Dubai shattered the world record for the largest ever pyrotechnic display on New Year's Eve with a show involving more than half a million fireworks, Guinness World Records said Wednesday.

"Ten months in planning, over 500,000 fireworks were used during the display which lasted around six minutes, with Guinness World Records adjudicators on hand to confirm that a new record had been set," the Guinness website said.

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The world welcomed in 2014 with a series of spectacular firework displays as a wave of pyrotechnic extravaganzas swept around the globe to celebrate the New Year.

Europe joined in the party with a giant salvo in London, after Dubai attempted to break the work record for the biggest-ever fireworks show and Sydney got the ball rolling ahead of Asia with a dazzling display.

Honor, She Got.

Hollywood star Angela Lansbury, best known as the clue-collecting super-sleuth in the television series "Murder, She Wrote," has been made a Dame of the British Empire.

Sydney kicked off a promised unprecedented spectacular to mark New Year celebrations Tuesday, the first in a wave of pyrotechnics to usher in 2014 from Hong Kong to world record-chasing Dubai.

Tons of explosives were set to light up Australia's biggest city, with fireworks shooting off the Opera House for the first time in more than 10 years as part of the December 31 extravaganza, focused on the Harbor Bridge.

When revelers pack Times Square to ring in 2014, they will be greeted with some familiar practices: The annual ball drop, a hefty police presence and live musical performances. But for the first time in a decade, a New York City mayor won't be attending the countdown at the crossroads of the world.

Outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who attended every other celebration during his tenure, hobnobbing with celebrities and receiving a newsworthy peck on the cheek from Lady Gaga, said he's sitting out Tuesday's festivities to spend time with family and friends. And Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio will be busy being sworn into office at a private ceremony at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday at his Brooklyn home. The full inauguration ceremony begins at noon at City Hall.

A popular game show that was punished for its subtle support of last summer's anti-government protests appears once again to have become the victim of Turkish media censorship as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government scrambles to contain a corruption scandal.

In an episode of "Kelime Oyunu" ("Word Game") that aired shortly after the scandal broke earlier this month, a contestant was asked to guess a six-letter slang word for someone who takes bribes — an apparent reference to the scandal which led to the arrests of two government ministers' sons on bribery charges.

Queen guitarist Brian May underwent a scan on Monday as part of a series of urgent tests sparked by fears he could have cancer, the rock star revealed on his website.

The 66-year-old suffered agonizing back and hip pain earlier in December which left him barely able to stand, and MRI scans revealed "some abnormalities in the bones -- things that the report said needed urgent attention", he wrote.

If any Bollywood star can claim 2013 as their year, it is Deepika Padukone. With four hit films, the former model has risen to the top of the A-list -- and now has Hollywood in her sights.

But she isn't putting her giddy fame down to luck.

"Call Me Maybe" singer Carly Rae Jepsen has had her calls returned by Broadway.

Producers of "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella" said Sunday that the Canadian singer-songwriter will take over the role of Cinderella starting Feb. 4 for 12 weeks. She'll take over from Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes.