Celebrations bring in 2015

A giant clock in Auckland’s Sky Tower counted down the minutes until midnight (11:00 GMT) when fireworks erupted.
Up to 1.5m people lined the shores of Sydney harbour in preparation for the city’s famous firework display. Celebration plans were however muted in Indonesia, in the wake of the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crash. In Brazil, more than one million people joined the crowds on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach, while New Yorkers  watched the city lower its trademark crystal ball over Times Square.
Some of the easternmost corners of earth, including Samoa, Kiribati and the Chatham Islands of New Zealand, were the first places to herald the New Year.
An estimated 1.6 million people turned up to watch more than 10,000 aerial fireworks, 25,000 shooting comets and 100,000 pyrotechnic effects on show during this year’s New Year’s Eve display over Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Nigerian government officials sent goodwill messages.