World welcomes New Year despite terror fears

People watch fireworks during New Year celebrations

at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro 

Millions welcomed in the New Year with Champagne
and cheers Friday, although tightened security


New York (AFP) - Millions welcomed in the
New Year with Champagne and cheers Friday,
although tightened security put a damper on
festivities in Europe where Germany
evacuated stations over an imminent terror
threat and a huge hotel fire sparked panic in
Dubai.

In New York, around 6,000 police were
watching over a bustling Times Square as
Mayor Bill Blasio flicked the switch, sending
the city's massive glittering glass ball down in
the final seconds of 2015.

Colorful confetti fluttered in the cool night air
as the boisterous crowd roared with glee,
mirroring similar scenes of revelry which
took place around the world.

But after a year in which Islamic militants
staged a wave of deadly attacks, sewing
carnage from Paris to California, the
celebrations were held in tight security, with
the New York police describing it as the
biggest security operation in the city's history.

Since the Paris attacks in November, which
saw Islamic state jihadists slaughtering 130
people in a series of gun and suicide attacks,
Europe has been on high alert with France
and Belgium cancelling their traditional New
Year fireworks displays in their respective
capitals.

And just half an hour before the celebrations
began in Germany, police evacuated two
stations in the southern city of Munich after
receiving "reliable information" about a plot
to carry out a suicide attack at midnight by
Islamic State jihadists.


Police said they were hunting "five to seven
suspects" after the authorities were tipped off
by a "friendly intelligence service", which
media reports suggested was French.

In France, more than 100,000 police were
deployed to guard celebrations, as defiant
Parisians turned out on the Champs Elysees to
greet 2016 in the biggest public gatherings
since the November 13 attacks.

And in Belgium, police were holding five
people over an alleged New Year plot in
Brussels, as they also announced the arrest of
a 10th suspect linked to the Paris attacks.
In Dubai, a vast blaze ripped through a luxury
63-story 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,
which injured 16 people, the festivities went
ahead as planned and crowds cheering the
bursts of light and colour from a massive
fireworks show at nearby Burj Khalifa
skyscraper, even as smoke billowed from the
nearby hotel.