As major countries of the world await with eagerness to celebrate 2024, a few nations have yesterday afternoon already begun their celebrations.
China, New Zealand, Australia and Kiribati were one of the first nations to ring in 2024 as ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza cast a pall over celebrations and heightened tensions across parts of the world.
Residents of Auckland welcomed in the new year with a fireworks display over Sky Tower, New Zealand’s tallest structure.
Jubilant crowds began bidding farewell to the hottest year on record Sunday, closing a turbulent 12 months marked by clever chatbots, climate crises and wrenching wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
The world’s population — now more than eight billion — will see out the old and usher in the new, with many hoping to shake the weight of high living costs and global tumult.
In Sydney, the self-proclaimed “New Year’s capital of the world”, more than a million partygoers packed the harbour foreshore, with city officials and police warning that all vantage points were full.
Sydneysiders gathered through the day at prominent sites, defying uncharacteristically dank weather, and they were not disappointed when the Harbour Bridge and other landmarks were garlanded in light and colour by eight tonnes of fireworks.
Sequence of New Year celebrations
New Zealand – December 31, 11:00 am GMT
Australia – December 31, 1:00 pm GMT
Japan, South and North Korea – Dec 31, 3:00 pm GMT
China, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines – December 31, 4:00 pm GMT
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia – Dec 31, 5:00 pm GMT
India, Sri Lanka, UAE, Oman, Azerbaijan – December 31, 8:00 pm GMT
Greece, South Africa, Cyprus, Egypt, Namibia – December 31, 10:00 pm GMT (January 1, 3.30 am)
Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Morocco, Congo, Malta – December 31, 11:00 pm GMT (January 1, 4.30 am IST)
