Law enforcement agencies around the world are on heightened alert on New Year's Eve, trying to balance vigilance against terrorist attacks with assurances to the public that it is safe to ring in the New Year in public spaces. Turkey arrested two alleged Islamic State plotters on Wednesday, and Belgium arrested two alleged ISIS-inspired attack planners on Tuesday, but officials in Brussels still decided to err on the side of safety and canceled fireworks and other festivities in the Belgian capital's equivalent of Times Square.
Last year, 100,000 turned out for the New Year's Eve celebration in central Brussels, Mayor Yvane Mayeur told television station RTBF, and this year "we can't guarantee that we can check everyone." Paris, site of the Nov. 13 ISIS-linked attack carried out largely by Belgian nationals, has also canceled a planned New Year's Eve fireworks display, but is still putting on a 10-minute video and light show at the Arc de Triomphe. In New York City, 6,000 police will be deployed around Times Square. "Come on down," New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "We're going to have the best party in the world." You can learn more in the CNN report below. Peter Weber
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