世界各地喜迎新年

New York brought in the new year with a huge celebration in Times Square, as the United States became one of the last countries to welcome in 2013.

The crowd of nearly 1 million revelers counted down the final seconds of 2012 as a brightly-lit 6-ton Waterford crystal ball descended high above the square, then flashed "2013."

Nations across Europe, the Middle East and Asia had already welcomed in the new year as celebrations unfolded around the globe.

Fireworks lit up the sky over dozens of cities to celebrate the arrival of 2013, including festivities in Athens, Moscow and London.

Dubai marked the new year with a light show at the world's tallest building, while in Italy, Pope Benedict visited the nativity scene in St. Peter's Square.

Asian countries were the first to ring in the new year with big fireworks displays in Sydney and Hong Kong.

Burma's largest city, Rangoon, staged a large New Year's Eve party for the first time, as the country emerges from a decades-long military dictatorship that typically banned large public gatherings.

In the southern Philippines, the festive mood was overshadowed by the devastation from a typhoon that killed more than 1,000 people in early December.

And in India, many hotels and bars scaled down or canceled New Year's Eve parties out of respect for a young woman who died Saturday after she was gang raped in New Delhi -- a brutal incident that has shocked the nation.歐洲、中東和亞洲各國已經迎來了新年，與此同時全球都在進行慶祝。

包括雅典、莫斯科和倫敦在內的幾十個城市在歡迎2013年來臨時，燦爛的焰火照亮了夜空。

迪拜以世界最高樓上的燈火表演慶祝新年來臨，而在意大利教皇本篤親臨聖彼得廣場上紀念耶穌誕生的場景。

亞太國家率先步入新年，悉尼和香港有絢麗多彩的焰火表演。

緬甸第一大都市仰光首次舉辦了大型除夕晚會，因爲這個國家擺脫了幾十年來的軍事獨裁統治，軍人統治一直禁止舉辦大型民衆集會。

在菲律賓南部，十二月初的一場颱風奪走了1000人的生命，令節日氣氛黯淡。

在印度，許多酒店和夜總會都減少或者取消了除夕慶祝活動，以悼念星期六去世的一位青年婦女，她在新德里遭到輪姦，這野蠻事件震驚了全國。