Stunning fireworks displays bloomed at iconic locations like the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, the sleek glass walls of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, in the United Arab Emirates, and accompanied a collective cheer filling the air in Nairobi, Kenya.
China celebrated relatively quietly, with most major cities banning fireworks over safety and pollution concerns.
Still, people gathered and performers danced in colourful costumes in Beijing, while a crowd released wish balloons in Chongqing. During his New Year address, Chinese 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.
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledges reform in future-focused New Year’s address
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledges reform in future-focused New Year’s address
In Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, the mood appeared upbeat as revellers gathered for a fireworks show at the bamboo-shaped Taipei 101 skyscraper, as well as at concerts and other events held throughout the city.
For India, thousands of revellers from the financial hub of Mumbai watched the sun set over the Arabian Sea. In New Delhi, fireworks 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.
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.
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”.
“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.
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 cancelled, 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.
After shelling in the Russian border city of Belgorod Saturday killed 24 people, some local authorities across Russia also cancelled their usual firework displays, including in Vladivostok.
Ukraine’s Zelensky vows to wreak ‘wrath’ against Russia in 2024
Ukraine’s Zelensky vows to wreak ‘wrath’ against Russia in 2024
Millions were expected to tune in to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s New Year’s pre-recorded address, where he asserted no force that could divide Russians and stop the country’s development.
Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 35 people Sunday, hospital officials said, as fighting raged across the tiny enclave a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war will continue for “many more months,” resisting international calls for a ceasefire.
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.
In the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians huddled around fires in a makeshift refugee camp.
In Muslim-majority Pakistan, the government has banned all New Year’s Eve celebrations in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Security was also heightened across European cities on Sunday.
German authorities said they had 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.
National security a top priority for Hong Kong leader John Lee in 2024
National security a top priority for Hong Kong leader John Lee in 2024
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 neighbourhood of the city, which has seen several pro-Palestinian riots.
In Paris, over 1.5 million people are expected to attend celebrations on the Champs-Elysees, with around 90,000 law enforcement officers would be deployed nationwide, top officials said.
American Samoa, 220km to the east of Samoa on the other side of the International Date Line, will be the last to ring in 2024.