AP PHOTOS: New Year's Eve observances around the world

People around the world are welcoming 2018 with fireworks displays, partying and an array of local traditions.

One of the first countries to welcome the new year was Australia, where fireworks exploded over the iconic Sydney Opera House as people watched from boats in the harbor nearby.

Hundreds of couples took part in a mass wedding ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia, on New Year's Eve designed to help the poor who were unable to afford a proper wedding.

Buddhists lit candles during New Year celebrations at Jogyesa temple in Seoul, South Korea.

In some other places, the tone was more somber. Just hours after a fireworks display over the Taedong River in Pyongyang, North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year's Day speech the country had achieved the historic feat of "completing" its nuclear forces despite U.S. opposition.

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Fireworks, crystal ball help usher in 2018 around the world

From spectacular fireworks in Hong Kong and Australia to a huge LED lightshow at the world's tallest building in Dubai, a look at how revelers around the world are ringing in 2018:

CALIFORNIA

The Golden State went green when the calendar turned to 2018.

Starting at midnight, California joined the growing list of states to legalize recreational marijuana. The moment is significant but will not be met with a non-stop pot party.

California has allowed medical marijuana for two decades, and the state is generally tolerant of the drug, so major changes are not expected as the laws are further eased. At least not on New Year's Day.

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4 deputies wounded, 1 dead in Colorado attack

DENVER (AP) — Authorities in suburban Denver were investigating what led a 37-year-old man to fire more than 100 rounds in his apartment on sheriff's deputies, killing one and injuring four others. Two civilians were also injured.

The Douglas County coroner identified the suspect as Matthew Riehl.

A YouTube user named Matthew Riehl posted a YouTube video Dec. 13, saying he wanted to replace Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock and railing against the sheriff and other officers in profane, highly personal terms.

The incident began around 5:15 a.m. at Copper Canyon Apartments, a landscaped apartment complex in Highland Ranch, 16 miles (28 kilometers) south of Denver.

Authorities had left the home barely an hour earlier in response to a complaint of a "verbal disturbance" involving two men, the sheriff's office said. One of the men told them the suspect "was acting bizarre and might be having a mental breakdown" but the deputies found no evidence of a crime.

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Court to hear case of Ohio taking inactive voters off rolls

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Joseph Helle was expecting a different sort of reception when he returned home from Army tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and showed up to vote in his small Ohio town near Lake Erie.

His name was missing from the voting rolls in 2011, even though Helle had registered to vote before leaving home at 18 and hadn't changed his address during his military service.

Helle, now the mayor of Oak Harbor, Ohio, is among thousands of state residents with tales of being removed from Ohio's rolls because they didn't vote in some elections. The Supreme Court will hear arguments Jan. 10 in the disputed practice, which generally pits Democrats against Republicans.

The case has taken on added importance because the parties have squared off over ballot access across the country. Democrats have accused Republicans of trying to suppress votes from minorities and poorer people who tend to vote for Democrats. Republicans have argued that they are trying to promote ballot integrity and prevent voter fraud. Only a handful of states use a process similar to Ohio's, but others could join in if the high court sides with the state.

Adding to the mix, the Trump administration reversed the position taken by the Obama administration and is now backing Ohio's method for purging voters.

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Costa Rica seeks cause of plane crash that killed 10 from US

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rican investigators are looking into what caused a charter aircraft to crash in woods in the country's northwest soon after takeoff, killing the 10 U.S. citizens and two local crewmembers on board.

Officials said Sunday evening that they were still seeking to establish the names of the Americans who died when the plane went down at midday in Guanacaste. They said Nature Air had provided a passenger list, but the names on it had not been confirmed.

A family in the suburbs of New York City said five of the dead Americans were relatives on vacation. They identified them as Bruce and Irene Steinberg and their sons Matthew, William and Zachary, all of Scarsdale.

"We are in utter shock and disbelief right now," Bruce Steinberg's sister, Tamara Steinberg Jacobson, wrote on Facebook. She also confirmed the deaths in an interview with NBC News.

Rabbi Jonathan Blake of the Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale said in a statement posted on the temple's Facebook page and emailed to The Associated Press that the Steinbergs were involved in philanthropy and local Jewish groups. "This tragedy hits our community very hard," Blake wrote.

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Trump welcomes new year with a lavish party at private club

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Bidding farewell to 2017 with a lavish party at his private club, President Donald Trump predicted 2018 will be a "tremendous year."

Trump said Sunday that the stock market will continue to rise and that companies are going to continue to come into the U.S., at "a rapid clip." He also cited several accomplishments, including the tax overhaul, opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, and repealing the individual mandate from the national health care law.

"It will be a fantastic 2018," a tuxedoed Trump said, as he entered the gilded ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump and son Barron.

Asked for his reaction to North Korea leader Kim Jon Un's remarks about having a nuclear button on his desk, Trump responded by saying, "We'll see."

Guests gathered in the decorated ballroom included senior White House advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Trump's sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

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Roberts promises review of judiciary's misconduct polices

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts is promising a careful evaluation of the federal judiciary's sexual misconduct policies and an effort to highlight the work of court employees following the year's destructive hurricanes.

Writing in his annual report on the judiciary, issued Sunday, Roberts touched only briefly on the issue of workplace sexual misconduct, which has in recent months brought down men in entertainment, politics and the media. In December, prominent federal appeals court Judge Alex Kozinski retired following accusations by women that he had touched them inappropriately, made lewd comments and shown them pornography.

"Events in recent months have illuminated the depth of the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace, and events in the past few weeks have made clear that the judicial branch is not immune," Roberts wrote, without mentioning Kozinski by name.

Roberts had previously asked that a working group examine the judiciary's workplace conduct policies, with a report expected by May 1. Roberts wrote that the group will examine whether changes are needed in a number of areas, from codes of conduct to the handling of misconduct complaints.

"I have great confidence in the men and women who comprise our judiciary. I am sure that the overwhelming number have no tolerance for harassment and share the view that victims must have clear and immediate recourse to effective remedies," the chief justice wrote in the 16-page report.

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Anticipation high as California rolls out retail pot sales

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Californians may awake on New Year's Day to a stronger-than-normal whiff of marijuana as America's cannabis king lights up to celebrate the state's first legal retail pot sales.

The historic day comes more than two decades after California paved the way for legal weed by passing the nation's first medical marijuana law, though other states were quicker to allow the drug's recreational use.

From the small town of Shasta Lake just south of Oregon to San Diego on the Mexican border, the first of about 90 shops licensed by the state will open Monday to customers who previously needed a medical reason or a dope dealer to score pot.

In November 2016, California voters legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older, making it legal to grow six plants and possess an ounce of pot. The state was given a year to set retail market regulations that are still being formalized and will be phased in over the next year.

"We're thrilled," said Khalil Moutawakkil, founder of KindPeoples, which grows, manufactures and sells weed in Santa Cruz. "We can talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of the specific regulations, but at the end of the day it's a giant step forward, and we'll have to work out the kinks as we go."

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Kim says US should know North Korean nuclear force a reality

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Monday that the United States should be aware that his country's nuclear forces are now a reality, not a threat. But he also struck a conciliatory tone in his New Year's address, wishing success for the Winter Olympics set to begin in South Korea in February and suggesting the North may send a delegation to participate.

Kim, wearing a Western-style gray suit and tie, said in his customary annual address that his country had achieved the historic feat of "completing" its nuclear forces and added that he has a nuclear button on his desk.

"The U.S. should know that the button for nuclear weapons is on my table," he said during the speech, as provisionally translated by The Associated Press. The official transcript of his address was expected to be released later.

"The entire area of the U.S. mainland is within our nuclear strike range. ... The United States can never start a war against me and our country," Kim said.

He also called for improved relations with the South, an idea mentioned in speeches more often than it is met. He said the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics would be a good opportunity to showcase the status of the Korean nation.

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Iran state TV: 12 killed in protests, attacks on security

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — At least 12 people have been killed in the ongoing protests in Iran, and armed protesters have tried to take over police stations and military bases, state TV reported Monday.

The protests began Thursday in Mashhad over economic issues and have since expanded to several cities. Hundreds of people have been arrested.

The state TV report said 10 were killed during clashes Sunday night, without elaborating. Two demonstrators were killed during a protest in western Iran late Saturday.

"Some armed protesters tried to take over some police stations and military bases but faced serious resistance from security forces," state TV reported.

Earlier Monday, the semi-official ILNA news agency quoted Hedayatollah Khademi, a representative for the town of Izeh, as saying two people died there Sunday night.