The global nature of the catastrophe, which may have killed thousands of foreign tourists, cast a long shadow on places as far away as Stockholm and Paris.

In the Nordic countries, suffering one of the worst disasters in their history with dozens of dead and thousands of missing, many events were cancelled to be replaced by church services and candlelit processions.

However, major events such as the New Year carnival in London were taking place as usual as the world ushered out a year marked by conflict and repeated natural disasters.

With 1,000 German tourists still missing in south Asia, Berlin went ahead with a vast New Year's Eve street party, planning to turn it into a fundraiser for the victims.

And the celebrated New Year's ball in Vienna, broadcast around the world, was going ahead with one notable exception -- the orchestra planned to renounce playing the ever-popular Radetsky March as a sign of solidarity with the victims.

In Sydney, the first major city to see out the sometimes brutal old year and welcome in the new, more than one million people watched the world-famous fireworks shows in the harbor.

The city went ahead with the scheduled program since no money would have been saved by cancelling it, but the glittering firework displays were turned into massive fundraisers.

A minute's silence was held before the first of the two shows and the public donated 900,000 Australian dollars (697,000 dollars, 516,000 euros) -- adding to already generous donations by the Australian public.

With hundreds of thousands of injured and millions made homeless in the regions hit by the towering waves, most people were more concerned with survival than celebration.

British vacationer Julian Burgess said it for many. "No one is in the mood for celebrating," he observed. "People think life should go on, but also think that celebrating too much is disrespectful."

In Phuket and Phi Phi, the Thai resorts devastated by the seaquake-driven waves, the music and mood were muted on the normally raucous entertainment strips.

Sunbathers were out on the cleaned up beaches, and many bars reopened as the region struggled to restore a semblance of economic normality, although customers were sparse. One bar owner said he reopened to save the jobs of his staff.

The Sawasdee hotel on Patong beach invited guests to light candles with staff at midnight, and enjoy free food and non-alcoholic drinks.

But owner Thanarat Jadpatananon said, "This is definitely not a party or time to celebrate."

In Indonesia, the country that suffered most casualties in the disaster, authorities cancelled fireworks displays out of respect for the 80,000 dead, most of them from poor peasant families.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appealed to Indonesians, whatever their capabilities, to help their stricken compatriots. "Do not let our brothers and sisters feel they are alone," he said.

A death-like silence descended on Sri Lanka -- which lost nearly 30,000 people -- as the country ushered in the New Year with prayers and mourning.

Instead of a festive crowd setting off fireworks in the capital's Independence Square at midnight, hundreds gathered for candlelit vigils.

"This year the new year is ushered in with painful memories of the year that ended," said 22-year-old Namal Rambukpotha, an employee with the president's office.

Deluxe hotels in Sri Lanka abandoned champagne suppers. The five-star beachfront Taj Samudra hotel cancelled its Roman-themed party and all other celebrations.

"There will be no music in the hotel," said general manager Praveen Nair.

Apart from parties in the posh hotels and clubs of Bombay, India called off New Year festivities and extinguished the lights on the presidential palace in mourning for the nearly 12,000 dead reported so far -- with many more deaths feared in the far-flung Andaman and Nicobar islands, close to the epicenter of the seaquake.

Singapore went ahead with its planned New Year's party but scrapped the broadcasting of it. In both Japan and Taiwan, where New Year is a major holiday, celebrations went ahead.

Paris draped trees along the Champs-Elysees and lamp posts in the Place de la Concorde with black crape, although the famous avenue remained the focal point of the city's New Year celebrations.

In his New Year message French President Jacques Chirac called for an international humanitarian rapid reaction force to be able to respond quickly to future disasters.

Leaders around the world expressed sympathy with the victims of the catastrophe as both governments and private individuals continued to give to the relief effort, with aid pledges surpassing 1.1 billion dollars.

"As we begin the new year, our prayers go out to the people who have lost so much to the recent series of disasters in the Indian Ocean region. The past few days have brought loss and grief to the world that is beyond our comprehension," said President George W. Bush as the United States increased 10-fold its tsunami aid to 350 million dollars.

Finland, Norway and Sweden all proclaimed Saturday as an official day of mourning. Denmark -- where Queen Margrethe II and her prince consort, Henrik, called off their prestigious New Year's banquet -- said it would mourn the tragedy on Sunday, exactly a week after the tsunami waves dealt a tragic blow to 11 Asian nations and caused grief across Scandinavia.

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