Fireworks, smoke and tear gas start new decade with a bang

A woman celebrates as she watches the traditional New Year's fireworks at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with an estimated three million revelers. [AFP]

A packed Times Square in New York was set for its annual New Year's ball drop after crisis-marred celebrations in other countries ended a year of worldwide upheaval that saw strike-hit Paris welcome the new decade with fireworks, and London's Big Ben ring out after a long restoration.