Out with the old, in with the new
Revelry meets prayers as the new year begins
Fireworks lighting up the sky over Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris, as revellers take part in New Year celebrations.
REVELLERS around the world ring in 2018 in their own special ways:
NEW YORK
With a burst of confetti and fireworks, throngs of revellers ushered in 2018 in a frigid Times Square as the glittering crystal ball dropped.
It was the second-coldest on record, with the temperature only -12°C in New York at midnight.
Partygoers bundled up in extra layers, wearing warm hats and face masks, dancing and jogging in place to ward off the cold.
There was also tighter security after two terrorist attacks and a rampaging SUV driver who plowed into a crowd on the very spot where the party took place. The party went off with no major problems.
Auld Lang Syne and New York, New York played as the crowds cheered.
BRAZIL
Rio de Janeiro’s main party was celebrated with fireworks erupting on Copacabana beach after the clock struck midnight.
After 17 minutes of a multi-coloured show in the skies, singer Anitta led the party on stage with her single Vai Malandra, a song that scored 84 million views on YouTube in two weeks.
Some of the city’s most traditional Carnival samba schools performed later.
VATICAN
Bidding 2017 farewell, Pope Francis decried wars, injustices and environmental decay which he said had “ruined” the year.
Francis on Sunday presided at a New Year’s Eve prayer service in St Peter’s Basilica, a traditional occasion to say thanks in each year’s last hours.
He said God gave to us a 2017 “whole and sound”, but that “we humans in many ways ruined and hurt it with works of death, lies and injustices”.
But, he added, “gratitude prevails” thanks to those “cooperating silently for the common good”.
In keeping with past practice, the pope on New Year’s Day celebrated Mass dedicated to the theme of world peace.
NEW ZEALAND
Tens of thousands of New Zealanders took to the streets and beaches, becoming among the first in the world to usher in 2018.
As the new year dawned in this southern hemisphere nation, fireworks boomed and crackled above city centres and harbours, and partygoers sang, hugged, danced and kissed.
In Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, tens of thousands gathered around Sky Tower as five minutes of non-stop pyrotechnics exploded from the top of the structure.
But on nearby Waiheke Island, 30km away, authorities cancelled the planned fireworks display because of drought conditions and low water supplies for firefighters.
UGANDA
Thousands of Ugandans gathered at churches across the country to mark the end of 2017.
The raucous events, during which some preachers are known to make dubious predictions, have become such a staple of New Year’s Eve fes- tivities that the country’s longtime president, Yoweri Museveni, sometimes makes an appearance at a church.
Still, many preferred to celebrate at crowded beaches on the shores of Lake Victoria or in darkened halls listening to the music of pop stars until midnight.
Police warned revellers not to burn car tyres in celebration, citing safety reasons, to discourage a favourite activity of those, especially in the countryside, who cannot afford fireworks.
RUSSIA
As Russians counted down the last moments before 2018 ticked over into each of the country’s 11 time zones, President Vladimir Putin called on them to be considerate and conciliatory with each other in the new year.
“Say the most cherished words to each other, forgive mistakes and resentment, admit love, warm up with care and attention,” Putin said in a televised message broadcast on Sunday just before midnight.
Moscow had fireworks and outdoor gatherings despite weather that was less than festive.
Usually festooned with snow at New Year’s Eve, the Russian capital slogged through a long spell of intermittent rain and constant grey skies.
JAPAN
Many Japanese celebrated the arrival of the Year of the Dog in the traditional way of praying for peace and good fortune at neighbourhood Shinto shrines and eating New Year’s food such as noodles, shrimp and sweet black beans.
Barbecued beef and octopus dumpling stalls were out at Tokyo’s Zojoji Temple, where people took turns striking the giant bell 108 times at midnight, an annual practice repeated at other Buddhist temples throughout Japan.
INDIA
Security was tight in the southern Indian city of Bangalore to prevent a repeat of incidents of groping and molestation of several women during New Year’s Eve celebrations a year ago.
Police Commissioner Sunil Kumar said at least 15,000 police officers were on duty and were aided by drones and closed-circuit television cameras.
A year ago, police first denied that any sexual harassment had taken place during the celebrations in Bangalore, India’s information technology hub.
But later, police detained at least six men after several video clips of women being attacked by groups of men spread on social media. —