Danny Dyer left everyone speechless when he nabbed a prestigious Bafta Award on Sunday, May 11, with his typically colourful language adding some spice to the proceedings. Overcome with emotion, yet true to his EastEnders hardman persona, he didn’t hold back on the expletives during his acceptance speech.
The host for the evening, Alan Cumming, wasn’t caught off guard though, he quickly jumped in to apologise to viewers at home for the actor’s fruity on-air antics.
Celebrating his win for Best Male Performance in Sky Comedy’s ‘Mr Bigstuff’, Danny admitted with a cheeky grin: “The acting was so bad it was funny.”
He then set tongues wagging by dropping the F-bomb repeatedly, flouting the Bafta’s language guidelines, despite having faced a warning earlier on.
Despite the few choice words, the former soap star’s message resonated with the audience as he admitted to being “choked up” and sweetly referenced his two daughters during his heartfelt thanks at London’s Royal Festival Hall, reports Belfast Live.
Here, is an insight into Danny Dyer’s notorious speech, his nod to EastEnders, and where he’s heading in his career next.
The full speech
Lots of Danny acceptance speech was cut due to expletive language being used(Image: (Image: BBC))
A good chunk of the 47-year-old’s candid speech was edited out due to the risqué content, but his gratefulness couldn’t be clearer from the snippets that survived.
He kicked things off by expressing gratitude to Sky for taking a chance on their show, saying: “I want to thank Sky for giving our show a shot. F***ing hell, I’m choked up.” In particular, he highlighted Ryan Sampson, the writer he holds in high esteem.
Continuing with his thank yous, Danny quipped: “He’s one of the greatest people ever to come out of Rotherham – not saying much. You won this for me mate.”
Danny further heaped praise on Ryan who is also an actor, proclaiming: “One of the best actors this country’s ever produced, I’m telling you. Never done the same thing twice. Which is not something I can say.
“He wrote this part for me, so you know… I’m getting choked up again, f*** me. So you won this for me, mate, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.”
In an emotional moment, the star of The Rivals expressed his gratitude towards his daughters, Dani, 28, and Sunnie, 18, who were in the audience, beaming with pride as they witnessed their father’s triumph: “Girls, Sunnie and Dani… I’ve done it, girls, I’ve f***ing done it.”
Upon Danny’s departure from the stage, host Alan Cumming stepped in to express apologies for any offence caused by the “naughty language”.
What Danny Dyer said away from the cameras
Danny took a stab at EastEnders backstage
While backstage and still riding high from his award victory, Danny didn’t hold back during a chat with the Metro newspaper, he giggled: “Oh, there’ll be some people fuming!”, and assertively declared: “I don’t know, man. I’ve earned it. I only want one, I don’t need more than this. I’m happy.”
Reflecting on his previous recognitions and subtly jabbing at his time on EastEnders, he said: “I’ve lifted a couple of NTAs over the years, and I always like to win awards and lose them, do the moody clap [pretending] that you’re happy for someone else… I’ve done all that b******s, and I thought I’d be doing that tonight.”
Reflecting on his recent triumphs with both Mr Bigstuff and Rivals, he shared: “I’ve had a really good run this year. Rivals has been so well received. A bit odd, really. I’ve got Rivals sitting there, and I’ve got Mr Bigstuff there.”
On to big things
Danny is moving on to great things in the coming months
Fans are in for a treat as the critically acclaimed Mr Bigstuff makes its comeback with Danny at the helm in Sky Comedy’s spotlight, gearing up for its much-anticipated second season.
While we’re all on tenterhooks for the release date of series two on Sky and Now, the network has teased that the premiere is slated for “later in 2025”, with Danny set to dazzle audiences once again as the brash brother Lee.
Disney + Rivals fans will be ecstatic to hear that Danny is set to return to the role of businessman Freddie Jones once more, a role that snagged him the British Press Guild Award for Best Actor and the RTS Television Award for Supporting Actor.
The exact timing for the return of series two remains shrouded in mystery, with some media outlets speculating “later in 2025” or “early 2026”. Yet, an insider on ITV’s Lorraine hinted at a much sooner date, suggesting “July 2025”.
Chatting with Andi Peters, who was filling in on ITV’s Lorraine on Monday, May 12, Ria Hebden let slip: “Rivals, we now know it’ll back on screens this July.”
Rivals will return to Disney + at some time in the near future and Mr Bigstuff will return to Sky and Now, also at a near point in 2025.
Police bodycam footage shows Newark Mayor Ras Baraka being arrested outside a detention centre in New Jersey, during a protest about US immigration. Officials claim he trespassed, but Baraka and witnesses say he complied with orders.
Helen McGlashan, 59, from Manchester, pushed herself to head off on a solo holiday with Riviera Travel following her retirement and the death of her husband, Alastair
Helen and Yvonne have become close friends (Image: Supplied)
A woman who travelled solo for the first time after her husband died found a new lease of life and a close friend on the road.
Following a break-up or bereavement, especially, booking a solo holiday for the first time can seem intimidating. For many, the thought of stepping into the unknown without a familiar companion might be nerve-wracking, – but it can also be empowering.
Group tours can help people in that situation explore the world on their own while offering the comfort of being surrounded by like-minded travelers. This has certainly been the case for Helen McGlashan, 59, from Manchester. The former director of residential and sports services at the University of Manchester retired in 2020 after the death of her husband, Alastair.
Helen retired after the death of her husband five years ago(Image: Supplied)
She said: “Following my husband’s death in 2019, I needed some time out. He had been ill for a while, so we hadn’t really travelled much. I took my first solo trip later that year, when I went to Krakow with Riviera Travel. I was used to going away with my husband, and I was a bit nervous about the thought of doing it on my own – so I decided to start with a shorter trip.”
Understandably, Helen felt some nerves before joining the group trip.
She admitted: “When I got to the airport, I was thinking, ‘What if I don’t make friends with anybody and I’m Billy No-Mates?’ But that’s never happened [on a Riviera Travel holiday].”
The Riviera Travel team – which has been operating in the UK for more than 40 years – meets their solo guests at the departure airport or St Pancras International if travelling by Eurostar.
Since her first solo holiday, Helen has joined a wide range of river cruises, ocean cruises and land tours. She said: “On all of them, I have found people to be extremely friendly and willing to get together and do things as a group. I’ve never felt like I’m lacking company, in fact, it’s been wonderful to share these experiences with people.
“The groups are always very mixed; you have couples but there are also siblings and friends travelling together. You’re dining together and sharing experiences, and there are lots of opportunities for socialising and mixing, so you get to know each other really well – and really quickly.”
Five years after her first solo tour, Helen has visited far-flung destinations such as India, Egypt, Jordan, Montenegro, Italy and Croatia – to name a few.
“My family has given me the nickname ‘Judith Chalmers’, after the former Wish You Were Here…? holiday show host, because of my extensive travels,” she joked.
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It was during one of her solo tours that Helen struck up a lasting friendship with one of her fellow individual travellers, Yvonne Palmer. She recalled: “I went to Undiscovered Italy in Puglia with Riviera Travel. When we arrived at Brindisi airport, there was a lady standing on her own and she approached me. We ended up sitting next to each other on the coach, and then our rooms were adjacent to one another. She is a widow also, and we have become great friends, and a support mechanism, for one another.
“Now, we travel together three or four times a year, both in the UK and abroad. We just went to Marrakech together. Travel brings a sense of joy and wonderment, and it reminds you what life is about. I think it’s a privilege to be able to meet so many different people, and it’s just nice to share things again.”
Helen has a long list of destinations she dreams of visiting in the future.
“I’m going on the Grand Tour of Sicily with Riviera Travel this September, and we’re going to go around the whole island. The itinerary is fantastic, we’re going to go up the volcano and we’ll be having canapes with a Duchess in Palermo.
“I’m also already looking at trips for 2026 and I’ve still got Sri Lanka, Japan, Romania, Transylvania and South Africa on my bucket list – you name it, I’m still excited to travel.”
For those who may be thinking about taking the leap and embarking on their first solo adventure, Helen has some words of encouragement.
“Just go for it – life is very short, and we never know what’s around the corner. There’s nothing to be fearful about, especially on a group tour. There’s a joint camaraderie, so if you’re having an issue there is always somebody there to help.”
California voters have sharply differing views over two of the state’s most prominent Democrats, according to a new poll.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who is expected to decide by the end of the summer whether she runs for California governor in 2026, has near universal name recognition among California voters, and 50% view her favorably, according to a survey by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies that was co-sponsored by The Times.
In contrast, California voters, notably residents of the city of Los Angeles, are more likely to view Mayor Karen Bass unfavorably. In the aftermath of the devastating fires in Altadena and Pacific Palisades earlier this year and criticism of the city’s response, Bass’ approval ratings are dire among Angelenos, who are overwhelmingly Democratic. Voters’ unhappiness with the mayor could create difficulties for her reelection campaign next year if the mood persists.
“When you’re underwater and almost universally known — 82% of voters can offer an opinion of Bass in Los Angeles city — one of the hardest things to overcome is an accumulated negative image,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the IGS poll. “Once you develop an unfavorable image, it’s hard to overcome. It almost requires another major event she can take credit for or look good in handling.”
The Democrats are longtime allies — Harris swore Bass in when she was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 2022 after defeating real estate developer Rick Caruso by nearly 10 points.
Both women were among the elected officials vetted to be Joe Biden’s running mate in the 2020 election. Harris ultimately prevailed, was elected vice president and then became the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024 after Biden decided not to run for reelection.
But California voters have strikingly different thoughts about the veteran elected officials.
In October of that year, 50% of likely voters in Los Angeles had a positive opinion of Bass, while 35% had a negative view, according to a UC Berkeley/Times poll conducted at the time.
Now, half of the city’s voters surveyed perceive her negatively, while 32% have a favorable impression, according to the new poll. In Los Angeles, with the exception of Black voters and senior citizens, Bass is viewed more unfavorably than positively among voters of every other age group, and men and women. Statewide, 42% of voters do not have a favorable view of Bass, who is facing a recall effort that is unlikely to make the ballot. Only 1 in 5 (19%) give her high marks.
Harris, despite losing the presidential election to Donald Trump in 2024, is faring better than Bass among California voters as she weighs a gubernatorial bid next year to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cannot run for the seat again because of term limits.
Roughly 96% of California voters know enough about Harris to have an opinion about her, according to the poll. That’s a stratospheric level of name identification in an enormous state where lesser-known candidates must spend tens of millions of dollars in hopes of raising their profile.
Voters’ views of Harris, a former U.S. senator, state attorney general and San Francisco district attorney, are split, with 50% having a positive image of the Bay Area native, compared with 46% holding a negative impression, according to the poll. She drew stronger support from voters who tend to cast ballots more frequently in statewide elections — women, younger and older voters, and residents of the Bay Area and Los Angeles County.
Voters’ views of Harris varied dramatically over the past 15 years. She barely won the state attorney general’s race in 2010 and was unknown by a large segment of voters, DiCamillo said. By the time Harris ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016, she was viewed favorably by the state’s voters, though many did not know enough about her to offer an opinion.
“As she settled into her job as U.S. senator, people started to pay more attention to her. Obviously, she was getting a lot of attention when she was grilling Supreme Court nominees,” DiCamillo said, with voters becoming far more familiar with Harris and having positive views of her.
Those impressions sank during her unsuccessful run for president in 2020, improved in the early days of the Biden administration, and then dipped again when she was vice president and assigned intractable issues such as the flow of immigrants fleeing Central America, he said. Her image has improved slightly since then, but is strong among Democrats, frequent voters, women and residents of the Bay Area and Los Angeles County, subgroups that would be critical sources of support if she decides to run for governor.
Harris has kept a relatively low profile since her November loss in the presidential race, but delivered her most full-throated remarks about Trump in late April. Blasting his policies as a betrayal of the nation’s founding principles, the former vice president warned of a looming constitutional crisis.
But fellow Democrats have criticized Harris for not planning on making a decision about whether to run for governor until the end of the summer. Her delayed plans have put the race in limbo and made some deep-pocketed political donors hesitant to write checks.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Harris supporter in prior elections, is among the Democrats running for governor who have publicly expressed frustration about her delay in announcing her intentions.
Harris’ team has a “level of arrogance” about their lackadaisical approach to leading a state with the fourth-largest economy in the world, he said in an interview in Sacramento on Tuesday, six days before the poll was published.
The Berkeley IGS poll surveyed 6,201 California registered voters online in English and Spanish from April 21 to 28, including 611 voters living in the city of Los Angeles. The results are estimated to have a margin of error of 2 percentage points in either direction in the overall sample, and larger numbers for subgroups. Details of the poll results on Harris and Bass will be made public on Tuesday.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is EricSondheimer. As the prep baseball playoffs begin this week, let’s remind everyone we’re witnessing the making of the next great pitcher from Southern California.
Throwing strikes at 98 mph
Pitcher Seth Hernandez leads No. 1-ranked Corona.
(Nick Koza)
The Southern Section baseball playoff pairings will be announced on Monday, and 26-2 Corona is set to be the No. 1 seed in Division 1. It will be a last chance to take a look at standout pitcher Seth Hernandez, who enters the playoffs with a 17-0 record in two years of high school competition.
Southern California has produced Cy Young Award winners in Gerrit Cole (Orange Lutheran), Trevor Bauer (Hart), Jack McDowell (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame) and Bret Saberhagen (Cleveland), along with baseball’s current stars, Paul Skenes (El Toro), Max Fried (Harvard-Westlake) and Hunter Greene (Notre Dame)
Few exhibited in high school the pinpoint control along with being able to throw a fastball at 98 mph like Hernandez.
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
Baseball
Venice received the No. 1 seed for the eight-team City Section Open Division playoffs that begin Wednesday. The semifinals are next Tuesday, followed by the championship game on May 24 at Dodger Stadium. Here are the complete pairings.
Sylmar came away as the Valley Mission League champions aided by a three-run home run from Rickee Luevano to beat Kennedy.
The Southern Section playoff pairings will be released Monday at 10 a.m. It’s the first time power rankings are being used to place teams into nine divisions. There’s expected to be first-round byes in Division 1.
Rising 2027 1B/OF/DH @jakekim_10 launches his 7th HR of the season—a no-doubt grand slam over the RF wall. Showing advanced approach and confidence, he continues to drive balls to all fields. Middle-of-the-order presence every program covets, and he’s only trending up. @LesLukachpic.twitter.com/sVAoFiAql3
— Harvard Westlake Baseball Tailgaters Club (@HWtailgaters) May 7, 2025
Softball
The Southern Section softball playoff pairings will be released at noon Monday.
The City Section softball pairings will be announced on Friday. Granada Hills, which has lost in the final to Carson the last two seasons, is the likely No. 1 seed. San Pedro ended Carson’s reign as Marine League champion.
Track
Newbury Park’s Nicholas Durbiano (second from left) ran a 10.54 100 meters qualifying time at the Southern Section Division 2 prelims.
(Nick Koza)
The Southern Section track and field finals are set for Saturday at Moorpark High. The most interesting competition could come in Division 3, where Servite and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame will engage in an all-out duel for the boys team title.
Pure Insanity! 🔥
Servite advances 6️⃣ runners in the 200 to CIF Finals!
Current Servite record holder in the event, Max Thomas ‘22 (USC), was on hand to witness the greatness being displayed on the track today. #credo#gofriarspic.twitter.com/bO3XCBIe9R
There is so much depth to call upon from both teams. Servite qualified six runners for the 200. Notre Dame qualified four athletes for the long jump. The two schools went one-two in the 4×100 relay. Notre Dame’s JJ Harel is in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. Servite athletes are favored to win the 100, 200 and 400 and both relays. It will come down to picking up points in other events.
The future in the 400 in crazy good. Freshman Jalen Hunter of Servite runs 47.63 at D3 prelims. Freshman Jace Wells of Servite runs 48.14. Soph Quincy Hearn of SO Notre Dame runs 48.26. Soph Brian Prince of Cathedral runs 48.27
Granada Hills sophomore Isabella San Jose dives off the block to begin the anchor leg of the Highlanders’ victorious 400-meter freestyle relay.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Granada Hills won the City Section boys and girls championships in swimming. Here’s the report.
Santa Margarita won the boys and girls titles at the Southern Section Division 1 championships. Here’s the report.
The state championships take place this weekend in Clovis.
Lacrosse
It will be Loyola taking on Mater Dei to decide the Southern Section Division 1 boys lacrosse championship Friday night.
This team will see you in the championship game.
No. 1 seed Loyola (20-3) leads from start to finish today, defeating [5] Foothill on the road, 11-9, to punch a ticket back to the CIF-SS Division I Finals! #LoyolaLax | #GoCubspic.twitter.com/5FZ9FSKRQJ
For girls, Mira Costa will take on Foothill. Here’s the schedule.
Volleyball
It will be Huntington Beach taking on No. 1 Mira Costa in the Southern Section Division 1 volleyball championship match on Friday at 7 p.m. at Cerritos College.
The City Section Open Division semifinals will be held Tuesday night, with Venice hosting Granada Hills and Chatsworth hosting El Camino Real. The championship will take place Saturday at Birmingham.
Freshman sensation
Freshman pitcher Carlos Acuna of Birmingham is 7-0 with a 1.09 ERA.
(Craig Weston)
Freshman pitcher Carlos Acuna of Birmingham has had a sensational start of his high school career with a 7-0 record going into the start of the City Section playoffs next week.
Will Burr is the new girls’ basketball coach at Harvard-Westlake. He’s won Southern Section titles at Oak Park and Viewpoint. He played basketball at Bishop Alemany and is a former classmate of head of athletics Terry Barnum. . . .
Joe Goyeneche has stepped down as football coach at St. Bonaventure and will be replaced by defensive coordinator Nathan Page. Former coach Jon Mack is serving as a consultant. . . .
Former Taft and St. John Bosco basketball coach Derrick Taylor is the new head coach at Blair in Pasadena. . . .
Former Newbury Park and Utah quarterback Cam Rising (left) announced he is medically retiring from football. He’s coaching Brady Smigiel of Newbury Park.
(Craig Weston)
Former Newbury Park and Utah quarterback Cam Rising announced he is medically retiring from football and has joined Newbury Park as its new offensive coordinator, where he’ll get to tutor Michigan commit Brady Smigiel. . . .
Brandon Alexander has been hired to be the first girls flag football coach at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Schools in the Mission League have been reluctant to add flag football, so this could be the start of an expansion. Harvard-Westlake is expected to add a team in 2026. . . .
Huntington Beach junior receiver Troy Foster has committed to San Diego State. . . .
Standout defensive lineman Richard Wesley of Sierra Canyon has committed to Oregon. He changed to become part of the class of 2026. . . .
Linebacker Shaun Scott of Mater Dei has committed to USC, giving the Trojans 28 commitments for the class of 2026. . . .
Windward basketball standout JJ Harris has committed to Loyola Marymount. . . .
It was an emotional moment for Loyola and Harvard-Westlake tennis players honoring Loyola captain Braun Levi, who was killed by a suspected drunken driver. Here’s a report on the schools uniting.
From the archives: Augie Lopez
Former Loyola baseball player Augie Lopez has helped USC move into playoff contention.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Former Loyola High catcher Augie Lopez has made a huge impact as a freshman for USC, helping the Trojans move into position to gain their first NCAA playoff berth since 2015.
He entered this past week hitting .338 with two home runs and 10 RBIs.
From NFHS.org, a story on how track and field officials can stay calm during championship events.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the life and legacy of Chet Lemon, a Fremont High grad and World Series hero who died at the age of 70.
From MaxPreps.com, a story on a Texas high school softball team setting a national record for most home runs.
Tweets you might have missed
Boys Volleyball: @CIFLACS West Valley All-League Selections. Chatsworth’s Noa Beauregard & Grant Chang Were Named Co-Players Of The Year. Chancellors Finished 10-0 In League & Received #2 Seed In CIF-LACS Open Division Playoffs. pic.twitter.com/9XXVaPswKL
The walk-off hit by Evan Rodriguez in the bottom of the seventh that gave Simi Valley a 3-2 win over rival Royal and made the Pioneers Coastal Canyon League champions. pic.twitter.com/3PdUQXou4r
Twenty-five years ago I did a story about teenagers trying to prevent drivers from driving drunk. It’s so sad that people still drive drunk and destroy lives. https://t.co/Yp8uSalx1F
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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May 12 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s announcement that he wishes to place tariffs on internationally-produced films has people in the movie business worrying of another hurdle.
Trump announced his intention to implement 100% tariffs on foreign films on May 4 after meeting with actor Jon Voight. Trump has not shared details about how his tariff plan would work. Daniel Loria, senior vice president of The BoxOffice Company, told UPI the first and most difficult task will be defining what a foreign-made film is.
“Is a movie written in the U.S. for a U.S. studio, funded by a U.S. production company set in a foreign country that then comes back and does all the effects and post-production work and marketing here — because the story elements include a foreign angle, does that count as a foreign-made film?” Loria said.
“Ultimately determining what is and isn’t foreign produced, which is a difficult task to enact in a globalized economy and industry, is going to be essential to how film studios tackle this proposed era that is coming up.”
Unlike an automotive manufacturer that imports tangible products into the United States, filmmaking is far more speculative. Films are less a good or product and more an experience, Loria said.
“You’re buying the experience,” he said. “Putting a tariff on movies would be very difficult to trickle down to the moviegoer. You have to think about movie-going as a service, not a good.”
The United States has not placed tariffs on films before. American films are not subject to tariffs in other countries when they hit their theaters either. Physical media such as DVDs and Blu-rays are subject to tariffs in some cases. Other countries, such as China, may require American films to be altered to meet content guidelines.
Hollywood is recognized as the epicenter of the film world but it has increasingly become a global industry. The highest-grossing film in the world this year is the Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2. As of Friday, it has earned more than double that of the second-place film, A Minecraft Movie, reaching $1.8 billion in the worldwide box office, according to Box Office Mojo.
Box office data combines the United States and Canada’s earnings — referred to as the domestic box office — in comparison to the worldwide box office. According to Loria’s data, the domestic box office represented 21% of global sales in 2021, 29% in 2022, 27% in 2023 and about 30% in 2024.
Loria noted that while box office earnings and publicly known production costs are often cited to gauge the success of a film, it is difficult to determine which films are profitable or how profitable the business is as a whole.
“A lot of Hollywood accountants would tell you no films make money,” Loria said.
Box office numbers suggest that the industry is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic halted productions around the world and closed theaters in the United States for more than a year. This came after a record year at the box office in 2019.
Shannon Cole is the executive director of the Vermillion Cultural Association based in Vermillion, S.D. The nonprofit organization leads art programming for the city and owns and operates the Coyote Twin Theater. It is the only theater within a 25-mile radius of the town and plays many of the biggest new releases.
Cole told UPI that the announcement of film tariffs combined with other Trump administration policies — specifically cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities — has her, other local arts leaders and local artists worried about how long they can continue doing their work.
“It means we’re looking at at least three more years of what’s already been a four-year downturn in the film industry,” Cole said. “Everyone is out of the habit of going to the movies. Now, you’re saying potentially movies could end up costing more because studios will charge theaters more to show movies?”
According to Cole, the Coyote Twin Theater’s audience was down by 40% from 2023 to 2024. The theater pays as much as 68% of ticket prices back to the studios for showing their movies, and for-profit theaters may pay more.
“2019 by far was the high watermark of the movie industry worldwide,” Cole said. “It was the best year on record for us. Everybody wants to get back to that.”
Jason Squire, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and host of The Movie Business Podcast, told UPI that the business is largely far different than the perception of glitz and glamour that is often attached to it.
“It’s a gig economy,” Squire said. “It’s people who are, in general, highly accomplished craftspeople in very specialized crafts. Many of whom are struggling because of runaway production. Because of issues of crisis within the business and the transformation that’s going on.”
Part of that transformation is the decentralization of the industry. States like Georgia, New Jersey, New Mexico and Louisiana are drawing production away from California with enticing incentives. Production incentives are not unique to the United States though.
Toronto has been growing its film production market since the 1970s, spurred on by the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit. This 35% refundable tax credit is offered to productions that meet several criteria, including spending at least 75% of their final costs in Ontario.
India and China have surpassed the United States in terms of the number of films they produce. India offers cash rebates for qualifying production expenses.
“California built the film industry — and we’re ready to bring even more jobs home,” Newsom wrote on X. “We’ve proven what strong state incentives can do. Now it’s time for a real federal partnership to Make America Film Again.”
Voight, one of three advisers to Trump on Hollywood, has also drawn up a “Make Hollywood Great Again” plan that proposes incentives for domestic film production, according to Deadline. His proposals are laden with several incentives for a majority of physical production to be done in the United States.
Voight also proposed a 120% tariff if a film “could have been produced in the U.S.” but was produced elsewhere and receives a production tax incentive.
“The idea of placing a tariff on overseas tax incentives or government subsidies or rebates would be onerous,” Squire said. “It would throw a wrench in the works of the business model and make it more expensive, which is the last thing you want. The key to producing movies is to make them at a price you believe the public will bear and make a little more than you spent in order to keep making movies.”
Cinema United, formerly the National Association of Theatre Owners, released a statement on Thursday in response to the Trump administration’s interest in reforming the film industry.
“It is important to recognize that theatrical exhibition is not a Hollywood industry, but a Main Street industry, and proposals that support and promote the hard work being done by theatre owners will have a positive and meaningful impact in communities across this nation,” Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of Cinema United, said in a statement.
“We are committed to working with the administration, Congress and all interested parties who recognize and share the goal of ensuring that our local theatres retain both their economic and cultural significance and we thank them for their leadership.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will be waiting to meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Turkiye to talk face-to-face, as part of peace negotiations scheduled for May 15. It’s not clear however if Putin will attend.
Following a record-breaking 38 million overnight stays, one EU country – renowned for its beautiful scenery – is consulting on a bill that could add three per cent to tourists’ accommodation costs
14:28, 12 May 2025Updated 14:48, 12 May 2025
The EU country is becoming increasingly popular with tourists(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Yet another EU country is mulling over a tourist tax, in what could be a huge blow to Brits. Once a lowkey destination, reserved only for series globetrotters and hiking enthusiasts – Norway has slowly slipped under the tourist spotlight.
Luring British holidaymakers with its ‘stunning’ mountains, glassy lakes, and chocolate box cabins – Norway’s popularity has surged astronomically in the last few years. In fact, last year it garnered a record-breaking 38 million overnight stays – a four per cent spike from 2023.
Direct flights to Norway from major UK airports such as London Stansted, Gatwick, and Manchester have made the country even more accessible – and affordable, with return flights in June priced as low as £28*. It means trekking up to the majestic fjords for a weekend of walks, saunas, and wildlife spotting no longer guarantees you’ll be on your own.
Brits can travel to Norway for less than £30 this summer(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
While the country’s government says the tourism boost is ‘great’, it also acknowledges the strain holidaymakers can put on popular regions. As a result, it has proposed a ‘visitor contribution’ that municipalities can ‘voluntarily introduce’.
Following a round of consultation, the new bill has given municipalities the power to charge tourists three per cent on all forms of paid accommodation, including hotels, campsites, and rentals through platforms like Airbnb. For example, if you spend £100 on a hotel – you may be asked to pay £3 in tourist tax.
The government says tourism must happen ‘within sustainable frameworks’(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
This is a two per cent reduction from the five per cent levy that was first proposed – to ‘reduce the burden on the accommodation industry’. The voluntary tax can also be adjusted based on the season. So, municipalities may choose to implement the levy during peak travelling times, and remove it during off-peak months.
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In a government press release, that has been translated into English, Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth warned: “If the tourism industry is to continue to grow, this must happen within sustainable frameworks. We must address the challenges. Visitor contributions have been introduced in many countries in Europe. Payment in connection with accommodation is the most common form of visitor contribution in those countries that have chosen to introduce this.”
Municipalities can choose whether they implement the tourist tax(Image: Getty Images)
Profits from the tourist tax cannot be used to ‘balance municipal budgets’ and should be strictly for financing tourism-related public goods. This include the installation of toilets, waste disposal, and information activities.
“In the long term, a moderate visitor contribution can help make travel destinations more attractive to tourists and reduce the inconvenience to local residents,” the government added. “This contributes to better trust between the industry, visitors and local residents.”
*Prices based on Skyscanner listings at the time of writing.
Would a tourist tax put you off from visiting Norway? Have your say in the comments section below
Hamas says it will release US-Israeli captive Edan Alexander and confirms direct talks with the US, while Israel insists it has not agreed to any ceasefire – signaling a possible rift with Washington, analysts say.
FORMER Manchester United chief Tom Keane has lifted the lid on the club’s record-breaking 2022 summer transfer window.
Keane was their head of negotiations as they splurged a club high of £225million on six new signings.
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Tom Keane has lifted the lid on Man Utd’s summer 2022 transfer businessCredit: @WeAreTheOverlap
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Antony was bought in a mega £85m deal
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The purchase of Casemiro cost a whopping £70mCredit: Getty
In Erik ten Hag’s first window at the Old Trafford he bought Antony (£85m), Casemiro (£70m), Lisandro Martinez (£57m), Tyrell Malacia (£13m), Christian Eriksen (free) and Martin Dubravka (loan).
Keane, who was only at United on a temporary basis for six months, played a huge role in talks and even flew to Spain to complete the Casemiro deal.
Opening about where it went wrong that summer, Keane told The Overlap: “There were a couple of challenges. One of the biggest was everyone was new.
“I’d just walked through the door, the manager came in in May, John Murtough had been at the club a while but had just become football director, Richard Arnold had just become CEO and there was a new head of data.
“The way it would normally work is the transfer window shuts and in September they start planning for the following summer.
“What happened for us that summer, I think because of circumstances, the work started in May.
“It felt like we did a year’s work in 12 to 16 weeks.
“I literally lived at the training ground and I didn’t see my family, which was fine as I knew what I was getting myself into and it was part of the experience.
“The budget side of it, the finance department had oversight of everything that was going on to ensure the club was remaining compliant with its PSR obligations.
“In terms of negotiations, the process was really detailed and it had to be.
Ruben Amorim vows to QUIT Man Utd if horror slump continues as dejected boss identifies ‘most dangerous thing’ at club
“Big sums of money, so the stakes are high and with football players you are signing humans.
“You can’t guarantee anything and all the work is trying to minimise risk. You’re trying to improve the chances of the signing being a success.”
All those involved in that transfer window like Ten Hag, Murtough and Arnold have since left the club.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has built his own team that involves CEO Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox.
The decades-long controversy over the Los Angeles Zoo’s elephants is intensifying, even after officials announced that Billy and Tina will be moved to a zoo in Oklahoma where they will have more room to roam.
On Friday, an L.A. resident sued to halt the transfer of Billy and Tina to the Tulsa Zoo, arguing that they should instead be sent to an animal sanctuary.
The lawsuit, which seeks an injunction from the L.A. County Superior Court, includes a declaration from the singer Cher, who has been advocating on behalf of Billy and Tina for years.
“Billy and Tina have served their time in confinement,” Cher said in the declaration. “They deserve the chance to live out their lives in peace and dignity.”
Animal rights advocates have criticized the L.A. Zoo for decades for holding elephants in a relatively small enclosure, which they say causes serious health issues. Other celebrities who have rallied to the elephants’ cause include Lily Tomlin and the late Bob Barker.
Jewel, 61, and Shaunzi, 53, were euthanized in the last few years because of health issues that the zoo said were age-related, leaving only Billy and Tina, who live in separate enclosures in an elephant habitat of about 6.5 acres.
Zoo officials have long defended the care they provide to the elephants and did not cite any health issues in late April when they announced the transfer to the Tulsa Zoo, which recently expanded its elephant complex to include a 36,650-square-foot barn and a 10-acre wooded preserve. Billy and Tina will join five other Asian elephants there.
On Thursday before the City Council’s budget committee, L.A. Zoo Director and Chief Executive Denise Verret said she believed that Tulsa would provide “an environment where they can thrive,” citing the social benefits of living with other elephants.
The lawsuit, filed by John Kelly, an animal lover and longtime L.A. resident, names Verret as a defendant and outlines the health issues that can afflict elephants in captivity, including “zoochosis,” a mental illness caused by confinement.
Billy and Tina’s living conditions are “abysmal,” with little shade and hard-packed sand that has allegedly caused severe damage to their feet, according to the lawsuit.
“It doesn’t matter how big the zoo enclosure is, if it’s expanded or not, whether you call it a preserve or you call it an exhibit. It’s incredibly inhumane for them,” Melissa Lerner, an attorney representing Kelly, said in an interview after a news conference at the zoo’s entrance Sunday.
As far back as 2008, advocates have expressed anguish about Billy’s repetitive head-bobbing, which is a sign of brain damage, according to In Defense of Animals, which this year ranked the L.A. Zoo as No. 1 on its “10 Worst Zoos for Elephants” list for the second year in a row.
Billy is 40 years old, and Tina is 59. Billy came the L.A. Zoo when he was 4, in 1989, and Tina arrived at 44 in 2010, according to the zoo’s website. Asian elephants have a lifespan of roughly 60 years in the wild.
A spokesperson for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass did not immediately provide a comment Sunday. A zoo representative , referred questions to the city attorney’s office; a spokesperson for that office said he could not comment on pending legislation.
L.A. City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, a longtime advocate for the elephants, filed a motion last month seeking to pause their relocation until the City Council could review the possibility of sending them to a sanctuary.
At a budget committee hearing Monday, Blumenfield urged Verret to provide a report that includes the costs and benefits of the transfer to the Tulsa Zoo. He asked Verret to promise that the elephants will not be moved until the City Council could review the report and vote on it.
“What I can promise you is that I am always going to make decisions that are for the best interest of the animals at the zoo, including the elephants,” responded Verret, who was appointed by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2019.
Blumenfield again questioned Verret at the budget hearing Thursday, noting that the organization Last Chance for Animals has offered to pay to move Billy and Tina to a sanctuary.
Verret said no date has been set for the transfer and noted that the L.A. and Tulsa zoos have not signed a contract.
Kelly’s lawsuit also contends that the public and elected officials have been shut out of the decision-making. At both budget hearings, City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said that Verret has the power to move the elephants to Tulsa without the council’s approval.
On Sunday outside the L.A. Zoo, about 35 protesters, many of them from the group Los Angeles for Animals, held “Free Billy” signs and chanted “Mother’s Day is no excuse for animal abuse.” They urged visitors not to enter the zoo.
“Sweeping problems under the rug doesn’t get rid of problems,” said L.A. resident Elvia Sedano, who has been protesting at the zoo on behalf of the elephants nearly every Sunday for two years. “So we’ll be back. We’ll keep coming back until they do the right thing.”
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
In a season which became known as the year of retirements on the ATP Tour, former British number one Dan Evans had his own thoughts about how long he had left playing.
Andy Murray deciding it was the right time to stop dominated the talk in British tennis last year, while his fellow Grand Slam champions Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem also brought the curtain down on their careers in 2024.
At Wimbledon in June, Evans spoke about the awareness he had of coming towards the end of his career and the “stark reality” of not being able to compete at the same level he once did.
So it is telling Evans – who turns 35 in less than a fortnight – is still ploughing on, albeit largely on the ATP Challenger Tour which sits below the main tour.
Less than two years ago, he was ranked a career-high 21st in the world, but is now 190th after briefly dropping outside of the top 200 earlier this year.
“I’m still trying to be a tennis player, although some people are letting it known they don’t think I am.”
Evans, competing in a Challenger event in Bordeaux this week before focusing on French Open qualifying, certainly still is a tennis player.
Dropping down a level demonstrates his clear love for the sport and, perhaps, a determination to spend as much time on court as possible having been banned for a year in 2017 after testing positive for cocaine.
Making the decision to stop playing professional tennis is, for many, the hardest they will make. There is no ‘perfect’ way to say goodbye.
After 14 years playing Test matches, Virat Kohli is retiring from the national team as one of the immortals of Indian cricket.
“Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It’s tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life,” Kohli wrote on Monday in his Test retirement social media post.
“There’s something deeply personal about playing in whites. The quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no-one sees but that stay with you forever,” he added.
Here is all to know about the retirement of India’s hugely impactful batter and captain:
Why is Virat Kohli retiring from Tests?
Kohli’s declining form in the five-day format of cricket may have prompted his decision to call it a day.
After averaging close to 55 at his peak between 2011 and 2019, he could muster a batting average of just 32.56 over the past 24 months.
Kohli’s last Test was in Sydney in January when India lost the match, and with it the series 3-1, to Australia.
Apart from an unbeaten century in the second innings of the first Test in Perth, Kohli managed just 90 runs from eight innings in the five-Test series.
Kohli has previously cited mental fatigue and injuries as other reasons to consider retirement.
“As I step away from this format, it’s not easy – but it feels right. I’ve given it everything I had, and it’s given me back so much more than I could’ve hoped for,” Kohli said.
What does Virat #269 mean?
Kohli used #269 in his Instagram post while announcing his retirement on Monday.
The number denotes Kohli as the 269th player who represented India in Test cricket.
What will Kohli do next?
Kohli will continue to play for the Indian cricket team in One-Day International (ODI) matches, but with Test match commitments removed from his schedule, he will now have more time to pursue other interests outside of the game.
The 36-year-old has an expanding business empire in India. He is an active investor in large-scale fitness, hospitality and clothing companies such as Chisel fitness centre, Rage Coffee, sportswear brand One8, WROGN menswear brand and Blue Tribe, to name just a few.
He is also a global brand ambassador for multiple international companies, including Puma, Audi and Vivo.
Unlike many top cricketers, Kohli has not indicated that he will pursue a cricket commentary career, but he has repeatedly talked about giving back to the game in some form, with coaching a possible option in the future.
Once retired, will Kohli move to England?
In December 2024, it was widely reported that Kohli was planning to leave India and settle in London with his wife, actor Anushka Sharma, and their two children, daughter Vamika and son Akaay, according to his childhood cricket coach Rajkumar Yadav, who hinted at the impending move in an interview with Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran.
Cricketer Virat Kohli, left, and his wife, Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, pose for a photo during the Indian Sports Honours red carpet in Mumbai, India, on March 23, 2023 [Ashish Vaishnav/LightRocket via Getty Images]
What is Kohli’s net worth?
It has been reported that Kohli’s net worth is about 96 million pounds ($126m) from salaries, businesses and endorsement deals.
What are Kohli’s key career Test match stats?
Kohli leaves with seven double centuries, the most by an Indian player and the fourth most in Test history. Six of them came in an extraordinary 18-month, 33-innings spell from July 2016 to December 2017 – a period in which he was the number one batter in the format.
The number of Test centuries made by Kohli – only 14 players have more. He also had 31 half-centuries.
Kohli’s highest Test score was 254, made against South Africa in Pune, India, in October 2019. He finished the innings not out, and it was the last of his double centuries.
He was captain in 68 Tests, winning 40 of them – the most for an Indian captain and fourth overall in Test cricket.
The number of Test runs made by Kohli – 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85 – ranks him fourth on the all-time list of India players behind fellow greats Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar.
Kohli’s total of 692 runs in four Tests is the most by any Indian batsman in a Test series in Australia.
Virat Kohli celebrates his century on Day 3 of the first Test between Australia and India at Perth Stadium on November 24, 2024 [Izhar Khan/Getty Images]
How popular is Kohli?
Married to a Bollywood star, Kohli has 272 million followers on Instagram and 67.8 million on X – making him one of the most followed sports stars on the planet.
His popularity has been a key factor behind cricket’s return to the Olympics at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, the organisers acknowledged last year.
Reaction to Kohli’s retirement
Greg Chappell, former Australia captain:
“Kohli redefined expectations, challenged conventions, and symbolised the self-assured, unapologetic India of the 21st century,” Chappell said in a piece on ESPN CricInfo.
“His departure leaves not only a statistical void but a seismic shift in energy – for there has never been another quite like him.
“No Indian captain had ever marshalled a team to such commanding overseas dominance. And no batter since Tendulkar had so unequivocally ruled in every continent.”
Jasprit Bumrah, India bowler:
“From making my Test debut under your captaincy to reaching new heights together for our country, your passion and energy will be missed but the legacy you leave behind remains unmatched.”
Sanath Jayasuriya, former Sri Lanka captain:
“While the world celebrates your cricketing brilliance and records, what I admire most is your unwavering commitment to fitness and the sacrifices you’ve made behind the scenes.”
Yashasvi Jaiswal, India’s opening batsman:
“The impact you’ve had on test cricket, and on cricket in India as a whole, is immeasurable. To have had the chance to share the pitch with you – someone I looked up to for so many years – was more than just a privilege; it was a moment I’ll carry with me forever.”
A man who murdered a biker by deliberately ramming him with his car after seeing him do a wheelie has been jailed for life.
Abdirahman Ibrahim, 21, twice drove into Liam Jones, 22, as he rode his e-motorbike in Sheldon, Birmingham, on 1 August 2023. At Birmingham Crown Court he was given a minimum jail term of 22 years.
Mr Jones crashed into a bollard and died at the scene from his injuries.
After Ibrahim was convicted in February, police said they believed he was motivated to ram Mr Jones after seeing him showboat and wanted to “teach him a lesson”.
At the crown court on Monday, Judge Andrew Smith KC said it must have been clear to Ibrahim that Mr Jones was not wearing a helmet while riding his e-motorbike on Moat Lane.
“After careful reflection I have concluded that you did drive the car into and on Moat Lane such that you had the car available as a weapon,” he said.
The judge said Ibrahim, of Bonham Grove, Yardley, he had pursued Mr Jones and his friend in a “determined and deliberate way”.
West Midlands Police previously said Ibrahim first came across Mr Jones and a friend when they were riding their e-motorbikes on Coventry Road on 1 August 2023.
The 21-year-old started to follow the pair in his Seat Leon and CCTV footage showed the car close behind Mr Jones, who was performing a “stand-up wheelie”.
There are very few recorded interviews with Dame Agatha Christie, the world’s bestselling novelist and generally acknowledged doyenne of crime, for one simple reason: She hated speaking in public.
She often described herself as cripplingly shy — she agonized for days when a celebration for the 10th anniversary of her play “The Mousetrap” required her to give a speech — and she remained morbidly press-adverse after the media swarm that followed her famous 11-day disappearance. (Though in defense of the press, what could one expect when a notable crime writer goes missing for almost two weeks in the midst of a shattering divorce and then, when found, refuses to explain what had happened?)
In her autobiography, and through her literary avatar Ariadne Oliver, Christie often described taking great pains to avoid speaking in front of people and she (and Mrs. Oliver) particularly hated being asked questions about her writing. “I never know what to say,” Mrs. Oliver would wail, echoing sentiments expressed by Christie herself.
So when BBC Maestro announced, at the end of April, that it was launching a digital class in which an AI-resurrected Christie would offer lessons in writing, it was difficult not to be outraged. Never mind the whole “I see dead people”-ness of it all; here was a woman who was on record, multiple times and often at great length, about how much she loathed having to talk about how she did what she did in front of a bunch of people.
The creators of the series clearly anticipated such outrage. The prologue to the course features BBC Maestro Chief Executive Michael Levine and Christie’s great-grandson James Prichard, chairman and CEO of Agatha Christie Ltd., explaining the care put into the series. The script, we are assured, is rigorously based on Christie’s own words; the actor (Vivien Keene) was chosen after a year-and-a-half search; and the set (a library that houses a model of Christie’s own typewriter), the costume (a tweed suit accented by pearls, a brooch and duplicates of Christie’s engagement and wedding rings) and the hair are models of authenticity.
More important, the course has the family’s full support. “At the heart of this project was my father who knew Agatha Christie better than any person living,” Prichard says. “At times he was astounded by how similar to his grandmother this version was. And my view,” he adds with a mildly challenging air, “is that if he can enjoy this project, we can all enjoy it.”
Agatha Christie autographing French editions of her books, circa 1950.
(Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
Challenge accepted.
Keeping in mind Christie’s fascination with disguise and advanced technology, as well as a passage in her autobiography in which she wishes a friend with more confidence could step in as a substitute during author interviews, I put my fears aside and ponied up $89 for the two-and-a-half-hour class.
Which is so respectful I found myself, at more than a few points in the 12 sections, wanting to scream.
We meet Keene’s Christie behind a desk, and there she stays, smiling and nodding as she walks us through her thoughts on her craft (including, in the introduction, her aversion to offering them).
Christie’s autobiography is a doorstop. Thoughts about writing, her characters and her career run through it, but they rarely take up more than two consecutive pages. Christie historian Mark Aldridge has done a remarkable job of mining it, as well as other writings, to create a genuine tutorial with an admirable script.
Yes, Christie offers the typical anodyne advice — write what you know and the type of book you enjoy reading — but she also gets very granular. A murder mystery is best at 50,000 words, the murderer and important clues must be introduced very early on, settings should be described thoroughly but economically (“sometimes a map works best”) and one must never give into an editor who spells cocoa as “coco.”
In portions that include “characters,” “plots,” “settings” and “clues,” Christie assesses some of her work. She came to think that her first book, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles,” was over-stuffed with plot, but remained irritated by those who claimed that the twist in “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” was a cheat. She wished she had introduced Hercule Poirot as a younger man, and was very happy to ditch Hastings for a while.
She discusses the importance of observation in everyday life, describing, among other things, how an encounter in front of a shop window led to one of her Parker Pyne stories, as well as the usefulness of isolated settings (“snow can also weigh down telephone wires”) and second (or third) murders.
In the opening minutes, it’s kind of neat to see what looks very much like a midlife Christie, smiling and talking in her very British way (the voice is not precise but close enough).
Still, there is no getting away from the fact that this is a two-and-a-half-hour lecture, delivered by a woman sitting behind a desk who, with the exception of a very few hand gestures, never moves. The camera moves, shooting her from this angle and that, and occasionally roving over various covers of Christie’s books. But Christie’s body remains as still as the late Queen Elizabeth II delivering her Christmas address.
I began to feel quite concerned for Keene — just how long were these takes? She delivers a vocally expressive performance and gives the digitally recreated face the necessary intelligence, wit and kindliness. The face itself looked fine — a bit glowy at times and immobile around the eyes — but its novelty quickly wore off. I would have happily traded what is essentially a parlor trick for a Christie who would get up and walk around a bit. Have a cup of tea, flip through a notebook.
Actor Vivien Keene’s voice and face were altered to create Agatha Christie’s likeness.
(BBC Maestro)
I realize that it is a course, and one I did not have to go through in one sitting. But as the first hour slid into the second, I found myself longing for someone, Aldridge perhaps, to mine Christie’s exquisite autobiography more broadly and create an entire one-woman play. An evening with Agatha, free of AI, in which Christie could reminisce about her extraordinary life, from her glorious Victorian childhood to her later years as an archaeologist.
Though known as the creator of the manor-house murder story, Christie was, as her books indicate, a voracious world traveler, learning how to surf before surfing was a thing, and dealing with adventures and misadventures (including a 14-hour honeymoon trek by camel and a hideous case of bed bugs on the Orient Express) that would give even the most intrepid travel influencer pause.
She lived through two world wars, experienced wildly unexpected success and deep personal loss. She endured a heartbreaking divorce and a nervous breakdown, while raising a daughter and writing books, only to rally again and find love again in the most unexpected place.
She wasn’t a saint — her work occasionally includes the racist, antisemitic and classist tropes of its time — but she avowed fascism as often as her more political contemporaries and believed, as she says in the course, that she lived in contract with her readers for whom she had the utmost respect.
She was a celebrity who never behaved as a celebrity, an artist who never admitted to art (and wrote her books on any steady surface, including orange crates and washstands), a novelist like no other who also wrote the longest-running play in history and whose work continues to sell while being adapted in film and television. Her contribution to the culture is literally incalculable.
So surely she deserves more than a course that makes news mainly because of its use of dreaded AI. She’s Agatha-freaking-Christie. Give her a movie, a miniseries, a play. Give her an actor who worries less about the face and more about the words, and the life that inspired them.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — As a trade war sparked by President Trump’s tariffs stokes worry and uncertainty in the global economy, Puerto Rico sees an opportunity.
Government officials in the U.S. territory are jumping on planes to try to persuade international companies to relocate their manufacturing plants to the island, where they would be exempt from tariffs.
Any relocation would be a boost to Puerto Rico’s shaky economy as the government emerges from a historic bankruptcy and continues to struggle with chronic power outages. The island also is bracing for potentially big cuts in federal funding under the Trump administration, with federal funds accounting for more than half of Puerto Rico’s budget.
“The tariff issue is a controversial one, but for Puerto Rico, it’s a great opportunity,” said Gov. Jenniffer González.
Manufacturing remains the island’s biggest industry, representing nearly half of its gross domestic product. But the government wants to recapture Puerto Rico’s heyday, when dozens of big-name companies, especially in the pharmaceutical sector, were based here and kept the economy humming.
So far, officials have identified between 75 and 100 companies that might consider relocating operations to Puerto Rico given the ongoing trade war, said Ella Woger-Nieves, chief executive of Invest Puerto Rico, a public-private partnership that promotes the island as a business and investment destination.
The companies identified work in sectors including aerospace, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
Officials also have welcomed site selectors to Puerto Rico and organized tours to show them the island’s infrastructure and emphasize that tariffs wouldn’t apply here.
“This is the moment to plant those seeds,” Woger-Nieves said.
She said officials with Invest Puerto Rico and various government agencies are expected to make nearly 20 more trips this year in a bid to attract more manufacturing. The government praised an executive order that Trump signed May 5 that aims to reduce the time it takes to approve construction of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the U.S.
From needlework to chemicals
In the mid-1900s, needlework was one of Puerto Rico’s largest industries, employing about 7,000 workers who labored on handkerchiefs, underwear, bedspreads and other items, according to a 1934 fair competition code signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Manufacturing later shifted to chemicals, clothes and electronics. By the late 1970s, a growing number of pharmaceutical companies began moving their operations to Puerto Rico, lured by a federal tax incentive created in 1976 to help boost the island’s economic growth. However, in 1996, the U.S. government began phasing out the incentive, which had exempted the subsidiaries of U.S. companies operating in Puerto Rico from federal taxes on local profits.
From 1995 to 2005, overall manufacturing employment fell by nearly 30%, but employment in the sectors of pharmaceuticals, medicines and chemicals increased by at least 10%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Puerto Rico continues to lead U.S. exports of pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing, representing nearly 20% of total U.S. exports in 2020, according to the bureau.
In 2024, the island exported nearly $25 billion worth of goods, including $11 billion in vaccines and certain cultures; $7 billion worth of packaged medicaments; $1 billion in hormones; $984 million in orthopedic items; and $625 million worth of medical instruments, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
Sergio Marxuach, policy director and general counsel for the Center for a New Economy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, said the push to attract more companies makes sense, especially recruiting those in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.
“If I were advising the government, begin there, because you already have a footprint,” he said.
Marxuach noted that outside of those areas, Puerto Rico could have an advantage when it comes to national defense and security contracts, including the manufacturing of drones or underwater surveillance systems.
“They need a place to manufacture in scale,” he said, adding that doing so in a U.S. jurisdiction is key.
Puerto Rico’s government also is meeting with university officials to potentially change curriculums if needed to ensure students are graduating with the skills required by companies.
The Achilles’ heel
Puerto Rico touts its U.S. jurisdiction, tax incentives and skilled workforce as reasons international companies should relocate to the island.
But it cannot escape its well-known energy problems.
Chronic power outages continue to plague Puerto Rico, with two island-wide blackouts occurring, on Dec. 31 and April 16.
Crews are still repairing the power grid after it was razed by Hurricane Maria in September 2017, a powerful Category 4 storm. But the grid was already fragile from lack of maintenance and investment for decades.
“Puerto Rico needs more reliable energy for the economic growth to improve,” said Robert F. Mujica, executive director of a federal control board that oversees the island’s finances.
Woger-Nieves, of Invest Puerto Rico, said that when officials meet with company leaders, they explain the state of the island’s energy infrastructure and offer alternatives including cogeneration and renewables.
“Power doesn’t have to necessarily be an impediment,” she said.
Marxuach, with the Center for a New Economy, said Puerto Rico’s energy system is costly and inefficient, and he noted that alternatives can be expensive.
“Puerto Rico has to address some issues that actually create additional costs for investors to come here,” he said.
One of those costs is that any goods sent to the U.S. from Puerto Rico must by law be sent aboard a U.S.-flagged vessel with a U.S. crew.
Other challenges remain.
Currently, the short-term reaction of many CEOs and companies “is basically to wait and see” how the tariff war plays out, Marxuach said.
Trump has said that he wants to keep some tariffs in place, but he also has mentioned efforts to reach deals with trading partners. His team said Trump is using “strategic uncertainty” to his advantage.
Another problem is that relocating operations takes years, not months, and foreign competitors also are vying for the attention of international companies.
“We’re competing with Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, that have very advanced manufacturing facilities already,” Marxuach said. “It’s not a slam dunk.”
Austin Reaves is the Lakers’ breath of fresh air, a sharpshooting respite from all the drama and dirge, a stirring journey from undrafted to indefatigable. My favorite, everybody’s favorite.
But it’s time.
If the Lakers are going to get where they need to be, they’ll have to get there without Austin Reaves. If the Lakers truly value the acquisition of a big man, they’re going to have to get rid of the little fella.
Damn, I hate writing these next three words.
Trade Austin Reaves.
Send him packing in a deal that brings the Lakers the sort of lob partner and rim protector whose absence knocked you out of the postseason. Use him as the most attractive asset that could lure the sort of behemoth that could help this group bully their way back into contention.
You say you want to build around Luka Doncic? Start with uprooting Reaves.
No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 4 Denver Nuggets Denver 121, at Oklahoma City 119 (box score) at Oklahoma City 149, Denver 106 (box score) at Denver 113, Oklahoma City 104 (OT) (box score) Oklahoma City 92, at Denver 87 (box score) Tuesday at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m., TNT Thursday at Denver, TBD, ESPN Sunday at Oklahoma City, TBD*
No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. No. 7 Golden State Golden State 99, at Minnesota 88 (box score) at Minnesota 117, Golden State 93 (box score) Minnesota 102, at Golden State 97 (box score) Monday at Golden State, 7 p.m., ESPN Wednesday at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m., TNT Sunday at Golden State, TBD* Tuesday, May 20 at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN*
Eastern Conference
No. 1 Cleveland vs. No. 4 Indiana Indiana 121, at Cleveland 112 (box score) Indiana 120, at Cleveland 119 (box score) Cleveland 126, at Indiana 104 (box score) at Indiana 129, Cleveland 109 (box score) Tuesday at Cleveland, 4 p.m., TNT Thursday at Indiana, TBD* Sunday at Cleveland, TBD*
No. 2 Boston vs. No. 3 New York New York 108, at Boston 105 (OT) (box score) New York 91, at Boston 90 (box score) Boston 115, at New York 93 (box score) Monday at New York, 4:30 p.m., ESPN Wednesday at Boston, 4 p.m., TNT Friday at New York, TBD, ESPN* Monday, May 19 at Boston, 5 p.m., TNT*
*if necessary
DODGERS
From Jack Harris: At the end of a grueling 10-game trek around the country, and in search of their first winning trip this season, the Dodgers got exactly what they needed Sunday afternoon.
A strong start from right-hander Tony Gonsolin. A huge performance from the top of their lineup. And a thorough 8-1 rout of the Arizona Diamondbacks, splitting a four-game series at Chase Field this weekend to return home from this week-and-a-half-long trip with a 6-4 record that keeps them in first place in the National League West.
“Really good team win,” manager Dave Roberts said.
In a battle of two former All-Stars on Sunday, Gonsolin outdueled Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen, tossing five scoreless innings to earn his second win in three starts since returning from Tommy John surgery — and a back injury that forced him to miss the first month of the season — this year.
“His delivery looks really good,” Roberts said of Gonsolin, who has a 2.80 ERA in his first three starts this season while looking much closer to the 2022 All-Star version of himself than he did while pitching through his elbow injury in 2023.
Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run homer during Baltimore’s four-run sixth inning, and Maverick Handley got his first two career RBIs in the Orioles’ 7-3 victory over the Angels on Sunday.
Zach Eflin (3-1) pitched five innings of two-run ball in his return from a monthlong injury absence for the Orioles, who took two of three in this weekend series between last-place clubs. Baltimore finished its trip by winning for only the second time in eight games.
Matthew Lugo hit his first career homer as a pinch-hitter in the ninth for the Angels, who went 4-6 on their 10-game homestand.
Tyler Anderson (2-1) yielded one earned run over five innings for the Angels, who committed two errors and several other fielding gaffes.
From Anthony De Leon: Even on Mother’s Day — the day dedicated to relaxation and pampering for moms — the Sparks will take the hardwood in Torrance, sweating through defensive sets, refining footwork and hitting jumpers.
It’ll be a shortened practice, but practice nonetheless. There’s no time to pause. The WNBA season opener is less than a week away. The grind of pro basketball never lets up, and neither does the grind of motherhood.
Odyssey Sims’ latter role often kicks in when she steps off the court. When the final whistle sounds, her 5-year-old son, Jaiden, usually waits nearby — her best friend, “Mama’s baby.” He shares her wide grin. They move as one, even at the Sparks’ training camp.
“I’m used to bringing my son with me all the time,” Sims said. “He loves coming to the gym. … He has his moments where he’s like, ‘Mom, I’m ready to go.’ I’m like, ‘Son, it’s 10 o’clock, we haven’t even started.’”
UCLA earned a No. 9 NCAA softball national seed and will host a regional during its first season as a Big Ten member.
The Bruins (49-10, 17-5 Big Ten) lost to Michigan 2-0 in the Big Ten tournament title game, but still earned the right to host the Los Angeles Regional. UCLA is making a record 40th appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Regional No. 2 seed Arizona State, Regional No. 3 seed San Diego State and Regional No. 4 seed UC Santa Barbara also earn bids in UCLA’s regional, with the Regional No. 1 seed Bruins playing UC Santa Barbara at 4:30 p.m. PDT Friday (ESPN+) and Arizona State playing San Diego State at 7 p.m. Friday (ESPN2).
Texas A&M earned the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I softball tournament on Sunday, edging four-time defending national champion Oklahoma for the top spot and leading seven Southeastern Conference teams seeded in the top eight.
Brian White scored on a header in the 70th minute and the Vancouver Whitecaps rallied to tie LAFC2-2 on Sunday to extend their unbeaten streak to 11 games across all competitions.
The Whitecaps (8-1-3) lead all MLS teams with 27 points and hold a five-point edge over Minnesota in the Western Conference. They are 6-0-5 during the streak.
On the tying goal, second-half substitution Ali Ahmed headed the ball into the center of the box and White headed it into the net. White also scored in the 26th minute to pull Vancouver within a goal.
From Kevin Baxter: Nareg Dekermenjian had Mother’s Day brunch with the Stanley Cup, which caused more than a little anxiety since no one was sure what hockey’s championship trophy liked to eat.
“I’m thinking all-meat diet for the Stanley Cup,” Dekermenjian said before sliding into a large corner booth at Stanley’s Restaurant (no relation to the Cup) in Sherman Oaks. “Anything less than that, I’m going to be very, very disappointed.”
As it turned out, the Cup was fasting so the plate in front of it remained empty. But then the trophy wasn’t the one being feted Sunday, Dekermenjian was. Last week he was named the winner of the NHL’s Future Goals Most Valuable Teacher Program, chosen from a field of hundreds of candidates from 31 of the league’s 32 cities.
For the fifth-grade teacher, who left a well-paying job as a financial advisor for a classroom four years ago, being honored by a visit from the Stanley Cup was a full-circle moment in several ways. For starters, it was an acknowledgment of the role hockey played in helping him adapt to his new country after his father, Edward, a jeweler in Lebanon who spoke only broken English, wagered everything when he left Beirut for the West Valley so his three children could have a chance at a better life.
Dekermenjian, the youngest, was just 5 and he immediately had trouble fitting in.
“Making friends or having some kind of link with the kids my age, coming from a different country, that was really different,” he said. So one day his mother, Zovig, pushed him out the door to join some neighborhood kids in a street-hockey game.
“I’m glad I did,” Zovig said Sunday. The game, it turned out, would change everything.
Pacific 1 Vegas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton Edmonton 4, at Vegas 2 (summary) Edmonton 5, at Vegas 4 (OT) (summary) Vegas 4, at Edmonton 3 (summary) Monday at Edmonton, 6:30 p.m., TNT Wednesday at Vegas, 6:30 p.m., ESPN Friday at Edmonton, TBD, TNT* Sunday at Vegas, TBD, TNT*
C1 Winnipeg vs. C2 Dallas Dallas 3, at Winnipeg 2 (summary) Winnipeg 4, at Dallas 0 (summary) Dallas 5, at Winnipeg 2 (summary) Tuesday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN Thursday at Winnipeg, 6:30 p.m., TNT Saturday at Dallas, TBD* Monday, May 19 at Winnipeg, TBD, ESPN*
Eastern Conference
Atlantic 1 Toronto vs. Atlantic 3 Florida at Toronto 5, Florida 4 (summary) at Toronto 4, Florida 3 (summary) at Florida 5, Toronto 4 (OT) (summary) at Florida 2, Toronto 0 (summary) Wednesday at Toronto, 4 p.m., ESPN* Friday at Florida, TBD, TNT Sunday at Toronto, TBD, TNT*
Metro 1 Washington vs. Metro 2 Carolina Carolina 2, at Washington 1 (OT) (summary) at Washington 3, Carolina 1 (summary) at Carolina 4, Washington 0 (summary) Monday at Carolina, 4 p.m., TNT Thursday at Washington, 4 p.m., TNT Saturday at Carolina, TBD* Monday, May 19 at Washington, TBD, ESPN*
* If necessary
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1909 — The Preakness Stakes is held in Maryland after 16 runnings in New York. As part of the celebration marking the return of the Preakness, the colors of the race’s winner were painted onto the ornamental weather vane at Pimlico Racecourse for the first time.
1917 — Omar Khayyam, ridden by Charles Borel, becomes the first foreign-bred (England) colt to win the Kentucky Derby with a 2-length victory over Ticket.
1924 — Walter Hagen wins the PGA championship with a 2-up victory over Jim Barnes.
1973 — 6th ABA championship: Indiana Pacers beat Ky Colonels, 4 games to 3.
1974 — The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks 102-87 to win the NBA championship in seven games.
1976 — 20th European Cup: Bayern Munich beats Saint-Etienne 1-0 at Glasgow.
1979 — Chris Evert’s 125-match winning streak on clay comes to an end when she loses to Tracy Austin in the semifinals of the Italian Open.
1980 — West Ham United wins the FA Cup, beating Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley Stadium; midfield playmaker Trevor Brooking scores winner with a rare header.
1982 — FC Barcelona of Spain win 22nd European Cup Winner’s Cup against Standard Liège of Belgium 2-1 in Barcelona.
1993 — Parma of Italy win 33rd European Cup Winner’s Cup against Royal Antwerp of Belgium 3-1 in London.
1995 — Martin Brodeur ties NHL record getting his 3rd playoff shutout in 4 games.
1996 — LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, DuPont CC: England’s Laura Davies wins by 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Julie Piers.
1996 — A three-way dead heat is run at Yakima (Wash.) Meadows, the 20th such finish in thoroughbred racing history there. In the day’s third race, a trio of $8,000 claimers — Fly Like A Angel, Allihaveonztheradio and Terri After Five — hit the wire together after a one-mile race.
2001 — English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (72,500): Liverpool beats Arsenal, 2-1 with Michael Owen scoring twice for the Reds.
2006 — Laure Manaudou of France breaks Janet Evans’ 18-year-old world record in the 400-meter freestyle, finishing in 4:03.03 at the French national swimming championships. Manaudou beats the time of 4:03.85 set by Evans in winning the 400-meter freestyle at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
2006 — Justin Gatlin breaks the 100-meter world record with a time of 9.76 seconds at the Qatar Grand Prix. A week later, the International Association of Athletics Federations announces a timing error gave Gatlin a time of 9.76 seconds. His time of 9.766 seconds, should have been manually rounded up to 9.77, tying Asafa Powell’s world mark of 9.77.
2010 — Montreal follows up a monumental upset by pulling off another. The Canadiens, who eliminated the Washington Capitals, beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Montreal accomplishes what no team had done since the current playoffs format was adopted in 1994. And that is beat the Presidents’ Trophy winner and defending Stanley Cup champion in successive rounds as an eighth-seeded team.
2010 — Kelly Kulick, the first woman to win a PBA Tour title when she beat the men in January in the Tournament of Champions, wins the U.S. Women’s Open for her second women’s major victory in 15 days. Kulick beats Liz Johnson of 233-203 in the final.
2013 — Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the Madrid Open to retain her No. 1 ranking and collect her 50th career title.
2013 — PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Tiger Woods wins his second PC, 2 strokes ahead of David Lingmerth, Jeff Maggert and Kevin Streelman.
2014 — LeBron James ties his playoff career high with 49 points, Chris Bosh makes the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 57 seconds left, and the Miami Heat beat the Brooklyn Nets 102-96 for a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
2019 — Manchester City beats Brighton, 4-1 to claim back-to-back English Premier League titles with 98 points, 1 ahead of runners-up, Liverpool.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1910 — Chief Bender of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 4-0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.
1926 — Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators records his 400th career win when he defeats the St. Louis Browns, 7-4.
1937 — St. Louis’ Joe Medwick hit two home runs and two doubles to lead the Cardinals to a 15-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
1955 — Sam “Toothpick” Jones of the Cubs got a no-hitter the hard way. In the ninth inning against Pittsburgh, he walked the bases full and then struck out the next three batters for a 4-0 victory.
1956 — Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 3-0 no-hitter against the New York Giants.
1958 — Willie Mays hits the first grand slam in the history of the San Francisco Giants.
1966 — Lou Brock’s RBI single in the 12th inning gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-3 victory over Atlanta in the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium. Felipe Alou hit two home runs for the Braves.
1969 — Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals becomes the seventh pitcher in National League history to strike out the side on nine pitches.
1970 — Ernie Banks hit his 500th home run off Pat Jarvis in Chicago’s 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Wrigley Field.
1989 — Rick Reuschel of the San Francisco Giants records his 200th major league win, beating Montreal, 2-1.
1999 — Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez strikes out 15 batters for the second consecutive game in a 9-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
2000 — Boston’s Pedro Martinez, who had 17 strikeouts in his last start May 6 against Tampa Bay, struck out 15 in a 9-0 win over Baltimore, to tie an AL record set in 1968 by Cleveland’s Luis Tiant for most strikeouts over two games.
2001 — A.J. Burnett pitched an unlikely no-hitter — overcoming a record nine walks — to lead Florida over San Diego 3-0.
2004 — In one of the most remarkable at-bats in major league history, Alex Cora of the Dodgers fouls off 14 consecutive pitches and then hits the 18th pitch over the right field fence for a two-run home run off Cubs pitcher Matt Clement.
2008 — Indians second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in major league history, accomplishing the feat in the second game of a doubleheader against Toronto. Cabrera made a diving catch on a line drive by Lyle Overbay, touched second base and then tagged out Marco Scutaro to quickly end the fifth inning of Cleveland’s 3-0 loss in 10 innings.
2009 — Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 30 games, getting a first-inning single in the Washington Nationals’ 9-7 loss to San Francisco.
2010 — Homer Bailey became the latest Cincinnati Reds starter to pitch a gem against the Pittsburgh Pirates, tossing his first career complete game in a 5-0 win. The Reds became the first team in the majors in nearly 10 years to pitch back-to-back, complete-game shutouts without a walk — Oakland’s Tim Hudson and Barry Zito did it on Sept. 9-10, 2000, against Tampa Bay.
2015 — The Mariners tie a team record by hitting six homers in an 11-4 win over the Padres at Safeco Field. Nelson Cruz hits his major league-leading 15th home run, while Mike Zunino hits two, and Kyle Seager, Justin Ruggiano and Logan Morrison complete the barrage.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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Pakistani children ride a motorcycle on their way to class in Peshawar, northern Pakistan, on Monday morning after schools reopened a little more than 36 hours after a Pakistan-India truce ended three days of cross-border clashes that killed scores of people. Photo by Blilawal Arbab/EPA-EFE
May 12 (UPI) — Indian and Pakistani officials were scheduled to hold direct talks Monday to build on a U.S.-brokered cease-fire between the nuclear-armed Asian rivals that came into force over the weekend.
The phone call between the Directors General of Military Operations of both countries came as the cease-fire held into a second day after both sides accused each other of violations during the intial hours of the truce and authorites in India and Pakistan reopened airports and schools shuttered due to worries regards safety.
Celebrations were held in both countries with each claiming the other side had been forced to back down after India triggered three days of military clashes by launching strikes against Pakistan in what it said was retaliation for the massacre of 26 Indian tourists by militants in Indian-administered Kashmir in April.
Pakistan said it remained “committed to faithful implementation of cease-fire” while the Indian army told a news conference Sunday that it had warned Islamabad about breaches of the cease-fire via a hotline of “our firm and clear intent to respond to these fiercely.”
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday heaped praise on the administrations of India and Pakistan for showing the strength and wisdom to pull back from the brink and promised to reward both “great nations” with enhanced trading opportunities with the United States.
“Millions of good and innocent people could have died! Your legacy is greatly enhanced by your brave actions. I am proud that the USA was able to help you arrive at this historic and heroic decision,” he wrote on his Truth Social media platform.
“Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a ‘thousand years,’ a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir. God Bless the leadership of India and Pakistan on a job well done!!!”
Clashes in Kashmir along the Line of Control have killed 35-40 Pakistan Armed Forces troops, according to the Indian Army while Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said his country’s forces had killed 40-50 Indian troops on the de facto border dividing Kashmir.
Both sides claim their civilians have been killed and injured by shelling and aerial strikes.
Pakistan said strikes by Indian warplanes and drones resulted in the deaths of at least 31 civilians with another 46 injured. At least 13 have been killed in India amid widespread damage from shelling.
