View new year fireworks around the world

Millions of revellers around the globe celebrated the arrival of 2008 with thousands of tons of fireworks helping to bring the year in.

In London, where 350,000 turned out for the celebrations, Trafalgar Square filled up early and people lined the Embankment to hear the chimes of Big Ben and get the best view of the annual firework spectacular at the London Eye.

Among the first to see in the new year were an estimated 1.5 million people in Sydney, many of whom had camped in city parks overnight or arrived on the waterfront 18 hours early to bag a place for the Harbour Bridge firework display.

This year’s incorporated more than 100,000 pyrotechnic effects, requiring a dozen computers to co-ordinate the fireworks.

In Japan, thousands made the annual dawn pilgrimage up Mount Fuji to watch day break at the summit and others tossed coins and said prayers at Shinto sanctuaries across the country.

In France, the Parisian authorities put 13,000 police on the streets of the capital to deter a repeat of riots in some suburbs last months. But 400,000 people flocked to the Champs Elysees, tooting the horns of their cars and singing.

New Year's Eve in Baghdad was a subdued affair by comparison with pre-invasion celebrations. Until 2003, thousands would line Arasaat Street, which used to be lined with restaurants and shops selling alcohol, to count down the last seconds of the old year.

This year a few hotels and clubs threw heavily-guarded parties - the city centre Babel Hotel held its first in five years - and at midnight, crowds of people who would not normally leave their homes in the dark for fear of violence and kidnapping surged onto the streets, letting off firecrackers, firing guns into the air and dancing.

In Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, Karachi, fears of violence prompted by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto led police to stop thousands from attending a traditional gathering on a beach overlooking the Arabian Sea.

For the London event the crowds had doubled in size in the past three years, said Superintendent Andy Tarrant, of the Metropolitan Police, so the number of officers on patrol had been increased to 3,600. On top of crowd control, they were expecting to deal with incidents ranging from thefts to drunkenness, he added.

In Trafalgar Square, Keeley Taylor, 19, of Bolton, said she had only been to the capital once before, but had wanted to come having seen the New Year celebrations on television. “We’re getting a bit wet but everyone seems to be having a good time and there’s a really good atmosphere,” she said.

James O’Shea, 32, of London, said: “We were in place by nine o’clock with food, drink and party poppers. It’s amazing to be in one of the world’s most vibrant cities on a night like this, when the whole of London is just out having fun.”

Keira Lai, 26, of Malaysia, said: “This is my first time in London. Big Ben, the London Eye, the River Thames - it’s very beautiful here at night-time.”

Partygoers in Edinburgh may have felt they were lucky to have an event to attend at all - last year’s was cancelled at the last minute due to gales and torrential rain. This year, the 100,000 people celebrating Hogmanay in the city centre - many of them sporting novelty saltire hats and plastic macs - had only light drizzle to contend with.

Edinburgh has one of the world’s biggest new year parties and this year’s included a rock concert and a ceilidh. But the main event was the Hogmanay street party, set against the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle and Princes Street Gardens.

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