<p>New Year's Eve kicked off in Sydney, but tightened security muted revelries in Europe with Brussels scrapping celebrations and fireworks cancelled in Paris as fears of jihadist threats cast a pall.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Australia's biggest city, Sydney, traditionally the first to host a major event to ring in the New Year, welcomed 2016 with spectacular midnight fireworks as crowds thronged to harbourside vantage points.<br /><br />Pyrotechnics burst over the city in a colourful display which was expected to draw more than one million people, ahead of the chimes of midnight moving across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and finally the Americas.<br /><br />In the heart of Europe, annual festivities and fireworks in Brussels have been cancelled as the Belgian capital -- home to NATO and the European Union -- remains on high alert.<br />"It's better not to take any risks," mayor Yvan Mayeur said.<br /><br />Belgian officials are battling terror on two fronts -- with police today detaining six more people over an alleged New Year attack plot in Brussels as well as arresting a tenth suspect over last month's jihadist massacre in Paris.<br /><br />Officials said two men had already been formally charged with terrorism-related offences and that police detained six more people Thursday for questioning over an alleged plot to strike "emblematic sites" in the Belgian capital during the end-of-year festivities.<br />Paris, still reeling from the November 13 slaughter of 130 people, has also cancelled its fireworks display.<br /><br />But authorities agreed France's biggest public gathering since the attacks can go ahead on the Champs Elysees avenue, with bolstered security.<br /><br />"The people of Paris and France need this symbolic passage into the New Year," said Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo.<br /><br />"After what our city has lived through, we have to send a signal to the world," she told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.<br /><br />Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore and other Asian cities may rival Sydney's pyrotechnic splash, but Brunei will offer a sober evening after banning Christmas in a shift to hardline Islamic law.<br /><br />Jakarta remains on high alert after anti-terror police foiled detailed plans for an alleged New Year suicide attack in the Indonesian capital.<br /><br />Turkish police have detained two Islamic State suspects allegedly planning to stage attacks in the centre of the capital Ankara, expected to be packed on New Year's Eve.<br />In Moscow police will for the first time close off Red Square where thousands of revellers traditionally gather.<br /><br />"It's no secret that Moscow is one of the choice targets for terrorists," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said recently.</p>
<p>New Year's Eve kicked off in Sydney, but tightened security muted revelries in Europe with Brussels scrapping celebrations and fireworks cancelled in Paris as fears of jihadist threats cast a pall.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Australia's biggest city, Sydney, traditionally the first to host a major event to ring in the New Year, welcomed 2016 with spectacular midnight fireworks as crowds thronged to harbourside vantage points.<br /><br />Pyrotechnics burst over the city in a colourful display which was expected to draw more than one million people, ahead of the chimes of midnight moving across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and finally the Americas.<br /><br />In the heart of Europe, annual festivities and fireworks in Brussels have been cancelled as the Belgian capital -- home to NATO and the European Union -- remains on high alert.<br />"It's better not to take any risks," mayor Yvan Mayeur said.<br /><br />Belgian officials are battling terror on two fronts -- with police today detaining six more people over an alleged New Year attack plot in Brussels as well as arresting a tenth suspect over last month's jihadist massacre in Paris.<br /><br />Officials said two men had already been formally charged with terrorism-related offences and that police detained six more people Thursday for questioning over an alleged plot to strike "emblematic sites" in the Belgian capital during the end-of-year festivities.<br />Paris, still reeling from the November 13 slaughter of 130 people, has also cancelled its fireworks display.<br /><br />But authorities agreed France's biggest public gathering since the attacks can go ahead on the Champs Elysees avenue, with bolstered security.<br /><br />"The people of Paris and France need this symbolic passage into the New Year," said Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo.<br /><br />"After what our city has lived through, we have to send a signal to the world," she told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.<br /><br />Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore and other Asian cities may rival Sydney's pyrotechnic splash, but Brunei will offer a sober evening after banning Christmas in a shift to hardline Islamic law.<br /><br />Jakarta remains on high alert after anti-terror police foiled detailed plans for an alleged New Year suicide attack in the Indonesian capital.<br /><br />Turkish police have detained two Islamic State suspects allegedly planning to stage attacks in the centre of the capital Ankara, expected to be packed on New Year's Eve.<br />In Moscow police will for the first time close off Red Square where thousands of revellers traditionally gather.<br /><br />"It's no secret that Moscow is one of the choice targets for terrorists," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said recently.</p>