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Photo: EPA
Sydney celebrates the new year
Photo: EPA

2016 draws to a close as world begins welcoming 2017

With heavy security and a lot of fireworks, revelers in countries in the Eastern Hemisphere bid a weary adieu to 2016 and celebrate the new year.

As 2016 draws to a close, revelers around the world are bidding a weary adieu to a year filled with political surprises, prolonged conflicts and deaths of legendary celebrities.

 

 

The first to welcome 2017 are the citizens of Tonga, a Polynesian kingdom of more than 170 South Pacific islands. The last to say farewell to 2016 will be the residents of American Samoa, exactly 24 hours after Tonga.

 

Sydney sent up a dazzling tribute to 2016's fallen icons with a New Year's Eve fireworks display honoring the late singer David Bowie and late actor Gene Wilder, becoming the first major city to bid a bittersweet adieu to a turbulent year.

 

Sydney, Australia welcomes 2017 (Photo: EPA)
Sydney, Australia welcomes 2017 (Photo: EPA)
 

The glittering display over Sydney's famed harbor and bridge featured Saturn and star-shaped fireworks set to "Space Oddity," the classic song by Bowie—one of the seemingly endless parade of beloved entertainers who died in 2016.

 

Sydney, Australia welcomes 2017 (Photo: Reuters)
Sydney, Australia welcomes 2017 (Photo: Reuters)

 

Wilder was also honored as the bridge lit up in a rainbow of colors while a song from Wilder's famed film "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" played.

 

Sydney, Australia welcomes 2017 (Photo: AP)
Sydney, Australia welcomes 2017 (Photo: AP)

 

Sydney, Australia welcomes 2017 (Photo: EPA)
Sydney, Australia welcomes 2017 (Photo: EPA)

 

"This year, sadly, we saw the loss of many music and entertainment legends around the world," fireworks show co-producer Catherine Flanagan said. "So celebrating their music as part of Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks displays is an opportunity to reflect on the year that has been and what the future may hold."

 

Sydney, Australia welcomes 2017 (Photo: AFP)
Sydney, Australia welcomes 2017 (Photo: AFP)

 

In Japan, temple bells echoed at midnight as families gathered around noodles and revelers flock to shrines for the biggest holiday in the country.

 

Welcoming the new year in Tokyo, Japan (Photo: Reuters)
Welcoming the new year in Tokyo, Japan (Photo: Reuters)

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin invoked a bit of seasonal enchantment in his New Year's Eve remarks to the nation.

 

Fireworks in Vladivostok, Russia (Photo: MCT)
Fireworks in Vladivostok, Russia (Photo: MCT)

 

"Each of us may become something of a magician on the night of the New Year," Putin said in a short televised address broadcast in the closing minutes of 2016 in each of Russia's 11 time zones.

 

"To do this we simply need to treat our parents with love and gratitude, take care of our children and families, respect our colleagues at work, nurture our friendships, defend truth and justice, be merciful and help those who are in need of support. This is the whole secret," he said.

 

Fireworks in Vladivostok, Russia (Photo: MCT)
Fireworks in Vladivostok, Russia (Photo: MCT)

 

New Year's Eve is Russia's major gift-giving holiday, and big Russian cities were awash in festive lights and decorations. The Moscow subway offered a special holiday train, festooned with lights and artificial greenery.

 

Celebrating in the shadow of disasters

Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans ushered in the new year with a massive protest demanding the resignation of disgraced President Park Geun-hye. It was the 10th straight weekend of protests that led to Park's impeachment on Dec. 9 over a corruption scandal.

 

Fireworks in South Korea (Photo: AFP)
Fireworks in South Korea (Photo: AFP)

 

The evening rally was planned to overlap with Seoul's traditional bell-tolling ceremony at the Bosinkgak pavilion at midnight, which was also expected to be a political statement against Park.

 

Fireworks in New Zealand (Photo: Gettyimages)
Fireworks in New Zealand (Photo: Gettyimages)

 

The city's mayor, Park Won-soon, invited as guests a man whose teenage son was among more than 300 people who died during a 2014 ferry sinking, and a woman who was forced into sexual slavery by Japan's World War II military.

 

Park Geun-hye came under heavy criticism over the way her government handled the ferry disaster.

 

Fireworks in New Zealand (Photo: Gettyimages)
Fireworks in New Zealand (Photo: Gettyimages)

 

Residents in Beijing and Shanghai, China's two largest cities, were passing New Year's Eve quietly in a relative state of security lockdown, according to Chinese media reports citing police.

 

The Bund waterfront in Shanghai had no celebrations, authorities announced this week, while the sale, use and transportation of fireworks in central Shanghai will be prohibited altogether. Large buildings that often display light shows also stayed dark. More than 30 people died two years ago in a deadly stampede on Shanghai's waterfront, where 300,000 people had gathered to watch a planned light show.

 

Fireworks in New Zealand (Photo: Gettyimages)
Fireworks in New Zealand (Photo: Gettyimages)

 

Beijing police also said countdowns, light shows, lotteries and other organized activities will not be held in popular shopping districts such as Sanlitun and Guomao. Beijing police advised citizens to avoid crowded areas, closely watch elderly relatives and children, and be aware of exit routes in venues.

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his annual New Year's Eve address that his government will continue to focus on alleviating poverty at home and resolutely defending China's territorial rights.

 

In the Philippines, however, the notorious tradition of dangerous New Year's Eve celebrations persisted after President Rodrigo Duterte delayed to next year his ban on the use of powerful firecrackers, often worsened by celebratory gunfire.

 

Fireworks in New Zealand (Photo: Gettyimages)
Fireworks in New Zealand (Photo: Gettyimages)

 

Powerful firecrackers and gunfire have maimed hundreds of people and killed some each year across the Philippines despite government crackdowns, an annual government scare campaign and efforts by officials to set up centralized fireworks displays, like on Saturday night.

 

Celebrations under security

Meanwhile, New York City is preparing for a veritable sea of humanity to converge on Times Square on Saturday for the annual descent of the New Year's Eve ball, a century-old tradition that will unfold this year under an unprecedented blanket of security.

 

As many as 2 million people, surrounded by a ring of 40-ton sand trucks and some 7,000 police, are expected to gather in the "Crossroads of the World" to watch the glittering sphere complete its midnight drop, marking the beginning of 2017.

 

Hearting the new year in Hong Kong (Photo: EPA)
Hearting the new year in Hong Kong (Photo: EPA)

 

Even though city and federal officials say they are not aware of any credible threats, the specter of two deadly truck attacks in Europe looms over the Times Square rite of winter, which has attracted merrymakers since the early 20th century.

 

In devising the security plan, New York police officials say they heeded lessons learned from recent holiday attacks in Germany and France, where suspected militants intentionally plowed vehicles into crowds of pedestrians, killing dozens.

 

Despite the heavy police presence, or perhaps because of it, throngs of people, many from overseas, arrived hours early to get a prime view of festivities, which will include live musical performances by Mariah Carey, Thomas Rhett and Gloria Estefan. Although skies were cloudy, temperatures were expected to hold at a comfortable 40F (5C), with no rain in the forecast.

 

At 11:59pm (4:59am GMT), the Waterford Crystal ball, five feet in diameter, begins sliding down a pole that sits atop a building at the point where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue. When it completes its descent at midnight, a giant "2017" sign will illuminate and a shower of fireworks with light up the sky.

 

Throughout the evening, a protective perimeter of 65 hulking sanitation trucks filled with sand, as well as about 100 other smaller vehicles, will encircle Times Square. Placed in strategic positions, the "blockers" are intended to prevent any repetition of the truck attacks in Berlin and Nice earlier this year, officials said.

 

Authorities used the same strategy at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade after Islamic State militants encouraged followers to target the event, which drew about 3.5 million people to the streets of the largest U.S. city.

 

Blocker trucks have also taken up positions across town near Trump Tower since President-elect Donald Trump was elected in November.

 

In addition, New York has deployed heavily armed police teams, snipers, bomb-sniffing dogs and helicopters. Coast Guard and police vessels will patrol waterways surrounding Manhattan.

 

Revelers prepare to welcome 2017 in Berlin, Germany (Photo: Reuters)
Revelers prepare to welcome 2017 in Berlin, Germany (Photo: Reuters)

 

Other big cities around the country, including Chicago and San Francisco, put heavy security in place as well to protect sprawling crowds expected to gather at public fireworks displays and other "first night" events.

 

In Washington, where federal budget cuts have done away with traditional New Year's Eve fireworks on the National Mall, no major events were planned. District of Columbia police declined to comment on any special security plans, saying only that events across the world are monitored for their potential impact on the US capital.

 

More than 300,000 visitors are expected to descend on Las Vegas for an extravagant New Year's Eve celebration.

 

Nightclubs are pulling out all the stops with performances from DJ Calvin Harris, rappers T-Pain and Kendrick Lamar and artists Drake and Bruno Mars. The city's celebrity chefs have crafted elaborate prix fixe menus complete with caviar and champagne toasts.

 

An eight-minute fireworks show will kick off at the stroke of midnight, with rockets launching from the tops of half a dozen casinos.

 

Federal officials have ranked the celebration just below the Super Bowl and on par with the festivities in Times Square. FBI and Secret Service agents will work alongside local police departments that are putting all hands on deck for the big night.

 

Preparing to welcome the new year in Madrid, Spain (Photo: EPA)
Preparing to welcome the new year in Madrid, Spain (Photo: EPA)

 

In Dubai, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to watch as fireworks shoot from the sides of the world's tallest building, the 828-meter (2,716-foot) Burj Khalifa. The show also will be streamed live online.

 

But authorities hope they won't see a repeat of last year's excitement, when police say faulty wiring sparked a fire several hours before midnight at The Address Downtown, a 63-story skyscraper nearby. The high-rise tower still remains under repair.

 

In Turkey, security measures were heightened in major cities. Traffic leading up to key squares in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, will be closed, police said. In Istanbul, 17,000 police officers have been put on duty, some camouflaged as Santa Claus and others as street vendors, Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Friday.

 

The western city of Mumbai will host big street parties with thousands of people at the iconic Gateway of India, a colonial-era structure on the waterfront overlooking the Arabian Sea.

 

Happy New Year in India (Photo: EPA)
Happy New Year in India (Photo: EPA)

 

New Year's is the biggest party of the year in Romania, and thousands flocked to the mountains to ski, hike and celebrate, some in the mood for fun, others anxious about global challenges in 2017.

 

One tradition was squelched this year. Police banned masked revelers in the northeastern village of Ruginoasa from staging a traditional fight between young men involving whips and bats after several people were injured a few years ago.

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.31.16, 19:54
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