US-NEW YEAR

US pop star Christina Aguilera performs for the crowd in Times Square for New Year's Eve minutes before the famous ball drops from the flagpole atop One Times Square in New York, 31 December 2006, to ring in the year 2007 . Hundreds of thousands of revellers packed into New York's Times Square to ring in 2007, braving heightened security to join in the traditional centrepiece of New Year celebrations in the United States. AFP PHOTO / Timothy A. CLARY