Revelers herald 2016 despite global New Year security scares
Over a million people welcome the new year at Times Square under unprecedented security; Germany evacuates two train stations in Munich amid bomb threat; hotel in Dubai on fire.
The world ushered in the New Year with heightened security fears on Friday as German police evacuated two train stations in Munich, citing a tip about a planned suicide bomb attack, Belgium held three people over an alleged plot, and New York deployed unprecedented security for its Times Square celebrations.
Security forces in many capitals were on raised alert after a year of militant attacks, including an attack on Paris in November that killed 130 and was claimed by Islamic State.
In New York, police tightened security for the traditional New Year's Eve dropping of the crystal ball in Times Square, where more than a million people hailed the arrival of 2016 with kisses, cheers and a measure of relief as America's biggest New Year's Eve celebration unfolded without a hitch.
About 6,000 uniformed and undercover police officers, 500 more than last year, patrolled the Times Square area, with the force bolstered by mounted patrols, bomb-sniffing dogs, radiation detectors and hundreds of surveillance cameras.
For the first time on a New Year's Eve, the city deployed its new Critical Response Command, which includes more heavily armed officers. The unit is trained to detect and respond to attacks.
In Rochester, New York, a 25-year-old man accused of planning to attack a restaurant on New Year's Eve was arrested on Wednesday and charged with attempting to provide support to Islamic State, the US Justice Department said.
Afterwards, Rochester, about 330 miles (530 km) northwest of New York City, canceled its New Year's Eve fireworks display.
Before entering Times Square, visitors were required to pass through tight security checkpoints, with police stopping anyone from carrying backpacks and large bags while searching smaller bags and scanning people with metal detectors.
The US Department of Homeland Security ranked the Times Square celebration as a level-2 concern on its five-point scale of security risks for major public events, a designation one step below the top-rated level-1 classification given Friday's upcoming Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. About 700,000 people are expected to turn out for the 127th Rose Parade.
Soldiers were on the streets of the French capital, and police forces in London, Madrid, Berlin and Istanbul increased their presence as Europeans turned out to celebrate the arrival of 2016.
Celebrations in Germany took on a sombre note when police warned of a possible terror attack and evacuated two train stations in Munich an hour before midnight on Thursday.
Germany had received a tip from another country's intelligence service that ISIS planned to attack Munich with up to seven suicide bombers, German officials said at a news conference on Friday.
They didn't identify the country that provided the tip-off, but German television said in an unsourced report that it came from France.
The stations - Munich's central station and Pasing station some 8 km (5 miles) away - reopened several hours later after the threat could not be substantiated.
In Belgium, police were holding three people for questioning on Thursday as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to carry out an attack in Brussels on New Year's Eve.
Authorities on Wednesday called off the usual New Year's Eve fireworks display in the capital, citing fears of a possible militant attack.
Police had initially detained six people after searches at six locations in the Belgian capital and one just outside the city. They also seized computers, mobile phones and equipment for airsoft, a sport using guns that shoot non-lethal plastic pellets.
Three of the six were released late on Thursday. Prosecutors said they were holding the other three for a further 24 hours.
French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday the country was "not finished with terrorism" and used a New Year's message to defend controversial plans to strip citizenship from those convicted of terrorism offences.
"The threat is still there," he said in a televised address. "It remains in fact at its highest level, and we are regularly disrupting planned attacks."
Paris canceled its usual fireworks display in favor of a 5-minute video performance at the Arc de Triomphe just before midnight, relayed on screens along the Champs Elysee, where people chanted.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the show was aimed at "sending the world the message that Paris is standing, proud of its lifestyle and living together."
In Istanbul, a bridge between the continents of Europe and Asia, police said they had ramped up the number of officers on the streets by around 10,000.
Turkish police on Wednesday detained two suspected Islamic State members they believe to have been plotting New Year's Eve suicide attacks in the capital Ankara, where less than three months ago a double suicide bombing killed more than 100 people.
Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers banned New Year celebrations in the Palestinian coastal enclave. Police spokesman Ayman Batniji said hotels and restaurants were allowed to hold parties a day earlier or a day later.
"Celebrating the new year contradicts the instructions of Islamic religion," Batniji said. "It's a Western custom that we don't accept in Gaza."
In the megacity of Dubai, a fire broke out two hours before midnight in The Address hotel, in the area where a massive fireworks display was being prepared.
The five-star hotel is near the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. At least one person suffered a heart attack from the smoke and over-crowding during evacuation, and 14 suffered minor injuries.
Organizers said the Burj Khalifa had been fitted with 400,000 LED lights and 1.6 tons of fireworks would be used in the display.
Burning debris rained down from The Address building as firetrucks raced to the scene. It was unclear what caused the fire, which ran up the 63-story building. The Address has 626 luxury apartments and 196 hotel rooms, according to Skyscraper Center, which tracks skyscrapers.
Last year was the deadliest year of militant attacks in Europe since 2004. Evidence that two of the Nov. 13 Paris attackers had entered the continent under cover of a wave of Middle Eastern refugees heightened anxieties over the migration crisis.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
