Europe under tight security amid cancelations of New Year’s Eve festivities

Major cities around the world were preparing yesterday to enter 2016 with a mixture of both extravagant celebrations and caution leading to the cancelation of some highly popular events.

Sydney's firework extravaganza was the city's biggest ever with more than 1 million people packing the harbor foreshores for the display. An additional 2,400 fireworks exploded this year from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, including a multicolored waterfall, bouquets of flowers and butterfly designs.

The city spent AU$7 million ($5 million) on the 20-minute fireworks spectacular, which was estimated to attract up to 1 billion viewers around the world as midnight passed in Sydney. Across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, all eyes were on the Sky Tower's four-hour light show followed by a huge firework display at midnight. The mayor of the capital Wellington, Celia Wade-Brown, said she was expecting a large crowd for the city's fireworks. "Bring along a friend or neighbor who might be feeling a bit lonely," she said earlier in the week. "Wellington's free events are for everyone."

The Chinese lunar calendar dictates that the new year does not begin for at least another month, but revelers in cities like Beijing and Shanghai were still heading to for New Year's parties. One of China's biggest public gatherings on Shanghai's Bund Promenade was canceled this year, however, after 36 people died in a crush at last year's event. Tens of thousands of people normally attend.

Brussels on Wednesday canceled New Year's Eve celebrations due to terrorism fears as Europe prepared to see in 2016 under tight security while in Turkey police detained two DAESH suspects over a plot to attack Ankara. Belgian authorities said a fireworks display and festivities for New Year's that drew 100,000 people last year would not go ahead after revealing an alleged extremist plan to attack the capital during the holiday. The decision came the day after two people were arrested on suspicion of preparing attacks on "emblematic sites" in Brussels during the celebrations and after another man was questioned over links to last month's Paris attacks. "Unfortunately, we have been forced to cancel the fireworks and all that was planned for tomorrow [Thursday] evening," Mayor Yvan Mayeur told Belgian broadcaster RTBF.

Last year, some 100,000 people turned out to watch the traditional New Year's Eve fireworks display at the Place de Brouckere, a central square. Mayeur said in the current circumstances it was not possible to "guarantee that we can check everyone coming to the event. … It's better not to take any risks."

The two suspects in Belgium, who were held on suspicion of preparing attacks in Brussels, were due to appear before a judge yesterday who will determine whether or not to keep them in custody. Speaking for the first time since the plot, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said the decision to cancel the New Year's festivities was a tough one but the right one. "It was, I understand well, a delicate, difficult decision for the mayor to take," Michel told RTBF television.

It is not, however, the first time that the New Year's Eve fireworks have been canceled, as authorities made the same decision in 2007 in connection with another terror threat. "It's better to be safe than sorry," Georges, a Belgian of Greek origin told Agence France-Presse (AFP) as he sat with friends at a bar in Ixelles, just outside the city center. Since the Paris attacks and its links to Brussels, the friends said they had been avoiding crowded areas, including the central Grand Place, which Belgian media said may have been a target in the latest plot.

Alexandre, a Frenchman who moved to Brussels just weeks ago, told AFP he had been planning to attend the fireworks with his brother and some friends. "It's a bit disappointing," said the 28-year-old, but he insisted it should not be seen as a win for the extremists. "We see it more as an act of prevention rather than a victory," he added.

Officials said the plot disclosed Tuesday was not directly linked to last month's Paris attacks that left 130 dead. A key suspect in those attacks, Belgian-born fugitive Salah Abdeslam, is believed to have fled to Brussels in the hours after the gun and suicide bombing attacks claimed by DAESH. Earlier Wednesday, Belgian police held a man for questioning following a new search in the troubled Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek in connection with the Paris attacks.

The French capital also remains on high alert and abandoned its fireworks display on the Champs-Elysees, although the traditional gathering on the famous boulevard will go ahead under tight security. Berlin, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York and Vienna are among the cities that have stepped up security.

On Nov. 13, France was hit by its worst terror attack since World War II. At least 130 people died and more than 350 were wounded. Europe grew increasingly alarmed after the attacks, adding extra security measures and re-instating border checks at internal borders of the EU, which may also put free movement in the Schengen zone at risk and make it harder for refugees who seek a safe haven after fleeing violence to reach EU countries.