Australia rang in the year 2025 with an awe-inspiring fireworks display that lit up the night sky over Sydney Harbour.

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority approved the lease, non-relocation and development documents Thursday to clear the last major hurdles for the Athletics to construct a stadium on the Strip and bring Major League Baseball to the expanding sports market.

Oakland Athletics executive Sandy Dean has told the Las Vegas Stadium Authority that the club does not expect to spend the entire $380 million in public money allocated to build a new stadium in Las Vegas.

The Oakland Athletics and their design teams released renderings Tuesday of the club’s planned $1.5 billion stadium in Las Vegas that show five overlapping layers with a similar look to the famous Sydney Opera House.

King Charles III has paid a light-hearted tribute to the late Barry Humphries, who was remembered at a state memorial service in Australia.

U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro says the major multination military training exercise Talisman Sabre in Australia sends a message to China that America’s allies are cooperating to defend their security and democratic values.

The wait is almost over!

Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as New Year celebrations begin in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. But this year authorities advised revelers to watch the fireworks on television as the two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria battle to curb new COVID-19 outbreaks. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)CANBERRA – Australia has changed one word in its national anthem to reflect what the prime minister called “the spirit of unity” and the country's Indigenous population. “It is time to ensure this great unity is reflected more fully in our national anthem,” he said, adding that Australia was the “most successful multicultural nation on Earth." It was adopted as the national anthem in 1984.

Fireworks and drones illuminate the night sky over London as they form a light display as London's normal New Year's Eve fireworks display was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic Thursday Dec. 31, 2020. As midnight rolled from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Americas, the New Year’s experience mirrored national responses to the virus itself. Some countries and cities canceled or scaled back their festivities, while others without active outbreaks carried on like any other year. In Chinese societies, the virus ensured more muted celebrations of the solar New Year, which is less widely observed than the Lunar New Year that in 2021 will fall in February. Initial reports about a mystery respiratory illness sickening people in the Chinese city of Wuhan emerged exactly a year ago.

Hata was the son of late Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata, who headed an opposition-led government in 1994. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government has been reluctant to impose tougher restrictions that would further damage the pandemic-hit economy. South Korea on Monday registered 808 new coronavirus cases, raising its national caseload to 57,680 with 819 deaths. Sri Lanka has confirmed 41,053 coronavirus cases, including 191 fatalities. The government also announced 5,854 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the country's total to 719,219 confirmed cases, including 21,452 deaths.