"From Sydney to Bucharest, fireworks welcome New Year" joke

Fireworks exploded over Sydney's Harbor Bridge as a million onlookers celebrated the New Year. In London, thousands of revelers gathered to cheer as Big Ben rings in 2007.
In the Australian capital -- one of the world's first major cities to usher in the new year -- people crammed the harbor shore for the lavish fireworks display celebrating the 25th anniversary of the iconic bridge.
Pope Benedict XVI prayed at a New Year's Eve service at the Vatican City in Rome that 2007 would bring the world "peace, comfort, justice."
In London, Big Ben's chimes were to be relayed by sound systems along the River Thames.
More than 200,000 people were expected to crowd the river's banks near the Houses of Parliament to watch a light show countdown projected onto the 443-foot (135-meter) London Eye Ferris wheel.
The event was followed by a 10-minute fireworks display, "big enough and loud enough to be seen... all over the capital," Mayor Ken Livingstone said.
In Romania and Bulgaria, midnight marked a historic milestone, with the two countries becoming the newest members of the European Union.
Fireworks thundered through the sky in the Romanian and Bulgarian capitals, which were decorated with the EU's blue-and-gold flags.
In Japan, thousands climbed mountains, some scaling famed Mount Fuji, to greet the first dawn of the year. Police expected crowds at the summits to reach 15,000.
In Bagdhad, thousands of people were spared the inconvenience of a costly firework display when their neighborhood was subjected to a series of mortar attacks by insurgents.

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