In New York’s Times Square, around two million people dressed in thick coats and snow gear faced the coldest New Year’s Eve in a century as temperatures dropped to nine degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12.7 Celsius).

They were subjected to tight security measures, with the “Crossroads of the World” seeing its largest security perimeter in history — a focus around the world due to fears that crowds could be targets for vehicle and other terror attacks.

New Orleans revelers wearing party hats and blowing in noisemakers celebrated with street music, boat cruises and the traditional fleur-de-lis drop.

Millions gathered on Brazil’s Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro to watch not just the traditional pyrotechnics, but also singer Anitta, who gained worldwide recognition through her viral video performance of “Vai Malandra” (“Come on bad girl”) in a mini-bikini.

Bikinis were the last thing on the minds of North American revelers, who followed Rio and South America in welcoming the New Year.

Much of the United States and Canada was bundled up to cope with unusually cold weather.

Hader Ghulam, 27, a Pakistani student based in Oklahoma, told AFP he was ready for the cold in Times Square, and felt “pretty safe” given all the security measures.

They were surrounded by police under extra-tight security following two recent Islamic State group-inspired attacks in the city.

Barricades and sand-filled trucks were in place, more than 20 roads were closed, and bomb-sniffing dogs assisted more officers on the ground.

– Tightest security in years – 

In London, more than 100,000 ticket-holders gazed up at spectacular fireworks from the banks of the River Thames, before dancing to “Auld Lang Syne.”

Keeping with tradition, Big Ben in the Houses of Parliament rang in Britain’s new year. Although the clock tower is undergoing renovations, the chimes were turned back on especially for the celebrations.

Fireworks over the Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament mark the coming of the New Year in central London, England, Britain, 01 January 2018. EPA-EFE PHOTO

In Britain, despite the capital being hit by four terror attacks in 2017, Scotland Yard said it had fewer police officers on the streets of London than during last year’s event.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people participated in Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations — one of the world’s biggest street parties.

Other European cities were similarly awash with crowds despite the winter cold.

In Paris, hundreds of thousands of partygoers braved a storm warning and drizzle to line the Champs-Elysees avenue before a dazzling light show and a fireworks display lit up the Arc de Triomphe.

Revelers gather on the Champs Elysees to celebrate the New Year 2018 in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, 31 December 2017. EPA-EFE PHOTO

Nearly 2,000 security forces were deployed to protect the crowd — out of about 140,000 mobilized nationwide to guard against the jihadist threat which authorities describe as “still high”.

“Life goes on and they (jihadists) are on the retreat,” said one reveler, who gave his name only as Stephane.

In Berlin, special tents were set up at the Brandenburg Gate to assist female victims of sexual harassment, following mass assaults on women in Cologne two years ago.

Fireworks explode over the port in Hamburg, northern Germany, on January 1, 2018, to usher in the new year. / AFP PHOTO 

In Cologne itself, 1,400 police were mobilized, street lighting was improved and more video cameras were installed.

As the midnight chimes neared in western Europe, Hong Kong had already moved into 2018 with a stunning fireworks display over Victoria Harbor.

Fireworks light up Victoria Harbour to celebrate the arrival of the new year 2018 in Hong Kong, China, 01 January 2018. EPA-EFE PHOTO

Thousands watched as “shooting stars” were fired from the rooftops of skyscrapers during a musical spectacular.

 – Around the world – 

Three hours earlier, Australia had rung in the New Year with a magnificent show of rainbow-colored fireworks cascading from Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Partygoers marked the nation’s legalization of gay marriage, but under tight security.

The stronger police presence included some officers carrying semi-automatic rifles in Sydney and bollard barriers against vehicles.

Earlier in December, one man was killed and more than a dozen hurt when a man plowed a car into a crowd of pedestrians in Melbourne.

Elsewhere, Dubai celebrated with a laser show on the world’s tallest tower, the (2,716-foot) 828-meter Burj Khalifa.

Moscow likewise entered the new year with major boulevards and 36 key sites decked out.

Fireworks explode over the Kremlin and St Basil Cathedral during New Year celebrations in central Moscow early on January 1, 2018. / AFP PHOTO

In Africa, Cameroon President Paul Biya used the occasion to remind his citizens of their “duty” to “maintain republican order” as well as “social peace and national unity” amid unrest in the country’s Anglophone regions.

In a year-end speech, Gabon’s President Ali Bongo vowed “radical change in governance” for the country where around a third of the population lives below the poverty line.

 – Looking ahead to 2018 –

IS’s defeat in Iraq and Syria was one of the year’s major stories in 2017, but jihadists remain a threat.

Donald Trump stole the news spotlight after making his debut as US President last January, with his “America first” policies and a bombastic personal style that has shaken up international diplomacy.

“We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and much faster than anyone thought possible!” Trump said in a tweet to close out the year.

Political and diplomatic earthquakes set to rumble into 2018 include the Middle East crisis between Saudi Arabia and its allies against Qatar, and the humanitarian disaster in Yemen.

In Europe, further talks on Brexit will help shape the region’s future trade relationship while Russia is set to host the football World Cup amid frictions with the West.

According to latest media reports, one man has been rescued but other people are feared to have been trapped.

Shibuya is known for being a young people fashion center and a large countdown event is scheduled on New Year’s Eve.

A firefighter sprays water on a fire that broke out in a building at Shibuya Center-gai Shopping Street in Tokyo, Japan, 31 December 2017. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

The first major New Year’s bash will see more than 1.5 million spectators pack the city’s foreshore as tonnes of pyrotechnics light up the night sky.

The technicolour display will include a rainbow waterfall of fireworks cascading off the Sydney Harbour Bridge to mark Australia’s legalisation of same-sex marriage following a nationwide postal vote in support of change.

“This is a fabulous way to see out 2017 — the year that four out of five Sydneysiders said a resounding ‘Yes’ to marriage equality,” Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

Hollywood heartthrob Hugh Jackman will add star power with a 20-second gold-and-silver pyrotechnics set, fulfilling a life-long dream to design a firework for his hometown.

– Around the world –

The chimes of midnight then move across the world to Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and finally the Americas.

Dazzling light shows will bid farewell to 2017.

– Hong Kong: “Shooting stars” to be fired off from the rooftops of buildings in a 10-minute musical firework display

– Singapore: More landmarks are included in the countdown party, with a symphony of light and sound illuminating the waterfront skyline

– Tokyo: People traditionally spend the eve with their families at home, while many young people head downtown for countdown events

– Dubai: The city is replacing its main midnight fireworks with a laser show on the world’s tallest tower, accompanied by music

– Moscow: Major boulevards and squares will be decked out to welcome the new year, with fireworks to light up 36 key sites

– Rio: Millions will gather on Copacabana beach to watch fireworks, with many wearing white, the traditional dress to usher in the new year

– Toughest security in years –

Stricter security measures will be a key focus amid fears that the huge crowds in public places could be targets for vehicle and other terror attacks.

In Australia, the beefed-up police presence will include some officers carrying semi-automatic rifles in Sydney and bollards used as barriers against vehicles.

The heightened measures come just a week after more than a dozen people were hurt when a man ploughed a car into a crowd of pedestrians in Melbourne.

“You’re going to see more police than ever out, it will be our largest contingent… (given) the current security environment,” Victoria state police acting chief commissioner Shane Patton said.

Other cities are also preparing for possible threats following deadly vehicle assaults over the past two years in Barcelona, Nice and London.

New York’s Times Square celebrations will be safeguarded by the toughest security presence in years, after two recent attacks apparently inspired by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

IS’s defeat in Iraq was one of the key stories this year, although the jihadists remain a threat and numerous attacks around the world were claimed by them or Al-Qaeda -linked groups.

Donald Trump has stolen the spotlight as he made his debut as US President in 2017, with “America first” policies and a bombastic personal style that has shaken international diplomacy.

“A pioneering architect, entrepreneur, artist and philanthropist, Mr Portman changed the skylines of cities around the world and impacted the lives of many in Atlanta and abroad,” John Portman & Associates said on its website.

Portman made history in 1967 with the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, whose 22-storey sky-lit atrium marked a break from the “confining environment” of traditional city hotels, the firm’s biographical website on the architect said.

The hotel is one of three anchoring the convention district in his home city of Atlanta, Georgia, where Portman’s 14-block Peachtree Center, which opened in 1961, helped establish Atlanta as one of the nation’s leading convention cities, the site said.

It added that he designed and developed the center without any public funds.

“By acting as both architect and real estate developer on many of his projects, Mr Portman forged a career that was unique among his contemporaries: half artist, half savvy businessman,” The New York Times wrote in a 2011 profile and interview with him.

Among Portman’s other works were the mixed-use Embarcadero Center, which spanned four blocks and redeveloped the San Francisco waterfront starting in 1968, and Detroit’s Renaissance Center, another mixed-use project that was an effort to transform a battered city in the 1970s.

In Asia, Portman designed Marina Square, a complex of convention hotels and retail space in Singapore.

China and India are home to some of his other projects.

The biographical site says Portman “drew on a philosophy of self-reliance which was strongly influenced by the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. His architecture was impacted by the teachings of Frank Lloyd Wright,” one of the 20th century’s most influential building designers.

Portman’s firm said that despite the loss of their founder, “we are honored to continue in his legacy and memory.”//AFP

– Politics –

– January 7: Former Portuguese president Mario Soares, seen as the father of the country’s modern-day democracy, aged 92 in hospital.

– January 8: Iran’s ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pugnacious moderate, aged 82 following a heart attack.

– February 1: Longtime DR Congo opposition chief Etienne Tshisekedi, aged 84, in Brussels for medical treatment.

– March 3: Haiti’s former president Rene Preval, an agronomist and champion of the poor, aged 74 after a cardiac arrest.

– March 21: Martin McGuinness, a one-time Irish Republican Army (IRA) commander who helped negotiate an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland, aged 66 in hospital from a rare heart condition.

– May 26: Zbigniew Brzezinski, the hawkish Polish-born former top aide to US president Jimmy Carter, aged 89.

– May 29: Ex-Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, 83, in a Panama City hospital.

– June 16: Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, celebrated as the father of German reunification and an architect of European integration, aged 87, at home.

– June 30: Simone Veil, an Auschwitz survivor who played a leading role in legalising contraception and abortion in France, aged 89 at her Paris home.

– July 13: Chinese dissident Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, 61, from liver cancer while in custody.

– October 3: Iraq ex-president and Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani aged 83 in Germany.

– December 4: Yemen’s ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, slain by his former rebel allies aged 75.

– Entertainment –

– January 25: US television icon Mary Tyler Moore, aged 80 in hospital.

– January 25: British veteran actor John Hurt, known for his roles in “Elephant Man” and “Harry Potter”, aged 77 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

– February 12: Jazz’s Al Jarreau, who won seven Grammy awards, aged 76, in hospital days after announcing his retirement.

– March 18: American Chuck Berry, a father of rock ‘n’ roll, aged 90 at his home.

– May 23: British actor Roger Moore, television’s “The Saint” and 007 in seven James Bond films, aged 89 of cancer.

– June 27: British author Michael Bond, who created Paddington bear, aged 91 at his home.

– July 27: Sam Shepard, US playwright and actor, from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), aged 73 at his Kentucky home.

– July 31: French actress Jeanne Moreau, of “Jules et Jim” fame, aged 89 at her Paris home.

– August 8: US country music legend Glen Campbell, the “Rhinestone Cowboy” crooner, aged 81 suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.

– August 20: American comedian and actor Jerry Lewis aged 91.

– September 15: US actor Harry Dean Stanton, who played the lead role in the film “Paris, Texas”, aged 91.

– October 24: Rock pioneer and boogie-woogie pianist Fats Domino, at home aged 89.

– December 6: France’s best-known rock star Johnny Hallyday, aged 74, after a battle with lung cancer.

– December 18: K-pop star Kim Jong-Hyun, 27, lead singer of South Korean boyband SHINee, in suicide in a Seoul hotel room.

– Sport –

– February 6: South African rugby legend Joost van der Westhuizen, aged 45, after a five-year battle with motor neurone disease.

– Business –

– March 20: David Rockefeller, banker, philanthropist and heir of the powerful US dynasty, aged 101 in his sleep at home.

– September 8: French fashion tycoon Pierre Berge, former partner of Yves Saint Laurent, aged 86 after a long illness.

– September 21: The world’s richest woman and l’Oreal heiress, Liliane Bettencourt, aged 94, at her home in Paris.

– Media –

– May 19: US war photographer Stanley Greene, winner of five World Press Photo awards, in a Paris hospital aged 68, after a long illness.

– Not forgetting… –

– May 15: Britain’s “Moors Murderer” Ian Brady, imprisoned for life in 1966 for torturing and murdering five children, aged 79, at a high-security hospital.

– June 16: Christian Cabrol, a French cardiac surgeon known for performing Europe’s first heart transplant, aged 91 in a Paris hospital.

– November 20: Charles Manson, the cult leader behind a savage killing spree in the United States in the 1960s, aged 83 in a California hospital.

– December 20: Cardinal Bernard Law, one of the most influential US Catholic prelates who resigned in 2002 for covering up decades of sexual abuse, aged 86, in Rome.