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Celebrations have begun as people around the world ring in the New Year.<\/p>\n
From Sydney to Pyongyang, festive crowds gathered to say goodbye to 2016, a tumultuous year in global politics.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Auckland in New Zealand became the first major world city to welcome the New Year.<\/p>\n
Many cities around the world have stepped up security for New Year’s Eve celebrations, after a year in which attackers drove lorries into crowds in Berlin in Germany and Nice, France.<\/p>\n
Thousands of extra police will be on duty in London and other cities.<\/p>\nImage copyright<\/span>REUTERS<\/span><\/span>A countdown event was held at the famous Shibuya crossing in Tokyo, Japan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn Paris, Madrid and New York, concrete barriers and heavy goods vehicles will be used to block off central squares where crowds gather to celebrate.<\/p>\n
Some 17,000 police officers will be on duty in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with some disguised as Santa Claus and street vendors, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.<\/p>\n
The iconic midnight fireworks display at Sydney Harbour in Australia paid tribute to Prince and David Bowie, two music superstars who died in 2016.<\/p>\nImage copyright<\/span>AP<\/span><\/span>Singapore and several other Asian countries have already rung in the New Year<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n“This year, sadly, we saw the loss of many music and entertainment legends around the world,” fireworks co-producer Catherine Flanagan said.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Seven tonnes of fireworks were set off in two displays watched by about one and a half million people.<\/p>\nImage copyright<\/span>EPA<\/span><\/span>Image caption<\/span>Crowds gathered early to wait for the fireworks at Sydney Harbour<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPacific islands including Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati entered 2017 at 10:00 GMT, followed an hour later by Auckland, where fireworks erupted from the 328m (1,080ft) tall Sky Tower in the city centre.<\/p>\n
On Friday a man in Sydney was charged in connection with threats made against Sydney’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.<\/p>\n
Police said he was charged with a “crimes act offence, but not a terrorist offence” and there was no continuing threat to the community.<\/p>\nImage copyright<\/span>AP<\/span><\/span>Large crowds gathered for the fireworks display at Auckland’s Sky Tower<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nImage copyright<\/span>EPA<\/span><\/span>Swimmers emerge from 4C (39F) water after a traditional New Year’s Eve swim in Moosseedorf, Switzerland<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIsrael has also warned its citizens travelling in India to avoid crowds, saying there is a risk of imminent “terrorist attacks”.<\/p>\n
‘Many enemies’<\/strong><\/p>\nMeanwhile, US President-elect Donald Trump tweeted New Year greetings, including to his “many enemies”.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump will be sworn in as US president on 20 January.<\/p>\nImage copyright<\/span>TWITTER<\/span><\/span><\/figure>\nImage copyright<\/span>REUTERS<\/span><\/span>Revellers in Beijing, China<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nA “leap second” will be added to the countdown in countries in the GMT timezone including the UK to compensate for a slowdown in the Earth’s rotation.<\/p>\n
The extra second will occur as clocks strike midnight and a time of 23:59:60 GMT will be recorded, delaying 2017 momentarily.<\/p>\n
This is required because standard time lags behind atomic clocks.<\/p>\nImage copyright<\/span>EPA<\/span><\/span>So-called “bearded men” parade through the streets of Slawatycze in Poland’s Lublin region as part of a local tradition-<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n–<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n
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Celebrations have begun as people around the world ring in the New Year. From Sydney to Pyongyang, festive crowds gathered to say goodbye to 2016, a tumultuous year in global politics. Earlier, Auckland in New Zealand became the first major world city to welcome the New Year. Many cities around the world have stepped up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":281002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
New Year celebrations: Festivities begin to welcome 2017 - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n