For the first time Sydney will kick off a wave of dazzling firework displays welcoming in 2013 from Dubai to Moscow and London, with long-isolated Yangon joining the global pyrotechnics.
Traditions That Mark New Year
On Monday, as the clock strikes 12, millions will pop champagne corks and light fireworks while others indulge in quirkier New Year's rituals like melting lead, leaping off chairs or gobbling grapes.
On Monday, as the clock strikes 12, millions will pop champagne corks and light fireworks while others indulge in quirkier New Year's rituals like melting lead, leaping off chairs or gobbling grapes.
City officials are expecting more than 1.5 million people to crowd the waterfront to watch the seven tonnes of fireworks go up, including crackers launched from jet-skis and a show-stopping finale on the Harbour Bridge.
This year sees an interactive twist with smartphone users able to download an app which will colour their screens. Held aloft, en masse, the devices will create their own show along the shore.
Powerful Anti-smoking Advert Hopes to Do the Trick in the New Year
A £2.7m Department of Health advertisement will be prominent for nine weeks on the internet, on television, as well as billboards showing a gory image of a tumor growing on a cigarette.
A £2.7m Department of Health advertisement will be prominent for nine weeks on the internet, on television, as well as billboards showing a gory image of a tumor growing on a cigarette.
Revellers in New York will celebrate the stroke of midnight with the traditional New Year's Eve ball drop over Times Square.
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Helpful Tips From Experts To Stick to Health Related New Year Resolutions
Nearly half of people will make a resolution at the start of New Year, yet less than half of them manage to stick to it.
Nearly half of people will make a resolution at the start of New Year, yet less than half of them manage to stick to it.
Vying to become a permanent fixture on the planetary map of New Year celebrations, the Gulf city state of Dubai is planning a lavish gala at the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.
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Bars in Guwahati to Stay Open Past Midnight on New Year's Eve
Media reports indicate that bars and hotels in Guwahati have been allowed to serve alcohol till 12.30 a.m. on New Year's eve but are barred from serving drinks to those below 21 years.
Media reports indicate that bars and hotels in Guwahati have been allowed to serve alcohol till 12.30 a.m. on New Year's eve but are barred from serving drinks to those below 21 years.
Some 50,000 people are also expected to flock to the revered golden Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon for the Myanmar capital's first public countdown with fireworks, seen as further evidence of opening up after decades of junta rule.
Organisers had to campaign for months to get permission for the event from the military regime, which has embarked on dramatic reforms since President Thein Sein took office last year.
Hundreds of political prisoners have been released and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was elected to parliament after almost two decades of house arrest.
In regions devastated by Typhoon Bopha which hit the southern Philippines in early December killing at least 1,067 people, many survivors said food, work and permanent shelter topped their priorities for the New Year.
Authorities in the capital Manila are bracing for the annual rush of injuries as families celebrate with do-it-yourself firework displays and shoot celebratory bullets into the air. Hospitals were put on high alert.
Some 171 Filipinos have already been wounded since the Christmas weekend including one poisoned after eating a firework.
Seoul will usher in 2013 with a ritual ringing of the city's 15th-century bronze bell 33 times, reflecting the ancient practice of marking a new year.
Elsewhere in the South Korean capital, including the glitzy Gangnam district made famous by YouTube sensation Psy, there will be fireworks, concerts and street parties. Psy himself will be performing in New York.
Millions of well-wishers will visit temples and shrines in Japan for "ninen-mairi" two-year prayers and gather at family homes to feast on soba noodles and watch the New Year variety show "Kohaku Uta Gassen" or the Red and White Song Contest.
Up to 40 percent of Japan's TV audience watch the four-hour programme, which features established acts and J-Pop stars.
Popular South Korean performers were left out of this year's line-up amid territorial frictions with Seoul, though taxpayer-funded broadcaster NHK insisted politics had played no part in the selection of performers.
Source-AFP
