NEW YORK (AP) — New Year’s Eve festivities swept the globe, ushering in 2023 with countdowns and fireworks — and bringing to a close a year that saw war in Europe, a new chapter in the British monarchy, and global concerns about inflation.
The new year began in the central Pacific atoll nation of Kiribati, then moved across Russia and New Zealand before heading deeper, time zone by time zone, through Asia and Europe.
At least for a day, thoughts turned to possibilities, even if they were elusive, such as world peace, and mustering — finally — the resolve to keep the next set of resolutions.
Children met St. Nicholas in a crowded metro station in Kharkiv, Ukraine, as a symbol of that hope.
Nonetheless, Russian attacks continued on New Year’s Eve. The streets of Kyiv, the capital, were deserted at midnight. Local residents shouted from their balconies, “Happy New Year!” and “Glory to Ukraine!” as the only sign of a new year. Air raid sirens rang across Ukraine’s capital only half an hour into 2023, followed by the sound of explosions.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported an explosion in the Holosiivskyi district, and authorities said fragments of a shot-down missile damaged a car in a central district.
Thousands of people celebrated on the Champs Elysees in Paris, while French President Emmanuel Macron pledged his country’s continued support for Ukraine in a televised New Year’s address. “We will always be by your side in the coming year,” Macron said. “We will help you until victory and we will be together to build a just and lasting peace. You can rely on France and Europe.”
As more than 100,000 people gathered along the River Thames to watch a spectacular fireworks display around the London Eye, Big Ben chimed. The tribute to Britain’s longest-serving monarch, who died in September, included a drone light display of a crown and Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait on a coin hovering in the sky.
The Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro welcomed a small crowd of a few thousand for a brief fireworks display, and several Brazilian cities canceled celebrations this year due to concerns about the coronavirus. Before the pandemic, the Brazilian capital’s New Year’s Eve bash drew more than 2 million people to Copacabana.
Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city, welcomed 2023 with street celebrations and fireworks. Hundreds of Christians gathered at St. Antuan Catholic Church to pray for the new year and commemorate the death of former Pope Benedict XVI. Benedict died on Saturday at the age of 95, according to the Vatican.
With a dazzling Saturday night spectacle in iconic Times Square, New York City prepared to join the glow of the new year, anchoring celebrations across the United States. The night concludes with a countdown to the descent of a glowing geodesic sphere 12 feet (3.6 meters) in diameter and weighing nearly six tons from its lofty perch atop One Times Square. Its surface is made up of nearly 2,700 Waterford crystals that will be illuminated by a palette of more than 16 million colors, according to officials.
A ton of confetti was expected to rain down on soggy revelers at midnight, glittering among the jumbo screens, neon, and pulsing lights.
Last year, a smaller crowd of around 15,000 mask-wearing spectators watched the ball drop while basking in the lights and hoopla of the United States’ marquee New Year’s Eve event. It was far fewer than the tens of thousands of revelers who usually descended on the world-famous square before the pandemic because of pandemic rules.
Before the ball dropped, there were many reflections on the previous year and the one to come.
Ali Thompson, who had been showing her brother around Times Square the day before, said everyone should do their part to take care of their own little piece of the world.
“I believe we live in a broken world, and we see it every day,” she said. “I believe that anything we can do to make it a little less broken is always a good thing.”
More than a million people gathered along Sydney’s waterfront in Australia for a multi-million dollar celebration centered on the themes of diversity and inclusion. Over 7,000 fireworks were launched from the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, with an additional 2,000 launched from the nearby Opera House.
“We’ve had a couple of fairly difficult years; we’re absolutely delighted this year to be able to welcome people back to Sydney’s world-famous New Year’s Eve celebrations,” Stephen Gilby, the city’s major events and festivals producer, told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Large crowds gathered below Auckland’s Sky Tower, where a 10-second countdown to midnight was followed by fireworks. The celebrations in New Zealand’s largest city resumed after being canceled due to COVID-19 a year ago.
Concerns about the Ukraine war and the global economic shocks it has caused were felt in Tokyo, where Shigeki Kawamura, who has seen better days, said he needed a free, hot meal this New Year’s.
“I hope the war in Ukraine ends soon so that prices can stabilize,” he said.
In military-ruled Myanmar, authorities announced a four-hour curfew suspension in the country’s three largest cities to allow residents to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Opponents of army rule, on the other hand, urged people to avoid public gatherings for fear that security forces would stage a bombing or other attack and blame it on them.
Source: AP
