Sydney will be one of the first major cities worldwide to ring in the New Year and is preparing for its first unrestricted New Year in two years.
In just a few hours the planet will begin to say goodbye to 2022. Eight billion inhabitants of the Earth are preparing today to leave behind an episodic year and welcome 2023.
For many, the New Year will be an opportunity to banish memories of covid, as this year, for the first time in two years, celebrations are planned after the lifting of health restrictions.
In Australia, Sydney will be one of the first major cities worldwide to ring in the New Year and is preparing for its first unrestricted New Year in two years. The lockdown at the end of 2020 and the outbreak of the Omicron variant at the end of 2021 had prompted Australian authorities to impose restrictions on celebrations. Now the measures have been lifted, while the country has opened its borders.
So more than a million people are expected to flock to Sydney Harbor to watch a show with tens of thousands of fireworks. City officials estimate that half a billion people will watch the spectacle via the Internet or television.
Already at noon, hundreds of people had occupied the best seats to admire the spectacle.
“2022 was another year of significant change as we continued to work to recover from the effects of the covid-19 pandemic, but today we put that year behind us and look with hope to 2023,” said Clover Moore, Mayor of Sydney.
Queen Elizabeth, Pele, Mikhail Gorbachev and Shinzo Abe, among others, passed away this year. Besides, 2022 was marked by mass layoffs after the pandemic, global recession and rising inflation, a slap in the face at the Academy Awards, the collapse of the cryptocurrency platform FTX and the arrest of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, but also Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.
But more than anything else, 2022 will be associated with the return of war to Europe, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“A peaceful sky”
In more than 300 days of war, nearly 7,000 civilians have been killed and 10,000 injured, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Sixteen million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes. Those who live in the country are faced daily with power, water and heating interruptions, as well as Russian bombings.
In the Russian capital, Moscow, the traditional fireworks show was canceled after the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, asked residents how they would like to celebrate the coming of the new year. “With a peaceful sky above our heads,” this was the only wish of the Muscovites.
State broadcaster VGTRK has promised “a revival atmosphere, despite the changes in the country and the world”. But this year the network’s holiday show will be without star presenter Maxim Galkin, who has exiled himself from Russia to denounce the war in Ukraine.
Further east, in China, the covid epidemic is exploding after the lifting of very strict restrictive measures. Hospitals and crematoriums are at their limits, but New Year’s Eve events are planned across the country.
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
