A community mourns as Krefeld Zoo reopens after New Year’s fire

Rio de Janeiro residents react after several Brazilian media report that football star Neymar is organising a huge New Year's Eve party at his luxury beachside mansion near the city amid the coronavirus pandemic, a claim his lawyers have denied.

French DJ David Guetta has "a message of hope" and remains upbeat as he talks about livestreaming a New Year concert, the profits from which will go to Unicef and the French 'Restos du Coeur' charity.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Friday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.

Cities in Oceania and Asia welcome the new year, with different apporaches to festivities taken depending on the current status of Covid-19 in a territory. Crowds pack Auckland, Wuhan, Pyongyang and Taipei, while Bangkok has fireworks but no crowd - a precursor for New Year's celebrations to follow in other Covid-hit parts of the world.

Britain's Brexit transition period is over; the country has left the EU's Customs Union and Single Market. Friday's public holiday meant little cross-Channel freight traffic and none of the much-feared border queues.

Confetti fluttered on to frontline workers scattered across Times Square after fireworks burst above eerily quiet landmarks from Puerta del Sol to Copacabana beach, as the world ushered in the New Year with muted celebrations and said good riddance to a pandemic-ridden 2020.

Scuba divers plunged underwater at Lotte World Aquarium on Sunday dressed in ‘hanbok’ - traditional Korean clothing - to share New Year’s greetings. Visitors took photos in front of the divers who posed as manta rays and large fish swam around them. The event will be held every weekend until the middle of February.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday.

Taiwan has called off its largest Lunar New Year lantern festival for the first time, as authorities rush to stem a Covid-19 cluster in one of the few places to survive the pandemic largely unscathed.

Cool or cringe? The US ambassador to Vietnam has produced an unusual Lunar New Year message to the country - in the form of a rap. Career diplomat Daniel Kritenbrink rhymed his well wishes to mark Tet, the most important annual holiday for Vietnamese.

Wuhan residents enjoy festive lantern decorations in parks and light shows along the Yangtze River on the eve of Lunar New Year.

People gathered to hear the sounds of London's Big Ben ring in the New Year for the first time since 2017 on Friday evening, despite the a surge in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Big Ben, housed within the Elizabeth Tower that adjoins the Houses of Parliament, has been subject to restoration work for over three years.