Millions of people took to the streets in major cities of the world to celebrate the New Year, but the Israeli operation in Gaza canceled the celebrations in the Arab countries in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which is being subjected to Israeli aggression since last Saturday. Celebrations in some European capitals turned into riots burning hundreds of cars. In Times Square in New York, hundreds of thousands of people celebrated in the cold. They were joined by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former U.S. President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary. The crowd echoed the countdown that marks the beginning of the New Year. Celebrations in Sydney started with fireworks in the warm atmosphere of summer there and in the presence of a record 1.5 million people bidding farewell to the year that will go down in history as having witnessed the beginning of the worst financial crisis in the world since 1929. In London, where the temperature fell below zero, 400 thousand people attended the lighting the giant wheel on the River Thames known as the London Eye. In Germany, one million people celebrated the birth of 2009 at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin with music and colorful fireworks. The 2 km celebration arena turned into a giant outdoor disco and everyone started dancing. In Tokyo, thousands of Japanese celebrated the New Year by praying in a Buddhist temple to improve the economic situation in their country and the living and health conditions of their families. In Paris, 550,000 people celebrated in the Champs Elysees, the traditional celebration place, and the French police announced that there were 445 cars set on fire in different parts of the country. The police also said 288 people were arrested for rioting. Celebrations of the Netherlands also saw some violence setting fire to dozens of cars in several cities. The police arrested more than 300 people there. In Greece, banks and ATM machines were assaulted with Molotov cocktails in a clear continuation of the unrest that followed the killing of a teenage boy shot dead by the police last December.
