Happy New Year

Throngs of revelers flooded into the streets in and around New York’s Times Square amid tight security on Saturday to send off a year marked by a grim anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the city and give a boisterous welcome to 2012.

“2012 is going to be a better year. It has to be,” said Fred Franke, 53, who was visiting New York with his family even after losing his job in military logistics this month at a Honeywell International division in Jacksonville, Florida.

GLOBAL CAUTION

The mood was a bit less bright in Europe, where leaders set the tone for a continent hammered by an unprecedented economic crisis, offering New Year’s messages that 2012 will bring more financial hardship.

“A very difficult year is coming: we must continue our effort decisively. So that our sacrifices will not have been in vain,” said Greece Prime Minister Lucas Papademos. COVERAGE, 8A

– From wire reports