World rings in 2012 and bids adieu to a toughyearUpdated: 2012-01-01 09:48(Agencies)

NEW YORK - With glittering fireworks and star-studded celebrations from New Zealand to TimesSquare, the world eagerly welcomed a new year and hope for a better future Saturday, sayinggoodbye to a year of hurricanes, tsunamis and economic turmoil that many would rather forget.

Revelers in Australia, Asia, Europe and the South Pacific island nation of Samoa, which jumpedacross the international dateline to be the first to celebrate, welcomed 2012 with boomingpyrotechnic displays. Fireworks soared and sparked over Moscow's Red Square, crowds onParis' Champs-Elysees boulevard popped Champagne corks at midnight, and up to a millionrevelers were expected to jam New York's Times Square for the famed crystal-paneled ball drop.

But many approached the new year with more relief than joy, as people battered by weatherdisasters, joblessness and economic uncertainty hoped the stroke of midnight would changetheir fortunes.

"Once the ball drops, I won't give 2011 another thought," said Kyralee Scott, 16, of Jackson,New Jersey, whose father spent most of the year out of work. "It was a pretty tough year, butGod was looking after us and I know 2012 has got to be better."

Some New York revelers, wearing party hats and "2012" glasses, began camping out Saturdaymorning, even as workers readied bags stuffed with hundreds of balloons and technicians putcolored filters on klieg lights. The crowds cheered as workers lit the crystal-paneled ball thatdrops at midnight Saturday and put it through a test run, 400 feet (120 meters) above the street.The sphere, now decorated with 3,000 Waterford crystal triangles, has been dropping to markthe new year since 1907, long before television made it a US tradition.

As the country prepared for the celebration, glum wasn't on the agenda for many, even thosethat had a sour year.

"We're hoping the next year will be better," said Becky Martin, a former elementary schoolteacher who drove from Rockford, Illinois, to Times Square after spending a fruitless year tryingto find a job. "We're starting off optimistic and hoping it lasts."

Many expressed cautious hope that better times were ahead after a year in which Japan wasravaged by an earthquake and tsunami triggering a nuclear disaster, hurricanes wreaked havocacross the US and a debt crisis threatened Europe's economy.

"Everybody's suffering. That's why it's so beautiful to be here celebrating something witheverybody," said Lisa Nicol, 47, of Melbourne, Australia, who was in Times Square.