A view of Christ the Redeemer statue above Rio De Janeiro during the new
year fireworks celebration on January 1, 2019. PHOTO | FERNANDO MAIA |
RIOTUR | AFP
Revellers welcomed 2019 on Tuesday with fireworks displays and
festivities as a celebratory wave swept westward across the globe from
Asia to Europe and the Americas, putting to bed a tumultuous 2018.
In
Rio de Janeiro, the city's famed hilltop Christ the Redeemer statue
briefly came to colourful 3D life through light projections as it peered
over Copacabana Beach, where pyrotechnics lit up more than two million
white-clad Brazilians dancing to free concerts.
The beach was lit up with hundreds of thousands of mobile phone screens as the massive crowd recorded the fireworks spectacle.
New York was to follow with its iconic Times Square Ball drop, the highly mediatized epicentre of US jubilation.
The
global partying had kicked off on Sydney's waterfront with the
Australian city's biggest-ever fireworks display, thrilling 1.5 million
people.
It then moved on to Hong Kong, where hundreds of thousands
packed streets along Victoria Harbour for a spectacular 10-minute show
that illuminated the night.
Mass wedding
In
the Indonesian capital Jakarta, more than 500 couples tied the knot in a
free, mass wedding organized by the government to mark the arrival of a
new year.
Fireworks shows, however, were cancelled out of respect for victims of a December 22 tsunami that killed more than 400 people.
In
Japan, locals flocked to temples to ring in 2019, as US boxing
superstar Floyd Mayweather came out of retirement to beat Japanese
kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in a multi-million-dollar "exhibition" bout
outside Tokyo.
In Dubai, fireworks lit up the sky over
the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, to the delight of
onlookers, while nearby Ras al-Khaima sought to enter the Guinness Book
of Records with the world's longest fireworks show.
Almost
eight years into Syria's civil war, people in Damascus celebrated their
first New Year's Eve since regime forces expelled the last rebels and
jihadists from the capital's suburbs earlier this year.
Dozens
of families headed to restaurants and bars in the Old City. Among them,
Kinda Haddad, a university student, had decided to leave home to
celebrate for the first time in years.
"This is the
first time we chose the Bab Touma area to go out," the 24-year-old said,
referring to an area in the Old City filled with restaurants and bars.
"This
area was really dangerous in previous years. A mortar round could have
fallen on the area at any moment," said Haddad, alluding to possible
rebel fire on the capital.
Concerts
Russia
saw in the new year over several time zones. Concerts and light shows
featured in Moscow city parks, and more than 1,000 ice rinks opened for
merrymakers.
But a tower block gas explosion that killed at least four people cast a shadow over festivities.
In
his New Year's address, President Vladimir Putin urged people to work
together "so that all citizens of Russia... feel changes for the better
in the coming year."
In Paris, "fraternity"-themed
fireworks and a light show were held on the Champs-Elysees, with a few
"yellow vest" anti-government protesters mingling joyfully with the
300,000-strong crowd.
French
President Emmanuel Macron, in a televised address, acknowledged his
government "can do better" but said "I believe in us."
In Berlin, music lovers partied at the Brandenburg Gate.
London
ushered in the new year by celebrating its relationship with Europe,
despite Britain's impending departure from the European Union.
Mayor Sadiq Khan said the capital would remain "outward looking" after Brexit.
Africa elections
In some African countries, election considerations shadowed New Year revelry.
Election
officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo were eschewing the
partying to count votes from a presidential election that was held
Sunday.
In Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari promised a free and fair election in 2019.
Ivory Coast leader Alassane Ouattara vowed to create a new, independent, electoral commission for polls planned for 2020.
As the world celebrates, many are wondering whether the turmoil witnessed in 2018 will spill over into the next year.
Key stories of 2018
The
political wrangling in Westminster over Brexit was one of the key
stories of this year, with a resolution yet to be reached ahead of
Britain's scheduled March 29 departure.
US President
Donald Trump dominated headlines in 2018, ramping up a trade war with
China, quitting the Iran nuclear deal, moving the US embassy to
Jerusalem and meeting his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un.
North
Korea's commitment to denuclearisation will remain a major political
and security issue this year, as will Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's
reassertion of control after Trump's shock announcement of a US troop
withdrawal from the country.
The war in Yemen, which
has killed about 10,000 people since 2014 and left some 20 million at
risk of starvation, could take a crucial turn in 2019 after a ceasefire
went into effect in mid-December.
Numerous countries go
to the polls in the coming year, including Afghanistan, Argentina,
Australia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa.
Major
sporting events on the calendar include the Rugby World Cup in Japan,
the cricket one-day international World Cup in England, and the
athletics World Championships in Qatar.
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