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1/3/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- People around the globe welcomed 2006 with a variety of New Year’s Eve celebrations. High above Iraq, a Reserve C-130 Hercules aircrew headed for Balad Air Base, celebrated in a different way -- flying another mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. With the drone of the aircraft’s four propellers in the background, Senior Master Sgt. Ernie Leyba attached his night vision gear to his flight helmet. It was nearly pitch black on the flight deck, except for the pale green glow of the instrument lights. But it didn’t stop the flight engineer. Since...

My nine year-old daughter and I decided to attend Evanston's First Night New Year's Eve celebration. Evanston, IL is a very liberal town--it's the home of Northwestern University. Jan Schakowsky, one of the most liberal members of the House of Representatives, has lived in Evanston for many years. The Chicago suburb turns out huge Democratic majorities each election. Our first stop for First Night was the Evanston Public Library, where we bought our tickets to the fair. We encountered a table staffed with war protesters from Neighbors for Peace, there they are in the picture below. Visitors to the library...

Falling bullets injured two people and narrowly missed a half-dozen children after New Year's Eve revelers fired guns into the air across San Diego County. The most serious injury involved a 27-year-old woman whose shoulder was pierced by a stray bullet as she stood on her apartment balcony on Felicita Avenue in Escondido. Thirty miles away, a man was hit on a hand by a bullet that had passed through a wall of his Chamoune Avenue house in the Swan Canyon neighborhood of San Diego. Additionally, a family in the Chollas View neighborhood of San Diego had a close call...

U.S. soldiers toast during merrymaking as they celebrate the New Year at the IZ hospital in Baghdad January 1, 2006. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said recently the number of U.S. combat forces in Iraq would be cut by some 7,000 by early 2006, and the numbers involved in training Iraq's new military would increase. (REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani)

Rowdy revelers in France torched 425 vehicles overnight in scattered New Year's Eve unrest that has become an annual problem in troubled neighborhoods, the national police chief said Sunday. Last year, 333 cars were burned. Police Chief Michel Gaudin also said there were no major clashes this year between youths and police overnight, as had been feared. In what has become an annual tradition every New Year's Eve, youths set several hundred cars ablaze in France as festivities get out of hand. Police were especially cautious this time because of the wave three weeks of rioting and car burning that...

CRAWFORD, Texas — For six days, President Bush has stayed in nearly complete isolation on his ranch here — just mountain-biking and brush-clearing, the White House insisted daily, and seeing only one visitor, his mother-in-law, Jenna Welch. He never even ventured into this little town of 600, not even to the cheeseburger joint that he often uses as a political tool to show that he is in touch with his neighbors. But on New Year's Day, after a brief stop at an Army hospital in San Antonio to visit wounded soldiers, Bush is scheduled to return to the White House...

Hundreds of thousands of people crowded on to the Champs Elysees in Paris to see out the old year and usher in the new. There was high security along some two and half kilometres of the street, but as the clock struck 12 partygoers appeared to have nothing but having a good time on their minds. The night did not passed off completely peacefully, however. Less than two months after several suburbs in the capital and other cities saw sustained rioting, cars were again set on fire and youths threw stones at firefighters. Police say 343 vehicles were burnt before...

he London Ambulance Service reported a "horrifying" spate of stabbings across the capital - 35 in all on a night the service dealt with a record number of emergency 999 calls. Between midnight and 4am the service dealt with 1,444 calls, up four per cent on the same period last year. Deputy director of operations Russell Smith, who led the service's New Year's Eve response, said: "We are horrified that there have been so many stabbings on what is an evening of celebration for most people. "The majority of calls that we have responded to this evening have been alcohol-related....

The turn of the year started off peacefully in Holland, but the atmosphere in Rotterdam became more and more aggressive. A shooting in the Rotterdam party centre De Hooiberg, killed one person at around 06.00. The Rotterdam police arrested 100 people on Sunday morning for arson, violence, possesion of a firearm, and threatening. The mobile police unit was brought into action when a group of thirty people began throwing stones at police...

Even though the French government put large numbers of police on the streets in Paris and surrounding towns, the new year has begun with riots. 340 cars have been set alight, and the police have arrested more than 260 rioters....

Pope Benedict XVI waves in front of the Nativity scene at the end of "Te Deum" prayer in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2005. Pope Benedict XVI remembered his beloved predecessor and again stressed the importance that a family based on marriage has "in the life of the Church and of society." (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri)Pope Stresses Need for Marriage, Family By MARIA SANMINIATELLI Associated Press WriterVATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI remembered his predecessor Saturday and again stressed the importance of a family based on marriage "in the life of the church and of society."...

Called my sister shortly before midnight. She said her husband has three guns loaded to shoot off for New Year's Eve. I don't approve of this. I told her to shoot the guns into the ground, not into the air.They followed my advice. When my nephew shot one of the guns into the ground he hit a water pipe. Now water is gushing out of the ground. Just desserts. What can I say?

CRAWFORD, Tex., Dec. 31 -- A year ago this week, President Bush faced television cameras to offer relief and condolences after the Indian Ocean tsunami. In August, the retreat to his ranch was haunted by a 26-day siege by antiwar protesters demonstrating at his doorstep. Days later, Hurricane Katrina forced him to return to Washington in crisis-management mode as critics accused him of being slow to recognize the disaster. But the president is in quiet seclusion in the waning days of 2005. The traveling press has not laid eyes on him since Dec. 26, when he boarded Air Force One...

LONDON - Londoners ignored a subway strike to welcome the New Year. Some Japanese climbed a snowcapped peak to see the first sunrise of 2006. GIs in Iraq got a year-end "American Idol" treat. New Year's Celebrations like these spread throughout the world Saturday and early Sunday and were generally jubilant, a contrast with last year when the devastation of the Indian Ocean tsunami led many countries and individuals to cancel festivities. In France, youths burned hundreds of cars in a traditional year-end form of vandalism, but the country appeared to have avoided a massive resurgence of the rioting that...

NEW YORK -- There was more to celebrate than the ball dropping in Times Square for Dick Clark _ the personality who's been ringing in the New Year for decades made his first television appearance since a stroke in late 2004. Clark, sitting behind a desk with the street scene in the background, sounded hoarse and occasionally was hard to understand, but he said, "I wouldn't have missed this for the world." "Last year I had a stroke," he explained. "It left me in bad shape. I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It's been a...

NEW YORK - Thousands of New Year's Eve revelers ignored the sleet and snow and packed into Times Square with their "2006" glasses, waving balloons and working noisemakers for the famous ball drop and countdown of the final minutes of 2005. "I love my spot!" said an excited Linda Smith, who had secured a prime view before noon after taking a bus from Columbus, Ohio, for the celebration. Fireworks burst above the square at 6 p.m. when the 1,070-pound Waterford crystal ball was raised. In Boston, ice sculptures, parades, parties and fireworks kicked off the annual First Night celebrations. Tyler...

Youths threw stones at firefighters and burned cars in scattered unrest during New Year's Eve celebrations in France, where police were mobilized to prevent a repeat outburst of rioting that broke out this fall. Surveillance helicopters and about 25,000 French police were on alert for the holiday. Every New Year's Eve, youths set hundreds of cars ablaze as festivities get out of hand. Police are being especially cautious this time because of the wave of rioting and car-torchings that broke out for three weeks starting in late October. A state of emergency imposed during the rioting is still in effect....

A large New Year's Eve street party in downtown Los Angeles was canceled without explanation Saturday night, prompting angry calls to the fire department. Giant Village, billed as the "world's largest 21+ celebration," was to have featured the Black Eyed Peas and other music groups on six stages along Wilshire Boulevard, as well as a fireworks display, but late in the day it was canceled, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department. The fire department -- which had nothing to do with the cancellation -- was getting angry phone calls from people who drove to the area with...

PARIS, France (AP) - Youths threw stones at firefighters and burned cars in scattered unrest during New Year's Eve celebrations in France, where police were mobilised to prevent a repeat outburst of rioting that broke out this fall. About 25,000 French police were on alert for the holiday. Every New Year's Eve, youths set several hundred cars ablaze as festivities get out of hand. Police are being especially cautious this time because of the wave of rioting and car-torchings that broke out for three weeks starting in late October. A state of emergency imposed during the rioting is still in...

Top 10 reasons not to pass out on New Years Eve Mash here for the rest.