After last year’s riots and because of community tensions over the war in Gaza, the Berlin police are planning a major operation for New Year’s Eve. “It’s the biggest police operation on New Year’s Eve in recent decades,” Berlin’s police commissioner Barbara Slowik told dpa. “This is mainly due to the conflict in the Middle East, which makes the operational situation much more challenging and complex.” Last year, in addition to the usual heavy fireworks in the streets, there were also many firecrackers thrown and other attacks on police officers, firefighters and paramedics in some neighbourho…