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New Year’s Eve sweeps across the globe, but wars cast a shadow on 2024

New Year’s Day arrived to cheers from thousands in New York’s Times Square where a sparkling crystal ball descended to start 2024 with hope for some, even as the world’s ongoing conflicts subdued celebrations and raised security concerns across the globe.

Quick Read

  • New Year’s Celebrations in New York: In New York’s Times Square, thousands of people gathered to celebrate the arrival of 2024 with the iconic ball drop. Revelers expressed joy and optimism, marking the beginning of the new year amidst a festive atmosphere.
  • Global Celebrations Amidst Security Concerns: Worldwide, New Year’s celebrations were marked by joy and optimism, but also by heightened security due to ongoing conflicts and global tensions. In France, 90,000 officers were deployed for security, while New York City expanded its security perimeter in Times Square.
  • Pope Francis Reflects on Global Conflicts: Pope Francis, during his traditional Sunday blessing, remembered the suffering caused by wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and other regions, highlighting the human cost of these conflicts.
  • Fireworks Displays Around the World: Spectacular fireworks displays were witnessed in various cities, including Athens, Dubai, Nairobi, and Rio de Janeiro. These displays brought moments of joy to millions across different countries.
  • Putin’s New Year Address: Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a New Year’s address emphasizing unity in Russian society and asserting the country’s ongoing development, despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
  • Continued Conflict in Gaza and Ukraine: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza and the war in Ukraine continued to impact New Year’s celebrations in the respective regions. Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 35 people, and fighting persisted. Meanwhile, Russia faced the aftermath of deadly shelling in Belgorod.
  • Solidarity with Palestinians in Iraq: In Baghdad, Christmas celebrations were subdued, with decorations reflecting solidarity with Palestinians, as the Gaza conflict continues to evoke responses globally.
  • Security Measures for Celebrations: In various cities, including Berlin and Las Vegas, significant security measures were in place to ensure public safety during the New Year’s celebrations. This included a heavy police presence and traffic restrictions.
  • Global Tensions Impacting Celebrations: The ongoing global tensions, particularly the Israel-Hamas war and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, influenced New Year’s Eve celebrations, leading to heightened security measures and altered festivities in some regions.

The Associated Press has the story:

New Year’s Eve sweeps across the globe, but wars cast a shadow on 2024

Newslooks- (AP)

New Year’s Day arrived to cheers from thousands in New York’s Times Square where a sparkling crystal ball descended to start 2024 with hope for some, even as the world’s ongoing conflicts subdued celebrations and raised security concerns across the globe.

“It’s beautiful,” Corin Christian of Charlotte, North Carolina, said of the scene seconds past midnight as Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” blared from speakers in the square and many in the crowd held cell phones in the air, trying to capture the spectacle.

Confetti drops over the crowd as the clock strikes midnight as seen from the New York Marriott Marquis during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

“It’s going very well so far,” said Jacob Eriksson of Salt Lake City, Utah, with the earliest assessment of the New Year.

The march of midnight from time zone to time zone brought 2024 first to places like Australia, where more than 1 million people watched a pyrotechnic display centered around Sydney’s famous Opera House and harbor bridge — a number of spectators equivalent to 1 in 5 of the city’s residents. It would be another 16 hours before New York finished 2023.

Confetti drops over the crowd as the clock strikes midnight as seen from the New York Marriott Marquis during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

There were snapshots of joy from country to country as the new year was welcomed with optimism that its days will bring more joy than sorrow.

Before midnight arrived in Times Square, December Lee, 26, and Shadayah Lawrence, 25, of Columbus, Ohio, said their New York visit highlighted four years of traveling the globe.

Confetti drops over the crowd seconds before the New Year as seen from the New York Marriott Marquis during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

“It is a good way to bring in the new year,” Lee said.

Also in Times Square, Tyrell Jacobs, 27, and Sarah Crayton, 26, arrived from New Orleans 15 hours before midnight and got engaged in streets packed with tens of thousands of people counting first the hours and then the minutes until midnight.

Times Square Alliance volunteers throw confetti as the clock strikes midnight as seen from the New York Marriott Marquis during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

“It’s definitely a must-see,” Crayton said of the colorful cast of strangers nearby in tall hats and blowing noisemakers even before the ball dropped. “At least go once, you know, just to experience the magic.”

People celebrate New Year’s at a promenade in Mumbai, India, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

A small army of thousands of police officers worked to keep New York City safe, just as heightened security had done in the cities midnight hit first. New York has seen near-daily protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war.

A couple shares a kiss as they celebrate New Year’s Eve in central Istanbul’s Taksim Square, in Istanbul, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Some 90,000 police and security officers were deployed around France including along Champs-Elysees Avenue, where large crowds took in a multidimensional light show projected onto the Arc de Triomphe showcasing the history of Paris and sports on the menu for next year’s Summer Olympics in the city.

Times Square Alliance volunteers throw confetti during a confetti test as seen from the New York Marriott Marquis during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

While New Year’s Eve concerts were plentiful across America on Sunday night, CNN news personality Anderson Cooper followed a tribute to entertainers who died in 2023 by acknowledging the network’s jovial New Year’s Eve program with co-host Andy Cohen might also be a sad occasion for some viewers.

Revelers pose for a photo among the crowd at the New Year’s Eve celebration in New York’s Times Square, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie)

“There’s a lot of people who feel like they can’t celebrate,” he said in the final minutes of a year that claimed the lives of Tina Turner, Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, Sinéad O’Connor, Jimmy Buffett, Burt Bacharach and David Crosby, among others.

People watch a light show projected on the Arc de Triomphe as they celebrate New Year’s on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

FIREWORKS LIGHT UP THE NIGHT

Stunning fireworks displays bloomed at iconic locations like the Acropolis in Athens, Greece; reflected in the sleek glass walls of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates; and accompanied a collective cheer filling the air in Nairobi, Kenya.

Fireworks explode at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, during the New Year’s Eve celebration, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

China celebrated relatively quietly, with most major cities banning fireworks over safety and pollution concerns. Still, people gathered and performers danced in colorful costumes in Beijing, while a crowd released wish balloons in Chongqing. During his New Year address, President Xi Jinping said the country would focus on building momentum for economic recovery in 2024 and pledged China would “surely be reunified” with Taiwan.

Fireworks light-up the sky over the London Eye in central London to celebrate the New Year on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

In Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, the mood was upbeat as revelers gathered for a fireworks show at the bamboo-shaped Taipei 101 skyscraper and at concerts and other events citywide.

People gather near Red Square with the St. Basil’s Cathedral, right, and the Spasskaya Tower, left, in the background, to celebrate the new year after midnight in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Marina Lystseva)

In India, thousands of revelers from the financial hub of Mumbai watched the sun set over the Arabian Sea. Fireworks in New Delhi raised concerns that the capital — already infamous for its poor air quality — would be blanketed by a toxic haze on the first morning of the new year.

Fireworks explode at the Taipei 101 building during the New Year’s celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Across Japan, people gathered at temples such as the Tsukiji Temple in Tokyo, where visitors were given free hot milk and corn soup as they stood in line to strike a massive bell.

A light show is projected on the Arc de Triomphe as fireworks explode during New Year celebrations on the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

About 2 million people gathered at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach under light drizzle to watch 12 minutes of fireworks in one of the world’s most popular locations for New Year’s Eve.

Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and on the Harbour Bridge as part if New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)

POPE HIGHLIGHTS THE HUMAN COST OF WAR

At the Vatican, Pope Francis recalled 2023 as a year marked by wartime suffering. During his traditional Sunday blessing from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, he offered prayers for “the tormented Ukrainian people and the Palestinian and Israeli populations, the Sudanese people and many others.”

Pope Francis leaves St. Peter’s Square after praying in front of the Nativity scene after celebrating a New Year’s Eve vespers Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

“At the end of the year, we will have the courage to ask ourselves how many human lives have been shattered by armed conflict, how many dead and how much destruction, how much suffering, how much poverty,” the pontiff said.

GAZA AND UKRAINE WARS GRIND ON

In Russia, the country’s military actions in Ukraine overshadowed end-of-year celebrations, with the usual fireworks and concert on Moscow’s Red Square canceled, as they were last year. Even without the festivities, people gathered in the square, and some cheered and pointed their phones at a clock counting down the year’s final seconds.

A Palestinian child looks at the graves of people killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and buried inside the Shifa Hospital grounds in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hajjar)

After shelling in the Russian border city of Belgorod Saturday killed 24 people, some local authorities across the country also canceled their firework displays, including in Vladivostok. Millions were expected to tune in to President Vladimir Putin’s New Year’s prerecorded address, in which he said no force could divide Russians and stop the country’s development.

Palestinians load the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip on a truck in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 35 people Sunday, hospital officials said, as fighting raged across the tiny enclave a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resisting international calls for a cease-fire, said the war will continue for “many more months.”

Skyscrapers in Tel Aviv were lit up in yellow to call for the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza for more than 80 days.

Palestinians visit the graves of people killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and buried inside the Shifa Hospital grounds in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hajjar)

“While you are counting down until the new year, our time and our lives stopped,” said Moran Betzer Tayar, the aunt of Yagev Buchshtab, a 34-year-old hostage.

In the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians huddled around fires in a makeshift refugee camp.

“From the intensity of the pain we live, we do not feel that there is a new year,” said Kamal al-Zeinaty, who has lost multiple family members in the conflict. “All the days are the same.”

Palestinians visit the graves of people killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and buried inside the Shifa Hospital grounds in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hajjar)

In Iraq, a Christmas tree was decorated with Palestinian flags and symbolic bodies in funeral shrouds, placed beside a liberty monument in central Baghdad. Many Christians in Iraq have cancelled this year’s festivities in solidarity with Gaza, and have chosen to limit their celebrations to prayers and rituals.

In this photo provided by Kharkiv Regional Administration, a man clears broken glass in a storefront after a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (Kharkiv Regional Administration via AP)

“We hope that the new year, 2024, will be a year of goodness, prosperity and joy,” said Ahmed Ali, a Baghdad resident.

In Muslim-majority Pakistan, the government banned all New Year’s Eve celebrations in solidarity with the Palestinians.

A Pakistani man and his camel are silhouetted, against the last sunset of 2023 at Clifton beach in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

GLOBAL TENSIONS SPUR SECURITY VIGILANCE

New York Mayor Eric Adams said there were “no specific threats” to his city’s annual bash. Nevertheless, police said they expanded the security perimeter around the party, creating a “buffer zone” to allow them to head off potential demonstrations. On New Year’s Eve 2022, a machete-wielding man attacked three police officers a few blocks from Times Square.

Sabrina Carpenter performs during the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

The Las Vegas Strip was closed to vehicle traffic and there was a heavy law enforcement presence with armed officers lining the Strip as thousands of revelers gathered and street musicians played before midnight, when fireworks launched simultaneously from multiple casinos. The city of Las Vegas said more than 400,000 people were expected at the celebration.

Fireworks light up the sky over Munich, Germany, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (Lennart Preiss/dpa via AP)

German authorities said they detained three more people in connection with a reported threat of a New Year’s Eve attack by Islamic extremists on the world-famous Cologne Cathedral.

Fireworks explode over the city during New Year’s celebrations in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Sayyid Abdul Azim)

In Berlin, some 4,500 police officers worked to keep order and avoid riots like those seen a year ago. They also banned a pro-Palestinian protest in the Neukoelln neighborhood of the German capital, which has seen several pro-Palestinian riots.

Iraqis watch fireworks explode during the New Year’s Day celebrations in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan.1, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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