VIENNA, AUSTRIA --- It was just a scribble in the snow.

But the giant "YES, WE CAN!" Norbert Aschenbrenner carved in huge block letters at the U.N. complex in Vienna on Tuesday was a poignant expression of how many people in the international community are embracing President Obama.

Mr. Aschenbrenner works for the International Atomic Energy Agency, which went up against George W. Bush before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Bush administration said Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction; the nuclear agency insisted its inspectors had found no evidence of any.

Mr. Aschenbrenner said he felt compelled to express his pleasure with the change of leadership.

"So I came in early today, at 7 a.m., and felt a bit like a graffiti sprayer," he said.

HAVANA --- Cubans expressed hope Tuesday that President Obama's inauguration could bring monumental changes to their island, even if bans on satellite television kept most from witnessing the moment.

"The American people have taken a great step," said Alain Echeverria, who slipped into a hotel lobby to watch. The 34-year-old was wearing an Obama-Biden T-shirt he begged off an American tourist the day the United States went to the polls.

"He comes in with ideas that are different from all the other presidents," Mr. Echeverria said. "The peoples of all the world will receive him with open arms."

Cubans blame many of their woes on U.S. trade sanctions that took effect in 1962. Mr. Obama has said he will ease some restrictions on travel and remittances but doesn't plan to end the embargo without major concessions from Cuba.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ --- Hussein Mohammed Ali, a teacher in the southern city of Basra, took special pride in watching Barack Obama take office.

"He's a black man like me," Mr. Ali said.

Mr. Ali is among about 350,000 Iraqis with African ancestry -- descendants of slaves brought to Iraq when it was part of the Ottoman Empire. Many of them live in the Basra area, where they feel marginalized in Iraqi society.

"I feel so proud and happy today because Obama, a black man like me, will assume the post of president of the world's most powerful country," he said.

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --- Sugarcane-cutting descendants of African slaves were given Tuesday off in Puerto Tejada, a violence-wracked town of 45,000, where they watched the inauguration on a giant TV screen.

"The people here see themselves represented in Obama," Mayor Elver Montano said. "President Barack Obama could help us a lot, promote dialogue, give resources and money to help improve people's livelihood."

A tenth of Colombia's 44 million people identify themselves as Afro-Colombiano, who have been among the hardest hit by political violence.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA --- Saleh al-Mohaisen drew on his cigarette as he pondered Barack Obama's significance while outside his jewelry store Tuesday.

He said he was elated at Mr. Obama's election and is sure the 44th president will be better than his predecessor, whom many Saudis accuse of bringing wars to the region.

"I wanted to send him a letter by courier to wish him well and explain how Muslims and Arabs feel," Mr. al-Mohaisen said. "I felt that he could understand Arab suffering."

But the 34-year-old also said he is concerned about Mr. Obama's lack of comment on recent fighting in the Gaza Strip.

"His silence over the massacres in Gaza has made me wary of him," Mr. al-Mohaisen said. But he added: "I love him despite his silence. I feel we share the same blood."

HONG KONG --- The Madame Tussauds museum unveiled a wax statue of Barack Obama on Tuesday. A red sheet covering the statue dropped as Hail to the Chief played in the background.

ATHENS, GREECE --- Not far from the U.S. Embassy in Greece, Costas Fotakis stood under a banner reading "Obama is not change."

"We believe that U.S. policy doesn't come from the president but from oil companies and arms firms," said Mr. Fotakis, a member of the Greek Anti-War Movement and organizer of the tiny protest by about a dozen people. "The same policies, one way or another, will continue, with or without Bush."

LIMA, PERU --- A dozen faith healers gathered for the inauguration, dancing, shaking rattles, blowing smoke and chanting the new president's name while throwing flower petals and coca leaves at his photograph.

The ancient Andean ritual is known as Jatun Sonjo, or "Big Heart" in the Quechua language spoken during the Inca empire.

"In ancient times it was one of the rituals dedicated to Inca and pre-Inca rulers. Today we dedicate it from Peru to Obama because he is the first black president and his heart is big for the whole world," said lead shaman Juan Osco of the Apus-Inka association.