Jubilant crowds began this Sunday to celebrate the arrival of 2024, and as usual the colorful fireworks in Sydney, which proclaims itself “the world capital of the New Year, raised their hands with a formidable spectacle. More than a million People crowded the shore of the port of that great Australian city to admire the show in the sky, which this time consumed no less than eight tons of fireworks.
Even before nightfall, there were already tens of thousands of people gathered at strategic points around the city’s iconic Harbor Bridge, braving unusually wet weather and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the New Year.
Among the notable events of 2023 that are leaving were the exponential growth of artificial intelligence tools, the world‘s first complete eye transplant and a “Barbie mania” unleashed by the successful film dedicated to the famous Mattel doll. Additionally, India overtook China as the world‘s most populous country and became the first nation to land a rocket on the dark side of the moon.
Also It was the warmest year since records began in 1880.with a series of climate-induced disasters affecting from Australia to the Horn of Africa and the Amazon Basin.
The world said goodbye to the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” Tina Turnerand another loss mourned around the world was that of “Friends” actor Matthew Perry, but 2023 will be remembered, above all, for the war in the Middle East, began with the insane Hamas attacks of October 7 in southern Israel and the terrible Israeli reprisals.
“Let the war end”
The United Nations (UN) estimates that almost two million Gazans have been displaced since the Israeli siege began, approximately 85% of the peacetime population. With once-bustling neighborhoods of Gaza City now reduced to rubble, there are few places left to celebrate the new year, and even fewer loved ones to celebrate it with.
“It was a black year full of tragedies,” said Abed Akkawi, who fled the city with his wife and three children. The 37-year-old, who now lives in a UN shelter in Rafah, southern Gaza, said the war had destroyed his house and killed his brother.
But still, he clings to modest hopes for 2024. “God willing that this war will end, that the new year will be better and that we can return to our homes and rebuild them, or even live in a tent on the rubble,” he told the AFP.
In Ukraine, where the Russian invasion is approaching its second anniversary, there is a breath of hope and defiance after Moscow’s new attack. “Victory! We are waiting for it and we believe that Ukraine will win,” Tetiana Shostka said as air raid sirens sounded in kyiv.
“We will have everything we want if Ukraine is free, without Russia,” the 42-year-old added. Some in Vladimir Putin’s Russia are also tired of the conflict.
“In the new year I would like the war to end, a new president and normal life to return,” said Zoya Karpova, a 55-year-old theater decorator who lives in Moscow.
Putin is Russia’s longest-serving president since Joseph Stalin and his name will appear on the ballot again when Russians vote in March.
Pope Francis’ prayer
In the Vatican, Pope Francis prayed for people suffering from war, citing the Ukrainian people, the Palestinian and Israeli people, the Sudanese people and the Rohingya.
“At the end of a year, let us have the courage to ask ourselves: how many human lives have been broken by armed conflicts? How many dead?” Francis said in his greetings after the last Angelus in 2023.
2024 is emerging as the year of elections, since the political destiny of more than 4 billion people will be decided in votes that will shape Russia, the United Kingdom, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Venezuela and many other countries.
But an election promises global consequences. In the United States, Democrat Joe Biden, 81, and Republican Donald Trump, 77, seem willing to repeat the presidential election race in November, already held in 2020.
As a sitting president, Biden has at times shown signs of his advanced age, and even his supporters worry about the consequences of another four years of his in power. But if there is concern about what a second Biden administration would look like, there is also concern about Trump’s return.
The former president faces several charges, and voters could decide whether he goes to the Oval Office or jail.
AFP/HB