RoundUp: Fireworks Spark off New Years Across the world

Not even a fractured foot could keep Ryan Visto from joining more than a million revelers in Times Square to watch the symbolic sphere make its 100th descent into the new year.

The 18-year-old visitor from San Francisco had taken a tumble on his skateboard in Central Park and landed in the hospital. His family decided the mishap wasn't going to stop them from missing the city's biggest New Year's Eve party.

"They wanted to keep him for surgery," said Sheena Visto, his mother. "But I told them to throw a cast on and do surgery later. We had to come."

So the family - with Ryan sitting in a wheelchair borrowed from the hospital - merged with the masses who counted down the new year as a ton of confetti rained down on the urban canyon.

University of North Carolina junior Reid Medlin, 21, and a couple of his friends arrived for the party without hotel reservations and planned to stay up all night.

"I think the best part is being here with friends," he said as people in the crowd kissed. "This was beautiful. It makes you appreciate everything."

Organizers said well over a million people attended the festivities.

The Times Square tradition of dropping the new year's ball began a century ago with a 700-pound ball of wood and iron, lit with 100 25-watt incandescent bulbs. This year's event featured an energy-efficient sphere clad in Waterford crystals, with 9,576 light-emitting diodes that generated a kaleidoscope of colors.

The entertainment lineup included Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest handling the countdown to 2008 and musical performances by Carrie Underwood and Miley Cyrus. Even New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez showed up, shaking hands and posing for photos.

A different sort of ball-drop was planned in Brooksville, Fla., north of Tampa, where a 200-pound fiberglass tangerine would ring in the new year. And in downtown Miami, the Big Orange was to slowly climb to the top of the Hotel Inter-Continental, followed by a laser and fireworks show.

About a million people were expected for the 32nd First Night celebration in Boston. The event included a half-dozen ice sculptures, each weighing 30 to 45 tons, performances by hundreds of artists, and a midnight fireworks display over Boston Harbor.

Canada's capital city may have reached its 150th birthday, but, based on the crowds which lined its streets for a year-end fireworks display Monday night, Ottawa still knows how to throw a party.
 
Thousands of spectators - which Ottawa police estimated totalled between 15,000 and 20,000 people - got as close as they could to the action to see the fireworks display taking place over
 
Parliament Hill to mark the end of 2007 and the start of the New Year.
The show kicked off at 6:57 p.m., which in twenty-four hour time is 18:57, a reference to the 1857 New Year's Eve announcement that Queen Victoria had picked Ottawa to become the capital of Canada.

The New Year's Eve celebration in Seattle got off to a less than spectacular start last night.

There was a technical problem with in the fireworks at the "New Year's at the Needle Show."
 
Just after the stroke of midnight, the "Star Wars" theme song played in the background, but the fireworks mysteriously stopped.
 
"What happened to the fireworks?" said KING 5 anchor Joyce Taylor.
 
Less than a minute later, a few bursts lit up the air, but it stopped again.

About 600 soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team are home after serving 15-month tours in Iraq as Fort Carson welcomed troops home all day New Year’s Eve. Another 170 or so troops arrived around 2 a.m. today. The brigade has 3,600 soldiers. They began returning in October. The entire 2nd BCT is due home by the end of January.

In Brazil more than four million people saw in the New Year on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.Two million party-goers were on Copacabana beach alone, witnessing a fireworks display that lasted nearly 20 minutes. They set the world record for the Biggest New Year Party.

In Sao Paulo, South America's biggest city, local media said 2.3 million people celebrated at the Avenida Paulista, Brazil's financial center.

The run-up to the event has led to controversy with flagship schemes like the Fourth Grace for the waterfront and the tram system being scrapped.
 
Senior figures like Artistic Director Robyn Archer and Chief Executive David Henshaw also resigned.
 
But Liverpool City Council still says the year will be "very successful".
 
More than two million additional tourists are expected in the city to see some of the 300 events that are due to take place.
 
The bells at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral were rung as part of a special service to welcome in the new year.

Midnight in London and the unmistakeable sound of Big Ben launched the New Year's party in the British capital. Vast crowds converged on the city centre to pop the champagne corks. A few adventurous souls jumped in the fountains.

 
An hour earlier the festivities had kicked off in Berlin. Hundreds of thousands thronged around the Brandenburg Gate enjoying the kind of fun that was taking place around Western Europe.

 
Across much of the continent temperatures fell below zero but that did not deter revellers. Red Square was the venue for Moscow's biggest bash. Many turned out to hear Vladimir Putin's last New Year's address as Russian President. Putin, who stands down after elections in March said Russia had had a renaissance during his reign.

 
2008 was first welcomed in by small Pacific Island nations. But Australia was soon in on the act, marking the moment in its own spectacular way and from there the party spread westwards with the new day. Wherever you are EuroNews wishes you all the best for 2008.