CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - This New Year’s Eve is being celebrated like no other in most of the world, with pandemic restrictions limiting crowds and many people bidding farewell to a year they’d prefer to forget with made-for-TV fireworks displays or packing it in early since they could not toast the end of 2020 in the presence of friends or crowds of carousing strangers.As the clock struck midnight across Asia and the South Pacific, the New Year’s experience mirrored national responses to the virus itself.
Some canceled or scaled back festivities, while others without active outbreaks were able to carry on like any other year.Australia was among the first to ring in 2021 because of its proximity to the international date line.In past.