But in Las Vegas, police and about 300 Nevada National Guard troops kept the night peaceful, with only 13 people arrested. Sin City hosted sold-out concerts featuring Beyonce, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Black Keys,
and revelers jammed the Strip to watch as seven hotel-casinos unleashed identical eight-minute rooftop fireworks displays at midnight.
The celebrations on the West Coast took place nearly 24 hours after lavish fireworks displays lit up skylines in Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
In Myanmar, about 90,000 people gathered in a field to watch a countdown for the first time, according to organizers. The reformist government that took office in 2011 in the country, long under military rule, threw its first public New Year’s celebration in decades.
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In the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai, multicolored fireworks danced up and down the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.
In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated with a vespers service in St. Peter’s Basilica to give thanks for 2012 and look ahead to 2013. He said that despite all the death and injustice in the world, goodness prevails. A man scaled the scaffolding around St. Peter’s Square and draped a banner calling on the pope to “Stop Terrorism.”
In Russia, spectators filled Moscow’s Red Square as fireworks exploded near the Kremlin. In Rio de Janeiro, revelers dressed head-to-toe in white as dictated by Brazilian tradition flooded onto Copacabana beach for a concert. Gucci Tote Bags
In London, the chimes of the clock inside the Big Ben tower counted down the final seconds of 2012 and fireworks dazzled the sky above Parliament Square. Streamers shot out of the London Eye wheel and blazing rockets launched from the banks of the River Thames.
But parts of Europe held scaled-back festivities and street parties, the mood was restrained if hopeful for a 2013 that is projected to be a sixth straight year of recession amid Greece’s worst economic crisis since World War II.
Festivities were canceled across New Delhi, Australia Luxe Collective the Indian capital, amid days of mourning and reflection about women’s safety after a rape victim died on Saturday.