Join our live coverage as we cross the globe to enter the new year

Sydney is the self-appointed “world capital of new year’s eve” and arguably rightly so. As always, eyes will be on the Opera House at 13:00 GMT when fireworks will light up the sky in spectacular fashion. But there are also huge crowds out in Melbourne to see off the year in style.

Thousands of people are expected to descend on Melbourne this evening to celebrate NYE. There will be two 7 minute firework displays and light shows tonight, first a family one at 9.30pm for young children, and the main one at the stroke of midnight.

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© Photograph: David Rowland/Shutterstock

© Photograph: David Rowland/Shutterstock

© Photograph: David Rowland/Shutterstock

Democrats scored major victories in 2025 elections despite brand challenges. DNC chair sees silver lining as party prepares for crucial midterms ahead.

From campus protests to deadly attacks, antisemitic violence becomes the new reality. Analysis reveals how Western governments must act to protect Jews.

Bear attacks have loomed frighteningly large in the headlines this year. The most terrifying was a grizzly attack on a group of B.C. schoolchildren and teachers out on a hike in late November. Four people — three children and an adult — from Acwsalcta School near Bella Coola were seriously injured and airlifted to Vancouver for treatment. Read More

Next head of Cern backs massive replacement for world’s largest machine to investigate mysteries of the universe

Mark Thomson, a professor of experimental particle physics at the University of Cambridge, has landed one of the most coveted jobs in global science. But it is hard not to wonder, when looked at from a certain angle, whether he has taken one for the team.

On 1 January, Thomson takes over as the director general of Cern, the multi-Nobel prizewinning nuclear physics laboratory on the outskirts of Geneva. It is here, deep beneath the ground, that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest scientific instrument ever built, recreates conditions that existed microseconds after the big bang.

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© Photograph: Alban Kakulya/Panos Pictures

© Photograph: Alban Kakulya/Panos Pictures

© Photograph: Alban Kakulya/Panos Pictures

The challenges and strains have been almost too much to take. But in 2025, words of depth and courage have been an antidote to numbness

I once saw a young glassblower in Istanbul, still new to his craft, shatter a beautiful vase while taking it out of the furnace. The artisan master standing by his side calmly nodded and said something that I still think about. He told him: “You put too much pressure on it, you kept it unbalanced and you forgot that it, too, has a heart.”

The year we are leaving behind has been plagued from the start by a series of social, economic, environmental, technological and institutional challenges, all happening with such speed and intensity that we are yet to fully comprehend their impact on our lives, let alone on future generations. As the overwhelming strain of domestic and geopolitical changes continues to build up, I cannot help but remember the man’s words. Too much pressure. Unstable, uncertain and replete with deep inequalities. This could well be the year we forgot that the Earth, too, has a heart. It definitely feels like the year when the world was broken.

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© Photograph: Abed Hajjar/AP

© Photograph: Abed Hajjar/AP

© Photograph: Abed Hajjar/AP

Rejuvenated by his goal on Saturday and free from injuries that have disrupted his season, Arsenal’s captain led their destruction of Villa

When Arsenal really needed Martin Ødegaard, the captain finally rediscovered his magic touch. Gabriel Magalhães had just opened the scoring against Aston Villa after a first half in which Mikel Arteta’s nervous side were struggling without the influential Declan Rice. Then it happened.

Jadon Sancho was waiting to receive a pass from Youri Tielemens inside Villa’s half but, before the forward knew it, Ødegaard had pinched the ball and was haring towards Emiliano Martínez’s goal. A jink back on to his left foot fooled Tielemens and allowed Ødegaard to play through the perfect through ball for Martín Zubimendi to score the crucial second. It was the fifth goal or assist that Zubimendi has contributed to since he joined in the summer – the joint-best return of his club career – and the Spaniard’s impact was rightly hailed by a delighted Arteta. “Credit to his teammates as well, how easy they make it for him,” said the Arsenal manager in a nod to Ødegaard.

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© Photograph: Matt Impey/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Matt Impey/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Matt Impey/Shutterstock

Forty-seven men killed by states operating death penalty – almost double last year’s number

US executions have surged in 2025 to the highest level in 16 years, as Donald Trump’s campaign to reinvigorate judicial killings, combined with the US supreme court’s increasing refusal to engage in last-minute pleas for reprieve, have taken a heavy toll.

A total of 47 men – they were all male – have been killed by states operating the death penalty in the course of the year. That was almost double the number in 2024, amounting to the greatest frenzy of capital punishment bloodletting in America since 2009.

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© Photograph: Paul Buck/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Paul Buck/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Paul Buck/AFP/Getty Images

Harvard professor leaves after 40 years, alleges woke policies destroyed academic standards and excellence in scathing 'Why I'm Leaving Harvard' critique.

Nearly half of seniors quit GLP-1 weight-loss drugs within a year. Experts reveal why older Americans abandon medications like Ozempic and Wegovy despite results.

In numerology, the year 2026 takes us back to square 1 and the pioneering spirit of new beginnings.

New bettors to DraftKings can use the DraftKings Sportsbook promo to bet $5 and get $200 instantly in bonus bets for Caps vs. Blueshirts.

Learn how to set up Google Maps and Apple Maps on your phone to automatically remember where you parked. Step-by-step instructions for enabling location services and parking detection.

A controversial Minnesota election policy that allows a single registered voter to “vouch” for up to eight people seeking same-day registration is under fire amid the state’s massive fraud scandal tied to the Somali community there.

Many Jets fans are already thinking about the offseason, which should be an exciting one for the team.

Data shows 366 pubs have been demolished or converted for other uses this year as cost pressures take toll on sector

One pub a day disappeared for good in England and Wales during 2025 as sustained cost pressures continued to weigh heavily on the sector.

Analysis of government statistics shows that 366 pubs were demolished or converted for other uses over the year to December.

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© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

A Georgia police officer shot his girlfriend dead before turning the gun on himself — as worried friends discovered the couple’s bodies days after they were last seen at a Christmas party.

They were contentious, unprecedented and among the policies that drove long-haul truckers from across Canada to overtake Ottawa’s downtown core for nearly a month. Read More

Tom Christie believed he was doing his job when he waded into a crowd of drunken, rowdy teens at a Calgary park. Read More

Did you know that the sun converts about 4 million tons of mass to energy every second, and that Koala fingerprints evolved to resemble human fingerprints?

"I was reading my book and you know this boy - man - attacked me, and I did fight back."

The Issue: President Trump’s efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine. The United States’ approach to brokering a peace settlement in the Russia-Ukraine war can best be described as bias-based diplomacy, with Russia the beneficiary and Ukraine the strategic victim (“Zel scoffs at Don’s Vlad view,” Dec. 30). The policy’s inherent flaws, stemming from...

Even if Carter and Dart do not win any awards, they clearly have emerged as two of the main building blocks for the Giants' future.

The towering obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, DC, will feature patriotic projections telling the story of America starting on Wednesday.