PAGS
Weather Minister Boris Johnson has said the UK faces a “tough fight” in the coming months, but that the country will recover from the coronavirus in 2021.
In his New Year’s message, the prime minister reflected on the past 12 months during which “we lost too many loved ones prematurely” due to the pandemic.
But he said that in 2020 a “spirit of togetherness” was rediscovered, in which the people “did everything they could to keep the country moving through the biggest crisis we have faced for generations.”
Johnson praised the scientists who produced the world’s first effective treatment for coronavirus, as well as those who worked on the Oxford vaccine.
He said: “We know that we still have a tough fight ahead of us for weeks and months, because we are faced with a new variant of the disease that requires new surveillance.
“But as the sun rises tomorrow in 2021, we are certain of those vaccines.”
2021 New Year celebrations around the world
Auckland Sky Tower New Years Fireworks
TV1
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge as the New Year’s Eve celebrations begin in Sydney
AP
New Year’s Eve fireworks in Sydney, Australia
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Fireworks are launched from the Sky Tower to mark the turn of the year on New Years Eve in Auckland.
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People hold banners and balloons forming the number 2021 during the New Year celebrations in Amritsar
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Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge as the New Year’s Eve celebrations begin in Sydney
AP
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge as the New Year’s Eve celebrations begin in Sydney
REUTERS
The numbers of the year 2021 painted with light in front of an illuminated Christmas tree
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New Year’s Eve fireworks in Sydney, Australia
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People visit a shopping district on New Years Eve in Seoul
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Vendor decorates a balloon to sell by a river on New Year’s Eve in Wuhan
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Restaurant-goers are seen dining al fresco as part of the ‘Street Feasts’ festival, an initiative created by the city of Melbourne in lieu of New Years Eve fireworks during New Years Eve celebrations or
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People see their picture taken in front of a neon Happy New Year sign as people in masks pass by during New Years Eve celebrations
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Fireworks from SkyTower during Auckland’s New Year’s Eve celebrations
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Thai devotees lie in coffins during a resurrection ceremony at Wat Takien in hopes of cleansing themselves of bad karma after their “rebirth” on December 31, 2020 in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Women walk under an umbrella in front of a 2021 sign in downtown Pristina
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A man dressed as a ‘tinsel monster’ waves at New Years Eve celebrations in Auckland, New Zealand.
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A hairdresser shaves in “2021” for a customer to ring in the New Year at a barber shop in Ahmedabad, India.
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Customers are seen in the Opera Bar during New Years Eve celebrations
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New Year’s Eve fireworks in Sydney, Australia
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The Sydney Harbor fireworks display is seen over a nearly empty Sydney Opera House esplanade during New Years Eve celebrations
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People with lit sparklers celebrate the New Year in Federation Square during Melbourne’s New Years celebration.
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New Year’s Eve fireworks explode over the iconic Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House (L) during the fireworks display
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The Sydney Harbor fireworks display is seen over a nearly empty Sydney Opera House esplanade during New Years Eve celebrations
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Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge on New Year’s Eve.
REUTERS
A couple is seen kissing as they bring in the New Years in Federation Square during New Years celebrations in Melbourne.
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JAPAN-NEW YEAR
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Fireworks explode over Hagley Park in Christchurch, New Zealand.
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People queue to offer prayers at Sensoji Temple on New Years Eve in Tokyo
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People dance on the banks of the Yangtze River on New Year’s Eve in Wuhan
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A performer wears a face shield in a Bangkok shopping mall on New Years Eve
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The residents of the municipality of Genemuiden celebrate the end of the year 2020 with carbide shots
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Children in face masks gather at a shopping mall as New Year’s countdown celebrations and crowded events are banned amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bangkok.
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People pose near a decoration on New Years Eve in a shopping mall in Mumbai
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Referring to the end of the Brexit transition period, the prime minister said the UK would be “free to do things differently, and if necessary better, than our friends in the EU” in 2021.
He said the UK will “work with partners around the world, not just to tackle climate change, but to create the millions of highly skilled jobs this country will need not just this year, 2021, as we recover from Covid, the next few years.
“This is an incredible moment for this country. We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it.
“And I think it will be the overwhelming instinct of the people of this country to come together as one UK: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland working together to express our values around the world.”
The prime minister’s father, who voted to Remain in the 2016 British referendum, told RTL radio on Thursday that he wanted to become a French citizen due to strong family ties to France.
If I understand it correctly, I am French. My mother was born in France, her mother was totally French like her grandfather. So for me it’s about recovering what I already have. And that makes me very happy, ”said 80 Johnson, one year old, who spoke in French.
“I will always be European, that’s for sure. You cannot tell the British people: you are not European. Having a link with the European Union is important, ”said the former member of the European Parliament.
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