Fireworks and huge street parties have been marking the start of 2006 across the world.
In Moscow's Red Square, Russians cheered as midnight struck
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Crowds in Moscow, Paris and other cities are welcoming the New Year.
Earlier police in the Australian city of Sydney deployed
in strength to prevent a repetition of the racial violence seen earlier
this month.
For many Asian cities, it was their first such event for
two years, after the Indian Ocean Tsunami caused celebrations for 2005
to be cancelled.
In Moscow, revellers welcomed the new year in Red
Square without their favourite tipple, after the authorities banned
alcohol from the historic plaza.
Paris is expecting half-a-million revellers to party near the Eiffel Tower and in the Champs-Elysees, to welcome the New Year.
France deployed thousands of extra police officers as a
state of emergency remains after the rioting in suburbs across the
country in the latter part of 2005.
The festivities in London, in the UK - which
included a special lightshow featuring heroes of the past year in the
centre of the city - were under threat from a 24-hour strike on the
city's underground system.
In the US, New York's Times Square is preparing
to welcome an estimated one million partygoers for an event that will
include tributes to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the rescue
workers involved in the New Orleans disaster.
Trumpet player Wynton Marsalis, a native of the southern
US city, is scheduled to press the button triggering the descent of a
half-tonne crystal ball to count down the last 60 seconds of the year.
US troops in Baghdad, Iraq, were treated to a special show from entertainers at Camp Victory.
And the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro says it is expecting more than two million party-goers. | 
