World celebrates New Year

3:51 am, Wed 02 Jan 2013

Gangnam Style beats Auld Lang Syne on New Years Eve

Brits rejected the traditional sentiments of Auld Lang Syne this New Year and saw in 2013 Gangnam Style, according to a new poll.

Psy's Gangnam Style was more popular than Auld Lang Syne Credit: YouTube / officialpsy

The K-Pop rapper Psy's worldwide hit single topped a chart to find the most sung song in the UK on New Year's Eve.

It accounted for almost a quarter (23%) of the 100,000 songs sung on Monday on Karaoke firm Lucky Voice's online service.

It pushed the traditional favourite, based on a poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns, off the top spot for the first time since 2005.

Other popular choices included Adele's Someone Like You and Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen.

World

8:49 pm, Tue 01 Jan 2013

Berlin ice swimmers take a traditional New Year dip

Members of Berliner Seehunde ice swimmers club take a dip in Lake Orankesee in Berlin Credit: REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz

Braced for the year ahead: Members of Berliner Seehunde ice swimmers club Credit: REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz

New Year's Day parade takes place in London

A New Year's Day parade took place in London today where a procession of Olympic Games Makers, drummers and cheerleaders walked through the streets of the capital.

London New Year's Day parade — Two white horses pass the crowds in central London. Credit: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire

World

6:59 pm, Tue 01 Jan 2013

Brits brave cold water for annual New Year's Day dip

Revellers across the UK braved the cold water and took part in the New Year's Day dip to mark the beginning of 2013.

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World

6:03 pm, Tue 01 Jan 2013

Romans welcome in the new year with a splash

Italian revellers welcomed in the new year by jumping into the bracing waters of Rome's Tiber river today.

The traditional Tiber leap has been taking place for over 20 years and has become a tourist attraction.

10:50 am, Tue 01 Jan 2013

Pope hopes for peace to prevail in the New Year

Pope Benedict XVI said he is convinced peace will prevail in 2013, despite the inequality, terrorism and "unregulated financial capitalism" that afflict the world today.

The Pope celebrated a Mass today in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican to mark the church's world day of peace.

Pope Benedict XVI leads a mass at Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Credit: Reuters/Giampiero Sposito

In his homily, Benedict said despite today's terrorism, criminality and the inequality between rich and poor, he was convinced the "numerous works of peace, of which the world is rich, are testimony to the innate vocation of humanity to peace".