World ushers in 2007

Fireworks exploded over Sydney's Harbor Bridge as a million onlookers
greeted the New Year. In London, thousands of revelers gathered to
cheer as Big Ben rang in 2007. But the Thai capital of Bangkok canceled
the main celebration after nine bombs exploded across the city, many in
crowded tourist areas. Three people were killed and 38 others were
injured.

In Sydney -- one of the world's first major cities to see the dawn of
the new year -- people crammed the harbor shore for a lavish fireworks
display celebrating the 75th anniversary of its iconic bridge.

Thousands of would-be revelers who had gathered at Bangkok's Central
World Plaza shopping mall complex for the event were sent home,
officials said. Festivities continued in other parts of the city,
though, including the famous Patpong Road red light district. Police
and army troops with assault rifles, meanwhile, guarded some tourist
sites, mass transit stations and traffic circles.

In India, police arrested two suspected Islamic militants about half a
mile from the site of New Delhi's main public New Year's Eve
celebrations, a report said, citing police.

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."
But he cast a cold eye on some secular New Year celebrations, saying
such social "rites" are "often carried out as an escape from reality."

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