Showing posts with label New Year's Eve :Auckland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year's Eve :Auckland. Show all posts
Friday, December 31, 2010
Moscow joins global New Year Eve,Fireworks over Kremlin
MOSCOW: A blaze of fireworks erupted over the Kremlin in Red Square on Friday as Moscow joined people around the globe welcoming in 2011 with a glittering array of parties.
But as President Dmitry Medvedev vowed in his regular New Year's Eve address to create a "powerful, open and friendly" Russia, celebrations in the country were marred by the arrests of nearly 120 protesters during New Year's Eve opposition rallies held in central Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
In Europe large crowds were set to throng landmarks like London's Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower, following a big freeze that paralysed travel and cut power and water supplies for tens of thousands.
On the Champs Elysees in Paris, thousands were gathering to welcome the New Year on one of the world's most famous streets.
"This is the place to be!" said Gillian Lancaster, 46, who had come to Paris from Britain with her husband to ring in the New Year, adding that she was hoping for "health and happiness" in 2011.
Security forces were out in full force in Paris and the rest of France, where officials said 54,000 police had been deployed to maintain order during the New Year's festivities.
In New York, workers were scrambling to plough snow out of Times Square for the famous New Year countdown, after a blizzard dumped 32 inches (80 centimetres) on the city and surrounding areas.
As many as a million people -- monitored by a high-tech police presence -- were expected to mass in Times Square.
As Sydney rung in the New Year, a fiery waterfall plunged from the landmark Harbour Bridge as seven tonnes of fireworks ignited in the night sky, thrilling 1.5 million people crammed on the city's foreshore.
Party-goers carrying blankets and camping equipment began descending on Sydney harbour more than 12 hours before the main fireworks display, with new arrivals turned away as early as 3:00 pm (0400 GMT).
"It's absolutely beautiful," said Shirley Marlin, as she watched the pyrotechnics, while her husband Ron added: "We're very, very lucky to have this harbour."
The celebrations followed devastating floods that have hit 200,000 in the country's northeast, muting the festivities there, while extreme heat prompted wildfire warnings around Melbourne and Adelaide in the south.
Earlier, the 6,000 residents of the tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati were the first to see in the new year, while New Zealand's Auckland also marked the occasion with fireworks.
In New Zealand's Christchurch, hit by a powerful earthquake in September, officials only approved celebrations after late checks and modifications, including removing the city cathedral's crucifix in case it fell on revellers.
In Asia hundreds of thousands of people gathered to watch a glittering fireworks-and-laser display along neon-lit Hong Kong's harbour. Dozens of boats also moored in Victoria Harbour for the intense five-minute display.
In Japan millions of people visited Shinto shrines to "purify" themselves.
Although Lunar New Year is a much bigger event in the continent, thousands braved Beijing's cold for the countdown at an upmarket shopping centre, while about 7,000 people had been expected at a kite-flying event in central Shanghai.
In Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, released this year after more than seven years of house arrest, called for the country's people "to struggle together with new strengths, new force and new words in the auspicious new year".
Police were on high alert for attacks in major cities in Pakistan, where New Year celebrations are traditionally quiet, private affairs.
Violence had flared earlier on Friday as police and demonstrators clashed during a mass protest strike that closed businesses across the country over a bid to end the death penalty for blasphemy.
In the financial hub Karachi -- where police fired tear gas to quell demonstrations -- thousands of Pakistanis were set to celebrate the new year on the shores of the Arabian Sea.
Revellers in India's financial and entertainment capital Mumbai -- scene of a 2008 attack that killed 166 people -- were given the go-ahead to party through the night despite intelligence about a possible militant strike.
Despite chilly and misty weather, tens of thousands of people were expected to gather in London to watch the annual New Year's Eve fireworks display set against the backdrop of the London Eye big wheel.
However with the government's austerity measures set to bite early in 2011, a survey suggested that most Britons were planning low-key festivities to save money.
(source:indiatimes.com)
New Year's Eve :Auckland
The second decade of the millennium arrived in relative peace and quiet throughout most of the country and police say it is because widespread liquor bans let them keep drunken troublemakers under tight control.
In Auckland the noisiest part of the New Year's Eve celebration was the $100,000 fireworks display from the top of the Sky Tower in the central city, and from two barges in Waitemata Harbour.
The boom of the fireworks going off was heard on the North Shore and in other parts of Auckland several kilometres from the centre of the city.
Auckland police said it was a relatively quiet night although they conceded the city tended to empty out for New Year, with many people heading for some of the holiday hot spots in the Bay of Plenty and in the Far North.
Details of numbers arrested in Auckland and in the Bay of Plenty were not immediately available although Tauranga police spokeswoman, Jacky James said Mt Maunganui and Tauranga were relatively peaceful.
She said the liquor bans allowed police to kept the troublemakers and drunks out of the areas where people wanted to see the New Year in without the major disorder caused by alcohol.
"They (the liquor bans) are there exactly for that reason so we can police the liquor ban and prevent major disorder.
"We make no apologies for that because it helps prevent problems."
Liquor bans were first introduced in Tauranga in 2004 but amended in 2008 to make the bans permanent 24 hours a day.
In Gisborne the Rhythm and Vines concert attracted about 25,000 people but police reported few incidents.
In the Nelson area 21 people were arrested, including six for disorderly offences and five for being drunk. Three were also arrested for breaching bail conditions, three for assault and two for breaching the liquor ban.
Nelson police said there were also arrests for possession of cannabis and disqualified driving and three drivers were processed for alleged drink driving.
The Maitai Camp in Nelson had about 1400 young people on New Year's Eve. Police said numbers were down from last year but campers and visitors were well behaved and there were no problems.
"We made a point of adopting a high profile, being very visible as we moved around and dealing with the little things before they had a chance of getting out of hand" said Inspector Brian McGurk.
He said careful planning and good organisation produced a quiet night.
In Cathedral Square in Christchurch nearly 12,000 people welcomed in the New Year.
Police said they were pleased with the trouble-free behaviour.
Inspector Derek Erasmus said it was good to see so many families and tourists enjoying the city's night life, the entertainment, and fireworks.
"Overall everyone behaved well, with only a few isolated incidents that police were able to control before they escalated."
There were 69 arrests in the central business district, most for breaches of the liquor ban and disorder.
"Police have been kept busy across the city tonight, however overall once Cathedral Square cleared, it was quieter than the last two years."
Wellington police reported a quiet night in the capital, with 20 arrests, mostly for disorder.
In one of the few Wellington incidents, a 39-year-old woman fell off Glasgow Wharf into Wellington Harbour. She was rescued by two locals, one an employee of Bluebridge Ferry, and was taken to Wellington Hospital.
In Wanaka in Central Otago police said they were also pleased with crowd behaviour.
A large crowd gathered at the waterfront and at pubs and bars in the town but police said it was a family affair and only 13 people were arrested, mostly for minor offences.
Police also stopped more than 1000 motorists but only one was over the legal breath-alcohol limit, said Senior Sergeant Allan Grindell.
"Wanaka is a safe and desirable place to live and visit and this result clearly reinforces this," he said.
(source:nzherald.co.nz)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)