New Year latest: 300 arrests in Berlin as thousands welcome 2024
Berlin police claim that people threw fireworks at officers and attempted to make molotov cocktails
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Berlin police detained over 300 people on New Year’s Eve after at least 14 on-duty officers were injured as people shot fireworks at each other and police throughout the city.
One of the incidents occurred near Alexanderplatz where around 500 people were letting off fireworks at each other before police dispersed the group at the landmark Neptune Fountain, reported DW.
The crowd fired at police with pyrotechnics when they tried to check them for fireworks, according to the outlet.
In Neukölln, a number of arrests were made after people attempted to make Molotov cocktails, which police say they confiscated.
It came amid jubilant scenes in the US as tens of thousands of beaming people in New York’s Times Square, were showered with confetti and hugs and kisses after watching the descent of the colourful ball marking the birth of 2024.
The UK earlier welcomed 2024 with a bang as tens of thousands packed the streets of London and Edinburgh to watch the cities’ world-famous New Year’s Eve fireworks displays.
Tickets for the event in London sold out and official viewing areas were full. Organisers finished checks on the pyrotechnics with more than 10,000 fireworks shooting up into the night’s sky after the Big Ben countdown.
The march of midnight from time zone to time zone brought the new year first to places like Australia, where more than 1 million people watched a pyrotechnic display centred around Sydney’s famous Opera House and harbour bridge — a number of spectators equivalent to one in five of the city’s residents.
Pictures: Crowds gather in Sydney ahead of countdown
Family hail New Year’s Eve miracle after getting unexpected Eurostar tickets home
A French family who feared they would not be able to get home until January 2 after Saturday’s Eurostar chaos saw their train cancelled have hailed their unexpected tickets home on Sunday as a New Year’s Eve “miracle”.
Isobel Ram, 49, her partner Amaury Ferrero, 52, and daughter Lee Ram, 20, live in Toulouse but their train home was cancelled on Saturday due to flooding in a tunnel in Kent.
Amid the chaos, they booked the first available return tickets, for January 2.
Ms Ram told the PA news agency: “We spent the night in a hotel, we came back this morning and a miracle happened and they gave us three tickets for today’s Eurostar (12.30pm train). We were worried we would be here until January 2.
“We were super happy but a bit embarrassed because there was a huge queue of people waiting behind us and we didn’t want to show we got tickets, make it too obvious, in case other people didn’t. But we said a huge thank you to the lady who did the tickets for us.”
She said her daughter is especially pleased they will be home for New Year’s Eve, adding: “She has got a huge party in Paris tonight. It’s excellent, fantastic, brilliant, a miracle.”
Sydney celebrates its 9pm family show ahead of midnight fireworks
Sydney Harbour has been lit up already by their 9pm family show, while tens of thousands have queued for hours to watch the iconic display at midnight.
New Zealand celebrates the start of 2024
New Zealand has become the next country to ring in the New Year, with a firework display taking place in front of large crowds in Auckland.
The country’s two main islands - North Island and South Island - are both in the same time zone while the Chatham Islands, which lie to the east, have a different time zone 45 minutes in advance.
Next to celebrate will be Australia in two hours time.
Happy New Year, Kiribati!
The small island nation of Kiribati became the first in the world to welcome 2024, with its clock hitting midnight 13 hours before the UK.
Next to celebrate will be New Zealand followed by Australia.
Watch live: New Zealand welcomes in 2024 with New Year fireworks over Auckland
Welcome to our live coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of New Year celebrations across the world, as millions await the countdown to midnight.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates here.
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