A dog wears a sign at a rally against firecrackers and fireworks during New Year revelries in Manila, Philippines on December 29, 2013. The group said the loud explosions from firecrackers, traditionally set off to welcome the New Year and drive away bad spirits, can also harm on the sensitive ears of humans and animals. #

Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center during a pyrotechnic show to celebrate the New Year in Hong Kong, on January 1, 2014. #

Lights and lasers illuminate the Great Wall of China to celebrate the new year before a new year countdown event at the Badaling section of the Great Wall, in Beijing, on December 31, 2013. #

Fireworks explode during a pyrotechnics show to celebrate the New Year in the coastal city of Valparaiso, about 121 km (75 miles) northwest of Santiago, on January 1, 2014. #

People offer prayers on the first day of the new year at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, on January 1, 2014. Many people from across Japan visit shrines and temples to make new year wishes as they pray for the safety of the household, good relationships and success in business on the first day of the New Year. #

An Indian boy lights the effigy of an old man, symbolizing the burning of the past, and getting ready to start a happy New Year without bad memories of the past in Mumbai, India, on January 1, 2014. #

Fireworks explode over Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, on January 1, 2014 to celebrate the new year. Dubai kicked off New Year with a dazzling bid for a new world record to cap those the Gulf city state already holds for its mammoth property developments. The glittering fireworks display that lasted around six minutes spanned over 100 kilometers (60 miles) of the Dubai coast, which boasts an archipelago of man-made islands and Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower. #

An Indian Sikh devotee takes a holy dip in the sacred pond at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, on January 1, 2014. Thousands of Sikh devotees stand in a queue to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple, Sikhs' holiest shrine, on the first day of the New Year. #

A woman holds a champagne bottle during New Year's celebrations in Bucharest, Romania, on January 1, 2014. Tens of thousands of Romanians took to the streets of the Romanian capital to join parties and watch fireworks. #

Gunners of the historical "Grenadier Corps 1810' greet the new year with twelve cannon salutes in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, on January 1, 2014. This New Year's tradition dates back to 1633 remembering an overcome siege during the Thirty Year's War. #

The Allendale tar barrel men carry the burning whiskey barrels on their heads which are 2ft across, primed with tar, shavings and a pint of paraffin as part of the Baal fire in Allendale, England, on December 31, 2013. The Allendale Baal Fire takes place every year on 31st December as a farewell to the past 12 months which has been in existence since the Dark Ages. On New Year's Eve the small town is full of visitors and down from the hill farms come the shepherds, flockmasters and farm workers to watch or take part in the Baal. #

Fireworks light the sky above the Mariendom (Cathedral of Mary), right, and the St. Severi's Church, left, shortly after midnight during New Year's Eve celebrations in Erfurt, Germany, on January 1, 2014. #

Members of the public wearing fancy dress enter the water as they join around 1,000 New Year swimmers in front of the Forth Rail Bridge during the annual Loony Dook Swim in the River Forth, on January 1, 2014 in South Queensferry, Scotland. #

Pro-European Union activists hold lights while singing the Ukrainian national anthem as they celebrate the New Year in Kiev's main square early on January 1, 2014, in Ukraine. At least 100,000 Ukrainians sang the country's national anthem together at the square on New Year's Eve in a sign of support for integration with Europe. Opposition leaders had called on Ukrainians to come to the Maidan on New Year's Eve and sing the national anthem in an act of defiance and what they expected could be the record-breaking live singing of an anthem. #

Fireworks light up the London skyline and Big Ben just after midnight on January 1, 2014 in London, England. Thousands of people lined the banks of the River Thames in central London to see in the New Year with a spectacular fireworks display. #

Sushi, portrayed by Gary Marion, hangs in a giant replica of a women's red high heel over Duval Street, on December 31, 2013, at the Bourbon Street Pub Complex in Key West, Florida, The Red Shoe Drop is a Key West New Year's Eve tradition and is one of four Florida Keys warm-weather takeoffs on New York City's ball drop marking the beginning of the new year. #

People on a rooftop in the Pavao Pavaozinho slum watch fireworks exploding over Copacabana beach during New Year's Eve celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 1, 2014. #

Partygoers smoke marijuana during a Prohibition-era themed New Year's Eve party celebrating the start of retail pot sales, at a bar in Denver, on January 1, 2013. Colorado is to begin marijuana retail sales on January 1, a day some are calling "Green Wednesday." #

Diana Vy of Philadelphia strikes a pose as she is photographed by friends amid police and confetti after New Year celebrations in Times Square, Midtown, New York, on January 1, 2014. #

Fireworks fill the air in the bay over the Oakland and San Francisco skylines, divided by the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, as part of New Year's Eve celebrations in a view from Oakland, California, on January 1, 2014. #

A couple kisses while watching fireworks explode minutes after midnight along Copacabana Beach during New Year's celebrations on January 1, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. #