Fireworks glittered and boomed Sunday as revelers in Australia and Asia welcomed 2012 and others around the world looked forward to bidding adieu to a year marred by natural disasters and economic turmoil.

In Sydney, more than 1.5 million people watched the shimmering pyrotechnic display designed around the theme "Time to Dream" — a nod to the eagerness many felt in moving forward after the rough year. New York's Times Square was awash in optimistic sentiments as it prepared to welcome hordes of  New Year's Eve partiers.
The mood was less bright in Europe, where leaders set the tone for a continent hammered by an unprecedented economic crisis that has put the euro's existence in question, turning in New Year's messages that 2012 will bring more financial hardship.

In New York, the crowd cheered as workers lit the crystal-paneled ball that drops at midnight Saturday and put it through a test run, 400 feet (122 meters) above the street. The sphere, now decorated with 3,000 Waterford crystal triangles, has been dropping to mark the new year since 1907, long before television made it a U.S. tradition.

Authorities in Berlin expected a million revelers to gather around the city's landmark Brandenburg Gate for a massive party complete with live performances from the Scorpions and other bands, as well as a 10-minute long firework display.

In Greece, where the government has imposed especially harsh austerity measures, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos could promise no reprieve.
Thousands of people marched through Edinburgh, some carrying torches or wearing period costumes, on Friday night in preparation for the world-famous Hogmanay street party, where around 80,000 partygoers are welcoming 2012 at the stroke of midnight, before erupting into a mass rendition of Auld Lang Syne.
Across France, 60,000 police, firemen and other emergency personnel were on standby to assure the New Year's celebrations went off safely, the Interior Minister said.
In London, some 250,000 people are expected to gather to listen to Big Ben strike twelve at midnight during London's scaled-back New Year's celebrations. Fireworks are set off from the London Eye, the giant wheel on the south bank of the river.
Revelers in Spain will greet 2012 by eating 12 grapes in time with Madrid's central Puerta del Sol clock, a national tradition observed by millions who stop parties to follow the chimes on television.