Istanbul attack overshadows New Year festivities

An attack that killed 39 revelers in an Istanbul nightclub overshadowed New Year celebrations around the world to ring in 2017.
The massacre stoked fears that large crowds of people cramming into major cities could present a target for violent extremists.
Festivities in New York, where a crowd estimated at nearly a million people packed into Times Square, apparently went off without a hitch, however. Security was very tight.
Revelers screamed with glee and couples kissed at the raucous instant when the traditional ball dropped at the Big Apple's ionic crossroads. Fireworks lit up the sky and the voice of Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York" rang out.

President-elect Donald Trump sent his best wishes to the American people.
"Looking forward to a wonderful & prosperous 2017 as we work together to #MAGA," Trump tweeted at the stroke of midnight.

Following truck attacks in Berlin during Christmas and in Nice over the summer, New York deployed some 7,000 police and dozens of garbage trucks to prevent vehicles from crushing the crowd.
"It's the best place in the world to be on New Year's Eve," said Alma Alanis, a lawyer from Mexico with her companion, Eduardo Chavarria. They arrived at midday and spent hours waiting for the big moment.

Sydney kicked off celebrations attended by some 1.5 million people with a spectacular fireworks display that lit up its iconic harbour.
Crowds in Hong Kong also flocked to the waterfront to watch fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour, while in Japan thousands packed the streets of Tokyo to release balloons into the air.
Celebrations swung into Europe with the night sky over Moscow's Red Square literally painted red by the fireworks.
And around half a million people thronged Paris's famous Champs-Elysees, where the Arc de Triomphe was lit up with a colourful countdown to 2017 and the word "welcome" in dozens of languages.

Under the watchful eye of some 2,000 military police, around two million people watched a fireworks display on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach that while impressive was shortened this year due to a severe economic crisis.
The raucous celebrations drew to an end a year of political shocks, from Britain's vote to leave the European Union to the election of maverick leaders like Trump in the United States.
It has also been a year of celebrity deaths from David Bowie to Prince and Mohammed Ali.
2016 was also a year of bloodshed and misery that has seen the war in Syria, Europe's migrant crisis and numerous terror attacks dominate the headlines.

The violence continued yesterday, with twin bomb blasts killing at least 27 in a busy market area in central Baghdad.