Australia and New Zealand are first to ring in 2024 as war shadows celebrations elsewhere
Published:Sunday | December 31, 2023 | 9:53 AM
Sydney and Auckland have become the world's first major cities to ring in 2024, with more than a million revellers 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's largest city, tons of explosives erupted in a 12-minute display that focused on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
More than one million people, a number equivalent to one in five of the city's residents, watched from the shore and from boats in the harbor.
“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-metre (1,076-foot) communications and observation tower.
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 cancelled 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 colours of the Israeli flag in response to the October 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas that triggered the 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.”
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