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The top boss of MGM resorts has admitted Las Vegas has become a rip-off and even declared 'shame on us' as he derided his own hotels' extortionate prices that have driven tourists way. MGM President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle revealed during an earnings call Wednesday that his resorts have 'price-corrected' after being rocked by a summer of public scandal. The company was met with heavy criticism after a guest at its four-star ARIA hotel revealed they were charged $26 for a single bottle of water. A Daily Mail reporter also revealed the company's flagship Bellagio Hotel was charging guests an...

A Chinese court has sentenced to death 11 members of a notorious family that ran scam centres in Myanmar, according to Chinese state media. Dozens of members of the Ming family were found guilty of conducting criminal activities, with many receiving lengthy jail sentences. The Ming family worked for one of the four clans that ran Myanmar's sleepy backwater town of Laukkai, close to the border with China, and turned it into a hub for gambling, drugs and scam centres. Myanmar eventually cracked down, arresting many members of these families in 2023 and handing them over to Chinese authorities. A...

Las Vegas tourism continues to decline as fresh numbers reveal that fewer visitors are traveling to Sin City. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) recently released its numbers for July visitors, noting a 12% drop from last year. There were 3,089,300 visitors this July compared to over 3.5 million last year, while occupancy on the Strip dropped 7% from 86.5% last year. The tourism decline has been attributed to a combination of factors, including the impact of tariffs, the seasonal summer slowdown, and a surge in online gaming. Most recently, the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino announced it...

Rapper Akon has revealed plans for a futuristic $6 billion city in his Senegal homeland modelled on Black Panther's Wakanda. The R&B star, who boasts two multi-platinum albums, told a news conference on Monday he had laid the first stone for the city in the Atlantic Ocean village of Mbodiene, around 60 miles south of the capital Dakar. The solar-powered Akon City will offer hotels, a university, hospitals, business and leisure centres including a casino, as well as movie studios, all featuring futuristic designs by architect Hussein Bakri, with African sculptures for inspiration.

KOLWEZI, Democratic Republic of Congo — Little about Kolwezi, a small city in southern Democratic Republic of Congo, hints at its global importance. Nondescript and ringed by slag heaps, pits and quarry lakes, the city is home to some of the largest copper and cobalt mines in the world. Now, Kolwezi is at the center of U.S.-Chinese competition over critical minerals. Earlier this year, mining firms began shipping ore along a U.S.-backed railway that terminates in Angola's Atlantic port of Lobito. A massive infrastructure project is focused on this rail line -- which is viewed as a bid to counter...

In March 2004, the Illinois Gaming Board awarded the license to the City of Rosemont, Illinois, adjacent to O’Hare Airport. In response to allegations that criminal interests aligned with the “Chicago Outfit” (AKA “The Mob”) were active in Rosemont, then Illinois Governor Blagojevich, now prisoner #40892-424 in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, hired Eric Holder, former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder during the Clinton Administration, to investigate, draft and release a report that would clear the Rosemont casino project with a clean bill of health. “‘The concern was Holder had a bias to do whatever Blagojevich...

It wasn't all that long ago that casinos had fairly inexpensive buffets. For example, here in Broward County, Florida the old Hollywood Seminole Casino (still there) had $6.99 prime rib buffets. And most days had theme days so in addition to buffet prime rib on Asian theme day you got a variety of Asian food or there was Latin theme day with Spanish type food to go with your buffet. Oh, and when you swiped your Player's card a lot of times you got half price prime rib buffets or free prime rib buffets. Then the prices started slowly rising...

A union representing roughly 1.8 million teachers and other educational workers used taxpayer-funded dues to book a trip to a famous casino and to pay for meals at luxury restaurants. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) spent over $370,000 on expenses at Caesars Palace, a luxury hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, disclosure forms show. In addition, the AFT also used dues collected from its members to help pay for trips to Europe and South America, as well as to pay off five-figure tabs at upscale restaurants. “My suspicion is that this is a case of ‘rank hath its...

Not too long ago, Gavin Newsom got caught with his hand in the cookie jar of political cronyism. In response to a draconian law passed raising fast-food worker wages to $20 an hour, known as A.B. 1228, Newsom carved out a little exemption for his friends at Panera Bread on the laughable grounds that these establishments bake bread on the premises. In reality, the owner of several Panera establishments was a high school buddy who was a really good donor to his campaigns. Once caught, Newsom backed off, but right when he thought no one was looking, he went right...

New York lobbyists have hit the jackpot alongside a push to open casinos in the Big Apple — raking in bundles as they try to woo Mayor Eric Adams and council members, a new city report reveals. Compensation for lobbyists shot up 8% last year — up from $121.15 million in 2022 to $130.96 million, according to the annual study prepared by the City Clerk’s Office, which regulates the lobbying industry. Entities tied to Mets billionaire owner Steve Cohen and Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment led the charge — spending more than $2 million combined on a stable of lobbyists last...

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is proposing changes to the zoning law to make it easier for casinos to locate in New York City. The current zoning law makes no mention of casinos, leaving a state-approved gaming facility in the five boroughs vulnerable to litigation — putting the city at a disadvantage with casinos eyeing sites in the surrounding suburbs, city officials said. Nassau County already approved a lease for Sands to operate a casino at the Nassau Coliseum site, though it is currently tied up in litigation.

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has struggled to stop a hyper-aggressive cybercrime gang that's been tormenting corporate America over the last two years, according to nine cybersecurity responders, digital crime experts and victims. For more than six months, the FBI has known the identities of at least a dozen members tied to the hacking group responsible for the devastating September break-ins at casino operators MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, according to four people familiar with the investigation. Industry executives have told Reuters they were baffled by an apparent lack of arrests despite many...

The Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas, the largest union in Nevada, voted to authorize a strike against major casinos on Tuesday if contract disputes continue. The Culinary Union represents over 60,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas and is one of Nevada’s strongest political forces. Over 95 percent of workers voted to authorize a strike Tuesday, the union announced. Over 40,000 members are currently working without a contract as the union seeks better pay, benefits and working conditions in negotiations with top casino companies including MGM International, Wynn and Caesars Entertainment.

oday we travel to Cherokee in North Carolina to witness a tribe that's doing extremely well financially. Kids graduate high school with hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside in an account, higher education and health care are paid for by the tribe, and their land is some of the most beautiful in America. Join me for this eye-opening experience!

Native American groups are now joining the call for reparations centuries after hundreds of tribes had land taken from them by 'land-grab universities and colleges.' An estimated 10.7 million acres of land was taken from 250 tribes following the signing of the Morrill Act by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. This law converted tribal lands into initial sites for land-grant higher education institutions in many states. Institutions such as the University of Minnesota, which received 94,440 acres of land, and Cornell University in New York that received more than 987,000 acres are being targeted. Cornell, in total, received land in...

Under a historic water crisis in the desert southwest, the Navajo Nation asked for a court order requiring the federal government to determine the Nation’s water needs and to devise a plan to meet those needs. In a 5-4 decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court held that the United States owes no “affirmative duty” to the Navajo Nation to secure water, reversing a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The majority ruled that the 1868 Treaty of Bosque Redondo, known to the Nation as the Old Paper, or Naal Tsoos Sani, established no federal obligation...

In the aftermath, the Trump administration signed off on a bump-stock ban that went into effect in 2018. It’s been challenged in the courts. We never got a solid motive for Paddock’s rampage, only a lot of conjecture. Every avenue regarding this investigation wound up being a dead end. For years, we knew nothing about Paddock’s motivations for committing mass murder until now, but skepticism abounds as the new theory is that the casinos were mistreating him. After nearly a decade of investigating, Paddock committed the worst mass shooting by a single person in US history because he felt disrespected...

Gov. Kathy Hochul has a piece of legislation sitting on her desk that would allow casino operators to hire a diverse range of convicted felons — from drug peddlers to killers. The measure was sent on Tuesday to the governor for her signature or veto after passing the state Senate and Assembly by big bipartisan margins in June. Current law bars licensed casino operators from hiring anyone convicted of any felony. Critics blasted the bill as an another example of a Democrats’ bleeding heart, criminal friendly proposal run amok. “That’s just wrong. This is another example of the New York...

Darrell Brooks was busted in March 2007 for calling in a bomb threat to the $43-per-night Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada, ... He was put on probation after being convicted of conspiring to disturb the peace - a gross misdemeanor - and was banned from the casino for life.. His rap sheet also includes a conviction for statutory sexual seduction – the term for sex with a minor aged 16 or under in Nevada law - in January 2007.. Brooks was also charged with failing to inform the police of a change of address while a registered sex offender.....

The world's largest gambling hub, Macau, will shutter almost all casinos and non-essential businesses for a week from Monday as an outbreak of COVID-19 spreads across the autonomous region on the south coast of China. AFP quotes Macau's top city official Andre Cheong in a press conference Saturday who said the gambling hub would enter "static management" between July 11-18, during which casinos will be closed. Only essential businesses like supermarkets, gas stations, and pharmacies will remain open.The measure comes as Macau on Saturday reported 71 new COVID infections. A total of 1,374 infections have been recorded since June 18,...