Auckland

From Sydney Harbour Bridge to the Acropolis, fireworks burst in skies above eerily deserted landmarks as the world ushered in the New Year with muted celebrations and said good riddance to a pandemic-ridden 2020.

The ATP confirmed an updated schedule to the start of the new tennis season, which includes a delayed Australian Open which will now start 3 weeks later than planned. The ATP released the fixtures for the first 7 weeks during which the annual ATP 250 event in Maharashtra will not be held as scheduled.

Voting in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies elections of December 5 and 6, 2020, began on Friday at 8 pm, Romania's time, once with the opening of the polling station in Auckland, New Zealand, informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), in a press release.

Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) will open 748 polling stations abroad for the December 6 election to the Romanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies that will meet the health protection requirements to contain COVID-19, up 331 from the previous general election in 2016, MAE's official in charge with special electoral tasks Iulian Ivan.

The total number of people killed by the novel coronavirus around the world passed 750,000 on Aug. 13, with some countries toughening control measures as caseloads once again creep up.    

Latin America and the Caribbean region remains the global epicenter, accounting for almost one-third of all deaths and housing two of the worst-affected countries - Mexico and Brazil.    

A puzzling new outbreak of the coronavirus in New Zealand's largest city grew to 17 cases on Aug. 13, with officials saying the number will likely increase further.

And a lockdown in Auckland designed to extinguish the outbreak could be extended well beyond an initial three days.

New Zealand declared no known active COVID-19 cases on Monday, with the country due to relax nearly all of its coronavirus restrictions.

A statement from the Ministry of Health said the last remaining case, a woman from Auckland, has now been symptom-free for 48 hours and is regarded as recovered.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on March 13 that New Zealanders have become more engaged with the Muslim community in the year since a gunman killed 51 people at two mosques.

More than 24,500 people worldwide are now infected with the coronavirus, the AP reported, citing the latest data released today in Beijing.

490 people have died and 24 324 cases have been confirmed in mainland China. Another 17 cases have been confirmed in Hong Kong. Macau has identified 10 cases of infection.

Novinite.com  wishes you a happy and healthy 2019, full of contentment and joy!

People around the world have been celebrating the New Year, welcoming in 2019 with fireworks and displays long before the U.S.