Spectacular fireworks and crowded parties were to ring in the New Year for revelers around the world, as billions marked the end of 2011 with noisy celebrations from Sydney to Stockholm.
From New York’s glittering Times Square, to Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate and Hong Kong’s jostling harbor, crowds gathered to usher in 2012 in a blaze of light, sound and music.
In Australia, more than 1.5 million people were expected to mass at vantage points along Sydney Harbour to watch a pyrotechnic spectacular that has the arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as its focal point.
Photo: Reuters
By early afternoon, thousands of revelers were already waiting in the summer heat for the 7 tonnes of explosives that were to light up the sky in the colourful midnight display attracting global attention.
“Every year we make sure our celebrations are bigger and better than the one before,” Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
In London, crowds were to see in 2012 with fireworks bursting above the River Thames as Big Ben chimed out midnight in a display watched by more than 250,000 people on the riverbanks.
In Paris, tens of thousands were expected to gather on the illuminated Champs Elysees to mark the celebration known as la Fete de Saint-Sylvestre, while in Stockholm fireworks were to be seen across much of the city.
In Amsterdam, revelers were gearing up for the first “kiss” between two giant inflatable puppets representing a Dutch boy and girl, who were to “walk” toward each other as the seconds ticked down to 2012. At the stroke of midnight, the puppets were to kiss as fireworks explode in an event organizers hope would become a yearly tradition in the city.
In Rio de Janeiro, 2 million white-clad partygoers — Brazilians and foreign tourists — were expected to ring in the New Year on Copacabana beach, watching a spectacular “green” fireworks extravaganza.
More than 1 million revelers were expected to flock to New York’s Times Square where pop diva Lady Gaga and tenor Placido Domingo were among the star-studded lineup, where a crystal ball was to drop at the stroke of midnight.
In Japan, which is still suffering the effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, families were gathering for trips to shrines to mark the New Year.
However, refugees from the nation’s nuclear crisis, which was triggered by the natural disasters, said they had little to celebrate after being relocated far from home and loved ones.
“I can’t say Happy New Year as I don’t feel happiness,” said Yuji Takahashi, one of about 1,000 nuclear refugees living in a 36-story Tokyo tower block. “New Year holidays were so enjoyable as my family and relatives got together to celebrate another year, but they have dispersed and now live separately since the nuclear accident.”
In the Philippines, where killer floods spawned by Tropical Storm Washi swept away whole villages in the country’s south, the normally festive New Year’s day was expected to be a somber occasion.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2