Fireworks

Sydney ushered in 2026 with its largest-ever New Year’s Eve fireworks display, a 12-minute spectacle capped by a shimmering “waterfall” cascading from the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The show stretched 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) along the harbor and, according to organizers, featured some 25,000 individual pyrotechnic shots forming cockatoos, koalas, bottlebrush and other native Australian motifs. Fireworks launched from the Sydney Opera House, six city rooftops and six aerial platforms hovering above the water. To widen…

In a heartfelt turn of events, the team at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland has linked the tragic passing of a baby red panda to the disruptive impact of fireworks, igniting a call for more stringent regulations surrounding their use. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), the organization that oversees the zoo, has reported that veterinarians attribute the untimely death of three-month-old Roxie to her distress caused by nearby fireworks. It’s worth noting that her demise coincided with Bonfire Night, a holiday…