Welcome to the NewsHour. Millions across the country will ring in the new year tonight with bubbly drinks, loved ones, and the warmest clothes they can find. That's because Arctic temperatures and heavy snow are sweeping across large parts of the U.S. Plows in upstate New York have been working to clear roadways for New Year's travelers as forecasters worn of squalls across the region.

In New York City, the estimated 1 million people who are expected to gather in Times Square

tonight are facing the coldest ball drop in nearly a decade. And a dose of Arctic air is keeping

temperatures low from the Midwest to the Appalachians.

Meantime, on the West Coast, California is bracing for heavy rains and the risk of flooding.

Just days after a Christmas week storm soaked many parts of the state.

In many parts of the world, of course, it is already 2026.

Three, two, one.

Auckland, New Zealand was the first major city to ring in the new year with a fireworks display,

a full 18 hours before it strikes midnight on the U.S. East Coast.

Australia followed a few hours later.

Celebrations in Sydney were mixed with mourning of the 15 lives lost in this month's

Bondi Beach shooting.

Before the fireworks, the city held a candlelit moment of silence.

And a change in Hong Kong's celebration, the city held a light show, canceling its renowned

fireworks display over the harbor after a massive building fire killed at least 161 people

there last month.

President Trump says he's removing National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, at least for now.

In a social media post, Trump, quote, wrote, we will come back perhaps in a much different and stronger form when crime begins to soar again, only a question of time.

Troops had already left Los Angeles after a judge's ruling

blocked their deployment earlier this month. And while forces had been sent to Chicago and

Portland, they were largely kept off the streets as legal challenges play out. President Trump

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