Fireworks burst above the Arc de Triomphe in the first minutes of Jan. 1, 2026, marking Paris’s official entry into the new year. Video distributed by ABC News Live shows streams of light moving across the night sky while the historic landmark remains illuminated in the foreground, creating a focal point for the city’s celebrations.
The Paris footage opened a series of live segments that ABC News Live dedicated to New Year’s events and related developments around the world. The network’s rolling coverage, labeled “LiveTracking,” combined on-scene images, remote camera feeds and studio updates to follow the holiday as midnight passed through multiple time zones.
Alongside the Paris display, the channel provided a continuous “View of Empire State Building in NYC,” allowing audiences to watch Manhattan’s skyline as it prepared for its own countdown. The live shot remained on screen while anchors reported on weather conditions expected to affect New Year’s Eve gatherings in several U.S. cities. A separate segment, “Tracking New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day weather across the nation,” focused on forecasts for rain, snow and high winds that could influence travel and outdoor events.



