[Michael]

New Year's Eve revelers around the world partied amid tight security, but the celebrations were marred by a fireworks explosion in Mexico reported to have killed at least 28 people.
Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers -- estimates ranged up to 1 million -- and tourists gathered to see the famous ball drop at midnight in Times Square without incident.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and disabled actor Christopher Reeve officiated at the dropping of the ball. Reeve's wife, Dana, held his hand as he sat in a wheelchair and she and the mayor pushed the miniature ball to start the huge crystal ball downward.

Bloomberg had assured New Yorkers that Times Square, often called the crossroads of the world, would be secure for them.

"We have no credible threats from any terrorist organization focused on New York City," he told NBC-TV.

The U.S. Coast Guard closed New York harbor to private pleasure boats, and the police increased harbor patrols in response to what Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called an "uncorroborated" threat of a terror attack in the harbor.

In Mexico, Televisa television network reported that an explosion and fire in a street market packed with fireworks stalls had killed 28 people and injured more than 50 in the port city of Veracruz. The first count of the dead was 15, but more bodies were found as additional buildings were searched.

"This is not the first time this has happened in Mexico or in Veracruz ... We are all responsible, let this serve as an example," the television quoted senior Veracruz municipal official Jose Ramon Gutierrez as saying.

Bloomberg's assurances of a safe New Year's Eve came as the FBI hunted five men believed to have entered the United States illegally and wanted for questioning as part of the U.S.-declared war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

All of New York's half-million or more revelers had to pass through metal detectors. Otherwise, normal precautions were taken with thousands of extra police on duty, mailboxes and trash cans removed and manhole covers welded shut.

In a New Year message from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, President Bush vowed to "secure America, win the war on terrorism, focus on education, promote compassion, create new jobs and ensure the economic security of all our citizens."

Bush's closest ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, however, warned in his New Year message of dangerous times ahead, from the confrontation with Iraq to the threat of terror and the lack of progress on the Middle East peace process.

"I cannot recall a time when Britain was confronted, simultaneously, by such a range of difficult and in some cases dangerous problems," Blair said.

At Camp Doha in the Kuwaiti desert, American soldiers potentially just months away from a war in neighboring Iraq, welcomed 2003 with alcohol-free beer in line with local sensitivities of the conservative Islamic country.

POLICE WORK OVERTIME

While there were no warnings of any specific terrorist attacks, police in the world's major cities worked overtime to reassure the public that celebrations would be unmarred by terrorist violence.

With memories still fresh of the Bali bombings that killed more than 180 people in October, two-thirds of Indonesia's police force were deployed around the world's biggest Muslim nation, guarding shopping and entertainment centers, mosques, churches and public facilities.

In the capital, Jakarta, key roads were closed for a street party, but despite widespread tight security thousands of Indonesians turned out to see in 2003.

Even though their fabled tourist industry was devastated by the October blasts, Balinese put on a brave face at New Year's Eve festivities on the famous Kuta Beach, just blocks away from where two bombs ripped through a number of nightclubs.

In Sydney, police imposed security not seen since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, banning cars from the central business district and blocking streets for a party that culminated in a massive fireworks display over the harbor.

After a year of drought, bush fires, the Bali bombings that killed up to 90 Australians and talk of terrorism, Sydney Lord Mayor Frank Sartor praised Sydneysiders for having the courage to party openly.

"They didn't listen to the doomsayers; we didn't listen to the malcontents; we went on and celebrated and had a great party," he said of the celebration, which attracted a smaller crowd than expected at 700,000.

HEIGHTENED SECURITY

On the other side of the world, an extra 1,000 policemen were deployed in Paris, bringing the total to around 5,500. Cars were banned around the capital's famed Champs Elysees, where up to 300,000 revelers were expected.

Security fears have been heightened by arrests of suspected Islamist militants in and around Paris this month.

In Britain too, celebrations were overshadowed by fears of a possible terror strike. Scotland Yard said 2,000 police officers were patrolling London with anti-terror squads on a heightened state of alert.

London's traditional outdoors party in Trafalgar Square, where 60,000 people usually celebrate, was canceled because of roadworks, so the bash moved indoors to the Millennium Dome, where 50,000 revelers danced in the New Year.

In Russia, 250,000 policemen patrolled the streets to prevent violence among tens of thousands of people partying outside despite the extreme cold.

Moscow's City Hall banned shops from selling alcohol in the town center to prevent drink-fueled violence, such as marred Russian soccer World Cup crowds in the summer.

In Berlin, about 1 million Germans marked the new year in a 1.5-mile street party on both sides of the landmark Brandenburg Gate.

An anti-American candlelight vigil in Seoul, which organizers had predicted would attract 1 million brought only 12,000 to protest against the U.S. military for the deaths of two girls killed in an accident by an American army vehicle.

Outgoing Chinese President Jiang Zemin called for peaceful reunification with Taiwan in a brief New Year's Eve speech.

The West African country of Ivory Coast relaxed a curfew for the first time since a failed coup on Sept. 19 sparked a civil war. It pushed back a strict 7 p.m. deadline in the main city Abidjan to midnight to allow New Year celebrations.

[phantomAI]

nice to know everything went safely for the New Year...

*disappointed that he didn't go Boston's First Night Celebration (there's always next year)