Revelry circles the world as it welcomes 2013

Far East booms; Burma joins in; crowd jams Times Square

Revelers cheer at midnight in Times Square in New York.
Revelers cheer at midnight in Times Square in New York.

— Hundreds of thousands of revelers crowded into New York City’s Times Square to watch the crystal-covered ball make its annual descent, ringing in the start of 2013.

The festivities joined a slew of others around the globe, from fireworks in Sydney and Hong Kong to the first public countdown in years in Burma. Europe was holding scaled-back festivities and street parties in the hope of beginning a new year that will be kinder to its battered economies.

New York City’s countdown was the first in decades without television host Dick Clark, who died in April. One of the crystal panels on the ball was engraved with his name.

Asian cities kicked off New Year’s celebrations in style and an atmosphere of renewed optimism despite the impasse over the “fiscal cliff” of spending cuts and tax increases threatening to reverberate globally from the United States. The worries lingered as the new year began in New York, with some revelers checking their cell phones to keep up with news of lawmakers’ efforts.

photo

AP

Fireworks light up the sky to welcome in the new year today at the scenic Manila Bay in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been vigorously campaigning against the use of firecrackers, which often result in injuries or deaths.

In Russia, Moscow’s Red Square was filled with spectators as fireworks exploded near the Kremlin to welcome in the new year. Earlier in the day, about 25 people were reportedly arrested in Moscow for trying to hold an unsanctioned demonstration. But President Vladimir Putin gave an optimistic New Year’s Eve address, making no reference to the anti-government protests that have occurred in his country in the past year.

“We believe that we can change the life around us and become better ourselves, that we can become more heedful, compassionate, gracious,” Putin said, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

In Australia, a balmy summer night was split by 7 tons of fireworks fired from rooftops and barges in Sydney, many cascading from the city’s Harbor Bridge, in a $6.9 million pyrotechnic extravaganza billed by organizers as the world’s largest.

In Rio de Janeiro, revelers dressed head to toe in white as dictated by Brazilian New Year’s tradition flooded onto Copacabana beach for a concert.

In Burma, after nearly five decades under military regimes that discouraged or banned big public gatherings, about 90,000 people experienced the country’s first New Year’s Eve countdown in a field in the country’s largest city, Rangoon.

“We feel like we are in a different world,” said Yu Thawda, a university student who went with three of her friends.

Against a backdrop of the city’s famed Shwedagon Pagoda, a large screen showed live New Year’s Eve countdowns in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, followed by a 60-second countdown to 2013 in Burma.

Until this year, New Year’s Eve was celebrated privately or inside hotels, but there were no open celebrations. Under the military regime the only grand fireworks displays were in honor of Armed Forces Day, an annual celebration of military might.

President Thein Sein reflected on the country’s much touted progress last year and the challenges ahead in a five minute broadcast today.

He acknowledged that “our once closed and isolated society still has many aspects to reform,” and vowed “to constantly inform the people of our government’s stance and actions.”

Tens of thousands of people lined Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor to view a $1.6 million fireworks display, said to be the biggest ever in the southern Chinese city.

In North Korea, cannons boomed at midnight in Pyongyang as people crowded the streets of the capital to watch a fireworks show over the Taedong River. After being in mourning a year ago regarding leader Kim Jong Il’s death, North Koreans celebrated the end of a big year that included the rise of new leader Kim Jong Un and the recent launch of a satellite into space.

Kim said in a New Year’s speech that boosting living standards is the new year’s most important task. But he’s also calling for the development of more advanced weapons.

Hotels, clubs and other sites in New Delhi, the Indian capital, canceled festivities after the death Saturday of a young rape victim touched off days of mourning and reflection about women’s safety. People were asked to light candles to express their solidarity with the victim.

Army units were asked not to hold parties, the Press Trust of India reported, while the president of the ruling Congress, Sonia Gandhi, decided there will be no official party celebration this year. The governments of Punjab and Haryana provinces also canceled programs to mark the beginning of 2013.

The body of the physiotherapy student, who was beaten and raped in the back of a moving bus in New Delhi on Dec. 16, was cremated Saturday at a private ceremony amid tight security. The woman, whose name can’t be revealed under Indian laws, was flown to Singapore for specialist treatment, paid for by the Indian government.

While Delhi police did not impose restrictions on year end revelers beyond the usual security steps, they deployed additional personnel, spokesman Rajan Bhagat said. An order preventing the gathering of large groups of people in central parts of the capital remained in force, he said.

In Indonesia, Jakarta’s street party centered on a 4-mile thoroughfare closed to traffic from nightfall until after midnight. Workers erected 16 large stages along the normally clogged, eight-lane highway through the heart of the city. Indonesia’s booming economy is a rare bright spot amid global gloom and is bringing prosperity - or the hope of it - to its people.

In the Philippines, where many are recovering from devastation from a recent typhoon, health officials have hit upon a successful way to stop revelers from setting off huge illegal firecrackers that maim and injure hundreds of Filipinos each year.

A health official, Eric Tayag, donned the splashy outfit of South Korean star PSY and danced to his YouTube hit “Gangnam Style” video while preaching against the use of illegal firecrackers on TV, in schools and in public arenas.

“The campaign has become viral,” Tayag said.

In austerity-hit Europe, the mood was more restrained - if hopeful. In Greece, this year is projected to be a sixth straight one of recession amid the worst economic crisis since World War II. Indeed, the new year was starting with a 24-hour strike by subway and train workers in Athens to protest salary cuts that are part of the government’s austerity measures.

Still, in his televised New Year’s Eve message, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras promised Greeks that the worst of the crisis is past, and declared 2013 a “year of hope” that will see the beginning of the country’s rebirth.

Celebrating New Year’s Eve with a vespers service in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI said that despite all the injustice in the world, goodness prevails. In his homily, Benedict said it’s tough to remember that goodness can win when bad news - death, violence and injustice - “makes more noise than good.” He said taking time to meditate in prolonged reflection and prayer can help “find healing from the inevitable wounds of daily life.”

This past year was full of highs and lows for the pope, including a successful trip to Mexico and Cuba but also the betrayal of his butler, convicted in October of stealing Benedict’s personal papers and leaking them to a journalist.

After the service, Benedict was brought out in a covered car to pray before the Vatican’s main Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square. Walking with a cane in the chilly piazza, Benedict chatted animatedly with the artist who crafted the scene, which recreated an entire village from the poor, southern Italian region of Basilicata which donated this year’s creche.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s New Year’s message warned her country to prepare for difficult economic times ahead. Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, decided to cancel celebrations in light of the economic crisis. Nicosia said $21,000 saved from the canceled event will be given to some 320 needy schoolchildren.

In Spain, where a recession has left unemployment at a staggering 25 percent, people are hoping for a better new year.

“It’s been tough, but some celebrations are too deeply ingrained to let go,” said Olga Camino, 25.

Scotland’s Edinburgh, which traditionally hosts one of the biggest New Year’s Eve parties in Europe, also planned good cheer. Festivities for the three-day Hogmanay - or year-end - celebrations began Sunday with a torchlight procession in the Scottish capital, and organizers said about 75,000 people are expected to line the streets for today’s fireworks.

Information for this article was contributed by Jennifer Peltz,Verena Dobnik, Sylvia Hui, Rod McGuirk, Aye Aye Win,Yadana Htun, Jean Lee, Chris Brummitt, Kelvin Chan,Ashok Sharma, Jim Gomez, Nicholas Paphitis, Raphael Satter, Harold Heckle and Menelaos Hadjicostis of The Associated Press and by Bibhudatta Pradhanbb of Bloomberg News.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/01/2013

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