In what many consider an occasion to get rid of memories associated with record inflation rates around the world and the covid-19 crisis, which is slowly becoming forgotten without actually disappearing.

Eight billion people around the world greeted Saturday in 2023, saying goodbye to a turbulent year that saw the war in Ukraine, record inflation, Lionel Messi's leadership of his country to win the Qatar World Cup, the departure of Queen Elizabeth II, Pele and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

In Australia, Sydney was among the first major cities to announce the transition to the new year, thus regaining its title as the "world capital of New Year's day", after witnessing in the past two years a closure and limited celebrations due to the outbreak of the mutant Omicron.

Since then, the Australian borders have been reopened and more than a million people have flocked to Sydney Harbour to attend the lighting of the city's sky with more than one hundred thousand fiery arrows.

If we manage to gather all the world at the party and greet the coming year with renewed optimism and joy, we will have succeeded

Since the afternoon, hundreds of people have occupied the best sites to attend the show. "It was a very good year for us, we got rid of covid, it's great,"said David Hugh-Patterson, 52, in front of the Sydney Opera House.

"If we can gather all the world at the party and greet the coming year with renewed optimism and joy, we will have succeeded,"said the organizer of the fireworks show Fortunato Foti.

The celebrations contribute to getting rid of negative emotions left over from the year 2022, which saw the death of Queen Elizabeth II, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The last days of 2022 also saw the departure of Brazilian football legend Pele (82 years old) on Thursday, and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Saturday (95 years old).

In marktel, the hometown of the late Pope, in southern Germany, there was no atmosphere of New Year celebrations. A flag decorated with a black ribbon fluttered in front of the town hall.

This year, there were also mass resignations of employees from their work after the pandemic crisis, a slap at the Oscars ceremony, as well as the shrinking fortunes of billionaires due to the decline in the value of cryptocurrencies.

But above all, 2022 will always be remembered by the world because it marked the return of war to Europe with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In more than 300 days, about seven thousand civilians have been killed and about ten thousand injured, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights.

16 million Ukrainians were forced to flee their homes. As for those who stayed, their diaries are punctuated by frequent power outages, Russian bombardments and curfews.

Russian strikes targeted several Ukrainian regions, including the capital Kiev, where the shelling killed at least one person and many wounded.

Everyone lives this conflict in their own way, there are those who pray quietly and others celebrate, in steps aimed at giving impetus to Joint Resistance.

Director Yaroslav mutenko, 23, stressed that the shell that hit the alphavito hotel near his apartment in Kiev would not prevent him from going to celebrate at a friend's House.

"Our Russian enemies can test our calm, but they cannot destroy our soul,"he said.

To the East, it seems that Russia is not in a position to have fun. Moscow cancelled its traditional fireworks display after the city's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin asked residents how they would like to move into the new year.

The only wish of Muscovites is "a peaceful sky over our heads,"said Irina Shapovalova, 51, a nursery employee.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed in his new year's address that "moral and historical truth is in our favor", while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was "confident that we will win this war".

In London, the traditional New Year's Eve fireworks show, organized for the first time since the covid pandemic, is expected to gather about 100 thousand spectators.

And in Vienna, 1850 guests were preparing for the traditional New Year's concert of the Philharmonic Orchestra, in the Musikverein Hall.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron used the new year's speech to renew his support for Kiev "until victory".

In the Parisian capital, the Champs Elysees boulevard has regained its brilliance and crowds of great evenings before covid. Almost half a million people were expected to attend the new year's Eve show.

In front of the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, thousands of people ate 12 grapes on the occasion of the last 12 seconds of 2022. It is a ritual followed by the majority of Spaniards.

For its part, Croatia adopted the single European currency on Saturday night and canceled border procedures for holders of European passports, two main stops for this country since it joined the European Union about a decade ago.

In Asia, China is experiencing a large outbreak of covid-19, while vaccination allows residents of other countries of the world to lead an almost normal life.

Beijing abruptly abandoned its "zero covid" policy at the beginning of the month, in a shift that was immediately followed by a sharp rise in the number of infections. Although hospitals are overflowing with the injured, as well as crematoriums with corpses, new year's Eve celebrations will be held in countless bars, theaters and shopping centers across the country.

President Xi Jinping intended to spread a breath of hope just hours before the new year, saying "a glimmer of hope is ahead of us".

In the Middle East, fireworks were set off in front of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world (830 meters) to mark the new year.

In Brazil, the first day of the new year marks the return to power of the country's former President Lula.