NEW YORK (AP) — New Year’s celebrations swept across the globe, ushering in 2023 with countdowns and fireworks — and marking an end to a year that brought war in Europe, a new chapter in the British monarchy and global worries over inflation.
The new year began in the tiny atoll nation of Kiribati in the central Pacific, then moved across Russia and New Zealand before heading deeper, time zone by time zone, through Asia and Europe and into the Americas.
The ball dropped on New York City’s iconic Times Square as huge crowds counted down the seconds into 2023, culminating in raucous cheers and a deluge of confetti glittering amid jumbo screens, neon, pulsing lights and soggy streets.
A man wielding a machete attacked three police officers near the celebration, authorities said, striking two of them in the head before an officer shot the man in the shoulder about eight blocks from Times Square, just outside the high-security zone. The two officers were hospitalized, one with a fractured skull and the other with a bad cut, but expected to recover. The 19-year-old suspect was also expected to recover.
Across the world, at least for a day, thoughts focused on possibilities, even elusive ones like world peace, and mustering — finally — a resolve to keep the next array of resolutions. Reporting by Bobby Caina Calvan of the Associated Press.
Brazilians celebrate during fireworks marking the start of the New Year at Gonzaga beach on January 1, 2023 in Santos, Brazil. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Fireworks explode over buildings during New Year’s celebrations on January 01, 2023 in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images) Revelers wait in the rain at Times Square for the midnight ball drop for the New Year’s Eve celebration on December 31, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images) Ryan Seacrest, Liza Koshy, and Jessie James Decker speak onstage during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2023 on December 31, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images for dick clark productions) Fireworks light up the sky over the London Eye and the Elizabeth Tower, also known as “Big Ben,” in central London during the New Year celebrations on Sunday, January 1, 2023. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP) New Years’ Eve fireworks are seen over the London skyline from Lift 109 at Battersea Power Station on January 01, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Rob Pinney/Getty Images) Fireworks explode next to the Arc de Triomphe, at the Avenue des Champs-Elysees during New Year celebrations in Paris, early on January 1, 2023. (Photo by Julien De Rosa/AFP via Getty Images) Revelers watch a sound and light show projected on the Arc de Triomphe as they celebrate the New Year on the Champs Elysees, in Paris, France, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard) New Year’s fireworks are launched in Munich, Germany, on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. (Lennart Preiss/dpa via AP) Visitors celebrate the new year at the Brandenburg Gate on January 01, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images) Fireworks explode over the ancient Parthenon temple at the Acropolis hill during New Year celebrations in Athens, Greece, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis) Fireworks explode in the sky on New Years Eve from the King Taksin Bridge on January 01, 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images) Fireworks light up the sky over Sydney Harbour Bridge during New Year’s Eve celebration on January 01, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. Revelers turned out in droves to celebrate the arrival of the new year, the first since pandemic restrictions were completely removed in early 2022. (Photo by Roni Bintang/Getty Images) A woman prays at Jogye temple during the New Year Eve on December 31, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea. South Koreans will celebrate in central Seoul after the New Year event was held without an audience for the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) A commercial aircraft approaches the runway as the sun sets for the last time in 2022, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) People make a heart shaped gesture as they look at the first sunrise of the year during New Year’s celebrations at a park on January 1, 2023 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) Buddhist monks pray during the mass alms giving ceremony for New Year where 3,000 monks attend at Wat Phra Dhammakaya Buddhist Temple on January 01, 2023 in Pathum Thani, Thailand. (Photo by Sirachai Arunrugstichai/Getty Images)
