New Year’s around the globe
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Revelers gathered in Times Square to celebrate New Year’s Eve in New York City. Approximately one million people were expected to ring in the new year in Times Square.
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A crowd greets the new year’s first sunrise on a beach in Ulsan, southeast of Seoul, in South Korea.
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Fireworks illuminate the night sky near Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Fireworks were seen over the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin, Germany. An estimated one million people kicked off 2013 on Berlin’s famous party mile at midnight, where the Pet Shop Boys were to perform and an 11-minute fireworks sparkled into the air. The streets leading to the Brandenburg Gate for the celebrations were packed and impossible to navigate even in the hours before the celebrations.
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A pair of revelers celebrated the new year in front of the Eiffel Tower in paris, France.
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Men played bag-pipes during New Year’s Eve celebrations at sunset on Scarborough beach in Cape Town, South Africa.
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Fireworks lit the sky above the Cathedral Square in Vilnius, Lithuania, shortly after midnight, greeting the New Year
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People celebrated the New Year at the Piazza San Marco in Venice, early on Jan. 1, 2013.
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Lebanese people celebrated on New Year’s Eve in Beirut.
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People watched performers in central Athens during New Year celebrations.
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Crowds gathered on The Embankment close to Big Ben and the London Eye in central London just before midnight in London.
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A flower that was thrown into the sea as an offering by followers of the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda was seen on the shore of Praia Vermelha (Red Beach) in Rio de Janeiro. Every end of the year, worshippers present gifts to the sea goddess to give thanks for the year that is finishing and ask for blessings for the upcoming new year.
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Revellers watched fireworks illuminating over Burj Khalifa in Dubai on Jan. 1, 2013.
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Thousands of locals residents gathered to see the fireworks display and to see in the New Year at the Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
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A dog wearing 2013 glasses posed as he celebrated the beginning of New Year’s Day in Puerta del Sol in Madrid on Dec. 31, 2012.
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A Sri lankan buddhist monk offered special prayers at the Kelaniya Temple on Dec. 31, 2012, in Kelaniya. Many Sri Lankans marked the beginning of the 2013 New Year with religious ceremonies.
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NATO troops from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) looked on during celebrations on New Year’s Eve right before the start of 2013 in Kabul on Dec. 31, 2012.
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Punks sang and danced at a punk show as they celebrated the new year in Yangon, Myanmar.
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Rita Ravenberg and Elly Purperhart of the National Federation of African-Surinamese poured sacred water containing herbs and flowers on people from all origins during a New Year’s Eve ritual at the Independence Square in Paramaribo. The sacred water is prepared by a spiritual leader in a former sugar cane cooking pot used in the time of slavery to symbolize that bad experiences in the past can be turned into good ones by the people themselves. It is believed that the sacred water will wash away bad spirits and welcome good ones, as well as bring luck, fortune and health for the coming year.
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People celebrated the first public countdown to the New Year in Yangon on December 31, 2012. Some 50,000 people were expected to gather at the revered golden Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon for the city’s first public countdown to the New Year and fireworks. AFP PHOTO / Soe Than WINYe Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images
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Revellers wrote the number 2013 using sparklers during the Hogmanay (New Year) street party celebrations in Edinburgh, Scotland.
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A lightshow illuminated the Summer Palace during a new year count-down event in Beijing.
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White spheres floated in the bay, each penned by revellers with different wishes for 2013, are illuminated with colorful lights to usher the new year in Singapore. Tens of thousand people waited to watch the eight-minute display spectacular fireworks which burst across the bay.
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Two men roast a pig for New Year’s Eve celebrations in Havana on Dec. 31, 2012.
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A follower of the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda payed tribute to Iemanja, goddess of the sea, in Praia Vermelha (Red Beach) in Rio de Janeiro Dec. 31, 2012. Every end of the year, worshippers present gifts to the sea goddess to give thanks for the year that is finishing and ask for blessings for the upcoming new year.
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Indian girls jumped into the air as they enjoyed the last sunset of 2012 at a beach along the Arabian Sea coast in Mumbai, India.

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