The world welcomes 2023 and turns the page on a stormy and turbulent year

The world celebrated the year 2023, a turbulent general deposit that witnessed various political, sporting, social and economic events, most notably the war in Ukraine, record inflation, Argentina's victory in the Qatar World Cup, and the death of prominent personalities, the latest of which was Pope Benedict XVI.

Many around the world were eagerly awaiting the advent of the New Year, hoping to get rid of the year 2022, which was not easy in any of its aspects.

In New York, confetti rained down on crowds in Times Square after the famous ball landing, a tradition dating back to 1907, with visitors from all over the world waiting hours in the rain and in the cold to be part of the action.

And in Brazil, large crowds gathered on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, it was expected that the number of arrivals would reach two million, to celebrate the New Year with the sound of music and fireworks, without any preventive measures against the Corona virus that were imposed in the past few years.

The celebrations come just hours before the inauguration of Brazil's new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on Sunday, after his narrow victory in the elections held in October.

In Uganda, the celebrations turned into a tragedy, as at least nine people were killed in a stampede in a shopping center in the Ugandan capital on Sunday during New Year's celebrations.

In the Philippines, thousands of travelers were stuck at Philippine airports on Sunday after a "communication outage" in the country's busiest hub, Manila, forced the authorities to cancel, delay or divert hundreds of flights.

On the other hand, Parisians and a "normal" number of tourists compared to 2018 and 2019, according to officials, took the opportunity to gather side by side for a fireworks display along the Champs-Elysées, while police reported that about a million people attended the festivities.

Hours ago, Sydney was among the first major cities to announce the transition to the New Year, thus regaining its title of "the global capital of New Year's Day", after witnessing in the past two years closures and limited celebrations due to the outbreak of the mutated Omicron.

In the past year, mass resignations of employees were recorded after the epidemic crisis, a slap in the Oscars ceremony, and the shrinking fortunes of billionaires due to the deterioration in the value of cryptocurrencies.

He also witnessed the deaths of Queen Elizabeth II, Brazilian soccer legend Pele, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and finally former Pope Benedict XVI on New Year's Eve.

On the other hand, the world population crossed the historical threshold of eight billion people in November.

But above all, the world will always remember the year 2022, because it witnessed the return of war to Europe, along with the Russian war against Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his New Year's speech, "It was our year. The year of Ukraine. We are fighting and we will continue to fight" until victory, hoping that the new year will be "the year of the return (...) of our lands" to Ukrainian sovereignty.

In more than 300 days, nearly 7,000 civilians have been killed and nearly 10,000 injured, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and 16 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes.

On a different note, there seemed to be little appetite for major celebrations in Russia.

Moscow canceled its traditional fireworks display, with President Vladimir Putin declaring in his New Year's address that "moral and historical right" is on Russia's side as the country faces international condemnation over the war.

Meanwhile, London was receiving crowds who flocked to watch the New Year's Eve fireworks display, which is being held for the first time since the onset of the Covid pandemic.

Among the sites that did not participate in the fireworks was the English coastal city of Scarborough, which canceled its display in order not to disturb the male seal, "Thor", which recently appeared in the port.

And the Middle East region welcomed the year 2023 with a traditional fireworks display.

Otherwise, China begins in 2023 to combat an increase in Covid infections.

However, the New Year's Eve celebrations were held as planned, despite the overcrowding of hospitals in the world's largest country in terms of population, with the sharp rise in the number of HIV infections after the decision to lift the strict "zero Covid" measures.

Revelers in Beijing flocked to clubs and party venues, while young people in downtown Shanghai celebrated in the streets near the famous Bund waterfront, according to videos on social media.

Meanwhile, in Wuhan, where COVID-19 emerged three years ago, large crowds released festive balloons in a central square as midnight fell.

Thousands gathered despite a heavy security presence.

Barricades were erected and hundreds of police stood guard.

Loudspeakers blasted a message advising people not to congregate, unnoticed by the large crowds of revelers.

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