World welcomes New Year with pomp

Countries around the world are marking the New Year with festivities. Revellers in Australia and New Zealand were some of the first to welcome the New Year. Crowds counted down at Auckland's Sky Tower in New Zealand, with a laser show and fireworks display. Fireworks also lit up Sydney harbour in Australia. 

In Japan, people released balloons by Tokyo Tower, while South Koreans celebrated with fireworks and traditional bell-ringing ceremonies.  In one of the more innovative celebrations, four divers equipped with musical instruments and breathing apparatus performed an underwater "concert" in a fish tank in Yantai, east China.

In Dubai, festivities went ahead despite a fire at the



city's Address Hotel. A fireworks display was held near the Burj Khalifa skyscraper. 

Moscow in Russia was the first major European city to welcome in 2016, with a fireworks display over Red Square.

In Indonesian city of Bali, people took part in a cultural parade during a New Year's Eve celebration at a main road in Denpasar.

In Egypt, main celebration was held in front of the pyramids near Cairo, as the government works to revive its tourist industry.

Approximately one million people welcomed 2016 at the Brandenburg Gate in Germany's capital, Berlin.  In UK, more than one lakh people watched the Mayor of London's fireworks show, a ticketed event.