Welcome to 2012

Hundreds of thousands gathered at Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate to ring in, or rather rock in, the new year under a 12-minute firework display that started with the Scorpions performing their 1984 hit "Rock You Like a Hurricane."

Two hours before the clock struck midnight in central Europe and the Hanover band began its set, authorities in the German capital had already shut down entrances to the country's biggest party to prevent overcrowding.

Organizers expected around a million people to attend the event in the two-kilometer-long (1.2-mile) "party mile" near the iconic landmark.

Hours before the new year approached, firefighters in Berlin had already responded to some 1,000 cases - many of them fires started by rockets gone astray. They said there were no serious injuries.

Midnight across the world

First to ring in 2012 were the South Pacific islands of Samoa and Tokelau, a day after they effectively jumped across the international date line, going directly from Thursday into Saturday.

In previous years the two islands had been the last part of the world to welcome in a new year. The two sets of islands decided earlier this year to move from the Americas side of the dateline to the Asia side in order to bring them more into sync with their main trading partners, Australia and New Zealand.

The first major country to mark the new year was New Zealand, where bad weather put a damper on the festivities in some parts of the country. Open air celebrations were cancelled in Wellington and two other cities on the North Island.

Two hours later, though, revelers were treated to a grand display of fireworks at Sydney harbor, as Australians marked the start of 2012. An estimated 1.5 million people turned out to watch the display.

The new year has since been marked in Japan, Hong Kong, and many other parts of Asia.

Protests in Moscow

Moscow welcomed in the new year a couple of hours later, at the end of a day that saw another protest against the rule of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is widely expected to easily win the March presidential election.

Police moved in to break up the rally, which had not been authorized, detaining around 60 people. An estimated 200 people had taken part in the protest, which is held on the 31st of each month to demand that the government uphold an article of the constitution that guarantees the right of freedom of assembly.

Prime Minister Putin, who has been facing massive demonstrations against his rule since the December 4 parliamentary elections, used his New Year’s speech to play down the unrest.

"At such times, politicians always try to manipulate the voters' feelings, everything is a little shaken up and seething, but that is the inevitable cost of democracy,” he said. "There's nothing unusual here."

Author: Chuck Penfold, David Levitz (dpa, AP, AFP)
Editor: Andreas Illmer