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PARIS (AP) -- For Sweden's prime minister, celebrating New Year's after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Asia felt "completely wrong." Paris draped black cloth along the Champs-Elysees. Elsewhere, prayers substituted for parties in the final minutes of 2004.
Even for those far from Asian and African shores where the giant waves killed more than 120,000, the disaster was too overwhelming for a carefree leap into 2005.
In Europe, thousands were struggling with the loss of loved ones and friends. The confirmed death tolls for many European countries were in the double digits, but officials warned the final tallies would be in the hundreds or even thousands. For Sweden alone, 2,500 tourists were still missing, while Switzerland was waiting to hear from some 700 and the French reported at least 118 disappeared.
"Never has the step into a new year felt heavier," said Goeran Persson, Sweden's premier who urged Swedes to light candles in their windows as a vigil. "We should have celebrated with fireworks and festivities. Now that feels completely wrong."
Outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell, a native New Yorker, was invited to press the button at 11:59 p.m. EST to send a 1,000-pound Waterford crystal-covered ball high atop One Times Square on its 60-second descent into the new year.
Less than four hours earlier, the crowd quieted to mark a moment of silence in Times Square to honor those killed in the earthquake and tsunami in South Asia.
Despite the tsunami tragedy, Powell expressed optimism for the coming year. "Indeed, 2005 can be a great year for humankind if only we capture the same feelings of goodwill, unity and hope that fill Times Square on New Year's Eve," he said at a press conference.
Many of the estimated 1 million revelers around the glittering, firework-illuminated harbor in Sydney, Australia, also marked a moment of silence for victims.
"You could tell people were a little more reverent tonight; it was kept in people's thoughts," British tourist Mark Stiles said.
Stores in major German cities said sales of fireworks were down, in some cases by a third, following appeals from Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and others for the money usually spent on pyrotechnics to be donated.
Germany's main party at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin went ahead, but the revelers were urged on big screens to donate to UNICEF. TV stations turned their New Year's Eve galas into charity events for tsunami victims.
Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel of Austria also urged people to forgo fireworks. The city of Innsbruck canceled its display in a silent vigil for 40 residents of the western Austrian province of Tyrol who remain missing in Asia. Mayor Hilde Zach called the move "a sign of solidarity" to mark "the great loss of human life." The southern city of Graz was donating its fireworks fund to tsunami victims.
Crowds of thousands in London fell silent for two minutes in memory of the lives lost in Asia. Then as Big Ben struck midnight, a spectacular fireworks display burst in the sky above the River Thames, casting a brilliant glow over Westminster houses of parliament.
An Olympic-themed light show, reflecting the city's bid for the 2012 games, lit up the London Eye ferris wheel.
In Russia, wearied by a year of economic scandals and terrorist attacks, caution prevailed. Revelers filed through metal detectors onto Moscow's Red Square to watch the fireworks display over St. Basil's Cathedral.
"This year ... ended very badly," said Lena Suyedinya, 26. "I hope next year will be calmer -- more peaceful."
Even in the distant Caribbean, one of the region's largest New Year's Eve celebrations on the British territory of Jost Van Dyke was to be punctuated by silence.
In Paris, the 480 scarf-like strips of black cloth hung along the Champs-Elysees and on light posts at the nearby Place de la Concorde -- a deliberately discreet but poignant gesture to victims.
"This night cannot be ordinary because of this mourning affecting the entire planet," deputy Mayor Anne Hidalgo said.
Parisians still stocked up on champagne and foie gras for feasting but said the tragedy weighed on their minds.
"Our hearts will be in it a little less this year, when we think about all the victims," said Marie-Caroline Lagache, 34.
Many Asians were too busy counting the dead, feeding survivors and combating disease to even think about partying.
Fireworks and celebrations were canceled throughout Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Islamic sultanate of Brunei and much of India as government agencies urged people to attend religious services instead.
"Let's welcome the new year without a party because now we are filled with concern and sadness," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said. "Let's pray together and hopefully God will not give us another disaster."
China's state-run CCTV broadcaster also announced the cancelation of its live New Year's Eve gala programming.
But celebrations went ahead in Taiwan and the Philippines, with cacophonous fireworks and gunfire before midnight.
Clutching white roses and candles, hundreds gathered Friday night on southern Thailand's tsunami-ravaged Phuket island for a vigil at a shopping mall that replaced planned New Year's Eve festivities.
Thais and foreigners raised lit candles as a band played Elton John's "Candle in the Wind." The candles were then placed in rows of metal flower boxes full of sand and mourners paused for two minutes of silence.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
