WORLD Radio News - WORLD Radio News: 12-31-25 (3/3)

Episode Date: December 31, 2025

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With World Radio News, I'm Mary Muncie. New Year's celebrations took place all over the world today. In New Zealand, residents of Auckland counted down the final seconds of 2025 and celebrated with a fireworks display at the city's tallest structure. That would be the sky tower. And in Sydney, Australia, Partygoers held a similar countdown to usher in the new year, with fireworks from the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

In Seoul, South Korea, the new year was celebrated a bit differently. The countdown ceremony and a bell tolling was held at historic Boshangak Pavilion. And a similar ceremony took place in Tokyo, Japan. where locals and tourists crowded around the Tokudaiji temple to witness the bell ringing there. In Ukraine, a more somber way to mark the new year. Some Ukrainian families who lost loved ones in the war with Russia spent New Year's Eve at the cemetery.

21-year-old Anastasia Kovolenko lost her father in the war. She says Christmas and New Year's, were always special holidays for him. He always wanted to spend New Year's Eve around the table with his family, and she says she and her mother wanted to be close to him today. Meanwhile, there seems to be no end to the fighting. Ukrainian media reported today that six people, including three children, were injured after Russian airstrikes hit the Ukrainian port city of Odessa.

And here in the U.S., the annual New Year's Eve ball drop looks a bit different in New York Times Square this year. Jeffrey Strauss is president of Countdown Entertainment, the entertainment company behind the event. We're actually kicking off America's 250th anniversary year with America 250, right here in Times Square, with a record-breaking amount of confetti. We actually have nearly three tons, purple and yellow at 10, multicolored at midnight, and red, white and blue for the 24th. 50th anniversary year at 12.04 tomorrow night. This year's event includes another added touch, with the bell rising again after the initial drop, also in patriotic red, white, and blue colors. From World Radio, happy new year. I'm Mary Muncie.

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