World welcomes 2019
LONDON 1 Jan (ANA) - People across the globe have said goodbye to 2018 and welcomed in the new year as the clock ticked past midnight.
Across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas, the Pacific island nation of Kiribati was the first in the world to welcome the new year, greeting 2019 with muted celebrations after spending 2018 on the front line of the battle against climate change.
Kiribati is made up of low-lying atolls along the equator which intersect three time zones.
Much of the nation's land mass, occupied by 110,000 people, is endangered by rising seas which have inundated coastal villages. The rising oceans have turned freshwater sources brackish, imperilling communities and raising doubts the nation will exist at the next New Year. Former President Anote Tong said the only future for Kiribati may be mass migration.
The new year was welcomed in the capital, Tarawa, with church services and mostly quiet private celebrations.

In Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, tens of thousands gathered around Sky Tower as fireworks exploded from the top of the 328-metre structure.
Across the southern hemisphere nation, thousands took to beaches and streets, becoming the first major nation in the world to usher in 2019.
 
An estimated one million people crowded Sydney Harbor as Australia's largest city rang in the new year with a spectacular, soul-tinged fireworks celebration.
One of the most complex displays in Australia's history included gold, purple and silver fireworks pulsating to the tune of "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", made famous by Aretha Franklin, who died in August. The show used 8.5 tonnes of fireworks and featured more than 100,000 pyrotechnic effects, the city's biggest-ever fireworks display.
 
Dozens of people have been injured by firecrackers ahead of New Year's Eve when many across the Philippines set off powerful firecrackers in one of Asia's most violent celebrations despite a government scare campaign and threats of arrests.
The Department of Health said it has recorded more than 50 firecracker-caused injuries in the last 10 days, which is expected to increase overnight when Filipinos usher in 2019 with a bang.
 
At least nine people were injured, one seriously, when a driver deliberately ploughed his car into crowds celebrating New Year's Eve along a famous street in Japan's capital, Tokyo, according to police and media reports.
With an "intent to murder", a 21-year-old man drove a small vehicle into Takeshita Street in Tokyo's fashion district of Harajuku at 10 minutes past midnight (15:10 GMT on Monday), a police spokesperson told AFP news agency.
The driver, identified as Kazuhiro Kusakabe, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of arrested murder.
According to national broadcaster NHK, he told police he was acting in "retribution for the death penalty" without giving more precise details.

After an eventful year that saw three inter-Korean summits and the easing of tensions over North Korea's nuclear programme, South Koreans enter 2019 with hopes that the hard-won detente will expand into a stable peace.
Thousands of South Koreans were expected to fill the streets of the capital, Seoul, for a traditional bell-tolling ceremony near City Hall to usher in the new year.
 
While many celebrate New Year's Eve with fireworks, hundreds of Thais travelled to Takien Temple in a suburb of Bangkok to lie inside coffins for traditional funeral rituals. Participants believe the ceremony - symbolising death and rebirth - helps rid them of bad luck and allows them to be born again for a fresh start in the new year.
Participants held flowers and incense in their hands as monks covered them with pink sheets and chanted prayers for the dead.
"It wasn't scary or anything. It is our belief that it will help us get rid of bad luck and bring good fortune to our life," said Busaba Yookong, who came to the temple with her family.
Bangkok is filled with modern glitzy malls and high-rise buildings, but superstitious beliefs still hold sway in many aspects of Thai society.

Cities across Europe have also welcomed 2019 with a series of firework displays, including one in London that was dedicated to the EU citizens living in the British capital.
The words "London is open" were spoken in seven languages as the fireworks at the London Eye ferris wheel went off, while the soundtrack included the songs "We Are Your Friends", "Stay" and "Don't Leave Me Alone".
"By paying tribute to our close relationship with Europe as we welcome in the New Year tonight, we will once again show the world that London will always be open," Mayor Sadiq Khan said.
The London mayor has been vocal about how Britain's planned departure from the European Union on March 29 will affect his city.

Meanwhile in the United States, about a million people counted down the seconds on rainy Times Square in New York City as they watched the traditional crystal ball drop.
Snoop Dogg, Sting, Christina Aguilera and Bastille were among the performers welcoming 2019 in the made-for-TV extravaganza.
 
Hundreds of thousands of people celebrated the arrival of the New Year in Rio de Janeiro with fireworks, music and dancing.
Locals and tourists mixed on the city's famous Copacabana beach to watch a 14-minute spectacle that saw several tonnes of fireworks fired into the air at midnight (02:00 GMT).
Before and afterwards there was music and dancing by bands and DJs including well-known guitarist and former culture minister Gilberto Gil and popular funk singer Ludmilla.
Latin America's largest country will undergo a radical change on New Year's Day, when far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is sworn in.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a bleak New Year's message that called climate change an existential threat and warned that "it's time to seize our last best chance."
He noted growing intolerance, geopolitical divisions and inequality, resulting in people "questioning a world in which a handful of people hold the same wealth as half of humanity."
"But there are also reasons for hope," he said. "As we begin this New Year, let's resolve to confront threats, defend human dignity and build a better future together".(ANA)
FA/ANA/1 January 2019-------