One million people are expected to party on the streets of Berlin, St Peters in Rome will see a Papal midnight Mass, Champagne and light effects on the Eiffel tower in Paris with greetings of Bonne Anne. The world’s most famous clock – Big Ben – will chime at midnight in London among spectacular fireworks. If you are in Holland, expect a terrifying New Year cold sea dip in the North Sea. In Italy, watch out for red underwear, burning of mannequins as well the throwing of cups and plates out of windows. In Vienna – 600,000 people will be waltzing on the streets amid champagne and fireworks.

Gdansk will celebrate the New Year later this evening with a series of free outdoor concerts around the Old City and at the beach in Brzezno.

A Swiss company has temporarily stopped laying pipes in Danish and German territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.

Allseascompany-representatives said that work on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was being halted, as a consequence of the threat of US sanctions.

The Swiss company’s management received a letter from two US Senators, stating it could face sanctions if it continued working on the pipeline.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is being built to carry gas directly from Russia to Germany, bypassing the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine – was set to be operational in 2020.

The US, Poland, the Baltic States, Ukraine are against the project. Washington is concerned that the pipeline will make European Union countries more dependent on Russian gas.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said last year that Nord Stream 2 was “a new hybrid weapon” aimed at the European Union and NATO.

International meeting of Christian youth in Wroclaw

More than 15,000 Christians from 60 countries are taking part in a European Youth Meeting, which is in its third day in the south-western Polish city of Wroclaw.

The annual event, organised by the Ecumenical Community in Taizé, France, includes prayer sessions and workshops on topics such as spirituality, bible study, solidarity and the relationship between the arts and faith, in addition to a wide range of social gatherings.

One of the speakers, Father John from Taizé, said „The Bible allows you to enter another world, irrespective of whether you believe in God and whether you are a Christian or not,”. Very much like learning a new language. Next year’s meeting will be in Turin, Italy.

Netflix’s „The Witcher”

Some critics aren’t in love with Netflix’s new fantasy series „The Witcher,” but it’s a hit with viewers. The show has a „rotten” 56% critic score on the review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes – based on just 57 reviews but a 93% audience approval score based on nearly 12,000 user ratings. It’s also one of the biggest TV shows in the US right now. „The Witcher,” which debuted on December 20th, was the third most in-demand original streaming series in the US for Christmas week. According to data provided by Parrot Analytics, it’s only just behind Netflix’s megahit „Stranger Things” and Disney Plus’ „Star Wars” series „The Mandalorian.” „The Witcher” is based on the fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.

The Weather

Any remaining showers will die out by mid afternoon leaving clear skies – the perfect backdrop to this evening’s laser-shows and firework displays. Overnight temperatures will drop to just above freezing – so wrap up warmly. The outlook for the first day of 2020 is overcast, windy but without showers.

From all of us here at the English Service – to all of you, thank you for your support in 2019 and we wish you a happy, peaceful and prosperous 2020.