Global New Year's Eve festivities began under tightened security yesterday, with Brussels scrapping celebrations as fears of jihadist threats cast a pall, just weeks after brutal attacks in Paris.

Police in Brussels have also arrested six people in connection with an alleged plot to target the city on New Year's Eve, prosecutors say. The arrests in Brussels were made during raids in suburbs including Molenbeek, which was used as a base by the 13 November Paris attackers.

The arrests come as cities around the world heighten security measures ahead of large-scale New Year celebrations. Security is being stepped up in major European cities ahead of New Year celebrations, with officials wary of possible terror plots.

New Year fireworks and festivities have been cancelled in Brussels and extra measures are being put in place in other cities, including Paris, London, Berlin and Moscow.

Meanwhile in Turkey, security services say they have thwarted a major plot to attack celebrations in Ankara.

Earlier this week, Austrian police claimed a "friendly intelligence service" had tipped them off that major European capitals were at risk of being attacked over the holiday period.

The French capital has cancelled its main New Year fireworks display but the traditional gathering on the

Champs-Elysees will take place, amid tight security.

Projections on the Arc de Triomphe will be shorter than normal and four giant screens will be placed at intervals to avoid creating tightly packed crowds.

On Wednesday, Turkish police arrested two suspected IS members over an alleged plot to attack celebrations in Ankara. State media said they were planning two separate attacks on crowded areas. Suicide vests and explosives were found during police

raids.

Authorities in Moscow will completely close off Red Square, where crowds normally count down to midnight.

In Berlin, backpacks and fireworks will be prohibited and bags searched on the "fan mile" in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which has reportedly been closed off since Christmas. Up to a million people are expected to attend the celebration.

London's Metropolitan Police will deploy 3,000 officers in the inner city, including extra armed officers.

" Our plans are purely precautionary and not as a result of any specific intelligence," said a spokesperson.

Australian officials assured revellers that thousands of extra police would patrol major cities, but urged residents to celebrate." Don't change your way of life," said Melbourne's Lord Mayor Robert Doyle.

And a number of other cities around the world have been put on high alert or called up additional police officers, including Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and New Delhi, where police and antiterror squads have conducted mock terror drills this week.

In the Philippines, stray bullets and exploding firecrackers killed one person and injured almost 200 others as the country plunged into its annual chaotic revelry.

Hackers brought down the BBC's websites for several hours yesterday in a large-scale hacking attack, the British public broadcaster reported. Users trying to access BBC.com and related websites could only see an error message saying: "The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy." The BBC press office blamed the problem on a "technical issue".

Despite continued problems with access to the sites, it said in a later update: "The BBC website is now back