New Year’s parties kick off amid terror fears

Sydney will kick-start the global New Year’s Eve party with its biggest fireworks display ever, but fear of jihadist attacks has cast a pall with Brussels scrapping celebrations and many cities tightening security.

In Bangkok, police-flanked partygoers will ring in the new year at the site of a deadly bombing that took place just months ago.

In Paris, residents recovering from their city’s own deadly attacks will enjoy scaled-back celebrations. And in Belgium’s capital, authorities anxious after thwarting what they say was a holiday terror plot have canceled festivities altogether.

As the final hours of 2015 draw to a close, many are bidding a weary and wary adieu to a year marred by attacks that left nations reeling and nerves rattled. Still, most places are forging ahead with their celebrations as many refuse to let jitters ruin the joy of the holiday.

“We still have this fear but we need to continue to live,” said Parisian Myriam Oukik. “We will celebrate.”

No specific threats

In the Philippines, authorities said no specific threats timed for the New Year’s revelries have been detected in the capital,  or other major cities, although government forces are always on alert due to the presence of small but violent Muslim militant groups in the country’s South.

Concern on New Year’s Eve is instead focused on the use of illegal fireworks, which last year injured more than 850 people. Stray bullets and exploding firecrackers have killed one person and injured almost 200 others as the country plunged into its annual chaotic revelry.

Shopping malls and cities have organized fireworks displays to discourage people from lighting their own firecrackers.  The Iglesia ni Cristo religious sect will attempt to break the world record for the largest fireworks and the highest number of sparklers to be lit in one place, to be held in its Philippine Arena indoor stadium in the town of Bocaue in Bulacan province.

 

First major event

Sydney takes seriously its position as one of the first major cities in the world to ring in each new year and plans to celebrate in its typical showy fashion.

Despite safety concerns, more than 1 million are expected to gather along the famed harbor to watch a glittery display featuring a multicolored firework “waterfall” cascading off the Harbour Bridge and pyrotechnic effects in the shapes of butterflies, octopuses and flowers, before the chimes of midnight move across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and finally the Americas.

“It just keeps getting better every year,” Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said of the Aus$7 million ($5.1 million), 12-minute fireworks extravaganza.

The 2016 theme is “City of Colour” and seven tons of fireworks will go up in smoke, including 11,000 shells, 25,000 shooting comets and 100,000 individual “pyrotechnics effects” under forecasts of a fine summer night sky.

Acknowledging Australia’s Aboriginal culture, a “welcome to country” indigenous ceremony will also be marked through images projected on the bridge’s pylons.

Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore and other Asian cities may rival Sydney’s pyrotechnic splash, but Brunei offers a sober evening after banning Christmas in a shift to hardline Islamic law.

High alert

Jakarta remains on high alert after antiterror police foiled detailed plans for an alleged New Year suicide attack in the Indonesian capital.

Less than six months after a pipe bomb killed 20 people at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, tens of thousands are expected to ring in the new year at the same intersection with live music and a countdown. Up to 5,000 police will be in the area, with explosive ordnance disposal experts making a sweep ahead of time.

At the heart of Europe, annual festivities and fireworks in Brussels have been canceled as the Belgian capital—home to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union—remains on high alert.

“It’s better not to take any risks,” Mayor Yvan Mayeur said on Wednesday after police arrested two people suspected of plotting to launch attacks during the festivities at Brussels landmarks.

The French capital, still reeling from the Nov. 13 slaughter of 130 people, has also canceled its fireworks display.

But authorities agreed France’s biggest public gathering since the attacks can go ahead on the Champs Elysees avenue, with bolstered security.

“The people of Paris and France need this symbolic passage into the New Year,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

“After what our city has lived through, we have to send a signal to the world,” she told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.

In Turkey, police have detained two Islamic State suspects allegedly planning to stage attacks in the center of Ankara which is expected to be packed on New Year’s Eve.

 

Choice target

In Moscow, police will for the first time close 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 recently.

In Madrid, thousands of people will flock to the Puerta del Sol square. However, police will limit the number allowed in to just 25,000.

London is also trying to control the crowds by again charging for access to central riverside areas to see the fireworks, with more than 113,000 £10-pound ($15) tickets already sold.

Berliners will do better with about a million expected at the Brandenburg Gate for a free mega-street party.

 

Pyramids party

Cairo meanwhile is trying desperately to attract tourists to bolster the economy. The government is staging celebrations in front of the pyramids near the Egyptian capital, with ambassadors, artists and intellectuals all invited.

Egypt has been in turmoil since the 2011 uprising but was further hit by the Oct. 31 crash of a Russian airliner over the Sinai killing 224 people.

On the nearby Gaza Strip, the Islamist group Hamas has banned public New Year’s Eve parties, for being “incompatible with our customs, traditions, values and the teachings of our religion.”

 

NYC ball drop

In New York City, despite a pledge of tight security for Times Square, around a million people are expected to converge on Times Square for the annual celebration. The party begins with musical acts, including Luke Bryan, Charlie Puth, Demi Lovato and Carrie Underwood, and ends with fireworks and the descent of a glittering crystal ball from a rooftop flagpole.

Beijing’s shopping and bar areas are under a holiday security alert that started before Christmas and has resulted in armed police standing guard at popular commercial areas.

For security reasons, Shanghai is closing subways near the scenic waterfront Bund because of a stampede last New Year’s Eve that killed 36 people and blemished the image of China’s most prosperous and modern metropolis.

New Year’s Eve is Japan’s biggest holiday, with millions making trips to their hometowns and visiting neighborhood temples where the ritual ringing of huge bronze bells reverberates through the chill. Tokyo is on special alert for security issues this year, with posters in subways and other public spaces warning people to keep their eyes open for suspicious packages or activities.

 

Korean reunification

South Koreans will mark New Year’s Eve with traditional bell ringing ceremonies, fireworks and outdoor music and dance performances. Thousands of people, including North Korean refugees, are expected to gather at a town near the border with rival North Korea to watch one of the ceremonies and wish for peaceful Korean unification.

Malaysian authorities have detained more than 120 suspects linked to the Islamic State over the past two years, some of whom were allegedly plotting to launch attacks in strategic areas of Kuala Lumpur. In September, the US Embassy warned of a potential terrorist threat at a popular hawker street and its surrounding areas in the city. Reports from AFP and AP