Billions cheered in 2020 after a tumultuous year dominated by protests for political revolt and climate change
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AGENCIES
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January 01, 2020
The world celebrated the New Year on Wednesday with fireworks displays from Sydney to London, although celebrations were clouded by deadly wildfires in Australia, protests in Hong Kong and India and nuclear tensions with North Korea.
Large crowds gathered in European capitals for spectacular firework displays that lit up the skies over landmarks like Big Ben in London, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Parthenon in Athens and the Kremlin in Moscow.
The traditional drop of a Waterford crystal ball on Times Square in New York capped a six-hour New Year’s Eve show. Intermittent rain did little to dampen the festivities as hundreds of thousands of people were treated to performances by pop star Post Malone, the Korea-pop band BTS, and singer song writer Alanis Morisette.
Elsewhere, celebrations from Auckland, New Zealand, to Pyongyang, the capital of isolated North Korea, welcomed in the New Year with fireworks displays.
Here's a look at how the world welcomed the new decade.
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 1: Revelers ring in the new year at Times Square during the New Year´s celebration on January 1, 2020 in New York City. People began celebrating New Year´s Eve at Times Square in 1904, in 1907 the New Year´s Eve Ball made its first descent from the flagpole at One Times Square. Photo: AFP
Fireworks explode around the London Eye during New Year's celebrations in central London just after midnight on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
Fireworks light up the sky for New Year celebrations over the 122-metre (400 ft.) tall Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) statue in Jimbaran on Indonesia's resort island of Bali early on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
This picture taken early on January 1, 2020 from aboard a Japan Airlines flight shows the first sunrise of 2020 seen above Mount Fuji. Photo: AFP
People visit Kanda Myojin Shrine to offer New Year prayers in Tokyo on January 1, 2020. Millions of Japanese people will visit shrines and temples across the country during the first three days of the new year to pray for the well-being of their families. Photo: AFP
Fireworks erupt over downtown Bangkok during New Year´s celebrations on January 1, 2020. Some 100 000 people gathered to welcome the new decade. Photo: AFP
Fireworks explode behind the quadriga of Berlin´s landmark Brandenburg Gate to usher in the New Year on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
Protesters and revelers take part in a rally while enjoying the New Year´s celebration, in Santiago. Chile has been rocked by months of protests that began with strikes over metro fare hikes and quickly escalated into the most severe outbreak of social unrest since the end of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet nearly 30 years ago. Photo: AFP
Sri Lankans watch fireworks during new year´s celebrations in Colombo, on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
Fireworks explode at the Burj Khalifah, the world’s tallest building, on New Year´s Eve to welcome 2020 in Dubai, on December 31, 2019. Photo: AFP
Fireworks explode over the ancient temple of the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis hill as part of Greece´s celebrations for the New Year in Athens on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
Pro-democracy protesters and people gather at the promenade of Tsim Sha Tsui district as they they take part in a rally and to celebrate the new year's eve, in Hong Kong on December 31, 2019. Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong held hands and formed human chains across the city on December 31, as they carried their months-long movement and its demands into 2020 with midnight countdown rallies and a massive march planned for New Year's Day. Photo: AFP
Protesters count down to the new year in the Kowloon district of Hong Kong on December 31, 2019. Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong held hands and formed human chains across the city on Tuesday, as they carried their months-long movement and its demands into 2020 with midnight countdown rallies and a massive march planned for New Year's Day. Photo: AFP
Fireworks explode in the sky over the Ortakoy Mosque by the July 15 Martyrs' Bridge during the New Year's celebrations, in Istanbul on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
People take pictures in front of light decorations on Taksim Square during preparations to celebrate the New Year 2020 in Istanbul on December 31, 2019. Photo: AFP
Fireworks explode over Jerusalem´s Old City and the Dome of the Rock mosque during the New Year celebrations, on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
Children spin burning steelwools to sprinkle fire sparks as they celebrate the new year on a street of Kibera slum in Nairobi, on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
People cheer during New Year celebrations in Manila on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
Fireworks explode over the Kremlin in Moscow during New Year celebrations, on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
New Year's Eve fireworks erupt over Mumbai´s iconic Gateway of India on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
Fireworks light the sky over the Arc de Triomphe during the New Year's celebrations on the Champs Elysees avenue, in Paris, on on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
People take pictures of the Arc de Triomphe as a crowd waits for the new year´s eve fireworks at the Champs Elysees in Paris on December 31, 2019. Photo: AFP
A woman celebrates as she watches the traditional New Year's fireworks at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on December 31, 2019. Photo: AFP
The New Year is being celebrated on and around the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, Netherlands with the National Fireworks. Photo: AFP
A woman poses for a picture in front of a 2020 luminous sign after midnight during a countdown event to mark the New Year in central Seoul on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
Fireworks explode over Marina Bay during New Year's Eve celebrations in Singapore January 1, 2020. Photo: REUTERS
Fireworks explode over Ljubljana castle during New Year´s celebrations in Ljubljana, Slovenia on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
New Year's Eve fireworks erupt over Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House (L) during the fireworks show on January 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
