Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
World says goodbye to a turbulent year
Celebrations go off with no problems; Turkey suffers attack
Revelers around the world bid adieu to 2016, a year filled with political surprises, prolonged conflicts, deadly attacks at gatherings and deaths of legendary celebrities.
An estimated 1 million people ushered in the new year in New York’s Times Square, screaming and kissing as the glittering crystal ball dropped.
Outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pushed the Waterford crystal button to start the 60-second countdown to 2017, with Mayor Bill de Blasio. Merrymakers cheered, hugged and kissed as the clock struck 12 and 2016 was in the books.
New Year’s Eve revelers began to fill Times Square hours before midnight. They braved cold temperatures and strong winds at the Crossroads of the World to greet 2017 amid heavy police protection.
Stefania Moran, from Puebla, Mexico, and five friends traveled to New York to secure a coveted spot in one of 35 metal pens where re-entry was prohibited.
“I’ve always wanted to come to New York, and this is one of the must-dos before you die,” she said.
Dozens of 20-ton sanitation trucks weighted with an extra 15 tons of sand blocked off streets leading to the celebration zone to avoid the possibility of a truck attack like those in Germany and France in recent months. About 7,000 police officers, along with specially armed counterterrorism units and bomb-sniffing dogs, were on guard.
Mariah Carey was the headline performer in Times Square for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” on ABC.
In Australia, 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.
The glittering display over Sydney’s harbor and bridge featured Saturnand star-shaped fireworks set to “Space Oddity,” the classic song by Bowie, among the seemingly endless parade of beloved entertainers who died in 2016.
Wilder was honored as the bridge lit up in a rainbow of colors while a song from his film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” played.
New Year’s celebrations turned deadly when an armed assailant believed to have been dressed as Santa Claus opened fire at a nightclub in Istanbul, killing dozens of people.
Istanbul’s governor said at least 39 people were killed and dozens others were wounded.
In Berlin the mood was more somber than celebratory.
“I don’t like the way politics is going,” Daniel Brandt said. “Fears are being fanned, and people are so angry with each other.”
The tone of public debate in Germany has become shriller over the past two years with the influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants.
Walking by the Reichstag, Germany’s Parliament building, Hamed Noori said 2016 had been a good year.
“I came to Germany from Afghanistan,” he said. “Life is better here.”
Nicole Durand-Nusser, originally from France but living in Berlin for almost 50 years, said 2016 had been a difficult year: “Brexit, Trump, Erdogan — it’s all getting worse.”
Later, police said they arrested a man who shouted “bomb, bomb, bomb” at Berlin’s massive open-air New Year’s party.
President Vladimir Putin invoked a bit of seasonal enchantment in his New Year’s Eve remarks to the nation.
“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.”
A beefed-up security presence throughout London and Britain’s other major cities did nothing to squelch raucous New Year celebrations highlighted by a breathtaking fireworks display over the River Thames that began just after the Big Ben tower chimed midnight.
Police had added overt and covert personnel to patrol crowded areas, and some barriers were put in place to prevent vehicle attacks.
Britain had a tumultuous year, with a June vote to leave the European Union followed by the resignation of the prime minister, but Warren Male and Natasha Lewis said they looked back on 2016 with fondness.
“Because we’ve been together,” Lewis said.
Tourists and French revelers swarmed along Paris’ illuminated Champs Elysees Avenue on a frosty night, admiring the laser display from the Arc de Triomphe and lines of trees sparkling with lights.
“It’s so magical to be here in Paris, on what people say is the world’s most beautiful avenue,” said Maureen O’Reilly, a visitor from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Some people were happy to say goodbye to 2016.
“It’s been such a horrible year, with all these (entertainment celebrity) deaths, Syria, Brexit and Trump. I say: good riddance,” said Karine Dublot, from Lyon.
Residents in Beijing and Shanghai, China’s two largest cities, passed 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.
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.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his New Year’s Eve address his government will continue to focus on alleviating poverty at home and defending China’s territorial rights.
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.