Las Vegas rings in 2018 under unprecedented security

LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas welcomed 2018 with fireworks, big-ticket musical acts and unprecedented security in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. modern history just three months ago.

Law enforcement officers kept a close eye Monday on the estimated 330,000 people who traveled from all over the U.S. and beyond to pack in the Las Vegas Strip and downtown’s Fremont Street. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department had every officer working throughout the weekend and was aided by the Nevada National Guard and federal agents.

Rosy-cheeked visitors took selfies and livestreamed the celebration amid temperatures in the mid-40s (4 Celsius), much warmer than most of the U.S. They wore glittery hats, tiaras and other 2018-themed paraphernalia as they hugged and cheered on the new year.

“One bad incident is not going to deter us from having a good time,” Honolulu resident Pettra Stark, who planned her trip after the Oct. 1 shooting, said while standing underneath the massive video canopy on Fremont Street.

For Stark, the heavy presence of armed officers was reassuring. But not everyone felt the same way, including Adrian Dominguez, who traveled for the festivities with 10 other relatives.

“It’s not pleasant to see so many officers,” Dominguez, a resident of the northern Mexico border city of Ciudad Juarez. “They are everywhere.”

The heightened security comes after a high-stakes gambler killed 58 and injured hundreds more after he shattered the windows of his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino on the Strip and unleashed gunfire on a country music festival below before killing himself.

On Saturday, two security guards were fatally shot while investigating a disturbance at Arizona Charlie’s Decatur, a hotel-casino just west of the Strip. Police said the suspect was hospitalized with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities described it as an isolated incident and assured that it was not terrorism-related.

A roughly eight-minute fireworks display at the top of seven of the city’s world-famous casino-hotels started at the Stratosphere 10 seconds before midnight Monday and continued to Venetian, Treasure Island, Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood, Aria and MGM Grand. More than 80,000 pyrotechnic firings that illuminated the sky in gold, red and green. 

Megastars performed at venues up and down the Strip. The Foo Fighters played at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan, Maroon 5 was at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and Britney Spears performed at The Axis at Planet Hollywood.

At a lower-key celebration in downtown Las Vegas’ casino-flanked Fremont Street Experience, bands played under a massive video canopy while visitors danced and sipped giant beers.

Las Vegas police officer Larry Hadfield on Monday said there were no incidents related to the festivities to speak of. The Nevada Highway Patrol on Twitter reported the arrest of two suspected impaired drivers near the Strip.

Police cruisers, dump trucks and other large vehicles blocked key intersections during the night to try to prevent anyone from plowing into crowds.

Strollers, backpacks, large bags, coolers and glass bottles were banned from the Strip for the night. Ticket holders for the celebration on Freemont Street Experienced went through checkpoints where security guards used hand-held metal detectors.

New Year’s Eve is worth an estimated $254.3 million to Las Vegas, according to the city’s Convention and Visitors Authority. More than 97 percent of the destination’s nearly 149,000 hotel and motel rooms were expected to be booked.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Dick Clark Productions rejects Mariah Carey’s sabotage claim

NEW YORK — Dick Clark Productions is hitting back against Mariah Carey’s claim it sabotaged her live performance on its “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” special.

Carey’s disaster during the annual New Year’s Eve special in Times Square made international headlines: The superstar vocally stumbled through her short set, failing to sing for most of it despite a pre-recorded track of her songs playing in the background.

Carey was visibly upset during the performance and afterward tweeted “(expletive) happens.” Her representative Nicole Perna blamed technical difficulties, and in an interview with Billboard she said Dick Clark Productions hampered Carey’s performance.

“She was not winging this moment and took it very seriously,” Perna told Billboard. “A shame that production set her up to fail.”

Perna said Carey’s earpiece wasn’t working and she flagged the issue to the production team but was told it would be OK when she got on stage.

“However, that was not the case, and they were again told that her earpiece was not working,” Perna said. “Instead of endeavoring to fix the issue so that Mariah could perform, they went live.”

In a statement released on Sunday, the production company called such claims “absurd.”

“As the premier producer of live television events for nearly 50 years, we pride ourselves on our reputation and long-standing relationships with artists,” it said. “To suggest that dcp (Dick Clark Productions), as producer of music shows including the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and Academy of Country Music Awards, would ever intentionally compromise the success of any artist is defamatory, outrageous and frankly absurd.”

It said that in “very rare instances” there are technical errors that can occur with live television. It said an initial investigation, however, indicated it had no involvement in the challenges associated with Carey’s performance.

“We want to be clear that we have the utmost respect for Ms. Carey as an artist and acknowledge her tremendous accomplishments in the industry,” it said.

A person familiar with the production of the show who asked for anonymity to speak publicly about the incident said all of the other performers, including Gloria Estefan, rehearsed onsite for their performances and Carey was there but had a stand-in for her rehearsal, atypical for the show’s performers. The person said all of the monitors were working and no technical problems were found.

Ironically, Carey was Dick Clark Productions’ first live performer for the broadcast in 2005, when it went off without any such problems.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

How the world will ring in the New Year

Sydney will kick-start the global New Year's Eve party with its biggest fireworks display ever, but fear of jihadist attacks has cast a pall with Brussels scrapping celebrations and many cities tightening security.

The show from the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in Australia's largest city is traditionally the world's first major event to ring in the New Year.

Despite safety concerns, organisers are expecting a one million plus crowd before the chimes of midnight move across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and finally the Americas.

"It just keeps getting better every year," Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said of the Aus$7 million (US$5.1 million), 12-minute fireworks extravaganza.

The 2016 theme is "City of Colour" and seven tonnes of fireworks will go up in smoke, including 11,000 shells, 25,000 shooting comets and 100,000 individual "pyrotechnics effects" under forecasts of a fine summer night sky.

Acknowledging Australia's Aboriginal culture, a "welcome to country" indigenous ceremony will also be marked through images projected on the bridge's pylons.

Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore and other Asian cities may rival Sydney's pyrotechnic splash, but Brunei offers a sober evening after banning Christmas in a shift to hardline Islamic law.

Jakarta remains on high alert after anti-terror police foiled detailed plans for an alleged New Year suicide attack in the Indonesian capital.

High security in Europe

At the heart of Europe, annual festivities and fireworks in Brussels have been cancelled as the Belgian capital -- home to NATO and the European Union -- remains on high alert.

"It's better not to take any risks," mayor Yvan Mayeur said Wednesday after police arrested two people suspected of plotting to launch attacks during the festivities at Brussels landmarks.

The French capital, still reeling from the November 13 slaughter of 130 people, has also cancelled its fireworks display.

But authorities agreed France's biggest public gathering since the attacks can go ahead on the Champs Elysees avenue, with bolstered security.

"The people of Paris and France need this symbolic passage into the New Year," said Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo.

"After what our city has lived through, we have to send a signal to the world," she told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.

In Turkey, police have detained two Islamic State suspects allegedly planning to stage attacks in the centre of Ankara which is expected to be packed on New Year's Eve.

Meanwhile, in Moscow police will for the first time close off Red Square where tens of thousands of revellers traditionally gather.

"It's no secret that Moscow is one of the choice targets for terrorists," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said recently.

In Madrid, thousands of people will flock to Puerta del Sol square, however police will limit the number allowed in to just 25,000.

London is also trying to control the crowds by again charging for access to central riverside areas to see the fireworks, with more than 113,000 10-pound (US$15) tickets already sold.

Berliners will do better with about a million expected at the Brandenburg Gate for a free mega-street party.

Party at the pyramids

Cairo meanwhile is trying desperately to attract tourists to bolster the economy.

The government is staging celebrations in front of the pyramids near the Egyptian capital, with ambassadors, artists and intellectuals all invited.

Egypt has been in turmoil since the 2011 uprising but was further hit by the October 31 crash of a Russian airliner over the Sinai killing 224 people.

On the nearby Gaza Strip, the Islamist group Hamas has banned public New Year's Eve parties.

Police spokesman Ayman al-Batinji told AFP such celebrations were "incompatible with our customs, traditions, values and the teachings of our religion".

In stark contrast, Sierra Leone's capital Freetown is hoping to reclaim its mantle as host of the best beach parties in Africa after Ebola scared people away.

The city of 1.2 million was deserted 12 months ago during the worst Ebola outbreak ever recorded.

"This New Year's Eve I am going to dance and party until the cock crows," said 35-year-old Franklyn Smith.

Celebrations away from the palm-fringed beaches will be muted, however, as people remember almost 4,000 victims of the epidemic.

In the Philippines, stray bullets and exploding firecrackers have killed one person and injured almost 200 others as the country plunged into its annual chaotic revelry.

In New York, despite a pledge of tight security for Times Square, another million people are expected to turn out to see the ball descend.

This year's show includes performances by artists Demi Lovato, Daya and Jessie J. —Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Stress and romance in store for Horses in 2014, says feng shui master

Believers in feng shui and astrology may find this interesting, especially if they were born in 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990 or 2002: it may be the Year of the Wooden Horse, but Horses might not find 2014 to be as fun or as worry-free as they might hope, a geomancer said.

Feng shui master Joseph Chau says in his 2014 forecast that people born in the Year of the Horse are “[c]heerful, charming, loyal, friendly, hard-working, independent, energetic, subjective and self-centered.”

He advises them not to go to funerals or wakes for the whole year, and to have a blood test or oral prophylaxis done at while 2014 is still starting “to enhance their luck.”

“[T]here are many unlucky stars that are gathered under their sign and present in their life cycle in 2014,” Chau's forecast reads in part.

“More or less, they will be quite emotional and under stress at work. It is important that they know how to relax more and stay quiet for self-protection. On the other hand, they have to keep low profile and be patient to avoid unnecessary rumors and jealousy.”

On the plus side, “Horses will have a stable and satisfactory income, but they should still cut down their unnecessary expenditures and watch their expenses to avoid being over budget,” it adds.

This is also one of the “romantic years” for Horses, the forecast says. “Lovers should be patient with each other to reach a mutual understanding. Married Horses should keep away from temptation or they will face separation. They must be careful with the way they handle their relationship to avoid any conflict, especially in the lunar months of February, March, May, September and December.”

Specific instructions aside, Chau's words mostly read like good advice for anyone, whether they're believers or not, whether they're Horses or not: “Pay special attention to road safety, stay away from sharp objects and beware of problems with the eyes, heart, high blood pressure, stroke and cardiovascular system.” — BM, GMA News

Feng shui master Joseph Chau will help Mandarin Oriental Manila ring in the Chinese New Year on Jan. 30. The festivities will include Chau's energizing rituals, a lion and dragon dance, an eight-course lauriat dinner and the Grand Midnight Countdown to Jan. 31. Attendees will also have the chance to interact with Chau at a Q&A regarding his forecast.

Tickets are P3,288 each for adults and P1,688 for children, and are available at the Chinese New Year booth in Tin Hau, Mandarin Oriental.

source: gmanetwork.com

Metro Manila residents urged to stay indoors after New Year revelry to prevent lung diseases

There is one place asthmatic Metro Manila residents should be after the New Year revelry: indoors.

This was according to Dr. Regalado Ramirez, as he noted the increase in air pollution following a night of fireworks and firecrackers.

Ramirez, of Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center's Internal Medicine Department, said toxic particles from firecrackers remain in the atmosphere for days.

These particles, he said, can be harmful to the lungs and may cause health risks to those with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

“In some people, especially those with asthma, 'yung naturalesa ng katawan nila nagre-react sa smog, sa usok ng firecrackers. So, magti-trigger ng bronchu spasm, 'yung paggalaw ng daanan ng hangin, kaya sila nahihirapang huminga... na pwede mag-cause ng pneumonia,” Ramirez said in an interview on GMA News TV's “News To Go” on Wednesday.

He added that these toxic particles stay longer in the atmosphere because of the cold weather.

“Ambient temperature is relatively cold so medyo matagal ma-disperse unlike sa warm weather,” Ramirez said.

Toxic fumes

According to Ramirez, all firecrackers produce toxic fumes that generate toxic dust and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitric oxide. Firecrackers also have toxic chemicals such as aluminum, arsenic, barium and copper salt, he added.

“They can cause respiratory problems and some of these are carcinogenic, then so pwede mag-cause ng cancer,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said that toxic dusts stay suspended in the air for about two to three days.

Because of this, he urged Metro Manila residents, especially those with asthma and COPD, to stay indoors.

Last 2012, a survey lead by PAGASA showed that there was a 320-percent increase of smog incidence in Metro Manila during New Year revelry, Ramirez said.

Meanwhile, Health undersecretary Janette Garin clarified over radio dzBB that haze—not smog—covered Metro Manila's atmosphere after the New Year revelry. She said haze is still a health concern for humans.

“Ang haze na dulot ng paputok ay parang nicotine na 'pag pumasok sa katawan ay sisingilin ka pagkalipas ng mga taon,” Garin said. — Rouchelle Dinglasan/KBK, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

12-year-old cancer patient designs crystal panel for NYC’s New Year’s Eve Ball

NEW YORK — Electricians working atop a New York City skyscraper on Friday installed the last of the 2,688 crystal triangles that give the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball its shimmer, including a panel dreamt up by Coraliz, a 12-year-old former cancer patient at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Each year, the intricate Waterford crystals that make up the skin of the huge orb are replaced with new pieces of glass.

This year's design features a kaleidoscopic pattern that will refract light in a splash of 16 million colors as the ball drops down a flagpole at the stroke of midnight. The ball is lit from within by 32,256 powerful diodes.


It takes Waterford craftsmen about a year to make the crystals used in the ball, Curtis said.

Bolting them onto the ball's metal frame takes two weeks. — Associated Press

source: gmanetwork.com

4 Personal Finance Resolutions This New Year For A Secured Future

The year is coming to an end; it’s time to take stock of our accomplishments in the past one year, especially with our finances, and plan ahead and set goals for the next one year. Usually at this time, people make New Year’s health resolutions, out of which the most common would be to lose weight. Money and personal finance resolutions come up only next on the list.

We all know, mostly New Year’s resolutions are conveniently ignored from the second week of January. People seldom stick to the resolutions until completion! If you too belong to that category, just quit from here or at the most read this page and ignore. Else, set measurable, attainable goals if you think you have the perseverance to stick to the resolutions. Don’t look to jump over seven foot bars but look around for one foot bars that you can step over. Unless and until you set goals and attain them, you will end up as any other mediocre guy aimlessly wandering in life.

Looking at your finances, analyze where you were at the beginning of this year and where you are now. Are you better off now than at the beginning of the year? Has your net worth gone up or have you fallen into debt? If you find you are not better off, it is time to plug the loopholes. One thing is for sure; only if you have checks and balances in your finances, you will have peace of mind and good nights’ sleep.


So, what is the secret to a secured future, prosperity, and peace of mind? Income more than expenses, therefore, savings (capital) and prosperity. Capital thus formed helps in clearing the debt or to invest somewhere to multiply the money and get returns. So for a secured future and peace of mind, you need to have wealth more than debt or zero debt! Is it attainable? Of course yes, if you plan smartly and act accordingly from now onward. So here are the 4 personal finance resolutions this New Year for a secured future for you to act upon.

Increase Inflows

For you to become financially secure, you need to work smarter rather than harder. Rather than depending on a single income, try to diversify your cash flows with multiple income streams. Time is money, only you need to find the ways you can convert your time into money. Think about it. Either offer to work some extra time with your current employer or find a part-time job elsewhere. Sell anything that you think is of no use anymore. Rent out your garage or the unused part of your house. May be, you can use your hobby to make money. The possibilities are many. There are umpteen ways to create multiple income streams, only you need to identify a few.

The key takeaway message from the first resolution: Monetize your time and focus on multiplying your income.

Decrease Outflows

Analyze your spending habits. Find out where your drain holes are. Try to plug them. Begin tax planning right at the beginning of the year. Create and live by a monthly budget with a thrifty lifestyle. Disregard the urge to keep up with Joneses. Cut down every need without compromising the lifestyle, right from electricity to gas. If you are poor at tracking the numbers, take refuge with free budgeting apps like Mint. Don’t buy anything without thinking umpteen times. Don’t go on a shopping spree with your credit card. Use cash wherever possible instead of credit card. Using real money will make you think twice. Ultimately, it’s not how much money you make, but how much you save!
The key takeaway message from the second resolution: Save more. Be content with what you have, never with what you are.

Payoff Debt

Let the next New Year’s resolution be to reduce the debt, whether credit card debt or mortgage. Debt is easy to get into, but hard to get out of. Prolong your debt and you make the lender rich! Unless you make a sincere, planned effort to get out of debt, you are not going to end up debt free. It will suck your energy unknowingly. So, the year end is the best time to review your debts when you are in the mood of making a resolution. Prioritize your debts from high interest to low interest. Retire them in order. Ditch the high-cost debt first. Usually credit card debt is the leverage with highest interest rate and that should be the one that has to be paid off immediately. Use any windfall to clear debt rather than to invest. Avoid getting into further debt with tempting credit offers.

The key takeaway message from the third resolution: Don’t borrow from tomorrow to live today.

Build Wealth

While working on the aforementioned three goals, don’t forget to set aside some amount of your savings as an emergency fund, as unforeseen needs may arise anytime. You may invest your emergency fund in cash equivalent instruments like CDs but it should be available at your call if situation warrants for any emergencies like unemployment, medical emergency etc. If you are in your twenties and haven’t got an own house yet, it would be wise to buy a house somewhere at the outskirts of the city that you live now, if you can afford it with less than 2.5 years of your gross household income. However, it would be stupidity to buy a house if it would take your lifetime savings. Often there would be a standoff in your mind whether to payoff debt or to build wealth. Out of my experience, paying off debt saves more than what the same amount of money invested fetches. History has proved that equity fetches the best returns in the long term. So here too, time is your friend. Invest for a long term. Start early to take advantage of the compounding effect. Whatsoever little money you spare to invest, stick to your own investment principles and screening methods, and at the age of retirement, you should end up rich and prosperous.

The key takeaway message from the fourth resolution: Invest your savings today for a better tomorrow. (Note that I said “savings” and not borrowed money.)

Too much of unrealistic New Year’s resolutions will kill your real enthusiasm to better your finances. The aforementioned points are very simple and not hardbound resolutions at all but common sense that you need to apply whenever you are handling your finances, your hard earned money. It is the way that you should lead an ideal life. Write down your financial goals as a checklist. Keep reviewing them at regular intervals and give yourself a pat on attaining them. Let me hope by the next New Year, you are either free of debt or you are on your way to debt free life! Wish You A Happy And Prosperous New Year.

article source: mtherald.com