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Voters in Ireland were more than usually busy in 2024, casting their ballot in five different polls – for two referenda in March, local and European ballots in June and a general election in November. The country’s political comings and goings were further punctuated by an emotional announcement in March from former premier Leo Varadkar that he was resigning as taoiseach and Fine Gael leader. He was succeeded the following month in both roles by Simon Harris. But the year had so much more to offer than just politics, and PA news agency photographers were on hand to capture some of the highlights. Hundreds of people took part in the annual New Year’s Day charity swim on Bray seafront in Co Wicklow (Brian Lawless/PA) Former taoiseach John Bruton died aged 76 following a long illness in February (Damien Storan/PA) Leo Varadkar made a visit to the US for St Patrick’s Day in the same month he announced he was stepping down as taoiseach and resigning as leader of Fine Gael (Niall Carson/PA) Thousands of people gathered for the Bealtaine Fire Festival at the Hill of Uisneach in Co Westmeath in May (Niall Carson/PA) Natasha O’Brien, who was assaulted by a serving Irish soldier, told a rally in Dublin in June that she would keep up pressure on politicians to tackle violence against women (Gareth Chaney/PA) A mural of athlete Rhasidat Adeleke was created in Waterford after she made history becoming the first Irish woman to run in an Olympic sprint final during the Paris Olympics (Brian Lawless/PA) Actor Colin Farrell ran the Irish Life Dublin Marathon in October to raise money for people living with Epidermolysis Bullosa, a rare genetic skin condition (Damien Storan/PA) A woman cast her vote at Deaf Village Ireland in Dublin as voters went to the polls in the General Election on November 29 (Niall Carson/PA)Lebawit 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.
OpenAI's legal battle with Elon Musk reveals internal turmoil over avoiding AI 'dictatorship'Los Angeles, Dec 28 (IANS): The sets of ‘Dune’ were not meant for social media after strict orders were issued by the film’s director Denis Villeneuve. The filmmaker, 57, explained why cast and crew on his projects are not encouraged to bring certain devices on set, reports ‘People’ magazine. He told the Los Angeles Times, “Cinema is an act of presence. When a painter paints, he has to be absolutely focused on the color he’s putting on the canvas. It’s the same with the dancer when he does a gesture. With a filmmaker, you have to do that with a crew, and everybody has to focus and be entirely in the present, listening to each other, being in relationship with each other”. He added, “So cellphones are banned on my set too, since day one. It’s forbidden. When you say cut, you don’t want someone going to his phone to look at his Facebook account”. Earlier in the interview, the director shared another reason he's not so fond of technology at times. He further mentioned, “I feel that human beings are ruled by algorithms right now. We behave like AI circuits. The ways we see the world are narrow-minded binaries. We’re disconnecting from each other, and society is crumbling in some ways. It’s frightening”. As per ‘People’, the director referred to being able to have constant access to others as “addictive”. He said, "It’s compulsive. It’s like a drug. I’m very tempted to disconnect myself. It would be fresh air”. The first installment of Villeneuve's Dune film adaptation of Frank Hubert's novel arrived in October 2021, with Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya and Oscar Isaac . The second part was released in March 2024. A-listers Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Anya Taylor-Joy joined for ‘Dune: Part Two’.
Gian Piero Gasperini hints Atalanta ‘laid the foundations’ for future success in 2024 and is looking for January reinforcements, as keeps them top of the table. La Dea saw their run of 11 consecutive Serie A victories come to an end, but they remain unbeaten in 13 rounds, thanks to substitute Marco Brescianini snatching a late equaliser at the Stadio Olimpico. They had been trailing to Lazio for over an hour when Fisayo Dele-Bashiru out-sprinted Marten de Roon on a Nicolò Rovella ball over the top. “We expected Lazio to be difficult, we’ve seen them put this kind of performance in before. The first was certainly better for them, we struggled to contain their pace, strength and quality,” “In the second half, I think we came out very well with the right attitude. We scored the goal a little late, otherwise we had the momentum to win the game. Both teams deserve praise, because it was a good game of football.” The result means that Atalanta are still top of the table at the end of 2024, but they are now only one point clear of Inter, who have a game in hand. If Napoli beat Venezia on Sunday, they can also equal the Bergamo boys in first place. “This 2024 has been marvellous, extraordinary, we’re a little sad it is over. We closed it by coming back to grab a result when it seemed to be an off night, but the solidity of this team shows we finished it taking control.” It was put to Gasperini that 2024 is not unrepeatable for Atalanta, who won the Europa League and played in the Coppa Italia Final too. “I didn’t say it wasn’t repeatable... Every year is different, we certainly can’t win the Europa League again this season, because we’re not in it! We have been top of the table for much of the season and have certainly laid some foundations, but my ambition is always to keep improving, not to take steps backwards.” Despite losing Teun Koopmeiners in the summer and seeing Gianluca Scamacca ruled out for six months by a knee injury, Atalanta still have in Serie A, the Champions League, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana. “Juan Cuadrado has been doing well in training for a few weeks now, he’s been unlucky with injuries and then a long ban in the Coppa Italia too,” continued Gasperini. “I’ve seen this progress for a while and if he is in good shape, he can be a big help. He had a great chance to score today too. “We do not have that many options in attack, it is not true to compare us to some of the other teams, unless you want to count Brescianini as a striker. We have to create our forwards.” So does that mean Gasperini wants them to sign a new striker in January? “The club knows full well that we had every intention in June to be very competitive this season, but we did not complete the squad in August. We’ll see what happens and are enjoying this situation.”Will New Year’s Eve be loud or quiet? What are the top 2025 resolutions? AP-NORC poll has answersGryphon Digital Mining files to sell 17.76M shares of common stock for holders
F1 expands grid, adds Cadillac brand and new American team for '26Residents in Seattle, Washington, plan to stop tipping as a minimum wage hike in the Democrat-run city looms. The city’s minimum wage is supposed to go from $19.97 to $20.76 an hour on January 1, the Daily Mail reported on Friday. Tipping workers on top of the approaching hourly rate hike does not appear to be a popular idea with some residents who have said they will no longer be shelling out the extra money for workers. The Mail article continued: One user who shared a Reddit post on the wage hike, which has picked up steam in the local area, said: ‘With Seattle’s new minimum wage going into effect really soon, most food industry workers are finally reaching a level playing field. ‘As a result, I’ll no longer be tipping more than 5-10%. And I’m ONLY doing that if service is EXCEPTIONAL. It’s only fair—hard work deserves fair pay across all industries. ‘Any instance where I am ordering busing my own table, getting my own utensils, etc warrants $0. I also am not tipping at coffee shops anymore.’ Seattle’s minimum wage rate is among the highest in America, KTTH radio host Jason Rantz wrote in an opinion piece on Thursday. He noted that Seattle’s minimum wage ordinance requires the increases based on inflation. Rantz then said, “Seattle restaurant operators are panicked ahead of a minimum wage update that will now prevent tips and benefits from being deducted from hourly wages. For some Seattle restaurants, it will add about $45,000 in expenses per month that they don’t have.” Restaurant worker Brandon Nyland also spoke of the difficulties the pay raise may shove onto businesses, King 5 reported on Friday. “A lot of restaurants are going to have razor-thin, one- to three-percent profit margins. So, a lot of places are probably going to build that price increase into the menu,” he said. In 2021, Breitbart News’s economics editor John Carney noted that President Joe Biden (D) claimed raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would force employers to pay a living wage to people working for them. However, Carney said, “the weight of economic studies say that it would have an adverse effect on employment.”Michigan aims to cap lost season by beating Ohio State
Lebawit 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 Would you pay $700 a night to sleep under the stars at this Colorado resort? Thailand’s starring role in ‘The White Lotus’ is about to pay off 5 under-the-radar travel destinations the UN says you should visit Gift ideas for people planning their next trip 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.2025 Kia Cerato review