01/01/2024 11:36 am (current 01/01/2024 2:19 pm)
Watching fireworks with your feet in the water in Copacabana ©APA/AFP
The New Year 2024 was welcomed across the world on Monday with the usual celebrations marked by fireworks, confetti showers and fireworks. As every year, the spectacular points were Sydney, where 13,500 fireworks were set off with elaborate special effects, New York, with the crystal ball sliding down the flagpole, and Copacabana, in Rio. In London there was the usual fireworks display. fireworks on the London Eye ferris wheel, including the bells of Big Ben.
Residents of Kiritimati atoll in the South Sea were the first people in the world to welcome the year 2024. The approximately 7,300 residents began the new year at 11am CET on New Year's Eve. The Chatham Islands, which belong to New Zealand, came just 15 minutes later. They are located about 800 kilometers east of New Zealand and have their own time zone. An hour after Kiritimati, New Zealand and the island states of Samoa and Tonga celebrated the New Year.
At 2pm CET (Sunday) it was the turn of Sydney, Australia, with its impressive light show against the world-famous backdrop of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. In the port area alone, more than 13,500 fireworks were set off with elaborate special effects. A million spectators were there live.
At 2pm CET (Sunday) it was the turn of Sydney, Australia, with its impressive light show against the world-famous backdrop of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. In the port area alone, more than 13,500 fireworks were set off with elaborate special effects. A million spectators were there live.
Gigantic light shows also took place in many Asian cities, including Singapore. In China, New Year's Eve celebrations were subdued; Chinese New Year is only celebrated there in February. However, in the Chinese special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, New Year's Eve is more important than in most of the People's Republic. In Hong Kong, tens of thousands of people gathered around Victoria Harbor to marvel at the massive fireworks display. Numerous large parties also took place in the casino city of Macau.
300 arrests in Berlin
New Year's Eve in Berlin was not entirely peaceful. In the German capital, at least 15 police officers were injured on New Year's Eve, one of whom was so seriously injured that he had to stop working. Among other things, emergency services were targeted by pyrotechnic fire. A police spokesman said there had been around 300 arrests.
New Year's Eve in Berlin was not entirely peaceful. In the German capital, at least 15 police officers were injured on New Year's Eve, one of whom was so seriously injured that he had to stop working. Among other things, emergency services were targeted by pyrotechnic fire. A police spokesman said there had been around 300 arrests.
Following terrorism warnings at Cologne Cathedral, the area around the cathedral remained silent on New Year's Eve, according to police. New Year's Eve celebrations ended fatally for an 18-year-old in Bavaria. According to previous information from the police in Eschlkam in the Upper Palatinate, the young man threw a rocket into a plastic pipe – when his head was above the pipe, the rocket exploded and fatally injured the man in the head area, according to the police. In Boxberg, East Saxony, a 22-year-old man was killed when a banned spherical bomb was detonated.
Fireworks resurrected in London
As usual, London saw an impressive fireworks display around the London Eye ferris wheel on the Thames at midnight. Traditionally, Big Ben's bells rang in the New Year in the British capital. It was a birthday for the British Parliament clock tower when the BBC broadcast its chimes live for the first time on New Year's Eve 100 years ago. Until then, the typical sound was only audible to people around the London borough of Westminster.
As usual, London saw an impressive fireworks display around the London Eye ferris wheel on the Thames at midnight. Traditionally, Big Ben's bells rang in the New Year in the British capital. It was a birthday for the British Parliament clock tower when the BBC broadcast its chimes live for the first time on New Year's Eve 100 years ago. Until then, the typical sound was only audible to people around the London borough of Westminster.
Peaceful celebrations in Paris
In France, the turn of the year was quite peaceful. More than a million people celebrated on Paris' Champs-Élysées without any notable incidents, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on New Year's morning. Things were also calm in the rest of France.
In France, the turn of the year was quite peaceful. More than a million people celebrated on Paris' Champs-Élysées without any notable incidents, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on New Year's morning. Things were also calm in the rest of France.
Party in Rio de Janeiro
In the Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro, hundreds of thousands of people celebrated New Year's Eve with fireworks and music. At midnight, the traditional twelve-minute fireworks display began, launched from ten rafts on the world-famous Copacabana Beach. The celebration was also accompanied by an orchestra and a drone show.
In the Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro, hundreds of thousands of people celebrated New Year's Eve with fireworks and music. At midnight, the traditional twelve-minute fireworks display began, launched from ten rafts on the world-famous Copacabana Beach. The celebration was also accompanied by an orchestra and a drone show.
Ball drop in New York
New Year's rituals in New York are also a classic: the global metropolis on the East Coast of the USA welcomed the New Year as usual with a heavy shower of confetti in the famous Times Square, in Manhattan. Just above zero degrees Celsius, hundreds of thousands of spectators sang the songs “Auld Lang Syne” and “New York, New York” to ring in 2024. Beforehand, as always, a glowing crystal ball slid down a flagpole (“ball drop”).
New Year's rituals in New York are also a classic: the global metropolis on the East Coast of the USA welcomed the New Year as usual with a heavy shower of confetti in the famous Times Square, in Manhattan. Just above zero degrees Celsius, hundreds of thousands of spectators sang the songs “Auld Lang Syne” and “New York, New York” to ring in 2024. Beforehand, as always, a glowing crystal ball slid down a flagpole (“ball drop”).