Refugees in a western German town have been banned from setting off fireworks to mark the new year, partly out of concern that loud blasts could traumatise people who have fled war zones.

With fireworks, dancing and late-night revelry, millions around the world welcomed 2014.

Hundreds of world landmarks from Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate to the Great Wall of China went dark last night, part of a global effort to highlight climate change.

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel and her rivals scrambled for last-minute votes yesterday before an election that will decide the coalition that must pull Europe’s top economy out of its worst post-war crisis.