Europe was gearing up for New Year’s Eve celebrations on Saturday after Australia kicked off the party with a dazzling fireworks display, with police and event organizers across the globe boosting security in response to recent attacks.
A dazzling fireworks show in Sydney at midnight (1300 GMT) paid tribute to the late stars of 2016 in a light display inspired by David Bowie, Gene Wilder and Prince.
Anna Fassbinder, 18, from Cologne said it took her breath away. “It was incredible, they did things with fireworks I didn’t think were possible,” she told dpa.
Around 1.5 million people had been expected to pack the Australian city’s harbour area to see 7 million Australian dollars’ (5.04 million US dollars’) worth of fireworks go up in smoke in a 12-minute extravaganza, with 1 billion more viewers expected via live stream on social media.
Police have assured the public there are no known terrorist threats to the festivities, but…