NATION

NATION
On New Year's Eve, Vegas plans a fireworks blowout
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The Las Vegas Strip is planning a half-million-dollar New Year's Eve fireworks display that organizers hope will rival East Coast celebrations and help mark Sin City's 2004 centennial.
The production will feature a five-minute warm-up to a midnight countdown and a computer-controlled pyrotechnics display blasting 65,000 fireworks from 10 hotels along the Strip.
"We're definitely going head-to-head with New York City," said Terry Jicinsky, a top Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority marketing official.
Tourism officials hope the event, dubbed "America's Party: Las Vegas New Year 2004," will draw 300,000 visitors to Las Vegas this year. They said last year's event drew 285,000 people to the city.
On New Year's Eve, thousands are expected to jam the downtown Fremont Street Experience, where live acts will entertain from stages on a pedestrian walkway between casinos.
In Chicago, it's a seasonof holiday happenings
CHICAGO (AP) -- If you're headed to Chicago for the holidays, the Windy City offers plenty to do.
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is the theme of this year's animated window display at the famed Chicago department store Marshall Field's. Down the street, the Goodman Theatre hosts "A Christmas Carol" through Dec. 27; call (312) 443-3800 for details.
The annual Christkindlmarket, through Dec. 22 at Daley Plaza, is modeled after a traditional German Christmas market. An illuminated 85-foot-tree, a carousel, food and holiday shopping are all part of the festivities.
At the Navy Pier, a Winter Wonderfest, through Jan. 4, offers a rock-climbing wall, craft area and live entertainment, while the Chicago Children's Museum hosts its annual Gingerbread Fantasy Factory through Jan. 11, where kids can make and decorate their own cookies.
Elsewhere in Illinois, one million twinkling lights illuminate 50 holiday displays in the East Peoria Festival of Lights, through Dec. 31. Belleville's annual Way of Lights Christmas Display features electronic light-and-glass sculptures depicting the Nativity at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.
And Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural gem, the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield, is decorated with old-fashioned holiday splendor through Dec. 31, including a silent tour Dec. 21 when 850 candles will be lighted throughout the home. Call (217) 782-6776 for details.
Christmas in Bethlehem?Bethlehem, Pa., that is
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP ) -- You don't have to go to the Middle East to experience Christmas in Bethlehem.
This Lehigh Valley city was founded more than 250 years ago by a group of Moravian settlers from Europe. The city was given its name on Christmas Eve in 1741, and in 1937, a large "Star of Bethlehem" was placed atop South Mountain as the city declared itself "Christmas City of the United States."
The star continues to shine year-round, but Bethlehem also has many attractions just for the holidays. They include a European-style market with crafts, baked goods, ethnic food and music; a tour of the city's historic sites, led by a lantern-carrying Moravian guide in traditional dress; the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts' exhibit of classic literature dating back to Colonial times; and a "Bethlehem By Night" tour to view the candles, multicolored lights and electronic displays around the city, ending up with a close-up look at the giant star on South Mountain.
For a brochure about Christmas in the Lehigh Valley, call (800) 747-0561 or visit www.lehighvalley.pa.org.
St. Louis plans to ring ina huge New Year's party
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- St. Louis is planning the biggest New Year's Eve party in its history.
The event will celebrate some important anniversaries: the Louisiana Purchase bicentennial, the 100th anniversary of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, and the centennial of America's first Olympic games, which were held in St. Louis.
The New Year's Eve event will be held in historic Forest Park, where a $90 million restoration has just been completed.
Fireworks will light the sky at midnight, but the park's many other attractions will be open from 6 p.m. and 1 a.m., including the skating rink, the 11-story-high ferris wheel, the zoo and a poinsettia display at the floral conservatory, the Jewel Box.
For more information, visit www.explorestlouis.com or call (800) 916-0040.
WORLD
Officials let hunters shootgiant saltwater crocodiles
DARWIN, Australia (AP) -- More than 20 years after being declared off-limits to hunters, giant saltwater crocodiles may soon be in their sights again.
The crocodiles, which can grow up to 23 feet long, became a protected species throughout Australia in 1971, after hunting led to a sharp decline in their numbers.
Now that the population is thriving again, government officials say hunters should be allowed to shoot a small number each year to boost tourism.
"Trophy hunting of crocodiles will add greatly to their financial benefits because of the potential international clients they can attract," the report by Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife said.
Saltwater crocodiles lurk in rivers throughout northern Australia and in the sea. They regularly attack and sometimes kill people swimming in their territory.
But they are also a major tourist draw to the rugged region, with thousands of visitors flocking to the famous Kakadu wetlands each year hoping for a glimpse -- from the safety of a large boat -- of one of the prehistoric giants.
The plan to allow the hunt, which was opened for public discussion, said only 25 crocodiles over 13 feet in length would be shot each year. Thousands live in the region.
Even such limited hunting would boost the coffers of impoverished Aboriginal landowners in the remote area, who could charge marksmen to hunt on their land.
Israel notices a risein number of tourists
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Twenty percent more tourists visited Israel during the first 10 months of this year than in the same period last year, signifying a turnaround for the sector.
Israel's tourism industry has suffered gravely since Israeli-Palestinian fighting began in September 2000, frightening potential visitors away. The change in the trend apparently stems from periods of relative quiet, including a six-week truce in the summer, said Nitzan Ilan, a spokeswoman for the Israeli Tourism Ministry.
A total of 852,400 tourists visited Israel from January to October of this year, up from 707,500 during the same months in 2002, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported.
The Tourism Ministry forecasts that one million tourists will visit by the end of the year, up from about 850,000 last year, Ilan said.
"We think that this increase will continue, unless there are big changes in the geopolitical situation," Ilan said.
However, this figure does not even bring tourism back to where it was before the violence erupted in September 2000.
At that time, some Israeli tourism experts were predicting that three million to four million tourists would visit Israel each year, starting with the millennium year. A string of luxury hotels went up in anticipation, but after violence broke out, many stood empty and others closed.
In an effort to combat the downward trend, Israel has in recent months focused marketing abroad on key groups, like observant Jews and Christian pilgrims, since they are less likely to be scared away by violence, Ilan said.