Sydney kicks off global 2019 parties with dazzling spectacle

Australia's largest city Sydney put on its biggest-ever fireworks display in a spectacular welcome to the New Year, kicking off a wave of celebrations for billions around the world.

A record amount of pyrotechnics as well as new fireworks effects and colors lit up the city's skyline for 12 minutes and dazzled the more than 1.5 million spectators who packed the harbor front and parks.

An earlier thunderstorm did not dampen the spirits of revelers who camped out at vantage points, some since the early hours of the morning.

To mark the international year of indigenous languages in 2019, the harbor also hosted a ceremony celebrating Aboriginal heritage that included animations projected onto the bridge's pylons.


- Around the world -


The party atmosphere will sweep across major cities in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas as the clock ticks past midnight.

A strong police presence has become a key element of the festivities, to protect crowds that could be targeted in terror and vehicle attacks.

Hong Kong: Glittering fireworks will be sent skyward from five barges floating in Victoria Harbour in a 10-minute display watched by 300,000 people on the shore.

Jakarta: Hundreds of couples will tie the knot in a free mass wedding, as those in the tsunami-hit Banten province, where affected towns were popular holiday destinations, have been told to cancel party plans to show respect for the victims.

Tokyo: Japanese will flock to temples to ring in the New Year, while US boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. took on local kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in a bout staged outside Tokyo.

Moscow: Concerts and light shows will be held across the city's parks and more than 1,000 ice rinks have been opened for merrymakers.

Paris: A fireworks display and sound and light show under the theme "fraternity" is set to go ahead on the Champs-Elysees despite plans for further "yellow vest" anti-government protests at the famed avenue.

Berlin: Music lovers will party at a concert at the Brandenburg Gate, but a popular German tradition of setting off fireworks to mark the occasion has been banned in some other cities over safety concerns.

London: Britain's capital will usher in the New Year by celebrating its relationship with Europe amid turmoil over the Brexit referendum vote to leave the EU, with the fireworks display at the London Eye to feature music from the continent's artists.

Edinburgh: The Scottish capital's traditional Hogmanay celebrations will also take on a pro-European theme ahead of the year in which Britain is due to exit the union.


- Looking ahead to 2019 -


As the world parties, many will also look forward to 2019 and wonder whether the turmoil witnessed during the previous year will spill over into the next.

The political wrangling in Westminster over Brexit was one of the key stories of this year, with a resolution yet to be reached ahead of the scheduled March 29 departure.

US President Donald Trump dominated headlines in 2018 as he ramped up his trade war with China, quit the Iran nuclear deal, moved the American embassy to Jerusalem and met his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un in Singapore for a historic summit.

North Korea's commitment to denuclearization will remain a major political and security issue into next year, as will Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's reassertion of control after Trump's shock military withdrawal announcement.

The war in Yemen, which started in 2014 and has already killed about 10,000 people and left some 20 million at risk of starvation, could take a crucial turn after a ceasefire went into effect in mid-December.

Numerous countries go to the polls in 2019, with key elections in India, Afghanistan, Indonesia, South Africa, Argentina and Australia.

Major sporting events on the calendar include the Rugby World Cup in Japan, the cricket one-day international World Cup in England and the athletics World Championships in Qatar.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Australia kicks off global New Year party defying terror threat

Global terror attacks have cast a pall over 2016 but Australia was Saturday set to defy the threats and ring in the New Year with bumper crowds gathering to watch a firework extravaganza on Sydney's glittering harbor.

2016 has seen repeated bloodshed, most recently a deadly truck attack at a Berlin Christmas market, a similar incident on Bastille Day in France that killed 86, and atrocities in Turkey and the Middle East.

Some 1.5 million people are packing Australia's biggest city to watch the midnight fireworks, a larger-than-usual crowd due to the weekend timing and warm weather, as the New South Wales state premier urged "business as usual".

"My encouragement to everyone is to enjoy New Year's Eve... in the knowledge that police are doing everything they can to keep us safe," Premier Mike Baird said.

Some 2,000 extra officers have been deployed after a man was arrested for allegedly making online threats against the celebrations.

There were a number of other reported threats this holiday period, in Asia-Pacific and elsewhere.

In Melbourne, police foiled a "significant" Islamic State-inspired Christmas Day terror plot.

Indonesia said it foiled plans by an IS-linked group for a Christmas-time suicide bombing, and 52 died in the Philippines in bomb attacks blamed on Islamist militants.

Israel on Friday issued a warning of imminent "terrorist attacks" to tourists and western targets in India, telling its citizens to avoid public places.

Meanwhile in Japan, shoppers filled markets to buy tuna and crabs -- seen as expensive items of indulgence and special feasts -- for New Year's Day family gatherings.

- Safety measures -

Security concerns have hit many New Year events with truck blockades a new tactic to try to prevent vehicles ploughing into crowds. Sydney is using garbage trucks as safety barriers.

The German capital has beefed up security after the December 19 carnage, deploying hundreds more police, some armed with machine-guns.

"This year, what's new is that we will place concrete blocks and position heavy armoured vehicles at the entrances" to the zone around Brandenburg Gate, a police spokesman said.

In Cologne, after a wave of sexual attacks last year, 1,800 police will be deployed -- compared to just 140 in 2015.

In neighbouring Austria police will hand out 6,000 free pocket alarms to help stop assaults on women.

In Paris, there will be a firework display again, after muted 2015 celebrations following the November 13 massacre of 130 people.

Nearly 100,000 police, gendarmes and soldiers will be deployed across France against the jihadist threat.

With more than a million people expected to turn out to watch the ball drop in Times Square, New York is deploying 165 "blocker" trucks and some 7,000 police.

Rome has deployed armoured vehicles and greater numbers of security forces around the Coliseum and at St Peter's Square where Pope Francis will celebrate midnight mass.

Moscow police will deploy more than 5,000 officers backed by thousands more from the new national guard and volunteer militia to maintain order.

Thousands traditionally gather in Red Square, but for the second year in a row, the area will be open solely to 6,000 invitees.

London will have 3,000 officers on patrol with crowds flocking to line the banks of the Thames to watch the fireworks around the London Eye Ferris wheel.

In Dubai, the gigantic pyrotechnics off the world's highest skyscraper are going ahead, despite a major tower block blaze nearby last year.

Up to two million people are expected to party at Rio's Copacabana beach.

But with Brazil mired in its worst recession in a century, the fireworks have been cut to just 12 minutes as the state government fights bankruptcy.

Normally boisterous Bangkok will see in the new year on a more sombre note, with prayers and candles replacing parties as the nation grieves for King Bhumibol Adulyadej who died in October.

And, at the stroke of midnight, the celebrations will last one second longer –- a leap second -– decreed by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service to allow astronomical time to catch up with atomic clocks that have called the hour since 1967.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

World welcomes New Year despite terror fears

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - 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.

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 colour 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 five 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.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com