World welcomes the New Year with fireworks and prayers
Al Jazeera
Sydney and Auckland are the first major world cities to celebrate the arrival of 2024.
Sydney and Auckland were the first major world cities to welcome the arrival of 2024.
Over a million revellers celebrated the New Year on Sunday night amid stunning fireworks displays, illuminating the skies over Australia’s Sydney Harbour and New Zealand’s tallest structure, the Sky Tower in Auckland.
Light rain that had persisted throughout the day in Auckland had cleared by midnight, and the countdown commenced against an illuminated digital display near the top of the 328-metre (1,076-foot) communications and observation tower.
As the clock struck midnight in Australia’s largest city, Sydney, a 12-minute fireworks display erupted around the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
More than one million people watched from the shore and boats in the harbour.
