Security was tight ahead of New Year's festivities in major cities worldwide, with events in Auckland and Sydney due to kick off a night of celebrations from Asia to the Americas.

Tens of thousands were expected to crowd the harborfront area near Sydney's landmark Opera House to get the best view of the spectacular fireworks display at midnight (1300 GMT).

Some 1,700 police were patrolling streets and beaches in Australia's largest city to prevent any outbreaks of violence, following suburban race riots earlier this month that pitted whites against Arab-Australians.

Street parties and glittery displays were planned across Asia and the Pacific, with Hong Kong boasting a massive light and sound show including fireworks to be set off from 20 buildings around its famed Victoria Harbor.

In the Chinese capital Beijing, bells and drums were to be sounded 108 times at midnight (1600 GMT) to mark an auspicious start to the year, signifying the elimination of worldly troubles in accordance with Buddhist tradition.

Authorities in Indonesia -- already on high alert for possible attacks by Islamic extremists during the New Year period -- fanned out in restive Central Sulawesi province after a bombing in a crowded market Saturday left seven dead.

The festive mood across much of the region contrasted with last year, when prayer vigils and fundraising events replaced jubilant blow-out bashes in the wake of the devastating December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

As Asia struggled to rebuild in 2005 after the giant waves killed more than 220,000 people, natural disaster sent it reeling again this October, when a massive earthquake killed at least 74,000 people in Pakistan and India.

The continent was also to usher in 2006 in the shadow of the bird flu crisis, with outbreaks and deaths across Asian countries in 2005.

In the Philippines, hospitals braced for a spate of casualties as revellers traditionally set off firecrackers and fire guns into the air at midnight. Two people died and more than 130 were injured by firecracker incidents in the run-up.

Not everyone was preparing to greet the New Year with mass parties -- in Pakistan fundamentalist groups oppose street revelry as contrary to Islamic norms and zealots have been known to attack those who defy their edict.

In Europe, six months after Britain fell victim to apparent Islamist suicide bombers, with 52 people killed plus the attackers, Prime Minister Tony Blair said the country should not waver in the fight against terrorism.

"We will not let our resolve slip to tackle the dangers we face, both at home, as so tragically illustrated on July 7, and abroad," Blair said in his New Year message.

Hundreds of thousands were expected to descend on London to ring in the New Year, but a planned 24-hour strike by railway workers on the British capital's Underground subway system could spell travel misery for partygoers.

Across the Channel in France, where a state of emergency is still in force following three weeks of rioting in the country's suburbs, some 25,000 police and gendarmes have been deployed to prevent a flare-up of violence.

About 4,500 officers were on hand in Paris, where 500,000 people were expected to gather near the Eiffel Tower and on the French capital's most famous avenue, the Champs-Elysees, to welcome the New Year.

In the United States, one million partygoers packed into New York's Times Square were to remember the victims of Hurricane Katrina and salute relief workers toiling to clean up New Orleans, ravaged by the massive August storm.

Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, a native of the southern US city, was to press the button triggering the descent of a half-tonne crystal ball to count down the last 60 seconds of the year.

"We want to concentrate on rebirth and rebuilding," Marsalis said.

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