*** New Zealand, South/North Koreans Welcome New Year too
By Harry Awurumibe Editor, Abuja Bureau
Even as millions of people across the world, including Nigerians are getting ready to celebrate the 2024 New Year, some countries especially in the Asian continent have already entered the new dawn joyfully.
Expectedly, fireworks display have taken place in big cities across the world to welcome the brand New Year 2024 including in Sydney in Australia which became the latest to ring in the New Year, with an epic 12-minute firework show watched by thousands around the harbour.
Agency reports said crowds had gathered throughout the day to nab a good spot, ahead of the iconic display which saw eight tonnes of pyrotechnics launched from the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
Australia followed New Zealand, who started their celebrations at 11am GMT with a firework display in Auckland.
The small Pacific island nations of Tonga, Samoa and Kiribati were the first to bid farewell to 2023, as it turned midnight there at 10am GMT.
Despite the bad weather predicted across the UK, tens of thousands are expected to line the streets of London before midnight this evening, with the countdown initiated by Big Ben. READ ALSO:
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The last place to leave 2024 will be Baker Island in the central Pacific Ocean – by which point it will already be January 2, in Kiribati.
As the clock struck midnight and heralded the arrival of January 1, 2024, Kiribati, a country in Oceania, took the lead in welcoming the New Year. Specifically, Kiritimati Island, also known as Christmas Island, part of Kiribati, was the first to embrace the new dawn.
Christmas Island in Kiribati, an island country in the central Pacific Ocean, was the first country to pop Champagne, welcoming 2024 while it was just 5 a.m. on December 31 on the East Coast of the United States and 11 a.m. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, the global standard).
