After a challenging year around the globe, the world is preparing to welcome in 2021 with open arms, and New Zealand is kicking off the celebrations.
Marking the arrival of the New Year with a fireworks show at SkyTower in Auckland, people gathered to celebrate as the clock hit midnight.
In Australia, Sydney's world-famous fireworks took place with much smaller crowds than usual, due to Covid-19 restrictions.
As people gear up for New Year's celebrations around the world, many of which will look rather different this year, The National will be sharing pictures as the start of 2021 trickles across the globe.
In the UAE, the turn of the New Year was marked with fireworks displays, including a show at the world's tallest building, and an attempt to break a Guinness World Record in the capital with the world's longest fireworks display, at 35 minutes.
"Happy new year" and "2021" were seen on the Burj Khalifah in Dubai as fireworks shot off up and down the tower.
In Cairo, Egypt, fireworks exploded over the new suspension bridge crossing the River Nile, named Tahya Misr (Long Live Egypt), for the new year.
Berlin's annual official New Year's Eve festivities at The Brandenburg Gate were broadcast by public German TV station ZDF.
Any chance of an in-person crowd at the "Welcome 2021" show was blocked, because of rising coronavirus cases in Germany.
Britain rang in the new year with subdued, limited, and cancelled celebrations shortly after the nation formally left the European Union market.
New York City's Times Square was barricaded on Thursday, with only a handful of invited guests, including healthcare workers and others from the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, allowed in to watch the New Year's Eve ball drop in person.
The eagerly awaited first lights of 2021 fell on the Pacific nations of Kiribati and Samoa, with the uninhabited Howland and Baker Islands the last to tip over into the New Year 26 hours later.
New Zealand, which has won plaudits for its handling of the coronavirus, followed an hour later with large crowds gathered in Auckland to watch a fireworks display.
Although still isolated by international border closures, months of zero recorded cases in the community has let life in New Zealand return to relative normality.
In Australia's largest city, Sydney, plans to allow crowds were scrapped amid a cluster of about 150 new infections, leading to severe travel restrictions to and from the city.
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WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
What to watch out for:
Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways
The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof
The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history
Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure
Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Fernandes pen 2') Tottenham Hotspur 6 (Ndombele 4', Son 7' & 37' Kane (30' & pen 79, Aurier 51')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
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The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).