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Revelers around the world were counting down to midnight on New Year’s Eve as fireworks and festival lights marked a hopeful start to 2024 for some. This is despite ongoing conflicts around the world raising security concerns and festivities being scaled back or canceled.
As the clock strikes midnight in Australia, more than a million people – one in five city residents – watch a 12-minute fireworks display centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge from the shore or from boats in the harbour. did.
“It’s absolute madness,” said German tourist Janna Thomas, who had been queuing since 7.30am local time to secure a prime waterfront spot at Sydney Botanic Gardens.
In Auckland, light rain that had been falling all day had stopped in the city of 1.7 million people by midnight, as predicted, and a countdown began on an illuminated digital display near the top of the 328-metre-tall communications and observation tower.
Hidden in the shadow of war
The ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as rising tensions in parts of the world, are having a different impact on New Year’s Eve celebrations this year. Many cities deployed extra security, and some canceled New Year’s Eve events altogether.
More police than ever before were deployed across Sydney. The waterfront has been the scene of escalating pro-Palestinian protests after the sails of the Sydney Opera House were lit up in the colors of the Israeli flag following the October 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas that sparked the war. It has become a place.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis recalled 2023 as a year marked by wartime suffering. During a traditional Sunday blessing from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, he prayed for “the people of Ukraine, the Palestinians, the Israelis, the Sudanese and many others who are suffering.”
“At the end of the year, we will have the courage to ask ourselves how many lives have been shattered by armed conflict, how many deaths, how much destruction, how much suffering, how much poverty. Deaf,” the Pope said. “Those interested in these conflicts should listen to the voice of conscience.”
China celebrated the new year relatively quietly, with most major cities banning fireworks due to safety and pollution concerns. In his speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping said he would focus on building momentum for economic recovery in 2024 and promised that China would “definitely reunify” Taiwan.
The mood seemed upbeat in Taiwan’s capital Taipei, with revelers flocking to the bamboo-shaped skyscraper Taipei 101 for a fireworks display and for concerts and other events across the city.
Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea welcomed the new year with fireworks displays and expressed optimism about what 2024 will look like.
In Japan, people gathered at shrines and temples to welcome the new year, and temple bells rang throughout the country. At Tsukiji in Tokyo, free hot milk and corn soup were distributed to worshipers who lined up to ring the grand bell, and a pipe organ concert was held in front of the majestic altar.
In India, thousands of revelers from the financial capital of Mumbai flocked to a busy promenade to watch the sun set over the Arabian Sea. Fireworks were set off in New Delhi, raising fears that the capital, already notorious for poor air quality, could be blanketed in toxic fog on the first morning of the new year.
‘No concrete threat’ in New York
New York City officials and party organizers said they were prepared to ensure the safety of the hundreds of thousands of revelers expected to flood Times Square in the heart of midtown Manhattan.
Mayor Eric Adams said the annual New Year’s Eve getaway, which features live performances from Flo Rida, Megan Thee Stallion and LL Cool J, as well as television appearances from Cardi B, was “no special threat.” No,” he said. Organizers said in-person attendance is expected to return to pre-COVID-19 levels, although foot traffic around Times Square has decreased slightly since the pandemic.
Drones watch over New York
Amid near-daily protests sparked by the Israeli-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, New York City police say they will expand the security perimeter around the party, creating a “buffer zone” to stop potential demonstrations. Announced.
The mayor said authorities also plan to use drones to monitor the protests.
“We come out here with dogs, horses, helicopters and boats,” Adams said. “But as we saw last year, you get threatened after there’s no tangible threat.”
During a New Year’s Eve party last year, a man with a machete attacked three police officers a few blocks from Times Square.
Enhanced security
More than 1.5 million people are expected to attend celebrations on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, and about 90,000 law enforcement officers will be deployed across the country, officials said. The French capital will host celebrations centered around the 2024 Paris Olympics, including DJ sets, fireworks and a video projection on the Arc de Triomphe.
In his New Year’s message, French President Emmanuel Macron predicted that the 2024 European Parliament elections will be crucial for the future of Ukraine and the fate of democracy across Europe.
About 4,500 police officers were expected to maintain order in Berlin and avoid violence like the one that erupted a year ago. Police in the German capital have banned the use of traditional firecrackers on several streets in the city.
It also banned pro-Palestinian protests in the city’s Neukölln district, which has seen several pro-Palestinian riots since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
Fireworks prohibited on Red Square
In Russia, the military action in Ukraine has overshadowed year-end celebrations, with the traditional fireworks and concerts on Moscow’s Red Square canceled as they were last year.
Some local governments across Russia also canceled their usual fireworks displays, including in Vladivostok, after shelling killed 24 people in the center of the Russian border city of Belgorod on Saturday. Millions of people across Russia are expected to listen to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s New Year’s speech.
In Muslim-majority Pakistan, the government has banned all New Year’s Eve events in solidarity with the Palestinians. In a televised message in the evening, interim Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar urged Pakistanis to “show solidarity with the oppressed people of Gaza” by starting the new year simply.
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