From Pyongyang to Sydney to New York, here’s how the world welcomed 2018

From fireworks in Australia to a huge LED light show at the world’s tallest building in Dubai, revellers around the world rang in 2018 in spectacular fashion.

In Sydney, Australia, a pyrotechnics display befitting the city’s status as one of the first major metropolises to welcome 2018 lit up the city’s famous harbour.

In Indonesia, hundreds of couples celebrated by getting married in Jakarta in a free mass wedding. The communal event, attended by 437 couples, was staged by authorities to ease residents’ struggles with bureaucracy.

Japan, where the new year always holds special significance, celebrated the arrival of the Year of the Dog in the traditional way of praying for peace and good fortune at neighbourhood Shinto shrines, and eating New Year’s food such as noodles, shrimp and sweet black beans.

In nearby North Korea, meanwhile, revellers took to an ice sculpture park. Among the displays was a frozen rendition of the intercontinental ballistic missiles that have caused so much concern in Japan.

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, has again served as the focal point of New Year’s Eve celebrations – though this year authorities decided against fireworks and chose a massive LED light show on the structure.