Belgium charges 10th suspect over Paris attacks: Prosecution

Meanwhile, the Place, a popular shopping mall with the biggest LED ceiling screen in Beijing also announced on their official weibo account that the mall will close at its usual business hour Thursday, with no New Year’s Eve celebration organized.

Brussels and Paris have scrapped their fireworks displays entirely, while much of Europe will welcome 2016 in a subdued fashion.

The raids stem from an investigation into a gang called the Kamikaze Riders, according to Flanders News, which reports that some of the group’s members “apparently sympathize with IS or al-Qaeda”. It has been alleged that some members of the club are supporters of so-called Islamic State.

Paris prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre said a text message was sent to a phone in Belgium shortly before ISIS gunmen attacked the Bataclan theater in Paris.

The arrests come as cities around the world heighten security measures ahead of large-scale New Year celebrations.

New Year fireworks and festivities have been cancelled in the Belgian capital Brussels because of an alert.

Although no events have been cancelled in London there will be an increased police presence in the British capital, with 3,000 officers dotted across the centre of the city.

“It is better not to take risks”, Mayeur said, adding “we can’t check everyone”. “It remains in fact at its highest level, and we are regularly disrupting planned attacks”.

“They are suspected of being affiliated with the Islamic State and were planning an attack on the New Year in Ankara”, said a Turkish official who asked not to be named.

 Paris has also cancelled its annual fireworks display on the Champs-Élysées and 11,000 police, soldiers and firefighters will be on guard in the city.

Earlier this week, 2 people were arrested, accused of plotting to attack New Year’s celebrations there.

Their main quarry, however, was not there: Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who went on to become the suspected ringleader of the November 13 attacks in Paris.

Suicide vests and explosives were found during police raids.

Belgium’s stepped-up security is a sign that police are still working to disrupt local extremist networks.

Security is also being tightened in cities where the authorities say there is no specific intelligence about a possible attack.

The tightened security extended as far as Russian Federation, where the BBC reported authorities in Moscow were closing off the Red Square, which normally houses a public midnight countdown.