brazil seeing in 2023 in style. fireworks along the copacabana beach in the countries city of rio dejaneiro. 2 million people there along the seafront. in london, more than 100,000 revellers welcomed in the new year to the chimes of big ben where the countdown was projected within the london eye in the lead up to midnight. a spectacular firework display lit up the skies for around 12 minutes in what was thought to be the largest display in europe with over 12,000 fireworks. there were tributes to the late queen elizabeth, to ukraine s resistance against russian invasion, and 50 years of pride celebrations. the display returned to the banks of the river thames for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. 0ur correspondent greg mckenzie has been soaking up the atmosphere amongst the many thousands of revellers. i am absolutely speechless. that was a i2 minute spectacular. the biggest firework display in the entire europe having taken place just a few minutes ago, and
2pm in the afternoon, a row of shops in the town of kostiantynivka. Theyre used to attacks here but not on this scale. In the blast s shocking aftermath, a search for the living and the dead. Its not immediately clear what kind of weapon landed here, but shrapnel tore into the road, into cars and people. Translation this is a civilian pharmacy. At the time of the strike, civilians were here, buying medicines, and this is what happened. Ukraines president , as he has so many times before, sounded outraged. Translation we understand what they are doing, they did the same in the past. Whenever there is any positive offensive step by ukraines defence forces, Russia Targets civilians and civilian infrastructure. This was one of the worst attacks on ukrainian civilians since the spring. And it came as the us Secretary Of State, antony blinken, was here in kyiv pledging yet more support. His arrival, early this morning, was preceded once more by the sounds of war. Air raid sirens wail. Russia
Gardner has the latest. In a country that prides itself on free speech and democracy, Israeli Police shut down the offices of aljazeera today, seizing its broadcast equipment. If you are watching this pre recorded report, then aljazeera has been banned in the territory of israel. This was one of its final broadcasts from jerusalem before the police arrived. The government accused the qatar based tv channel of incitement to terrorism, calling It A Mouthpiece for hamas. Its bureau chief called it a dangerous move. Israel cannot claim all the time that it is a democracy, and at the same time they are cutting, and preventing the journalists to do theirjob. Meanwhile, down on the gaza border, close to rafah, a deadly rocket attack by hamas, on the very crossing point through which it was hoped more aid could flow into the territory. It has since been shut. At least three Israeli Soldiers were killed. Today, israels embattled Prime Minister reacted to the demands for a permanent ceasefire an