia.

There was a sombre tinge to celebrations in Australia’s harbour city Sydney, the self-proclaimed “New Year’s capital of the world”.

Barely two weeks have passed since a father and son allegedly opened fire on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people in the nation’s deadliest mass shooting for almost 30 years.

Parties paused for a minute of silence at 11pm as the famed Sydney Harbour Bridge was bathed in white light to symbolise peace.

Pacific nations including Kiribati and New Zealand were the first to see in the new year, kicking off a chain of celebrations stretching from glitzy New York to the Hogmanay festival on the chilly streets of Scotland.

More than two million people are expected to pack Brazil’s lively Copacabana Beach for what authorities have called the world’s biggest New Year’s Eve party.

In Hong Kong, a major New Year fireworks display planned for Victoria Harbour was cancelled to pay homage to 161 people killed in a housing estate fire in November.

There were celebrations and a drum performance at the Juyong Pass at the Great Wall of China just outside Beijing. Revellers wore headgear and waved boards emblazoned with “2026” and the symbol of a horse. February will mark the arrival of the Year of the Horse on the Chinese lunar calendar.