LONDON (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Revelers thronged the streets of major world cities from Bangkok to Paris early Tuesday, welcoming a New Year they hope will usher in greater security and an end to 2001's economic woes.
In Europe, where cold weather left many late-night party goers shivering, 12 countries used midnight to adopt the euro as their common currency, with lavish public ceremonies in cities such as Brussels and Frankfurt.
In Australia, an estimated 1 million revelers ignored a shroud of acrid smoke over Sydney to throng the harbor for a New Year's fireworks celebration - billed as one of the world's largest pyrotechnic displays.
The festivities came as authorities continued to battle some of the most destructive bush fires the country has seen in decades.
Around the world, many people used the annual celebration to hope for less tragedy than they saw in the year 2001.
As the New Year began, the global war against terrorism led by the United States and Britain continued.
In the final hours of 2001, peacekeepers arrived in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, and India and Pakistan tried to avert war. However, the reported death of 100 Afghans in continuing US bomb raids is stirring tensions within the Krazai administration.
The search for Osama bin Laden and the Taliban forces that supported him also continued in Afghanistan.
U.S. Marines in combat gear took off by helicopter late Monday in the direction of the rugged mountains where the Taliban's spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, was believed to be hiding.
Meanwhile, tensions remained high between Afghanistan's nuclear-armed neighbors, Pakistan and India. New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for a terrorist attack on India's parliament building in December, which has brought the two archrivals to the brink of war.
However, in many other parts of the world most people spent New Year's Eve trying hard to put these and other worries, such as a global economic slowdown, behind them, at least for a few hours.
Revelers thronged the streets and gathered with family and friends to celebrate in cities such as Bangkok and Jakarta in Asia, Berlin and Edinburgh in Europe, and Rio de Janeiro and New York in the Americas.