VATICAN CITY, Jan 1 (AFP) - As people around the world marked the passage of the New Year on a somber note Saturday, Pope John Paul II called the outpouring of human solidarity in response to the Asia tsunami disaster a sign of hope.
From Sydney to New York, revellers turned out at midnight for traditional New Year festivities, but the parties were often turned into fundraisers for the victims, adding to a weeklong avalanche of private donations.
"This sort of human solidarity, along with the grace of God, gives hope for better days to come in the year that begins today," the pope told thousands of faithful from the window of his apartment overlooking Saint Peter's Square in Rome.
The death toll edged to 126,000, but when all the victims are counted it could be closer to 150,000 according to the UN. It was, the head of the Roman Catholic Church reminded his listeners, a "terrible calamity."
In London, half a million people watched a spectacular firework display along the River Thames and a New Year parade complete with 10,000 dancers, musicians and other performers from around the world. But they also paused for two minutes to remember the tsunami victims and poured contributions into collecting boxes, bringing the total raised by private donors in Britain Sunday to a massive 60 million pounds (85 million euros, 115 million dollars).
"I think the poignancy of this New Year wasn't lost on people," said one of the organizers. "They enjoyed themselves but didn't forget about the plight of people who are suffering. In true British tradition they gave generously."
Hundreds of thousands of revelers at New York's Times Square held a minute of silence to remember the victims before shouting out the final seconds of 2004 while a glittering crystal ball descended above their heads.
"Recent tragic events remind us all that we are part of a global community," the ceremony's organizers said. "Here at the crossroads of the world, we want to take a moment of silence to honor all the loved ones that we have lost, and take comfort in the resiliency of the human spirit."
Police said some 400,000 people celebrated on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, popping open champagne bottles and throwing firecrackers. But in memory of the catastrophy trees and lamp posts were draped with ribbons of black crape.
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 deadly blow to 11 Asian nations.
A total of 91 Danes, Finns, Norwegians and Swedes have been confirmed dead, but officials warned that chances of finding the 4,700 Nordic holiday-makers still missing in the region are slim.
Of those, 3,559 are Swedes, most of whom were vacationing in Thailand. Fifty-nine Swedes are confirmed dead so far, but a foreign ministry official said "that number will surely rise".
In Norway, where 21 people are confirmed dead, Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik said that at worst, 1,000 Norwegians were dead.
"Never has it been so difficult to welcome a new year. A year that for many in our country will be the most difficult ever," Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson said in a speech at a solemn New Year's Eve celebration in Stockholm.
With 1,000 German tourists still missing in south Asia, Berlin went ahead with a vast New Year's Eve street party, and turned it into a fundraiser for the victims.
Up to 600,000 Germans braved drizzle to party around Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and watch New Year's fireworks. Many of them took a moment to text a message that raised money for the victims of Asia's tsunami disaster in which at least 34 Germans are known to have died.
The New Year's concert in Vienna, broadcast around the world, went ahead with one notable exception: the orchestra renounced playing the ever-popular Radetsky March as a mark of solidarity with the victims.
The traditional New Year's Day concert in the Austrian capital, broadcast live in 46 countries, saw a million-euro aid donation by the Vienna Philharmonic, while several politicians due to have attended auctioned off their tickets instead to raise money for victims.
President Heinz Fischer said the disaster was an occasion for solidarity and for reflecting on "the essential things of life."
Leaders around the world expressed sympathy with the victims of the catastrophe as aid pledges rose to 1.6 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," said US President George W. Bush. "The past few days have brought loss and grief to the world that is beyond our comprehension."
01/01/2005 19:03 GMT - AFP