NEW YORK — There's a Christmas Day basketball game at Walt Disney World, featuring Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Wemby. An animated game, anyway. The real game takes place at Madison Square Garden, where Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs face the New York Knicks in a game televised on ABC and ESPN and streamed on Disney+ and ESPN+. The special alt-cast, the first animated presentation of an NBA game, will be shown on ESPN2 and also stream on Disney+ and ESPN+. Madison Square Garden is a staple of the NBA's Christmas schedule. Now it merges with a bigger home of the holidays, because the "Dunk the Halls" game will be staged at Disney, on a court set up right smack in the middle of where countless families have posed for vacation photos. Why that location? Because it was Mickey Mouse's Christmas wish. "Basketball courts often have the ability to make a normal environment look special, but in Disney it can only turn out incredible," Wembanyama said in an ESPN video promoting his Christmas debut. The story — this is Disney, after all — begins with Mickey penning a letter to Santa Claus, asking if he and his pals can host a basketball game. They'll not only get to watch one with NBA players, but some of them will even get to play. Goofy and Donald Duck will sub in for a couple Knicks players, while Mickey and Minnie Mouse will come on to play for the Spurs. "It looks to me like Goofy and Jalen Brunson have a really good pick-and-roll at the elite level," said Phil Orlins, an ESPN vice president of production. Walt Disney World hosted real NBA games in 2020, when the league set up there to complete its season that had been suspended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those games were played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. The setting for the Christmas game will be Main Street USA, at the entrance of the Magic Kingdom. Viewers will recognize Cinderella's castle behind one baseline and the train station at the other end, and perhaps some shops they have visited in between. Previous alternate animated broadcasts included an NFL game taking place in Andy's room from "Toy Story;" the "NHL Big City Greens Classic" during a game between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers; and earlier this month, another NFL matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys also taking place at Springfield's Atoms Stadium as part of "The Simpsons Funday Football." Unlike basketball, the players are helmeted in those sports. So, this telecast required an extra level of detail and cooperation with players and teams to create accurate appearances of their faces and hairstyles. "So, this is a level of detail that we've never gone, that we've never done on any other broadcast," said David Sparrgrove, the senior director of creative animation for ESPN. Wembanyama, the 7-foot-3 phenom from France who was last season's NBA Rookie of the Year, looks huge even among most NBA players. The creators of the alternate telecast had to design how he'd look not only among his teammates and rivals, but among mice, ducks and chipmunks. "Like, Victor Wembanyama, seeing him in person is insane. It's like seeing an alien descend on a basketball court, and I think we kind of captured that in his animated character," said Drew Carter, who will again handle play-by-play duties, as he had in the previous animated telecasts, and will get an assist from sideline reporter Daisy Duck. Wembanyama's presence is one reason the Spurs-Knicks matchup, the leadoff to the NBA's five-game Christmas slate, was the obvious choice to do the animated telecast. The noon EST start means it will begin in the early evening in France and should draw well there. Also, it comes after ABC televises the "Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade" for the previous two hours, providing more time to hype the broadcast. Recognizing that some viewers who then switch over to the animated game may be Disney experts but NBA novices, there will be 10 educational explainers to help with basketball lingo and rules. Beyond Sports' visualization technology and Sony's Hawk-Eye tracking allow the animated players to make the same movements and plays made moments earlier by the real ones at MSG. Carter and analyst Monica McNutt will be animated in the style of the telecast, donning VR headsets to experience the game from Main Street, USA. Other animated faces recognizable to some viewers include NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who will judge a halftime dunk contest among Mickey and his friends, and Santa himself, who will operate ESPN's "SkyCam" during the game. The players are curious how the production — and themselves — will look. "It's going to be so crazy to see the game animated," Spurs veteran Chris Paul said. "I think what's dope about it is it will give kids another opportunity to watch a game and to see us, basically, as characters." Get local news delivered to your inbox!

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The modern commercial air travel system is truly a feat of human ingenuity. Every day, millions of passengers take to the skies on thousands of flights to arrive at their destinations, often thousands of miles away from where they started. Given how many factors and challenges a single flight faces, it is impressive the industry is as safe and reliable as it is. However, anyone who has flown knows that air travel in the United States is not without its flaws. Airline staffing struggles, weather, and airport congestion are just a few examples of factors that can tamper with an otherwise carefully planned operation. However, worse than delays are double diversions, though they do happen from time to time in the industry. What is a double diversion? A double diversion is simply a complicated diversion , when an aircraft has to land at an airport different from initially planned due to unforeseen factors, often weather. A double diversion just results in two landings at an airport different from the flight’s intended arrival. This typically looks like an aircraft attempting to land after one diversion, only for a new problem to appear or for the same problem to return. Double diversions are certainly difficult from a passenger's perspective. They significantly delay the flight’s arrival, resulting in more time on board the aircraft. They are also very costly from an airline’s perspective. However, they only occur when absolutely necessary and are there to keep passengers and crew safe. There are many recent examples of flights forced to make a double diversion as a result of inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstances. Two tries in San Diego with British Airways San Diego International Airport (SAN) is a unique airport. It is the busiest single-runway facility in the United States, and though its known for sunshine and clear conditions, mornings and certain weather can usher in thick layers of fog that hang over the city and airport. In fact, recent weather caused disruptions for hundreds of flights during the busy holiday season . Given the airport’s central location, approach requirements are strict due to the fact that the urban environment of San Diego surrounds its airport on all sides. Pilots are required to have the runway in sight by the time they’ve descended to 600 or 700 feet, according to Substack . If pilots do not have a visual on the runway, they are required to perform a missed approach. On Wednesday, December 18th, British Airways flight 273 was approaching the California city after a flight from London Heathrow International Airport. The flight, which was operated by a widebody Airbus A350-1000, ultimately diverted to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after a missed approach due to poor visibility. The crew decided to wait out the poor weather, and sat in Los Angeles for almost two hours waiting for conditions to approve. When it finally took off and returned to San Diego, it was forced to perform a missed approach yet again, but this time entered a holding pattern just off the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The three aircraft behind BA273 also could not land. After making seven circles over the ocean, the crew at the controls of the A350 decided to give it one more try. The aircraft lined up to land on runway 9, and things seemed promising: the two aircraft before the British Airways flight landed uneventfully. But when it came time for the A350 to land, it once again had to abort the landing. The next five flights landed safely, but some subsequent arrivals had to go around too. The facility presently handles four routes in excess of 5,000 miles in length. United Airlines on the East Coast It is not always weather that causes flights to divert, let alone twice. Passengers traveling on United Airlines flight 1996 discovered this when their flight arrived over 5 hours late due to a medical emergency and mandatory crew change. The disruptions occurred in July of this year when the flight was traveling from the carrier’s home base at Chicago O’Hare International Airport to San Juan International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The flight was operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, but along the way to the Caribbean, it encountered several challenges. While inflight over the Midwestern US, one of the passengers onboard suffered a medical emergency. This forced the flight to divert to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). When the aircraft took off again, however, it did not head to San Juan. Instead, according to View From the Wing , it was bound for Orlando. Unfortunately, due to the unplanned stop, the flight crew would time out before the flight arrived in Puerto Rico. Luckily, a replacement crew was available at Orlando International Airport, so with a stop in Florida, the flight could continue to its final destination as planned. A spokesperson from United explained: On Friday, July 5, United Flight 1996 from Chicago to San Juan diverted to Charlotte to address a medical issue with a passenger. The flight then stopped in Orlando where a new crew was available to replace the current crew, who had worked the maximum number of hours allowed by the FAA. The flight then continued to San Juan that evening. As often happens in these situations, the impact of UA1996 spread to other flights that day. The aircraft was scheduled to make an immediate return to Chicago O’Hare as UA2088. The flight ended up departing six hours and 18 minutes late but was not canceled, much to the relief of the passengers. Trouble over the Atlantic with JetBlue In the last few years, JetBlue Airways has been expanding its footprint across the Atlantic with new, nonstop services from the Eastern United States to Europe. Leaving from the carrier’s bases at both John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) in Massachusetts, these flights aim to bring elevated service and lower fares to the transatlantic market. However, these flights don’t always run smoothly. Passengers traveling between Paris and New York on July 11, 2024, were forced to return to Europe not once, but twice. One Mile At A Time reports that the disruptions resulted in a several-day-long delay. As scheduled, JetBlue flight 1908 departed at approximately 14:05 local time, and began its journey across the Atlantic Ocean for about 90 minutes before problems arose. A technical issue with the less than one-year-old Airbus A321LR made the crew decide to return to France. As the plane returned to Paris, it was revealed that a fuel gauge had broken, and the pilots could not tell how much fuel the aircraft had left. Arriving at about 17:25, the aircraft touched down at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). Despite a flight time of three hours and 20 minutes, the flight never left Europe. Some passengers expressed their unhappiness with JetBlue via social media, claiming they were driven back to baggage claim by bus and received conflicting text messages and information from the airline. Furthermore, they claimed there was only one airline representative to accommodate the 200 people who had their flight canceled. Most passengers were rebooked on a flight the next day. JetBlue needed this extra time because it flew out the replacement part on the next flight from New York, which would not arrive until July 12, 2024. When passengers boarded the next flight the next day, however, they were greeted with more headaches. Unlike the previous departure, problems with this flight started early. Despite being bussed to the airport early, the flight was delayed for hours. The airline did not confirm the cause of the delay, though it was likely due to the aircraft taking longer to fix than anticipated. The flight finally departed Paris at 16:17 local time, 26 hours after its original departure. This time, the flight made it past Ireland and cruised over the Atlantic, bound for New York City. However, two hours into the flight, pilots detected the same issue with the fuel gauge. This time, they diverted to Dublin International Airport. The airline has cut several routes and scaled back on flights this year. Double diversions are for safety Passengers on each of the flights discussed above were undoubtedly frustrated at experiencing such massive disruptions to their itineraries. Delays can be difficult for passengers and airlines alike, and their impacts also spread to other parts of the airline’s schedule or passengers’ lives. However, simply because of how expensive these events are, they only occur for good reason. The weather might cause pilots to be unsure if they can safely land the aircraft at a given airport. Or, a medical emergency means the plane must land for the wellbeing of a passenger. A defective plane part should also be addressed immediately, even if there was a recent attempt to fix it. Double diversions, as frustrating as they can be, are sometimes necessary for safe operations. Crews and passengers alike should appreciate how these protect flights from further incidents.Dow Jones futures, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures, were little changed ahead of Tuesday's stock market open. The price of bitcoin continued to slide Monday, closing under $94,000 for the first time since Nov. 26, Bitcoin-related stocks, like ( ) and ( ), sold off 3.8% and 8.8%, respectively. The price of bitcoin topped out at $106,734 on Dec. 17, per Dow Jones Market Data, using a 4 p.m. ET close. Elsewhere, ( ) chipmaker ( ) broke out Monday, moving past a 205.63 cup-with-handle buy point and closing in the 5% buy area that runs up to 215.91. TSMC was a Taiwan Semiconductor, better known as TSMC, is the top producer of advanced computer chips. Its customers include AI-chip makers ( ), Nvidia, ( ) and ( ). Stock Market Today: Dow Jones Extends Win Streak On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.7% and the Nasdaq advanced 1%. is light with new home sales due Tuesday. They are expected to bounce back from a hurricane-hit October, but pretty weakly, to a 665,000 annual pace, according to a consensus of economists polled by FactSet. The stock market will be closed Wednesday for the Christmas holiday, with an abbreviated trading session on Tuesday. Dow Jones Futures Today: Oil Prices, Treasury Yields Ahead of Tuesday's opening bell, Dow Jones futures, along with S&P 500 futures and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures, were little changed vs. fair value. Remember that overnight action in Dow Jones futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session. On Monday, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ticked higher to 4.59%. And oil prices rose modestly, as West Texas Intermediate futures settled around $69.50 a barrel. Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia, Tesla Rally The , except for ( ), all ended higher Monday, as the ( ) ETF rallied 1.5%. ( ) advanced 1.7%, just shy of last week's new highs and back out of buy range beyond a 182.49 buy point in a cup with handle. ( ) rebounded 2.5% Monday, snapping a four-day losing streak and finding much-needed support at the 50-day line. The social media giant is just below a 602.95 buy point. Nvidia rebounded another 3.7%, extending a win streak to three sessions and closing right at its 50-day line, a key resistance level to monitor. If it can continue to make progress and move decisively clear of this level, that would be a bullish signal. ( ) rose 2.3% Monday, ending a three-day skid. Last week, the Elon Musk-led company topped out at 488.54, about 84% above a 264.86 buy point in a cup with handle. What To Do Now Now is an important time to read amid the ongoing stock market rebound. Following Monday's session, be sure to check out today's and . , the team discussed the current trading conditions of the stock market action. IBD maintains its recommended exposure level at 60%-80%. Still, investors should be utilizing diligent , one of the . It's important to monitor positions that are acting out of character and sell any stocks that trigger sell rules. An essential resource for daily breakouts is "Breaking Out Today" list. It shows stocks that are breaking out past buy points. Meanwhile, the MarketSurge "Near Pivot" list shows more stocks nearing buy points in bases. To find more stock ideas, check like , and . These features identify bullish patterns and buy points and are available to check every day.

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Top Donald Trump confidante Kellyanne Conway confronted fellow conservative Meghan McCain backstage at a women’s summit, witnesses tell the Daily Beast. The tête-à-tête was over a grudge Conway has held for many years against McCain, for describing her and her then-husband George Conway as “gross” during TV appearances on The View and Watch What Happens Live. Conway confronted McCain after the two appeared together on a panel at The Washington Post’s post-election Global Women’s Summit. The event was organized by Tina Brown , the founder of the Daily Beast. ADVERTISEMENT After the on-stage panel discussion about the effect of the election on women ended, Conway confronted McCain in the green room just off stage in a scene “like something from the Real Housewives ,” an eyewitness told the Beast. “Kellyanne walked up to Meghan and said, ‘I wasn’t going to say this while I was miked but do you remember what you said about me and my marriage on The View ?‘“ the witness said. ”You called my marriage ‘gross.’“ Conway and McCain had not directly debated each other on the panel, adding to the surprise for witnesses that there was a confrontation, though Conway had appeared at times combative towards the moderator and audience, some witnesses said. Conway was heard saying to McCain, “Do you realize what you said and what you did? Do you realize all the people you hurt?” McCain, who quit The View in 2021 and is now a podcaster, appeared shaken over the confrontation, which lasted a matter of minutes, and keen to leave. Friends said she was later “shaking” with emotion. “I heard Meghan say to her, ‘I don’t remember what I said that hurt you,‘“ the witness said. McCain apologized to Conway, the witness said. “Meghan said it was making her uncomfortable but that seemed to make it worse.” McCain, 40, walked away from Conway, 57, who appeared unfazed. The witness said, “Meghan looked shaken and was just trying to get out of there.” The political divisions and tension within Conway’s family played out publicly, especially on social media, during Trump’s first presidency. While Conway was in the Oval Office advising Trump as counselor to the president, her husband George and eldest daughter Claudia were nearly incessantly tweeting and TikToking their dissent. At one point, Claudia said she wanted to emancipate herself from her mother, while her father did just that: he divorced his wife of 22 years with whom he shares four children in 2023. Claudia, now 20, and her mother have reconciled personally although they remain politically at odds. Conway told the Daily Beast, “I waited until the cameras and microphones were off to privately and calmly address the very public insults she has directed at my family.” Conway added, “She may wish to outrun her recent past as a years-long resident Mean Girl on The View and Bravo, where her mouth was a spigot of vile and bile hurled toward people and topics she does not know, including my marriage and children, and casually lying about silly things like me calling her (I don’t have her number).” McCain said, “It was a bizarre experience and certainly not what I expected when I accepted an invitation to speak at an event hosted by the Washington Post and Tina Brown. The only reason why their marriage was ever a hot topic was because they were constantly airing their dirty laundry to America.” The Beast established that Conway’s feelings were rooted in comments on multiple episodes of The View in 2018 and in April 2020 on NBC’s Watch What Happens Live , when she called both of the Conways “gross” and claimed that Conway would call her every time she mentioned her on air. In the 2020 segment, host Andy Cohen asked McCain, who has appeared on the show dozens of times, and fellow guest Erika Jayne, a cast member of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, to identify whether quotes were from “a president or a [Real] Housewife,” then had his guest, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) read the clue: “She is married to a total whack job. She must have done a number on him. I don’t know what he did to that guy.” McCain correctly identified it as having been said by Trump and being about Kellyanne and George Conway . Cohen then asked what she thought about the couple, who had become a fixture of political coverage for their directly opposed views on Trump almost at the start of his administration. That prompted McCain to say, “I think it’s awful and I think that they have four kids that are gonna read this c--p and I think it’s awful. I think it’s weird and I don’t care if it’s their kink or whatever I think it’s horrible... I think they’re both gross.” She added, “Wait can I say one more thing. Don’t call me or email me Kellyanne. She does that every time I say something.” Conway called that claim a “lie” in her 2022 memoir, Here’s The Deal , writing that she had never called McCain and did not even have her number. She wrote that they had only once exchanged emails, which was a “friendly” invitation from McCain to join The View and have dinner with both their husbands. In the book Conway called McCain a “know it all”; accused her of “ad nauseam, ad hominem attacks on me”; suggested she had “cashed in” on her father’s two failed presidential runs; and relayed a conversation with McCain’s husband Ben Domenech in which he said of his wife’s then-role, “ The View is the worst show on television.” Conway has not been a formal part of the Trump campaign or transition for his second term but has been a fierce public advocate for him in this election cycle, including as a columnist with DailyMail.com. Sources said that the confrontation by Conway at the women’s summit was the first proper meeting between the two. “It doesn’t look like there will be a second,” one friend said.Will Ospreay Credits RevPro Founder With Helping Him Mature

Robbie Williams: 'I’ve been a cheeky monkey all my life'New York City’s new schools chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos has wrapped up her ambitious five-borough “listening tour” — with dozens of parents blasting it as nothing but a “PR stunt” full of “buzzwords” and “political agendas.” The fact-finding mission, which started in late November and finished last week in Staten Island, was part of Aviles-Ramos’ promise to “open dialogue with school communities” after she was catapulted into the highly-paid position following her predecessor, David Banks’ shock exit. Aviles-Ramos had said the tour would focus on efforts to ensure safety and wellness in Big Apple schools as well as how the Department of Education could foster greater support for teachers. But disgruntled parents told The Post they felt “muzzled” and even “less informed” about the future of the largest school system in the country. “Most of the people who got up to talk sounded like they were characters from a dystopian novel,” Queens dad Charlie Vavruska decried. “All I heard were the same buzzwords or people’s political agendas,” he added. Bronx mom Deb Alexander admitted she opted out of the tour because it all felt too “highly curated” — and that feedback she heard from other parents confirmed her skepticism. “It would be so refreshing to hear ‘yes, that is a problem, we’re not sure how to fix it but we’re open to your suggestions.’ Engagement is not ‘listening,’ it’s a two-way street,” she said. Aviles-Ramos addressed the criticism from parents in a sit-down interview with The Post, insisting the events were meant to be an “initial step.” “What I would say to them is, we’re not perfect. We’re trying to get it right and we’re going to find more authentic and creative ways for them to get their voices out,” she said. On the education department’s website the “listening tours” were described as an event to be held in each borough of New York City “featuring structured discussions on topics such as special education, curriculum development, and mental health resources, culminating in a Q&A session.” DOE staffers, however, eclipsed the number of parents and students attending each session. The parents and students who did attend were split into groups of eight and asked to come up with one question, which was then massaged by a “facilitator” — typically a DOE staffer — and put to the chancellor and her panel of agency staff. Topics brought up ranged from the contentious cell phone ban , remote schooling , class sizes and staffing concerns. Class size law requires that K-3 classes have no more than 20 students, grades 4-8 have no more than 23 students, and grades 9-12 have no more than 25 students. Despite the opportunity to air concerns, parents said the session ultimately didn’t feel “productive” or “insightful.” “Why did I come out all this way,” an anonymous Brooklyn parent, who had her question on the math curriculum dismissed during the roundtable discussions, told The Post. “I didn’t even feel like I could say how I felt during the discussion,” they added. Meanwhile, Manhattan and Brooklyn were also the only two boroughs to even have a Q&A session. Parents and students who attended sessions in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island were instead asked to provide one comment to the panel — who would then silently take notes with the promise to address the feedback or concerns at an unspecified later date. Aviles-Ramos waved off the backlash to the structure, saying, “of course, the structure doesn’t allow for every single person to ask a question.” Parents also groaned that Aviles-Ramos has been tightlipped on policy since Banks’ earlier-than-expected departure — and that they feel “left in the dark” amid the leadership shakeup. “I made a promise to the city that I would focus on civility and continuity, and you don’t bring in instructional initiatives in the middle of the school year when you’re already building out other ones,” Aviles-Ramos said of her tactic. Families said they’re doubtful that the “listening tour” will foster in any real change. “All chancellors have these listening tours. It starts with ‘yes, I’ll listen, I’ll take my notes,’ but how much of it will get done?” Queens parent Phil Wong bemoaned. “If history serves us, only a very small set of problems will get addressed.” It’s unclear how the data from the tour will inform upcoming policy. Aviles-Ramos’ predecessor was pushed out of the top job by Mayor Eric Adams in October, rather than at the year’s end as originally planned, sources previously told The Post. The move — which reportedly blindsided the ex-chancellor — came after he drew Hizzoner’s ire when he confided to city superintendents that he doubted the mayor could stay in power while facing federal criminal charges, sources said. The mayor and City Hall officials also believed the blabbermouth Banks botched it and created confusion among parents about several initiatives, notably a potential cellphone ban and an expansion of early education seats, a source with knowledge said. It also came after the feds raided the home Banks shares with Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.Will Ospreay Credits RevPro Founder With Helping Him Mature

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