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Travel rewards programs shouldn’t be so annoying to use

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:23 GMT

Even after the “revenge travel” craze of 2022, Americans are still eager to get out there. According to an email survey of its members from Going, a travel deals service, 68% of the 3,274 respondents say they plan to spend more on international travel in 2023 than they did in 2022.Yet there’s just one problem: Travelers are also going broke. The No. 1 barrier to travel this year, according to the same survey, was a lack of money. So while inflation zaps budgets and consumers keep racking up credit card debt at a dizzying pace, those dream vacations might fizzle out.Is it time to tap into those credit card points, airline miles and hotel rewards? It might be, but actually figuring out how to use those dang points poses its own problems. Earning travel rewards through credit card offers and travel spending is one thing; successfully redeeming them is quite another.Consumers are confusedA stunning 84% of travelers cited user experience issues as their biggest frustration when using tra...

Fact check: Trump’s criticism of hush money case Judge Juan Merchan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:23 GMT

By The New York Daily NewsThe now-indicted former President Donald Trump Friday attacked as “VICIOUS” the Manhattan judge who will be presiding over his trial in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.Misspelling the name of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, Trump trashed the respected judge for his conduct of the trial that resulted in the conviction of the Trump Organization on tax fraud charges.“The Judge “assigned” to my Witch Hunt Case …. HATES ME,” Trump said on his social media site.Trump falsely claimed that Merchan bullied CFO Allen Weisselberg to plead guilty in exchange for testimony in the Trump Organization case.“[Merchan] is the same person who ‘railroaded’ my 75 year old former CFO, Allen Weisselberg, to take a ‘plea’ deal,” Trump said. “He strong armed Allen, which a judge is not allowed to do, & treated my companies … VICIOUSLY.”Two Trump Org entities were convicted in December of all charges and ordered to pay $1.6 million in fines. After pl...

Melania Trump smiles by Trump’s side, Ivanka’s ‘pained,’ Don Jr. fumes following indictment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:23 GMT

If Donald Trump was still “absorbing” the news of indictment Thursday, he and his wife Melania put on a show of “happiness” to their guests at Mar-a-Lago, according to one of those guests.“Beautiful evening here at the gorgeous Mar a Lago!” tweeted conservative media personality and Mar-a-Lago member Gina Loudon, sharing a photo of an uncertain-looking Trump at his private Palm Beach, Florida resort, with a smiling Melania Trump by his side, dressed in a very bright red dress.  “Our REAL First Couple enveloped in the love of their friends and most loyal!”Beautiful evening here at the gorgeous Mar a Lago! Our REAL First Couple enveloped in the love of their friends and most loyal! (Sorry to disappoint, corporate media . Actually not. Screw you! This is a happiness you will never know, sadly). pic.twitter.com/IFsFU41lAd— Dr. Gina (@RealDrGina) March 31, 2023Meanwhile, Trump’s two older sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump,...

Greece’s PM makes border wall extension an election pledge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:23 GMT

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greece’s prime minister promised Friday to extend an existing wall across all of the country’s land border with Turkey as he campaigned for the country’s general election.Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who called the May 21 election earlier this week, presided over a ceremony to sign his center-right government’s decision to nearly double the length of the existing steel border wall over the next year.The wall currently spans 37.5 kilometers (25 miles), and the government plans to extend it by 35 kilometers over the next 12 months. More than 100 kilometers of wall will be added to that by 2026, government officials said. Border security remains a high-profile issue in Greece due to long-standing disputes with Turkey and a mass migration of refugees and migrants into the European Union during 2015-16 that largely was triggered by war in Syria and Iraq.Mitsotakis and other officials accused their political opponents from the left-wing Syriz...

Toronto to double the number of speed cameras on city streets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:23 GMT

Drivers in Toronto can soon expect to see twice as many automated speed cameras on city streets as council approves an expansion to the Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) program.City council unanimously approved a motion this week to increase the number of cameras from 75 to 150, with the new ones expected to be rolled out as soon as possible.The locations of the additional camera, which are part of the city’s Vision Zero 2.0: Road Safety Plan, haven’t been announced at this point.“Speed cameras are one tool we can use to help make our streets safer for all residents,” said Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie.“This will help keep people safe in their neighbourhoods and, in particular, kids walking to and from school. These cameras will save lives by encouraging all drivers to slow down and obey the rules of the road – it’s the right thing to do,” said Coun. Mike Colle, the vice-chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee.The city ...

Mexico president assigns blame elsewhere for migrant tragedy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:23 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president on Friday visited hospitals treating injured migrants in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, where 39 men died in a immigration detention center fire late Monday. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he was personally devastated by Monday’s tragedy. But it appears he will bring little new with him in the way of immigration policy during Friday’s visit to Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas. “I confess it hurt me a lot, it damaged me,” López Obrador said before the trip. “It ripped my soul apart.” The president said the Ciudad Juarez fire was the second most painful moment of his administration, exceeded only by a 2019 pipeline fire in the central Mexico town of Tlahuelilpan that killed about 135 people.However, it hasn’t cost him much politically. Many residents of Mexican border cities mourned the death of the migrants in the smoky mattress fire, set by some migrants to protest perceived moves to deport them. But in Ciudad Juare...

Shamier Anderson savors career rise, role in new ‘John Wick’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:23 GMT

New York (AP) — Shamier Anderson is well aware that his Hollywood profile is rising, and he isn’t taking the moment for granted.“I’ve been on the grind for a very long time, and I’m still grinding. And it’s not lost on me that I’m pretty ubiquitous in the marketplace right now. However, my work ethic hasn’t changed,” says the 31-year-old Canadian actor. “I’m lucky, and that’s something that’s not lost on me … I also recognize that this moment will pass, right? And that’s something that humbles me.”Most wouldn’t blame Anderson for indulging in the moment, as his latest film, the Keanu Reeves-led “John Wick: Chapter 4,” debuted last week at No. 1 with a franchise-best $73.5 million domestically at the box office. Anderson plays the Tracker, a bounty hunter, who’s stalked Wick around the world in hopes of collecting a huge payday.“I get to share the screen with people that I used to look up to, that I still look up to, a la Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Laurence Fishburne,” said the Wing C...

Worries grow that Trump indictment will eclipse other probes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:23 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The indictment against former President Donald Trump involving a payoff to suppress claims of an extramarital sexual encounter is raising concerns that it could undermine public confidence in what democracy experts view as far more important investigations.Trump is facing multiple investigations related to his refusal to accept his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. That includes whether he pressured election officials to overturn the results, encouraged fake electors from battleground states and his role in the events that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.Jeffrey Engel, founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, called the indictment this week from a New York grand jury “the appetizer to their main course still to come.”“That main course, literally, is democracy at stake and who we are as a nation,” he said.The New York investigation that led to Thursday’s indictment involved hush money paid t...

WATCH LIVE | ComEd discusses preparations in advance of powerful, fast-moving storms in Chicago area

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:23 GMT

The Chicago area is under a moderate risk for severe weather for Friday.Two rounds of storms are forecasted between the hours of 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. The first round set to move into the Chicago area around 4 p.m. as super cell thunderstorms. These storms pose a tornado threat and a golf-ball sized hail threat. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here A cold front then moves through around 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. bring another round of very quickly moving severe weather. These storms also pose the threat of tornadoes. The storms are likely to move through at a rate of 50-60 mph so any tornado warnings will be quick and offer not much time. It's advised that residents be prepared in advanced and stay tuned to WGNTV and the weather app for alerts and updates.Tom Skilling also suggests anyone with any porch furniture or outdoor items susceptible to strong wings should bring them inside. These storms are set to bring potentially dangerous and destructive w...

Dangerous storms, tornado warnings over US Midwest, South

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:23 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Massive storms brewing over at least 15 states in the Midwest and southern U.S. on Friday have meteorologists urging people to brace for dangerous weather including tornadoes, saying the conditions are similar to those a week ago that unleashed a devastating twister that killed at least 21 people in Mississippi.More than 85 million people were under weather advisories Friday as the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center forecast an unusually large outbreak of thunderstorms with the potential to cause hail, damaging wind gusts and strong tornadoes that could move for long distances over the ground.Forecasters issued a tornado warning for parts of central and southwestern Arkansas on Friday afternoon after reports of a funnel cloud. Residents were told to take cover in basements and interior rooms away from windows.Ping pong ball-sized hail was reported in Missouri, Arkansas and Iowa.The area at greatest risk for storms on Friday follows a large stret...