With each time difference, another new year comes into view

melbourne – New Year celebrations are happening all over the world, welcoming 2023 with countdowns and fireworks. war in europea new chapter in British monarchy Global concern over inflation.

The new year began in Kiribati, a small atoll nation in the central Pacific, then crossed Russia and New Zealand and made its way deeper through Asia and Europe hour by hour.

For at least one day, we focused on the possibility of even something as elusive as world peace, ultimately gathering our resolve to sustain the next set of resolutions.

As a sign of that hope, the children met St. Nicholas at a crowded metro station in Kharkov, Ukraine.

yet Russian attacks continued on New Year’s EveAt midnight, the streets of the capital Kyiv were desolate. The only hint of New Year was the locals shouting “Happy New Year” from their balconies. And “Glory to Ukraine!” And just half an hour into 2023, air raid sirens blared over the Ukrainian capital, followed by explosions.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported an explosion in the Horosivsky district, and officials said debris from a shot-down missile had damaged a car in the central district.

French President Emmanuel Macron greeted the new year with a “message of unity and trust” in a televised address on Saturday, pledging continued support for Ukraine. “We will definitely be on your side next year,” Macron said, adding that “we will come together to help you until victory and build a just and lasting peace.” Count on France, count on Europe. ”

In London, tens of thousands of people watched New Year’s Eve fireworks on the banks of the Thames for the first time since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In both 2020 and 2021, restrictions on large gatherings have curtailed festivities as drone light shows have replaced traditional fireworks viewing.

Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach welcomes small crowds of thousands for a brief fireworks display, with several Brazilian cities canceling celebrations this year over coronavirus concerns.New Year’s bash in Brazil’s capital typically drew more than 2 million people to Copacabana before the pandemic.

Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city, will be in full swing with street festivals and fireworks in 2023. At St. Antuan Catholic Church, dozens of Christians offered their New Year’s prayers and made their mark. Death of former Pope Benedict XVIThe Vatican announced that Benedict died Saturday at the age of 95.

New York City prepared to join the New Year’s glow with a dazzling spectacle Saturday night at iconic Times Square, anchoring celebrations across the United States. meters) and weighing about 6 tons descends from the top of One Times Square. Its surface is made up of about 2,700 Waterford crystals and will be illuminated with a palette of more than 16 million colors, according to officials.

At the stroke of midnight, copious amounts of confetti were expected to rain down on people making soggy noises, twinkling among jumbo screens, neons, and pulsing lights.

Last year, about 15,000 masked spectators scaled back to watch the ball descend in the lights and cheers of the US New Year’s Eve event. Due to pandemic rules, it was far fewer than the tens of thousands of revelers who normally gathered in the world-famous square before the pandemic.

There were heavy thoughts about last year and the new year before the ball dropped.

Ari Thompson, who had shown her brother around Times Square the day before, said people should do their part to care for their corner of the world.

“I think we live in a broken world, and I see it happening every day,” she said. “I think it’s always good to do something to make it a little less broken.”

In Australia, more than one million people gathered on Sydney’s waterfront for a multi-million dollar celebration of diversity and inclusion. From the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge he launched more than 7,000 fireworks, and another 2,000 from the nearby Opera House.

“We have had some rather difficult years and this year we are very pleased to welcome people back to the Sydney Harbor foreshore for Sydney’s world famous New Year’s Eve celebrations. ‘, Stephen Gilby, producer of major Sydney events and festivals, told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Crowds gathered under the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, for a 10-second countdown to midnight before fireworks. It was revived after being forced to cancel on .

Concerns about the Ukrainian war and the economic shock it caused to the world were also felt in Tokyo.

“I hope the war in Ukraine will end and prices will stabilize,” he said.

In military-ruled Myanmar, authorities have announced a suspension of the usual four-hour curfew in the country’s three largest cities so residents can celebrate New Year’s Eve. Opponents of military rule, however, urged people to avoid public gatherings for fear that security forces would launch bombings or other attacks and blame them.

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Associated Press journalists around the world, including Henry Hou in Beijing, Renata Brito in Kyiv, Yuri Kagaema in Tokyo, Grant Peck in Bangkok, Zeynep Birginsoy in Istanbul, Thomas Adamson in Paris and Silvia Hoy in London. contributed to this report.