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The TOI Entertainment Desk is a dynamic and dedicated team of journalists, working tirelessly to bring the pulse of the entertainment world straight to the readers of The Times of India. No red carpet goes unrolled, no stage goes dark - our team spans the globe, bringing you the latest scoops and insider insights from Bollywood to Hollywood, and every entertainment hotspot in between. We don't just report; we tell tales of stardom and stories untold. Whether it's the rise of a new sensation or the seasoned journey of an industry veteran, the TOI Entertainment Desk is your front-row seat to the fascinating narratives that shape the entertainment landscape. Beyond the breaking news, we present a celebration of culture. We explore the intersections of entertainment with society, politics, and everyday life. Read More Radiant pics of Anna Ben 10 iconic beverages from popular countries around the world Sara Ali Khan sets new glam goals in shimmery dresses 10 Himalayan hill stations to visit in December Karisma Kapoor redefines elegance with her ethnic fashion mastery How Allu Arjun became the most stylish superstar in South Indian cinema 10 most beautiful waterfalls in India 7 Indian restaurants among the '100 Most Legendary Restaurants in the World' 10 things women absolutely love about menNone
Trump says he can't guarantee tariffs won't raise prices, won't rule out revenge prosecutionsTruist Financial Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for CNX Resources (NYSE:CNX) Stock
The year in money: inflation eased, optimism ticked upwardNEW YORK — There's a Christmas Day basketball game at Walt Disney World, featuring Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Wemby. An animated game, anyway. The real game takes place at Madison Square Garden, where Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs face the New York Knicks in a game televised on ABC and ESPN and streamed on Disney+ and ESPN+. The special alt-cast, the first animated presentation of an NBA game, will be shown on ESPN2 and also stream on Disney+ and ESPN+. Madison Square Garden is a staple of the NBA's Christmas schedule. Now it merges with a bigger home of the holidays, because the "Dunk the Halls" game will be staged at Disney, on a court set up right smack in the middle of where countless families have posed for vacation photos. Why that location? Because it was Mickey Mouse's Christmas wish. "Basketball courts often have the ability to make a normal environment look special, but in Disney it can only turn out incredible," Wembanyama said in an ESPN video promoting his Christmas debut. The story — this is Disney, after all — begins with Mickey penning a letter to Santa Claus, asking if he and his pals can host a basketball game. They'll not only get to watch one with NBA players, but some of them will even get to play. Goofy and Donald Duck will sub in for a couple Knicks players, while Mickey and Minnie Mouse will come on to play for the Spurs. "It looks to me like Goofy and Jalen Brunson have a really good pick-and-roll at the elite level," said Phil Orlins, an ESPN vice president of production. Walt Disney World hosted real NBA games in 2020, when the league set up there to complete its season that had been suspended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those games were played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. The setting for the Christmas game will be Main Street USA, at the entrance of the Magic Kingdom. Viewers will recognize Cinderella's castle behind one baseline and the train station at the other end, and perhaps some shops they have visited in between. Previous alternate animated broadcasts included an NFL game taking place in Andy's room from "Toy Story;" the "NHL Big City Greens Classic" during a game between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers; and earlier this month, another NFL matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys also taking place at Springfield's Atoms Stadium as part of "The Simpsons Funday Football." Unlike basketball, the players are helmeted in those sports. So, this telecast required an extra level of detail and cooperation with players and teams to create accurate appearances of their faces and hairstyles. "So, this is a level of detail that we've never gone, that we've never done on any other broadcast," said David Sparrgrove, the senior director of creative animation for ESPN. Wembanyama, the 7-foot-3 phenom from France who was last season's NBA Rookie of the Year, looks huge even among most NBA players. The creators of the alternate telecast had to design how he'd look not only among his teammates and rivals, but among mice, ducks and chipmunks. "Like, Victor Wembanyama, seeing him in person is insane. It's like seeing an alien descend on a basketball court, and I think we kind of captured that in his animated character," said Drew Carter, who will again handle play-by-play duties, as he had in the previous animated telecasts, and will get an assist from sideline reporter Daisy Duck. Wembanyama's presence is one reason the Spurs-Knicks matchup, the leadoff to the NBA's five-game Christmas slate, was the obvious choice to do the animated telecast. The noon EST start means it will begin in the early evening in France and should draw well there. Also, it comes after ABC televises the "Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade" for the previous two hours, providing more time to hype the broadcast. Recognizing that some viewers who then switch over to the animated game may be Disney experts but NBA novices, there will be 10 educational explainers to help with basketball lingo and rules. Beyond Sports' visualization technology and Sony's Hawk-Eye tracking allow the animated players to make the same movements and plays made moments earlier by the real ones at MSG. Carter and analyst Monica McNutt will be animated in the style of the telecast, donning VR headsets to experience the game from Main Street, USA. Other animated faces recognizable to some viewers include NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who will judge a halftime dunk contest among Mickey and his friends, and Santa himself, who will operate ESPN's "SkyCam" during the game. The players are curious how the production — and themselves — will look. "It's going to be so crazy to see the game animated," Spurs veteran Chris Paul said. "I think what's dope about it is it will give kids another opportunity to watch a game and to see us, basically, as characters."One of the nation's most intense rivalries renews Saturday afternoon as No. 22 Cincinnati welcomes its crosstown rival Xavier. The Musketeers (8-2) enter the game after posting their biggest margin of victory in school victory, a 61-point home blowout of Morgan State, 119-58, on Tuesday. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Cardlytics reports that card-linked cash-back offers represent a strategic stocking stuffer for smart shoppers navigating the expensive holiday landscape. Click for more. Holiday spending hacks: How to unwrap savings without sacrificing festive cheer
Kashim Shettima ya nemi hadin kai don magance matsalar makamashiArea religious listings for the week of Dec. 15
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B.C. Premier David Eby says his party has reached an agreement in principle with the B.C. Greens to ensure "stable governance" for the next four years. The agreement, subject to annual reviews, spells out the basis on which B.C. Greens provide "confidence" to the B.C. NDP and areas where the parties will work together. They include healthcare, where the B.C. NDP will support the growth of Community Health Centres, a key proposal of the B.C. Greens during the election campaign. Other key elements include housing with the government actively supporting efforts by various groups to "protect, purchase and build 30,000 units of non-market housing" over the next four years with 7,500 units as a goal by the end of 2025. Electoral reform also makes a return with the establishment of a special commitment to "review and consider preferred methods of proportional representation" as part of deliberations designed to "increase democratic engagement, address increasing political polarization, and improve the representativeness of government." The agreement does "not lay out the full program" of government "nor does it presume support" for "initiatives and other matters not addressed within this agreement" but gives Eby's government more stability once the legislature returns next year. The agreement echoes without replicating the confidence-and-supply agreement of 2017 that allowed the B.C NDP to return after 16 years in opposition as a minority government with the help of three B.C. Greens. The B.C. NDP currently holds 47 seats, enough for a bare majority, while the B.C. Greens hold two seats. More to come...3 fall into ocean after California wharf partially collapses due to heavy surf from major storm
ATLANTA , Dec. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- KORE Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: KORE) ("KORE" or the "Company"), the global pure-play Internet of Things ("IoT") hyperscaler and provider of IoT Connectivity, Solutions, and Analytics, today announced it has received notification (the "Acceptance Letter") from the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") that the NYSE has accepted the Company's previously-submitted plan (the "Plan") to regain compliance with the NYSE's continued listing standards set forth in Section 802.01B of the NYSE Listed Company Manual relating to minimum market capitalization and stockholders' equity. In the Acceptance Letter, the NYSE granted the Company an 18-month period from September 12, 2024 (the "Plan Period") to regain compliance with the continued listing standards. As part of the Plan, the Company is required to provide the NYSE quarterly updates regarding its progress towards the goals and initiatives in the Plan. In the Plan, Kore included details regarding previously reported operational restructuring activities, as well as an outlook on the Company's business. The Company expects its common stock will continue to be listed on the NYSE during the Plan Period, subject to the Company adherence to the Plan and compliance with other applicable NYSE continued listing standards. The Company's receipt of such notification from the NYSE does not affect the Company's business, operations or reporting requirements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes certain statements that are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as "believe," "guidance," "project," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "should," "would," "plan," "predict," "potential," "seem," "seek," "future," "outlook," and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expected progress with the Company's compliance plan submitted to the NYSE, expected compliance with continued listing standards of the NYSE and expected continued listing of the Company's common stock on the NYSE. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of KORE's management. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as and must not be relied on by any investor or other person as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of KORE. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including general economic, financial, legal, political and business conditions and changes in domestic and foreign markets; the potential effects of COVID-19; risks related to the rollout of KORE's business and the timing of expected business milestones; risks relating to the integration of KORE's acquired companies, including the acquisition of Twilio's IoT business, changes in the assumptions underlying KORE's expectations regarding its future business; our ability to negotiate and sign a definitive contract with a customer in our sales funnel; our ability to realize some or all of estimates relating to customer contracts as revenue, including any contractual options available to customers or contractual periods that are subject to termination for convenience provisions; the effects of competition on KORE's future business; and the outcome of judicial proceedings to which KORE is, or may become a party. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that KORE presently does not know or that KORE currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect KORE's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. KORE anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause these assessments to change. However, while KORE may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, KORE specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing KORE's assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements. KORE Investor Contact: Vik Vijayvergiya Vice President, IR, Corporate Development and Strategy vvijayvergiya@korewireless.com (770) 280-0324 View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kore-announces-nyse-acceptance-of-plan-to-regain-listing-compliance-302338621.html SOURCE KORE Group Holdings, Inc.Frontdoor stock soars to 52-week high, hits $58.88
Billboard Music Awards Presented by Marriott Bonvoy “Wrapping the movie was a fucking relief,” says. Yes — the face of an entire franchise with his twisted portrayal of clown Pennywise — was more than ready to set free ‘ . “Everything that he represents is so intense, I was happy to let go of the chains he had on me.” Skarsgard first read the script for Eggers’ macabre folktale 10 years ago. The filmmaker had just released (2015) and Skarsgard believed he was sitting with someone who represented the future of cinema. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is so exciting,'” the Swedish actor recalls to about Eggers’ interest in him for the role of the century-old villain. “The script floored me. ... It was flattering but also very daunting.” Related Stories Skarsgard’s Count Orlok, while derived from F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent German Expressionist classic starring Max Schreck as the titular monster, is infinitely more haunting than its original form. (Granted, Murnau’s film was an unauthorized version of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel ; the author’s estate sued for copyright infringement — and won.) All at once, Eggers pays homage to Schreck’s beast and contorts him entirely; honoring the folklore written by and about the people who truly believed these creatures existed and were terrified of them. At the same time, he drives a stake through the heart of the “hot vampire” trope contemporary audiences have become accustomed to. “The evolution of the cinematic vampire, from Max Schreck to Edward Cullen [Robert Pattinson’s character in the series] ... vampires are no longer scary,” Eggers tells . “These early folk vampires were not suave, pale-skinned aristocrats in dinner jackets. They were bloated, nasty, rotten corpses.” Thus, his monster was born. is summoned from the occult niche of the Eggers universe viewers are now familiar with: remnants of (2019) and (2022) ooze through the Gothic gloom and nauseating eroticism. Skarsgard stars in the titular role, but it is ‘s Ellen Hutter who flips Stoker’s narrative on its head. In the early 19th century, Ellen is newly married to Thomas ( ), a junior estate agent in the fictitious German town of Wisborg. Angling for an official position with the firm, he accepts an assignment from his jovial boss Herr Knock (Simon McBurney) to travel east of Bohemia to an isolated castle in Transylvania’s brutal and bone-chilling Carpathian Mountains. His task is to get contracts signed for the purchase of a Wisborg mansion by a mysterious Count Orlok. Thomas leaves his desperate wife with the couple’s friends, Friedrich and Anna Harding ( and ), who are forced to witness the return of Ellen’s visceral, nightmarish episodes. Only the viewers, Ellen and Orlok understand the sensual connection between the vampire and who he believes is his rightful bride — Depp’s character beckoned him years prior, forming a bond steeped in both repulsion and lust. “It was physically and emotionally demanding,” Depp says about the astonishing physical performance she displays, bending her body out of shape, convulsing while her eyes roll back into her head and tears flood her cheeks. Marie-Gabrielle Rotie, a choreographer specializing in Japanese (“dance of utter darkness”), was brought in to help. “The torment that she’s going through is the meat of the movie,” Depp continues. “The darkness she’s carried within her since she was younger is now coming to a head. She found a husband that has been able to anchor her to the world, the light, and then he goes away and leaves her vulnerable to the forces who want to claim her.” “But it’s not so simple as her [being] plagued by this horrible thing,” Depp continues, “There is a yearning there. A connection between Orlok and Ellen. She is the one that called out to him and, as he says in the movie, she must surrender herself.” Depp says that the sexuality is a theme people have asked about a lot. It’s deliberate from Eggers, she adds, because this is the story of a love triangle at its core. “This demonic, dark fairy tale could be a young woman torn between two men, both representing different parts of what she wants. The desire and disgust serves as a mirror for the shame that we feel, certainly the shame that I’m sure a lot of women felt at the time.” Hoult also believes his character was a victim of the time period, a man devoted to his wife but inherently incapable of understanding her. “He sweeps things under the rug,” the British star says. “[He thinks], ‘Let’s not talk about it or think about it. As long as I get this promotion, things are going to be okay, and we’ll deal with that down the road.'” jumps in: “[Hoult’s] is the most difficult role in the whole movie in a funny way.” Thomas is our introduction to Orlok in his gruesome entirety, he explains, and viewers have no choice but to absorb the panic he radiates. “The audience is with him, and he has to keep that fear alive. It can’t harden into anything; it keeps morphing. And that’s fucking hard to do because he’s also being acted on.” Depp calls Hoult’s performance “so beautiful”: “You really feel the birth of darkness.” Dafoe enters the picture as somewhat of an incarnation of Stoker’s vampire hunter, Professor Abraham Van Helsing. The fictional Prof. Albin Eberhart Von Franz is ostracized from the academic spheres he once socialized in for indulging his passion for necromantic lore. Von Franz is the only character in who truly understands Ellen’s suffering. Is it true that Dafoe thinks his part is who Eggers himself would want to play? “He’s curious,” Dafoe says with a smirk. “I just thought, ‘Wow, this is juicy.’ I have an interest in these things but I’m not very knowledgeable about them, so I ate up the research. What are the Hollywood tropes that have been developed through the years, and what really came from folklore and history?” The dismissal of those tropes in feels purposeful, an exploration of the vampire as a myth. Today, audiences think the Cullens of , the Salvatores of , or even a blonde, fanged Tom Cruise in . Why do we love to romanticize them? And is this movie a rejection of their depicted hotness in pop culture? “It all goes back to John Polidori’s [1819 horror short] ,” Eggers says. “Which was the first popular, anglo-literary vampire story. He based the vampire off of Lord Byron, not a folkloric vampire. So that sexy aristocrat has been the mold. And while Stoker does some different things with , he’s still based on that character. And I think as the cinematic vampires evolved, because of their ability to transcend death, there’s something attractive and appealing about that.” “But I think Bill’s vampire is sexy,” Eggers adds, followed by a chorus of agreement from his cast. Says Dafoe: “He’s pure appetite.” Appetite is a good word to capture the magnetism of Skarsgard’s portrayal. He has the bald head, the pointed ears and spindly fingers per both Murnau’s film and Werner Herzog’s from 1979. But it’s a deep, gritty, Transylvanian rasp that does a good chunk of the leg work for Eggers’ creature. “I knew that he was going to live in the shadows for so long,” Skarsgard says. “The voice was my [only] form of expression.” He worked with an opera singer to lower his voice by an entire octave. “We showed the film in Stockholm last week, with my friends and family, and some of them didn’t believe it was my voice, or they thought that it was a voice actor.” ( ) “Rob and I built it together and it meant we had the freedom to create our version of it, to make it different than, you know, [ ], ‘ !’” At this moment, Depp herself performs her Dracula impression for the group. They erupt laughing. “It’s very Italian,” she says. “I think it’s the last [role] in the world that I could play.” Skarsgard begins to unpack the significance of a novella on Orlok’s back story that Eggers wrote just for him. The Count had a family and was once married, the actor says, before his director intervenes: “I don’t want the world to know his backstory. But he had a very detailed one.” Eggers is the expert. He tells he first watched Murnau’s when he was nine. “It had a major impact on me,” he begins. “One of the cool things about how I saw it was ... It was on VHS. It was made from a bad 16mm print. Today you can see the restored version and you can understand Murnau’s intentions. It’s wonderful to see the film like that, but what I saw was super degraded and Max Schreck seemed like a real vampire, like something that had been unearthed from the past. It had a haunting authenticity.” The filmmaker didn’t hold back on his updated take. The film should come with a warning for those less inclined to the sight of rats. Corrin says the extensive practical effects — requiring them to lie topless underneath a swathe of rodents — were a double-edged sword. “It serves an incredible purpose, those moments,” they say. “Same with the practical sets. It builds this immersive world, completely alive both for the actors in it and for the audience watching. You can just enter so easily into this period of history and be completely convinced in and torn by it. But then you also work with 20 incontinent rats on your bare chest.” The cast battles rats, corpses and rabid dogs. They evoke a sense of fear seldom conjured on screen — Depp’s unraveling is wholly complemented by Skarsgard’s satanic hunger. This leaves one final question: who’s the biggest screamer? “Willem,” Eggers says, asking Dafoe’s permission to tell a story. “When we were shooting , I was with my wife and we’re in Halifax [in Nova Scotia]. We’re gonna have dinner, and there’s an unhoused man screaming down the street. He’s screaming, screaming, screaming, and I was like, to my wife, ‘Let’s just pick up the pace.’ We’re almost at the restaurant. Plus it’s Halifax, how bad could this guy be? This unhoused person just keeps screaming louder and louder and getting closer and closer and closer. We’re rushing to the restaurant and then suddenly this guy jumps on my back and screams my ear. And it’s Willem Dafoe, wearing leather pants.” Dafoe replies: “Sometimes when I see a friend on the street, particularly if it’s a woman, I go behind and [ ].” His cast members roar with laughter again. “Because then you get to reassure them!” NosferatuLebawit Lily Girma | (TNS) Bloomberg News When winter rolls around, travelers predictably turn their attention to beaches. And this year, it’s the destination that comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean” that’s experiencing outsize demand from Americans planning a warm island vacation. Talk about trashing stereotypes. Related Articles Travel | Would you pay $700 a night to sleep under the stars at this Colorado resort? Travel | Thailand’s starring role in ‘The White Lotus’ is about to pay off Travel | 5 under-the-radar travel destinations the UN says you should visit Travel | Gift ideas for people planning their next trip Travel | Lights and decor, réveillon meals make Christmastime special in New Orleans Puerto Rico has recovered overseas visitors (excluding those from Canada and Mexico) faster than any U.S. state or territory — a staggering 85% increase over its 2019 overseas inbound visitor levels as of 2023, according to an October study from the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office. There are now more daily flights from the U.S. West Coast, and hotel bookings are 6% higher so far in this last quarter of 2024 year-over-year. It’s a trifecta of tourism growth: more visitors, but also longer stays and a higher spend that reached a record $9.8 billion in 2023, boosting small businesses as well as major brands. “We don’t have a slow season in Puerto Rico anymore,” says Brad Dean, chief executive officer at Discover Puerto Rico. Even if they’re not booking, people are dreaming about “La Isla.” By tracking flight searches for trips between November 2024 and February 2025, a measure of “inspirational” demand, tourism intelligence company Mabrian Technologies reports Puerto Rico is up 9% compared with the same period last year and leads Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the Bahamas in the Caribbean proper. Only Costa Rica ranked higher in the wider region. Dean attributes Puerto Rico’s ongoing tourism growth to a strategic effort to reposition the island’s brand as more than a sun-and-sea destination, starting back in 2018. That led to the Live Boricua campaign, which began in 2022 and leaned heavily on culture, history and cuisine and was, Dean says, “a pretty bold departure” in the way Puerto Rico was showcased to travelers. He adds that at least $2 billion in tourism spend is linked to this campaign. “We (also) haven’t shied away from actively embracing the LGBTQ+ community, and that has opened up Puerto Rico to audiences that may not have considered the Caribbean before,” Dean says. Hotels are preparing to meet this growing demand: A number of established boutique properties are undergoing upgrades valued between $4 million and more than $50 million, including Hotel El Convento; La Concha, which will join the Marriott Autograph Collection; Condado Vanderbilt Hotel; and the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar. That’s in addition to ultra-chic options that are coming online in 2025, including the adults-only Alma San Juan, with rooms overlooking Plaza Colón in the heart of Old San Juan, and the five-star Veranó boutique hotel in San Juan’s trendy Santurce neighborhood. The beachfront Ritz-Carlton San Juan in Isla Verde will also be reopening seven years after Hurricane Maria decimated the island. The travel industry’s success is helping boost employment on the island, to the tune of 101,000 leisure and hospitality jobs as of September 2024, a 26% increase over pre-pandemic levels, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Efforts to promote Puerto Rico’s provinces beyond the San Juan metro area — such as surfing hub Rincón on the west coast, historical Ponce on the south coast and Orocovis for nature and coffee haciendas in the central mountains —have spread the demand to small businesses previously ignored by the travel industry. Take Sheila Osorio, who leads workshops on Afro-Puerto Rican bomba music and dance at Taller Nzambi, in the town of Loíza, 15 miles east of San Juan; or Wanda Otero, founder of cheese-producing company Vaca Negra in Hatillo, an hour’s drive west of Old San Juan, where you can join a cheese-making workshop and indulge in artisanal cheese tastings. “The list of businesses involved in tourism has gone from 650 in 2018 to 6,100, many of which are artists and artisans,” Dean says. While New Yorkers and Miami residents have always been the largest visitor demographic, Dean says more mainland Americans now realize that going to Puerto Rico means passport-free travel to enjoy beaches, as well as opportunities to dine in Michelin-rated restaurants, hike the only rainforest in the U.S. and kayak in a bioluminescent bay. Visitors from Chicago and Dallas, for example, have increased by approximately 40% from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, compared with the same period in 2022-2023, and more travelers are expected from Denver now that United Airlines Holdings Inc. has kicked off its first nonstop service to San Juan, beginning on Oct. 29. Previously, beach destinations that were easy to reach on direct flights from Denver included Mexico, Belize and California, but now Puerto Rico joins that list with a 5.5-hour nonstop route that cuts more than two hours from the next-best option. Given United Airlines’ hub in San Francisco, it could mean more travelers from the Golden State in the near future, too. In December, U.S. airlines will have 3,000 more seats per day to the territory compared with the same period last year, for a total of 84,731 — surpassing even Mexico and the Dominican Republic in air capacity, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, the island’s primary gateway, is projecting a record volume of 13 million passengers by year’s end — far surpassing the 9.4 million it saw in 2019. As for Hinchcliffe’s “floating island of garbage” line, Dean says it was “a terribly insensitive attempt at humor” that transformed outrage into a marketing silver lining, with an outpouring of positive public sentiment and content on Puerto Rico all over social media. Success, as that old chestnut goes, may be the best revenge. “It was probably the most efficient influencer campaign we’ve ever had,” Dean says, “a groundswell of visitors who posted their photos and videos and said, ‘This is the Puerto Rico that I know.’” ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.The expanded Big Ten is poised to be a major player in this season's College Football Playoff. The 18-team conference had three of the top-four teams in the AP poll this week — No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Penn State. A one-loss Indiana team is ranked 10th but is still very much a contender to make the playoff, given how many Southeastern Conference teams have three defeats or more. Indiana's rise has been perhaps the Big Ten's biggest story this season. Much of the spotlight was on newcomers Oregon, Southern California, UCLA and Washington, but aside from the top-ranked Ducks, that foursome has struggled to impress. Meanwhile, the Hoosiers won their first 10 games under new coach Curt Cignetti before losing at Ohio State last weekend. Oregon beat Ohio State 32-31 back in October, and if the Buckeyes beat rival Michigan this weekend, they'll earn a rematch with the Ducks for the Big Ten title. And it's entirely possible another matchup between those two teams awaits in the CFP. Dillon Gabriel has quarterbacked Oregon to an unbeaten record, throwing for 3,066 yards and 22 touchdowns in 11 games. But don't overlook Iowa's Kaleb Johnson and his 21 rushing TDs, and quarterback Kurtis Rourke has been a big part of Indiana's improvement. Penn State's Abdul Carter has eight sacks and two forced fumbles and could be one of the top edge rushers drafted this year. Oregon (11-0, 8-0), Ohio State (10-1, 7-1), Penn State (10-1, 7-1), Indiana (10-1, 7-1), Illinois (8-3, 5-3), Iowa (7-4, 5-3), Michigan (6-5, 4-4), Minnesota (6-5, 4-4), Washington (6-5, 4-4), Southern California (6-5, 4-5), Nebraska (6-5, 3-5) and Rutgers (6-5, 3-5) have already reached the six-win mark for bowl eligibility. Michigan State (5-6, 3-5) and Wisconsin (5-6, 3-5) can join them. There may not be many firings in general at the top level of college football. The prospect of sharing revenue with athletes in the future might lead schools to be more judicious about shedding one coach and hiring a new one. Who should be most worried in the Big Ten? Well, Lincoln Riley is struggling to stay above .500 in his third season at USC. Purdue is 1-10, but coach Ryan Walters is only in his second season. Maryland's Mike Locksley has been there six years and his Terrapins are 4-7, but this was his first real step backward after guiding the team to three straight bowl wins. Cignetti has shown it is possible for a coaching change to push a previously moribund program to some impressive heights in a short amount of time — but the improvement has been more incremental at Michigan State following Jonathan Smith's arrival. Sherrone Moore wasn't a completely unknown commodity at Michigan after he won some massive games in place of a suspended Jim Harbaugh last year. But in his first season completely at the helm, the Wolverines have declined significantly following their national title a season ago. The Big Ten is home to one of the most dynamic freshmen in the country in Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith. He has 52 catches for 899 yards and nine touchdowns. Highly touted quarterback Dylan Raiola has teamed up with fellow freshman Jacory Barney (49 catches) to lead Nebraska to bowl eligibility. Ohio State is on track to land the Big Ten's top class, according to 247 Sports, but the big news recently was quarterback Bryce Underwood flipping from LSU to Michigan. If the Wolverines do in fact keep Underwood in his home state, that would be a big development for Moore. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
After institutions for people with disabilities close, graves are at risk of being forgotten