NEW YEARS celebrations are well underway across the world, with some countries already entering the New Year. Here are the latest photos of New Year celebrations around the world.
Already several countries have welcomed the New Year, including Australia, Thailand, India and Dubai. Others have a bit longer to wait before they usher in 2020, but celebrations are in full force across the world.
New Zealand sent fireworks cascading into the sky when their clocks struck midnight 13 hours ahead of the UK.
In Sydney, fireworks lit up the sky as the clocks tolled midnight, glittering over the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.
The world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, was lit up with fireworks when Dubai rang in 2020.
The UK will soon be saying hello to 2021 too, with only a few short hours to go until we say goodbye to 2020.
New Year 2020 in pictures: Around the world celebrations have begun (Image: GETTY/ REUTERS)
New Year’s Eve 2020 in pictures: Fireworks explode around the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world (Image: AFP via GETTY IMAGES)
New Year’s Eve 2020 in pictures: Singapore welcomed 2020 with a vibrant firework display (Image: GETTY)
Elsewhere, New Year has not brought celebrations, with protesters taking the opportunity to make themselves heard in Hong Kong.
Thousands of protesters briefly blocked one of Hong Kong’s main roads on New Year’s Eve after forming human chains across the city and marching through shopping malls, urging people not to give up the fight for democracy in 2020.
The protesters fled when police came to clear the road of objects such as umbrellas, street furniture and the metal skeleton of a Christmas tree decoration, but then occupied other parts of the road.
At least one man was arrested.
New Year’s Eve 2019 in pictures: People celebrate the new year in Metro Manila, Philippines (Image: REUTERS)
New Year’s Eve 2019 in pictures: Fireworks light up the sky over downtown Bangkok (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Many protesters held cards reading: “Let’s keep fighting together in 2020.”
One attendee of a rally told Reuters: “Liberate HK, Revolution of our time is my New Year wish.
“As we have been protesting for such a long time, but the government still refuses to listen to us.
“If we don’t join the protest, we are in debt to our comrades who have already been jailed.”
New Year’s Eve 2020 in pictures: Stunning photos showed the glittering fireworks in Sydney (Image: GETTY)
New Year’s Eve 2020 in pictures: People queue behind security barriers in Times Square, New York City, USA (Image: AFP via GETTY IMAGES)
Authorities had cancelled the popular midnight fireworks for the first time in a decade, citing security concerns.
A “Symphony of Lights” was planned instead, involving projections on the city’s tallest skyscrapers after a countdown to midnight.
In India there will be painted faces, balloons and hand-painted signs to welcome in the New Year.
In New York, up to a million people are expected to crowd Times Square to witness the famous ball drop, which has signified the beginning of the new year for more than a century.
