Global New Year’s Eve festivities began under tightened security last night, with Brussels scrapping celebrations as fears of terror threats cast a pall, just weeks after brutal attacks in Paris.
Australia’s biggest city, Sydney, traditionally the first to host a major event to ring in the New Year, held its 9pm family fireworks, with pyrotechnics exploding over the harbour, ahead of the main show at midnight.
Crowds thronged to vantage points to see the displays, which were expected to draw 1 million people, ahead of the chimes of midnight moving across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and finally the Americas.
Photo: AFP
Taipei, Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore and other Asian cities were set to rival Sydney’s pyrotechnic splash, but Brunei offered a sober evening after banning Christmas in a shift to hardline Islamic law.
Jakarta remained on high alert after anti-terror police foiled detailed plans for an alleged New Year suicide attack in the Indonesian capital.
At the heart of Europe, annual festivities and fireworks in Brussels were canceled as the Belgian capital — home to NATO and the EU — remained on high alert.
“It’s better not to take any risks,” Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur said on Wednesday after police arrested two people suspected of plotting to launch terror attacks during the festivities at Brussels landmarks.
The French capital, still reeling from the Nov. 13 slaughter of 130 people, also canceled its fireworks display, but authorities agreed France’s biggest public gathering since the attacks could go ahead on the Champs Elysees, with bolstered security.
“The people of Paris and France need this symbolic passage into the New Year,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said. “After what our city has lived through, we have to send a signal to the world.”
In Turkey, police detained two Islamic State suspects allegedly planning to stage attacks in the center of Ankara, which is packed on New Year’s Eve.
Meanwhile, in Moscow police for the first time closed off Red Square, where tens of thousands of revelers traditionally gather.
“It’s no secret that Moscow is one of the choice targets for terrorists,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
In Britain, Scotland Yard said there would be about 3,000 police officers across central London in what was reported to be an unprecedented anti-terror security effort.
“Our plans are purely precautionary and not as a result of any specific intelligence,” Scotland Yard spokeswoman Superintendent Jo Edwards said.
Fireworks were banned in towns and cities across Italy, in some cases because of a spike in air pollution, but also because of fears that, in the current climate, sudden loud bangs could cause crowds to panic.
The number of police on duty in Italy was increased by 30 percent compared with last year, although the Italian Interior Ministry said: “There has been no specific alert.”
In Madrid, thousands of people were expected to flock to Puerta del Sol square, though police planned to limit the number allowed in to just 25,000.
Meanwhile, Cairo was trying desperately to attract tourists to bolster the economy.
The government was staging celebrations in front of the pyramids near the Egyptian capital, with ambassadors, artists and intellectuals all invited.
In New York, despite a pledge of tight security for Times Square, 1 million people were expected to turn out to see the ball descend.
This year’s show includes performances by artists Demi Lovato, Daya and Jessie J.
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