World hopes for 'sign of change' as US votes for new leader

Berlin: Around the world, throngs packed outdoor plazas and pubs to await US elections results on Wednesday.

As millions of voters decided between Barack Obama or John McCain, the world was abuzz with the sense of bearing witness to a moment of US history.

"America is electing a new president, but for the Germans, for Europeans, it is electing the next world leader," said Alexander Rahr, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations.

In Kenya, Obama's ancestral homeland, the atmosphere was electric with pride and excitement as people flocked to all-night parties to watch election results roll in.

In Germany, the election dominated television ticker crawls, newspaper headlines and Web sites.

In Paris, among the more irreverent festivities planned was a "Goodbye George" party to bid farewell to Bush.

"Like many French people, I would like Obama to win because it would really be a sign of change," said Vanessa Doubine, shopping Tuesday on the Champs-Elysees.

McCain enjoyed a strong current of support in countries such as Israel, where he is perceived as tougher on Iran.

Israeli bank employee Leah Nizri, 53, said Obama represented potentially frightening change.

"I think he'll be pleasant to Israel, but he will make changes," she said. "He's too young. I think that especially in a situation of a world recession, where things are so unclear in the world, McCain would be better than Obama."

In the sleepy Japanese coastal town of Obama, images of him adorned banners along a main shopping street in preparation for an election day victory party.

Election fever also ran high in Vietnam, where McCain was held as a prisoner of war for more than five years after being shot down in Hanoi during a 1967 bombing run.