New Year's Eve

Zoom out: Here's a look at celebrations across the globe. Australia. Fireworks light up the sky over Sydney Harbour Bridge on Jan. 1, 2023, in Sydney, Australia ...

Revelers in major city centers across Europe and the Middle East were ushering in 2023 with countdowns and fireworks, as many cities around the globe ...

Over 1 million people crowded along Sydney’s waterfront for a multi-million dollar celebration based around the themes of diversity and inclusion. However, opponents of army rule urged people to avoid public gatherings, fearing that security forces might stage a bombing or other attack and blame it on them. French President Emmanuel Macron delivered “a message of unity and trust” in a televised address Saturday. Others in Ukraine returned to the capital, Kyiv, to spend New Year’s Eve with their loved ones. Antuan Catholic Church on Istanbul’s popular pedestrian thoroughfare Istiklal Avenue, dozens of Christians prayed for the new year and marked former Meanwhile, some soldiers who said they usually celebrate the holiday with family decided to stay in the trenches as they sought to defend their country.

The Pacific nation of Kiribati was the first country to greet the new year.

Fireworks explode next to the Arc de Triomphe with "2023" projected on the building, at the Avenue des Champs-Elysees during New Year celebrations in Paris, early on January 1, 2023. The Brazilian capital’s New Year’s bash usually drew more than 2 million people to Copacabana before the pandemic. Big Ben chimed as more than 100,000 revelers gathered along the River Thames to watch a spectacular fireworks show around the London Eye. ET, Andrew Craft hosts special coverage of New Year's celebrations from coast to coast for [New Years NOW.](https://www.fox.com/live/channel/newsnow/) As Russia attacks continue to target power supplies leaving millions without electricity, no big celebrations are expected and a curfew will be in place as the clock rings in the new year. "We will help you until victory and we will be together to build a just and lasting peace. [FOX's LiveNOW](https://www.livenowfox.com/) in the live player below. [The Pacific nation of Kiribati](https://www.fox5dc.com/tag/world) was the first country to greet the new year, with the clock ticking into 2023 one hour ahead of neighbors including New Zealand. The Vatican announced Benedict died Saturday at age 95. Shanghai Disneyland will also hold a special fireworks show to welcome 2023. Tauranga City Council reported one person was hospitalized and four people were treated on site. From 7 p.m.

Has our modern era dimmed the appeal of making out with a stranger, or are people still eager to participate in the New Year's Eve tradition?

He said he was expecting a lot of people to participate in the tradition to ensure a good year ahead. Dating-app culture has also stoked a sense of anxiety for many users about approaching a stranger in person, given how accustomed they’ve become to the idea of connecting with a potential partner without having to leave their home. “I think a lot of men do play it safer,” Mr. “It’s like a thing where you’re sort of born knowing that that’s what you’re supposed to do when the clock strikes 12.” “But it doesn’t always happen, like, right at midnight.” Haworth and his friends threw a New Year’s Eve party at which he ended up kissing a man who had a crush on him. “Obviously Covid and everything plays a huge factor in our mentality these days but I truly don’t think I was ever of that mind-set,” Ms. in Los Angeles for about 15 years, the kiss at midnight is not especially popular with singles. He also pointed to an increased awareness of sexual harassment and assault. “If I am romantic with someone and it comes up, I would be interested in doing it, but it’s not something I’m trying to make happen,” she said. Bradley Haworth, a barista in Los Angeles, takes the opposite view. If you’re in a relationship or dating someone, it’s safe to assume you’ll have someone to trade kisses with at midnight.

Fireworks explode over Sky Tower in central Auckland. Auckland was the first major city to ring in the new year with a fireworks display over the Sky Tower. (AP ...

Many revellers in Asia wore rabbit ears as they celebrated the end of the year according to the modern Gregorian calendar. In Thailand a spectacular fireworks display over the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok marked the arrival of 2023, while in Myanmar, the normal four-hour curfew was suspended to allow residents in the country’s three biggest cities to celebrate New Year’s Eve. In Myanmar, the normal four-hour curfew was suspended to allow residents in the country’s three biggest cities to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

Jubilant crowds ushered in 2023 with the first large gatherings without restrictions in many cities since before the pandemic.

“I am afraid,” said a woman surnamed Jin, referring to the possibility of being reinfected with Covid. Over in New York, people started to gather at about 6pm local time in Times Square ahead of celebrations without restrictions. “In the past year, I feel that Covid-19 was very serious and some of my family members have been hospitalised,” a 17-year-old Wuhan high school student, surnamed Wang, said from the riverside shortly after midnight. Scarborough also had to forgo fireworks, after an Arctic walrus nicknamed ‘Thor’ became a celebrity on New Year’s Eve after being discovered in the harbour. Festivities in Moscow were muted, without the usual fireworks on Red Square. The conflict in Ukraine, the England women’s football team winning the European championships and Pride’s 50th anniversary were also referenced in the show.