The city of Brussels has cancelled its traditional fireworks display to see in the New Year on Monday night due to an ongoing state of heightened security. Mayor Freddy Thielemans decided to limit festivities on the advice of Belgium's crisis co-ordination centre on Sunday, a spokesman for the centre said.
Christmas market stalls and the city centre's ice rink would also close earlier than normal on Monday due to the alert prompted on December 21 by authorities unveiling what they said was a plot to spring an al Qaeda suspect from jail.