Belgian authorities on Wednesday cancelled the annual New Year’s Eve fireworks display and other events in the heart of Brussels after revealing an alleged jihadi plot to attack “emblematic sites” in the capital during the holiday.
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Samoa was the first nation to see in 2016, with New Zealand the first nation with a sizeable population to celebrate the New Year. New York: Around 1 million people were expected to converge on New York City’s Times Square for the annual celebration.
Belgian police earlier this week arrested two people thought to have been planning terrorist attacks in Brussels during end of year celebrations.
Le Soir, quoting a source close to the investigation, said that Ayoub B.is Ayoub Bazarouj, a 22-year-old Belgian.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday the police searches were executed in the morning in various Brussels-area locations.
Law enforcement in Belgium have arrested a 10th person in connection to the Paris attacks last month.
Security is being heightened in major European cities ahead of the New Year celebrations, with officials wary of possible terror plots, the media reported on Thursday. Belgian security services carried out a raid on the same street on November 16, three days after the Paris attacks, as they searched for Abdeslam.
“It’s better not to take any risks”, mayor Yvan Mayeur said.
A previously scheduled New Year’s Eve fireworks show in Paris has been cancelled; instead, there was to be a five-minute video display at the Arc de Triomphe that, in Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s words, is aimed at “sending the world the message that Paris is standing, proud of its lifestyle and living together”.
“It was, I understand well, a delicate, hard decision for the mayor to take”, Michel said. Russia began bombing Syrian rebel targets on September 30 in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad; a month later, a Russian plane was downed over Egypt, with the loss of 224 lives, in an attack claimed by Islamic State.
In Moscow, authorities announced that Red Square, the vast, cobblestone plaza in the shadow of the Kremlin walls, would be closed to the public on New Years’ Eve. The Nov. 13, attacks in Paris were cited as one of the most important events in 2015.
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The French capital also remains on high alert and has abandoned its fireworks display on the Champs-Elysees, although the traditional gathering on the famous boulevard will go ahead under tight security.
