Nasdaq rings in Year of the Snake with bell ceremony, Spring Festival Gala promo

The Nasdaq Stock Exchange and the Chinese Consulate General in New York joined forces to mark the beginning of the Year of the Snake with a unique closing bell ceremony on Monday. The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, falls on January 29 this year, signaling the start of the Year of the Snake. As the most significant holiday on the Chinese calendar, it is a time for family reunions, festive celebrations, and reflecting on the year ahead.

At the event, which marked the 16th year of Nasdaq's Chinese New Year celebrations, Chen Li, Consul General of China in New York, rang the closing bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square, one of the world's busiest commercial hubs.

In his address, Chen emphasized China's continued economic opening and invited people from the U.S. and around the world to visit China and explore its development opportunities. He expressed hope that the economic ties between China and the U.S. would strengthen in the Year of the Snake, benefiting both countries and the world at large.

Bob McCooey, vice chairman and global head of capital markets of Nasdaq, also attended the event. He spoke about the significance of the occasion, noting the long-standing tradition of celebrating the holiday at Nasdaq.

"Well, it's the number one most important holiday for Chinese people, we recognize that. And it's an honor for us to have had the ambassador here today, but also to have had so many ambassadors over 16 years, to be able to highlight the relationship between the U.S. and China by being here on this important holiday," said McCooey.

The head of the North America Bureau of China Media Group (CMG) and representatives from other Chinese enterprises and media also participated in the bell-ringing ceremony.

In addition to the ceremony, CMG's promotional video for the 2025 Spring Festival Gala was screened once again on the massive 36.6-meter screen of the Nasdaq building in Times Square, one of the most visited landmarks in the world.

Known as the "Crossroads of the World," Times Square offers a prominent platform for reaching a global audience.

This marks the third consecutive year that CMG's Spring Festival Gala promo has appeared on the Times Square screen, underlining the ongoing cultural exchange between the U.S. and China. The video was shown in a continuous loop, attracting attention from visitors around the world.

Nasdaq rings in Year of the Snake with bell ceremony, Spring Festival Gala promo

Nasdaq rings in Year of the Snake with bell ceremony, Spring Festival Gala promo

Nasdaq rings in Year of the Snake with bell ceremony, Spring Festival Gala promo

Nasdaq rings in Year of the Snake with bell ceremony, Spring Festival Gala promo

Nasdaq rings in Year of the Snake with bell ceremony, Spring Festival Gala promo

The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.

The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.

Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.

"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.

Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.

Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.

"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.

Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight