The world welcomed 2024 with a mix of celebration and sad reflection on Sunday as people gathered to bid farewell to the previous year and welcome the new. Sydney sparkled under a shower of silver and gold fireworks commemorating the 50th anniversary of its iconic Opera House, while in Gaza, the mood remained bleak as residents were more concerned with survival. Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II announced her abdication in Europe after over half a century on the throne. French President Emmanuel Macron, in a televised address, said that 2024 would be “the year of our French pride” marked by the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games and the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral after a devastating fire. Police in Germany detained three more suspects in an alleged Islamist plot to attack the 800-year-old Gothic cathedral.
London ushered in the New Year with the bongs of Westminster Tower’s Big Ben bell and fireworks. At the same time, Paris saw large crowds gather along the Champs-Elysees to watch a multidimensional light show projected onto the Arc de Triomphe, showcasing the history of the city and the sports that will be featured in the 2024 Olympics. Pope Francis celebrated the New Year with a customary Sunday blessing from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square, offering prayers for various populations, including the tormented people of Ukraine and Gaza.
In New York, the NYPD heightened security for the famed Times Square ball drop amid fears of a terrorist attack after Hamas fired rockets at Israel earlier in the day. Despite the extra precautions, tens of thousands packed the square and surrounding streets to watch the dazzling display.
For many, the New Year is a time of hope and optimism for the future, but rising living costs and global turbulence will remain challenges for much of the world’s population. In New Zealand, Auckland’s Sky Tower kicked off the festivities with a spectacular fireworks display over the city’s harbor bridge and opera house.
Spectacular displays were also seen across Australia, with crowds gathering from 3 am onwards in Sydney and Melbourne to secure a spot to view the fireworks display. People in Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne wore traditional bright-colored shirts to mark the occasion, as did many in the country’s capital, Canberra.
In North Korea, state news agency KCNA reported that Kim Jong Un vowed to launch three new spy satellites, build military drones, and boost the country’s nuclear arsenal in 2024. In a speech marking the New Year, he also said that U.S. policy made war inevitable.
In China, Xi Jinping said the country will continue to build momentum for economic recovery and sustain long-term development with deeper reforms. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen pledged that maintaining peace and stability in the cross-strait was the responsibility of both sides. Despite tensions with the mainland, crowds in Taipei capital cheered as fireworks erupted around the landmark Taipei 101 skyscraper. The display featured more than 16,000 shooting effects featuring comets, mines, crossesettes, serpents, Saturn rings, and horsetail willow shells.
