{"id":29952,"date":"2024-01-01T10:22:09","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T17:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-years-eve-sweeps-across-the-globe\/"},"modified":"2024-01-01T17:22:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-01T17:22:09","slug":"new-years-eve-sweeps-across-the-globe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-years-eve-sweeps-across-the-globe\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year\u2019s Eve sweeps across the globe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Confetti
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)<\/span>Yuki Iwamura<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

New Year\u2019s Day arrived to cheers from thousands in New York\u2019s Times Square where a sparkling crystal ball descended to start 2024 with hope for some, even as the world\u2019s ongoing conflicts subdued celebrations and raised security concerns across the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful,\u201d Corin Christian of Charlotte, North Carolina, said of the scene seconds past midnight as Frank Sinatra\u2019s \u201cNew York, New York\u201d blared from speakers in the square and many in the crowd held cell phones in the air, trying to capture the spectacle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going very well so far,\u201d said Jacob Eriksson of Salt Lake City, Utah, with the earliest assessment of the New Year.<\/p>\n

\"Revelers
Revelers ring in the new year after a countdown to 2024 in Beijing, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo\/Ng Han Guan)<\/span>Ng Han Guan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fireworks
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)<\/span>Dan Himbrechts<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
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)<\/span>Aurelien Morissard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"People
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)<\/span>Marina Lystseva<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
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)<\/span>Emrah Gurel<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fireworks
Fireworks explode over the ancient Parthenon temple at the Acropolis hill during New Year's celebrations in Athens, Greece, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo\/Yorgos Karahalis)<\/span>Yorgos Karahalis<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fireworks
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)<\/span>Alberto Pezzali<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

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\u2019s famous Opera House and harbor bridge \u2014 a number of spectators equivalent to 1 in 5 of the city\u2019s residents. It would be another 16 hours before New York finished 2023.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a good way to bring in the new year,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a must-see,\u201d Crayton said of the colorful cast of strangers nearby in tall hats and blowing noisemakers even before the ball dropped. \u201cAt least go once, you know, just to experience the magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Summer Olympics in the city.<\/p>\n

Fireworks light up the night<\/div>\n

Stunning fireworks displays bloomed at iconic locations like the Acropolis in Athens, Greece; reflected in the sleek glass walls of the world\u2019s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates; and accompanied a collective cheer filling the air in Nairobi, Kenya.<\/p>\n

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 \u201csurely be reunified\u201d with Taiwan.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

About 2 million people gathered at Rio de Janeiro\u2019s Copacabana beach under light drizzle to watch 12 minutes of fireworks in one of the world\u2019s most popular locations for New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n

Pope highlights the cost of war<\/div>\n

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\u2019s Square, he offered prayers for \u201cthe tormented Ukrainian people and the Palestinian and Israeli populations, the Sudanese people and many others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 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,\u201d the pontiff said.<\/p>\n

Gaza and Ukraine wars rage on<\/div>\n

In Russia, the country\u2019s military actions in Ukraine overshadowed end-of-year celebrations, with the usual fireworks and concert on Moscow\u2019s 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\u2019s final seconds.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s New Year\u2019s prerecorded address, in which he said no force could divide Russians and stop the country\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians huddled around fires in a makeshift refugee camp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

a shadow on 2024, and pope offers prayers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-29952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29952"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=29952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}