Deadly bombings in Baghdad and Indonesia and fear of terrorism in the US, Britain, Israel and elsewhere cast shadows over New Year's celebrations around the world.
From Asia to Europe to North America, the world ushered in 2004 with fireworks displays, massive parties and simple prayers for peace.
In New York, nearly 1 million revelers jammed Times Square to ring in the new year with the dropping of the traditional New Year's Eve ball -- a joyous, confetti-filled bash that took place under some of the tightest security ever seen. Snipers were posted on rooftops and helicopters patrolled overhead.
The US government on Dec. 21 raised its national terrorism alert to its second-highest level, prompting cities across the country to step up police patrols, plan aerial surveillance and install equipment to detect chemical, biological or radiological contamination.
"You can't let them spoil the party, right?" said Mike Riley of Huntsville, Alabama, in Times Square. "Everybody in the world watches it on television, and since I was little, I wanted to be in Times Square on New Year's Eve."
In central Baghdad, a car bomb ripped through a restaurant during a New Year's Eve party, killing five people and injuring 35 others.
In Indonesia's restive Aceh province, nine people were killed and 46 injured when a bomb blew up during a concert at a crowded market Wednesday night. Aceh has been battered by 27 years of fighting between separatist guerrillas and government forces. The military blamed the bombing, in the town of Pereulak, on the rebels, who denied the allegation.
Festivities also took a deadly turn in Lucena, the Philippines, when fireworks sparked a fire in an old public market and killed 18 people.
Celebrations were happier in Australia, where Sydney's famous harbor was alight with colorful fireworks, and in New Zealand, where thousands crammed into a public square, dancing and waving glow sticks. Still, a tactical response team scoured the streets of Sydney on the lookout for everything from drunken revelers to possible security threats.
Pope John Paul II gave thanks for 2003 and prayed for peace in 2004 "in Rome, in Italy, in Europe and the entire world" during an end-of-the-year vespers service at St. Peter's Basilica.
Iraqis celebrating in Baghdad sent tracer bullets flashing across the sky.
In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a former prisoner of war in Iraq, Shoshana Johnson, pressed a small globe, sending the huge crystal ball atop a building on the southern end of Times Square on a 60-second drop that culminated at the stroke of midnight.
On New Year's Day, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited a shrine honoring Japan's war dead, a decision that riled China, which Japan invaded and partially occupied last century.
Huang Xingyuan, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, expressed "strong dissatisfaction" over Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni shrine, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
North Korea issued a New Year's message yesterday reconfirming its willingness to peacefully resolve a standoff over its nuclear weapons program, a state-run news agency reported.
In many parts of the world, fears of terrorism marked New Year's celebrations.
New York police sealed manhole covers and removed mailboxes in Times Square. Authorities banned flights other than scheduled commercial airliners over Manhattan and Las Vegas for several hours during celebrations. The Department of Homeland Security sent fighter jets over New York for the night.
In Israel, the threat of terrorism prompted even greater security efforts than usual. Police said Wednesday that reinforcements were patrolling night spots in Tel Aviv during New Year's Eve celebrations, days after Israeli security officials warned of the possibility of a major New Year's terror attack aimed at a public building or a holy site.
But in central Paris, hearts were lighter on the broad Champs Elysees, where an estimated 450,000 people, bundled up against a biting cold, strolled up the long tree-lined avenue that shimmered with light.
For many in Britain, the weather appeared a more immediate threat to the festivities than terrorism. The west coast city of Liverpool canceled its celebrations because of forecasts of sleet, rain and gale force winds, and rescheduled its big fireworks display to today.
In London, the weather held off and thousands enjoyed a brief but spectacular fireworks show at the London Eye. The huge sightseeing wheel at the edge of the River Thames became a necklace of light against the black sky and then exploded with rockets and multicolored fireworks as the crowd cheered.
Swedes celebrating the new year showed little concern about terrorist threats.
"It is good that you don't have to be scared in Sweden," said Marta Borg, a retired pharmaceutical worker in her 50s, after watching fireworks light up the sky in Malmoe, in southern Sweden.
"In the United States they are scared since Sept. 11," she said. "I hope their fears don't spread to us."
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