From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Australia, New Zealand lead world in ringing in 2018
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAustralia rings in the New Year Sunday with a spectacular display of rainbow-colored fireworks cascading from Sydney Harbour Bridge, as revelers mark the nation’s legalization of gay marriage amid tight security.
About 1.5 million people pack the city’s foreshore to watch the pyrotechnics light up the sky above the historic bridge and the iconic opera house, the first major celebrations worldwide after New Zealand.
“This is a fabulous way to see out 2017 — the year that four out of five Sydneysiders said a resounding ‘Yes’ to marriage equality,” says Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore of the nationwide postal vote in support of change.
Thousands turned out earlier in New Zealand’s largest city Auckland for the annual New Year’s Eve street party, marked by a major fireworks display from the Sky Tower.
— AFP
The Times of Israel Community.