embrace

JAMES Van Der Beek’s heartbreaking last moments with close pal Alfonso Ribeiro shows the pair hugging with their heads touching.

Fresh Prince of Bel Air actor Alfonso shared the snap to his Instagram on Thursday, a day after the Dawson’s Creek star died aged 48.

Taking to Instagram, he revealed that he was by his friend’s side while in hospital shortly before his death.

“This was taken by Kimberly a few minutes before I said my last goodbye,” he wrote.

In the heartbreaking photo, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star is seen holding Van Der Beek’s head as he lies in bed.

The pair touch foreheads and have their eyes closed – with the sick Van Der Beek wearing a cream beanie pulled low.

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Their final moments together were filled with laughter, sharing, “My last moment was making him laugh one last time.”

A lengthier tribute on Ribeiro’s Instagram described Van Der Beek as his “true friend, brother and life guide” who will “live forever in my heart.”

He wrote: “I‘m so broken right now with the passing of my friend James Van Der Beek today.

“He was my true friend brother and life guide. I was with him through this horrible journey to beat cancer.

“His family and friends went on this roller coaster ride. The highs when it looked like he had it beat to the breaking lows of it coming back.

“I’ve learned so much from James. He and Kimberly Van Der Beek changed my life. I will forever be in debt for all they’ve given me and my family.

“He will live forever in my heart. I will always be there for their children. I will always hold my role as Gwen’s Goddie daddy as one of the most important roles of my life.

“I love you James and know I have a guardian angel watching over me. Being able to say goodbye this weekend will always live with me. RIP my brother. RIP.“

Van Der Beek revealed his diagnosis publicly in November 2024, telling PEOPLE Magazine that he had been “privately dealing” with it and had been taking steps to resolve it.

“There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good,” he said at the time.

The TV and film star spent the last few years of his life advocating for early health screenings to help spread awareness, and even mentioned the importance of being proactive in the final video he posted less than one month before his death.

By the end of his life, the noughties heartthrob was physically weakened, but his mind remained resolute, and his wisdom moved his many friends and fans.

A source told the Mail: “James was on hospice for several weeks and he was rail thin when he passed.

“He was mostly in bed because he was very weak, and he was not eating.

“He was in hospice, they held his hand and were there for him, of course, but it has been hard because James was so ill, he was weak.

“He had so much charisma, he was a wonderful soul, and his presence is missed. Those poor little kids.”

Van Der Beek leaves behind his wife, Kimberly, and six children – Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 12. Emilia, nine, Gwendolyn, seven, and Jeremiah, four.

MILAN — Spread across more than 265 miles in four different cities from the snowy Dolomites to the sunny — for now — streets of Milan, the Milan-Cortina Olympics delivered one message.

Unity.

The most widespread Olympic Games in history showcased Italy’s idyllic snow-capped mountains, cutting-edge city life and celebrated winter legacy in the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Games on Friday. The unique setup that required four ceremonies in Milan, Livigno, Predazzo and Cortina d’Ampezzo used movie magic on video screens, a golden ring and Italian icon Andrea Bocelli to bridge the distance between host cities Milan and Cortina and unite the Olympics behind the athletes who will compete across seven sports zones in the next 16 days.

“Let these Games be a celebration of what unites us, of everything that makes us human,” International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry said in her speech, her first at an Olympic Games under her leadership. “This is the magic of the Olympic Games: inspiring us all to be the best that we can be — together.”

Lucas Pinheiro waves Brazil’s flag while leading his teammates during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics at San Siro Stadium in Milan on Friday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The theme for Milan-Cortina’s opening ceremony was armonia, or harmony. The Games needed it.

These Olympics appear to be the most disconnected ever. The sprawling footprint covers seven different competition zones. The 2026 Games are the first to be officially hosted by two cities.

But the geographical distance is small compared to the geopolitical canyon the Games hope to bridge.

The ongoing war in Ukraine is keeping most Russian athletes out of the competition. Only 32 athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports were allowed and will have to compete as individual neutral athletes. They will not hear their national anthems or wear their national flags. Ukrainian athletes marched into San Siro Stadium — where athletes competing in ice sports participated in the opening ceremony — to loud cheers.

When talk of protest or political conflict arose this week, Coventry tried to downplay it to keep the focus on the Games. She called controversy about LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman and ICE agents in Milan “sad” distractions. The United States was at the center of much of the contention after reports concerning the presence of U.S. immigration agents in Milan prompted anti-ICE protests. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee tried to cool tensions by clarifying that the organization does work with the federal government to help secure the Games, but the USOPC works with the Diplomatic Security Service, which falls under the jurisdiction of the State Department and not Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.

President Trump’s recent comments about the United States taking control of Greenland from Denmark also angered European allies.

On Friday, an American fan walked around the concourse at San Siro Stadium in a sweatshirt that read in multiple languages: “Sorry for our president.”

When Vice President JD Vance, sitting in the presidential suite, was shown on the video screen at San Siro, the cheers that showered U.S. athletes when they entered the stadium turned into jeers. Vance attended multiple events this week, including the U.S. women’s hockey’s group stage opener Thursday and the team figure skating competition Friday.

Flag bearer Erin Jackson of Team USA walks with her teammates during Friday’s opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The 323-athlete U.S. delegation led by flag bearers speedskater Erin Jackson in Milan and bobsled athlete Frank Del Duca in Cortina was the largest in the nation’s Winter Olympics history and the largest of any country at the Milan-Cortina Games.

Athletes marched into Milan’s San Siro Stadium, the home of AC Milan and Inter Milan, across a spiral-shaped stage. The four ramps converging into a circle represented the connection between Milan, Livigno, Predazzo and Cortina.

Even if athletes of a country were not competing in Milan and were unable to attend the opening ceremony, a sign-holding volunteer dressed in a silver floor-length puffer dress strutted across the stage while screens showed athletes marching in during ceremonies at other Olympic locations around Italy.

In Cortina, a Brazilian athlete did a backflip after talking through a golden ring portal, a shared symbol at each ceremony. While Olympians in Milan walked into a packed stadium with flashing lights and thumping techno music played by a DJ at a turntable that looked like ice, the mountain ceremonies took place through the streets. Fans assembled on either side of the walkway for the parade of athletes.

Dancers perform during the Milan-Cortina Olympics opening ceremony Friday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

The ceremony hit on the quintessential northern Italian experience. A plate of risotto was among the first images shown on the video board in the countdown video as the ceremony approached, followed by the picturesque snowy peaks of the Dolomites. As a fashion capital of the world, Milan used runway models dressed in green, white and red outfits designed by Giorgia Armani to represent the Italian flag. There was even a two-minute video on Italian hand gestures.

Italy, as the host nation, marched in last to deafening applause and cheers from the crowd in Milan. In about two years, the United States will have the honor of closing the parade of athletes when L.A. hosts the 2028 Summer Games. The opening ceremony is also planned to take place in multiple locations, with the Coliseum and SoFi Stadium co-hosting the event.

To unite the Italian host cities, the Olympic flame was passed out of the stadium as Bocelli belted and the torch simultaneously reached two cauldrons in each city. In Milan, the pulsating cauldron inspired by the sun will burn at Arco della Pace. In Cortina, it will light up Piazza Angelo Dibona.

Call them twin flames.

Airports use technology for passenger flow, baggage tracking and predictive maintenance to enhance efficiency and experience.

As global air passenger traffic is forecast to hit 10.2 billion in 2026, a 3.9 percent year-on-year increase, investments have been pouring in to improve airport infrastructure and operational efficiency and use artificial intelligence to achieve it.

Working with data released by Airport Council International, airports are relying on the increasing use of AI to embrace the rise in demand.

AI is now being embedded in airports’ workflows to reshape everything from passenger flow management to airside maintenance, cybersecurity, lost luggage and enhancing on-site and virtual customer experiences, according to analysts and experts at the Airport AI Exchange event this month during discussions of the technology’s existing use and its potential.  

The use of AI-powered analytics to anticipate congestion at security, immigration and boarding points is also helping to prevent delays. Resources are being allocated to shift from reactive crowd management to predictive operations.

AI-powered baggage optimisation tools and biometric processing – which would allow passengers to walk through immigration without the need to present a physical passport – are also gaining traction as airports seek to improve passenger experience while maintaining operational efficiency.

“AI started changing very rapidly in 2017 and initiated this entire AI race and enabled us to really use AI, the neural network that we talked about and heard about since the 1940s,” Amad Malik, chief AI officer at Airport AI Exchange, said.

“Since then, the progressions have been very, very steep. If you look at the curve from the first day to now, AI is able to do so much more. In only the last two years, the ability has grown exponentially.”

What are airports using AI for?

In addition to quicker immigration controls, analysts said AI is aiding automated check-ins and boardings, baggage handling and tracking, and predictive maintenance. It is also enhancing passenger experience, providing security screening, and offering personalised services and assistance, they said.

AI-powered analytics can enable airports to tailor services and experiences to individual passenger preferences, fostering a more personalised and efficient journey from check-in to boarding, according to Mahmood AlSeddiqi, former vice president of IT for the Bahrain Airport Company.

While insights shared at the Airport AI Exchange suggested AI has advanced at an exponential pace over the past few years, some argue that aviation’s adoption of the technology has remained comparatively limited.

“AI has progressed exponentially over the past few years, but compared to that curve, aviation’s use of AI is still negligible,” said Malik, adding that that gap is partly explained by the sector’s reliance on legacy systems and its inherently cautious operating model.

Much of the technology still underpinning aviation operations dates back decades and innovation is often slowed by the industry’s safety-critical nature, he said.

“When you’re dealing with people’s lives, safety and regulation outweigh speed of innovation,” Malik noted.