World welcomes New Year despite terror fears

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (3rd UPDATE) – The world greeted 2016 with Champagne and cheers, but tightened security put a damper on the party in Europe and a huge fire at a hotel in Dubai scared gathering revellers.

Fireworks were cancelled in Brussels and Paris as November’s terror attacks cast a pall, but Dubai put on a spectacular show as it refused to let the hotel blaze, which injured 16 people, disrupt celebrations.

In Manila, fire hit at least 400 homes and affected around 2,000 residents hours after they greeted the New Year. 

Sydney, traditionally the first to host a major New Year’s bash, kicked off the global festivities when it lit up the skies with pyrotechnics at the stroke of midnight (1300 GMT).

In Dubai, a huge fire ripped through a luxury 63-storey hotel, the Address Downtown, close to the world’s tallest tower where people had gathered to ring in the New Year.

Despite the dramatic scenes from the inferno, the festivities went ahead as planned and crowds cheered the arrival of 2016 with bursts of light and color in a massive fireworks show that started at the iconic Burj Khalifa skyscraper, even as smoke was still billowing from the nearby blaze.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

After Asia and the Middle East, the chimes of midnight will move across Africa, Europe and finally the Americas.

In the heart of Europe, more than 100,000 police were deployed throughout France to guard celebrations that come six weeks after the jihadist attacks in Paris.

Annual festivities and fireworks in Brussels were cancelled as the Belgian capital – home to NATO and the European Union – remains on high alert.

Belgian officials are battling terror on two fronts – with police holding 5 people over an alleged New Year attack plot in Brussels as well as arresting a tenth suspect over the Paris attacks.

Paris, still reeling from the November 13 slaughter of 130 people, has also cancelled its main fireworks display on the Champs Elysees avenue.

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

“The people of Paris and France need this symbolic passage into the New Year,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.

In his New Year address, President Francois Hollande said France “has not finished with terrorism yet” and that the threat of another attack “remains at its highest level.”

High security 

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

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

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

Meanwhile, in Moscow police will for the first time close off Red Square where tens of thousands of revellers traditionally gather.

“It’s no secret that Moscow is one of the choice targets for terrorists,” Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said recently.

In Britain, Scotland Yard said there will be around 3,000 officers across central London in what is reported to be an unprecedented anti-terror security effort. 

“Our plans are purely precautionary and not as a result of any specific intelligence,” said Superintendent Jo Edwards, spokeswoman for Scotland Yard.

Fireworks were banned in towns and cities across Italy, in some cases because of a recent spike in air pollution but also because of fears that, in the current climate, sudden loud bangs could cause panic.

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

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

Party at the pyramids 

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 October 31 crash of a Russian airliner over the Sinai killing 224 people.

In stark contrast, Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown is hoping to reclaim its mantle as host of the best beach parties in Africa after Ebola scared people away.

The city of 1.2 million was deserted 12 months ago during the worst Ebola outbreak ever recorded.

“This New Year’s Eve I am going to dance and party until the cock crows,” said 35-year-old Franklyn Smith.

In the United States, authorities said they had arrested and charged a 25-year-old American Muslim convert over an alleged attempt to launch a New Year’s Eve attack in upstate New York in the name of the Islamic State group.

In New York City, despite a pledge of tight security for Times Square, a million people are expected to turn out to see the ball descend. – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com