No one can stop China's "reunification" with Taiwan, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his New Year's speech on Tuesday, laying down a clear warning to what Beijing regards as pro-independence forces within and outside of the island of 23 million people.

Chinese President Xi Jinping in a New Year's address declared Taiwan and China to be one people and said no nation can stop China from annexing the island nation.

In Tuesday's New Year address, Chinese leader Xi Jinping emphasized the necessity of unifying China with Taiwan and warned that Beijing would not allow anyone to break its "family ties" with the island.

Dancers performed the dance of releasing the sun 2024, welcoming the sun 2025, a New Year's Eve celebration in Bali, Indonesia A "family fireworks" display lit up the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, three hours before midnight.

New Year's Eve celebrations and fireworks around the world are ringing in 2025, as New York City's Times Square gears up for the traditional ball drop at midnight before an estimated one million revelers.

The Pacific island nation of Kiribati was the first country to ring in 2025, its 133,500 citizens celebrating the new year at 5 a.m. ET on Tuesday.