Security will be extra tight at this year's New Year's Eve celebrations around the country, with military helicopters patrolling over the Rose Parade, Times Square and the Las Vegas Strip.
"I think the level of security this time around within the United States is absolutely unprecedented," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said on CBS's The Early Show.
As revelers prepare for New Year's Eve, the nation's terrorism alert is at its second-highest level, though officials said there were no specific threats against the holiday gatherings and urged people to go ahead with their plans.
In Las Vegas, where 300,000 revelers are expected on the Strip, officials announced armed military helicopters will fly overhead.
Jerry Bussell, Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn's adviser on homeland security, said military helicopters will also be used in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington and other cities with big outdoor gatherings.
"These aircraft are equipped to dismantle or disrupt any kind of ground attack," said Sheriff Bill Young, "and also other aircraft that would attempt to fly into our airspace."
Sharpshooters will be posted on hotel-casino roofs, and streets will be blocked off with concrete barricades, Young said. Sightseeing helicopters will be grounded from 9pm on New Year's Eve to 3am.
In Pasadena, where thousands gather along the 9km Rose Parade route and attend the Rose Bowl football game on New Year's Day, video surveillance cameras will watch the spectators lining the streets.
Flights over the Rose Bowl will be limited to police and military aircraft, and everyone working in the stadium, from hot-dog vendors to TV camera crews, will be required to wear photo IDs.
"We decided not to live our lives in fear, and do what we want to do," said Janet Powles, 60, of Rapid City, South Dakota, as she watched volunteers apply flower petals to Rose Parade floats.
In Las Vegas, however, terror concerns apparently affected hotel bookings. Deutsche Bank analyst Marc Falcone said New Year's Eve cancellations jumped in the past week and were running twice as high as last year.
In New York City, the New Year's Eve preparations included flight restrictions and military helicopter patrols over Times Square.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that there will be more officers on duty this year than last, and that they will focus more heavily on hotels, landmarks and ferry terminals. He would not disclose numbers.
Organizers said they expect this year's crowd to be larger than last year's gathering of 750,000.
Manhole covers are being sealed shut in Times Square, and mailboxes, trash cans and newspaper boxes are being removed. Plainclothes officers will mingle with the crowds, and elite counterterror teams will have equipment to detect chemical, biological or radiological contamination.
New Jersey Governor James McGreevey warned revelers headed to New York City to expect long delays at bridges and tunnels and to prepare for random stops and searches.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city was well-protected.
"Sadly, terrorism is something that we have to live with," he said.
"Leave the worrying to the professionals," he said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft