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Sydney, Auckland are the 1st major cities to ring in 2024 as war shadows celebrations elsewhere

Sydney and Auckland were among the world’s first major cities to ring in 2024, with revelers cheering spectacular fireworks displays that lit up the skies over Sydney Harbor and New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower.

Quick Read

  • Sydney and Auckland Celebrate 2024: Sydney and Auckland were among the first major cities to welcome 2024, with grand fireworks displays. Over 1 million people observed the fireworks at Sydney Harbor, while in Auckland, the light rain cleared just in time for midnight celebrations.
  • Global Celebrations Amidst Tensions: Many cities across the world prepared for New Year’s Eve with increased security due to ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and heightened global tensions. Some places, including New York City, expanded security perimeters for celebrations to prevent potential protests.
  • Pope Francis Reflects on Global Conflicts: During his traditional Sunday blessing, Pope Francis remembered the tumultuous events of 2023, particularly the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and their devastating impact on human lives.
  • New Year’s Celebrations in Various Countries: In Japan, temple bells rang out, and people visited shrines and temples. New York City prepared for a large gathering in Times Square with heightened security. Paris expected over 1.5 million people for celebrations on the Champs-Elysees, with enhanced law enforcement presence due to a “very high terrorist threat.”
  • Putin’s New Year Address: Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Russia’s unity in his New Year’s address. The broadcast comes a day after deadly shelling in Belgorod, Russia, which killed 24 people, including three children.
  • Security Preparations in European Cities: In France, 90,000 officers were set to be deployed for New Year’s Eve, with 6,000 in Paris. Berlin planned for 4,500 police officers to maintain order. Fireworks in Moscow were canceled, reflecting the impact of the conflict in Ukraine.
  • Pakistan’s Solidarity with Gaza: Pakistan banned all New Year’s Eve celebrations as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians, with the Prime Minister urging Pakistanis to start the new year with simplicity, acknowledging the suffering in Gaza.

The Associated Press has the story:

Sydney, Auckland are the 1st major cities to ring in 2024 as war shadows celebrations elsewhere

Newslooks- (AP)

Sydney and Auckland were among the world’s first major cities to ring in 2024, with revelers cheering spectacular fireworks displays that lit up the skies over Sydney Harbor and New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower.

As the clock struck midnight in Australia, tons of explosives erupted in a 12-minute display that focused on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. More than 1 million people — a number equivalent to one in five of the city’s residents — watched from the shore and from boats in the harbor.

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)

“It’s total madness,” said German tourist Janna Thomas, who had waited in line since 7:30 a.m. to secure a prime waterfront location in the Sydney Botanic Garden. “It’s not so easy to find a good place to sit, but the view is incredible.”

In Auckland, the light rain that fell all day had cleared as forecast by midnight over the city of 1.7 million people before the countdown began on an illuminated digital display near the top of the 328-meter (1,076-foot) communications and observation tower.

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

The ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and heightened tensions in parts of the world, are affecting this year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations in a myriad of ways. Many cities were deploying extra security, and some places canceled New Year’s Eve events altogether.

More police than ever were deployed throughout Sydney. The waterfront has been the scene of heated pro-Palestinian protests after the sails of the Sydney Opera House were illuminated in the colors of the Israeli flag in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas that triggered the war.

Fireworks burst from the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, to celebrate the New Year on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (Hayden Woodward/New Zealand Herald via AP)

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.”

Fireworks explode over Sydney Harbour as New Year’s Eve celebrations get underway in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)

“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. “Whoever has interest in these conflicts, listen to the voice of conscience.”

Fireworks burst from the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, to celebrate the New Year on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (Hayden Woodward/New Zealand Herald via AP)

In Japan, temple bells rang out across the nation as people gathered at shrines and temples to welcome in the new year. At the Tsukiji Temple in Tokyo, visitors were given free hot milk and corn soup as they stood in line to strike a big bell, and a pipe-organ concert was held before a majestic altar.

The New Year’s Eve ball is shown in Times Square on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023 in New York. With throngs of revelers set to usher in the new year under the bright lights of Times Square, officials and organizers say they are prepared to welcome the crowds and ensure their safety. (AP Photo/Julie Walker)

In New York City, officials and party organizers said they were prepared to ensure the safety of tens of thousands of revelers expected to flood Times Square in the heart of midtown Manhattan.

Mayor Eric Adams said there were “no specific threats” to the annual New Year’s Eve bash, which was set to feature live performances from Flo Rida, Megan Thee Stallion and LL Cool J, as well as televised appearances from Cardi B and others. Organizers said in-person attendance was expected to return to pre-COVID levels, even as foot traffic around Times Square remains down slightly since the pandemic.

Fireworks explode over Sydney Harbour as New Year’s Eve celebrations get underway in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)

Amid near-daily protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, New York City police said they would expand the security perimeter around the party, creating a “buffer zone” that would allow them to head off potential demonstrations.

Officials also planned to monitor any protests with drones, the mayor said.

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

“We will be out here with our canines, on horseback, our helicopters, our boats,” Adams said. “But as we saw last year, after having no specific threats, we get a threat.”

During last year’s New Year’s Eve party, a machete-wielding man attacked three police officers a few blocks from Times Square.

People queue to pray at Zojoji Buddhist temple on New Year’s Eve Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Security also will also be heightened across European cities on Sunday.

In France, 90,000 law enforcement officers were set to be deployed, domestic intelligence chief Céline Berthon said Friday.

People gather to pray at Zojoji Buddhist temple on New Year’s Eve Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Of those, 6,000 will be in Paris, where French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said over 1.5 million people are expected to attend celebrations on the Champs-Elysees.

Darmanin cited a “very high terrorist threat” partly because of the Israel-Hamas war. Police for the first time will be able to use drones as part of security work, he said, and tens of thousands of firefighters and 5,000 soldiers would also be deployed.

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)

New Year’s Eve celebrations in the French capital will center on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, including DJ sets, fireworks and video projections on the Arc de Triomphe, highlighting “changes in the city and faces of the Games,” according to the press service of the City of Paris. Other planned events include “the largest Mexican wave ever performed” and a “giant karaoke.”

The security challenge ahead of the Olympics was highlighted when a tourist was killed in a knife attack near the Eiffel Tower on Dec. 2. Large-scale attacks — such as that at the Bataclan in 2015, when Islamic extremists invaded the music hall and shot up cafe terraces, killing 130 people — also loom large.

Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge as New Year celebrations begin in Sydney, Australia, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

In Berlin, some 4,500 police officers are expected to keep order and avoid riots like a year ago. Police in the German capital issued a ban on the traditional use of fire crackers for several streets across the city. They also banned a pro-Palestinian protest in the Neukoelln neighborhood of the city, which has seen several pro-Palestinian riots since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

People wait to pray at Zojoji Buddhist temple on New Year’s Eve Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

In Russia, the country’s military actions in Ukraine have overshadowed end-of-year celebrations, with the usual fireworks and concert on Moscow’s Red Square canceled, as last year.

After shelling in the center of the Russian border city of Belgorod Saturday killed 24 people, some local authorities across Russia also canceled their usual firework displays, including in Vladivostok. Millions throughout Russia are expected to tune into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s New Year’s address.

People queue to pray at Zojoji Buddhist temple on New Year’s Eve Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

In Muslim-majority Pakistan, the government has banned all New Year’s Eve celebrations as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians.

In an overnight televised message, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar urged Pakistanis to “show solidarity with the oppressed people of Gaza” by beginning the new year with simplicity.

People pray at Zojoji Buddhist temple on New Year’s Eve Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Kakar said Muslims across the world were saddened over Israel’s attacks on Gaza that resulted in the killings of thousands of innocent people.

A person toss a joss stick to pray at Zojoji Buddhist temple on New Year’s Eve Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

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