World welcomes 2024 with New Year’s fireworks, reflection and a royal farewell
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The world welcomed 2024 with a mix of celebration and sombre reflection.
Sydney sparkled under a shower of silver and gold fireworks commemorating the 50th anniversary of its iconic Opera House, while the mood in Gaza remained bleak, with residents more concerned with survival.
In Europe, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II announced her abdication after more than half a century on the throne.
Here is how places and people around the world bid farewell to 2023 and welcomed the New Year.
Australia
Sydney hailed 2024 with a dazzling fireworks display featuring silver and gold pyrotechnics to mark the 50th anniversary of its famous Opera House.
Gaza
People in Gaza had little hope that 2024 will bring much relief
In Rafah on Gaza’s border with Egypt, which has become the biggest focal point for Palestinians fleeing other parts of the enclave, people were more preoccupied on Dec 31 with trying to find shelter, food and water than with thinking about the New Year.
“In 2024 I wish to go back to the wreckage of my home, pitch a tent and live there,” said Mr Abu Abdullah al-Agha, a middle-aged Palestinian man whose house in Khan Younis was destroyed and who lost a young niece and nephew in an Israeli air strike.
Denmark
Queen Margrethe II used her annual New Year’s speech on Dec 31 to announce she will abdicate on Jan 14
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark gives a New Year’s speech from Christian IX’s Palace, Amalienborg Castle, in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Dec 31.
PHOTO: AFP
Russia
President Vladimir Putin, facing an election in March,
Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky in a New Year address said Ukraine had become stronger in overcoming serious difficulties
China
President Xi Jinping, speaking on Dec 31 in a televised speech to mark the New Year, said the country will consolidate and enhance the positive trend of its economic recovery in 2024, and sustain long-term economic development with deeper reforms.
Artists react during the New Year’s Eve celebration at the Shougang Park in Beijing, on Jan 1.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Taiwan
President Tsai Ing-wen said that maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is the responsibility of both sides.
North Korea
North Korea vowed to launch three new spy satellites, build military drones and boost its nuclear arsenal in 2024 as leader Kim Jong Un said United States policy is making war inevitable, state media reported on Dec 31.
Mr Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to further develop relationship of cooperation between the two countries in New Year messages exchanged on Jan 1, South Korea’s Yonhap news reported, citing North Korea’s state radio.
The Vatican
At his Dec 31 prayers at the Vatican, Pope Francis said: “I wish everyone a peaceful end of the year, and please do not forget to pray for me”.
Pope Francis visits the crib after the solemn Vespers and the Te Deum, the rite of thanksgiving for the end of the year on Dec 31.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
France
President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address ahead of New Year celebrations that 2024 would be “the year of our French pride”
Germany
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in his traditional year-end address that 2023 held “so much suffering and bloodshed”, but promised “we in Germany will get through this”.
Police on Dec 31 detained three further suspects in an alleged Islamist plot to attack Germany’s famed Cologne Cathedral on New Year’s Eve.
The alleged attackers had planned to use a car to attack the 800-year-old Gothic cathedral, Cologne police said.
Britain
London ushered in the New Year with the bongs of its famous Big Ben bell, fireworks and a display of news highlights that featured King Charles’ coronation.
United States
In New York, tens of thousands of revellers gathered in Manhattan’s Times Square to watch the lighted ball drop at midnight, after scheduled performances by musicians including Megan Thee Stallion and LL Cool J.
President Joe Biden said in an interview ahead of the ball drop that he hoped celebrants realised “we’re in a better position than any country in the world to lead the world”.
Brazil
A dazzling fireworks spectacle lit up Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach, where almost two million people gathered to welcome in the New Year. REUTERS
