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                     New Year's Ball Drops in Times Square

   Fireworks are crackling through the night skies across the globe as
   revelers celebrate the first moments of 2014.
   About a million New York City revelers braved frigid temperatures and
   high security, waiting hours in Times Square for a giant Waterford
   crystal ball to drop at the stroke of midnight.
   With neither the current nor the incoming New York mayor present to
   push the button to start the ball drop, the honors were performed by
   Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a New York native.
   Crowds gathered in public spaces around the world to ring in the new
   year massing in Moscow, Dubai, London, New York and other major cities
   ahead of their midnight celebrations.
   London`s partiers were treated to edible banana-flavored confetti as
   they watched fireworks over Trafalger Square.
   Dubai created what it called the world`s largest fireworks show,
   igniting 400,000 fireworks that aimed to set a new world record,
   besting last year`s record of 77,000 in Kuwait.
   Fireworks erupted from Auckland`s Sky Tower as people danced in the
   streets of New Zealand`s biggest city. In Sydney, Australia, more than
   a million people watched fireworks launched for the first time in more
   than a decade from the sails of the city`s famed waterfront opera
   house. Billowing fireworks soared over Hong Kong`s skyscrapers.
   In Japan, some celebrators ate noodles and seafood -- thought to bring
   good luck in 2014 -- and offered prayers at Buddhist shrines and
   temples.
   Celebrations were somewhat muted in the Philippines, where officials
   say about 260 people were injured by fireworks or stray bullets in the
   days leading up to New Year`s Eve. The mood also was somber in areas
   still recovering from Haiyan, a November typhoon that killed thousands
   of people.
   Cape Town, South Africa, had a particularly poignant celebration to
   include a tribute to anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, who died
   December 5.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/new-years-ball-drops-in-times-square/1821205.html