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The 10 most underrated destinations around the world

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:54 GMT

Hawaii is wonderful, and London is fab, but it’s always fun to ponder lesser-known destinations, especially when that list includes spots we rarely, if ever hear about. Turns out TimeOut.com‘s editors are happy to oblige with a list of 14 gorgeous, underrated destinations, including Turku, Lake Bacalar and Srebrenik.Never heard of them? Turku was built in the 13th century, and the “Paris of Finland” was that country’s capital until 1812. Today, you can visit the city’s medieval fortress, traipse the cobblestone streets and riverside byways, and enjoy fika — a coffee and cake break we really need to adopt over here — at one of its many cafes.You’ll find Lake Bacalar’s clear blue waters on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, and Srebrenik is a dramatic, medieval town in Bosnia and Herzegovina that looks straight out “Game of Thrones.” The full list of underrated destinations — and more travel tips — can ...

Travel Troubleshooter: Icelandair changed my flights. Can I get a refund for my tour?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:54 GMT

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: I recently booked a vacation package online through Icelandair Holidays. Two months later, I received a text that my airport had been changed from Baltimore/Washington International Airport to Washington Dulles.Christopher Elliott, the Travel Troubleshooter I realized that traveling to Dulles would be inconvenient, because it is a two-hour drive from my home in Baltimore, while BWI is only 25 minutes away. Using a cab or car service would incur extra expenses, so I wanted to discuss options with Icelandair Holidays.Much to my consternation, I could not find a phone number, email or live chat to assist. The website instructions led me to a customer support form. I completed the form and requested a refund. I received an autoreply.No one from Icelandair Holidays has responded. I have not received a refund to my credit card. The lack of response from Icelandair Holidays is frustrating and unacceptable. Can you help me get my $2,972 back?— Patricia...

Jill On Money: Marital money

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:54 GMT

After attending just one wedding over the past five years, I have now received four “save the date” nuptial notices for 2024. It seems that surviving a once-in-a-century pandemic seems to have cured many of their disdain for the celebration of unions, which my father once said “saps your savings in exchange for a dirty cake knife!”Related ArticlesBusiness | Where US travelers are globe-trotting in summer 2023 Business | Hidden gems in America: 10 cities with affordable homes and great jobs Business | 6 LGBTQ+ financial influencers to follow in 2023 Business | The tip jar is dead. Here’s how businesses can navigate digital options Business | Mortgage rate lock: What it is and when to lock Instead of disputing dad’s wedding opinions, let me enter into the record my opinion: Yes, weddings are usually pretty wasteful events (the Knot found that in 2022, couples spent about $5,000 on rings and another $30,000...

This week in SF Giants baseball: What to know heading into first meeting with Rockies, weekend set with Cubs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:54 GMT

It’s June, and the Giants still have an NL West opponent they have yet to see this season. A new oddity of this year’s balanced schedule, that ends this week, though, as the Giants head to Coors Field for three games against the Rockies, starting Tuesday.The week aheadHeading into their first meeting this season with the Giants, the Rockies have won three of their past four series. Since an eight-game losing streak in mid-April, they have played .500 ball for nearly a two-month stretch now, 21-21 since April 20. Like the Giants, the Rockies are off Monday after traveling back to Denver from Kansas City, where they took two of three.The Giants make a quick pitstop back in San Francisco this weekend for three games with the Chicago Cubs between returning from Denver and jetting off to St. Louis on Monday. It’s the end of a 10-game West Coast swing for the Cubs, who are looking to get back on track after a 10-18 record in May.Pitching probablesTuesday, 5:40 p.m. PT &#...

Column: Penske rolls into Le Mans on top of motor sports seeking evasive 1st win

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:54 GMT

LE MANS, France (AP) — Roger Penske won the Indianapolis 500 on a Sunday and celebrated Josef Newgarden’s thrilling win as if it was the first for Team Penske, not a record-stretching 19th for The Captain.He watched on his cellphone as Ryan Blaney won the Coca-Cola 600 on a Monday, streaming the rain-delayed NASCAR race during the Indy 500 banquet. As any avid race fan would do.Blaney’s victory gave Penske a resume builder that somehow had evaded his illustrious career: Team Penske swept the two Memorial Day weekend races in the U.S. in the same year.There was zero time to bask in his press clippings. Penske was in Detroit by Tuesday to oversee the return of downtown street racing for the first time in 32 years — a three-day festival for a reenergized city as Penske’s gift to his adopted hometown.The whirlwind week closed with a sold-out Sunday race in which Team Penske driver Will Power finished second, but Penske’s engine is still running at full throttle. ...

Too much information? Jason Isbell believes opening your life to fans builds a stronger bond

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:54 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — If Jason Isbell is keeping many more secrets, it’s hard to imagine what they might be.The singer-songwriter and his wife, fellow musician Amanda Shires, open their lives for public consumption in a manner unusual even to artists who mine their own world for material. Through interviews and a film out this spring, they have documented a rough patch in their marriage and how Isbell’s drinking almost destroyed his career before recovery redeemed it.The sharing gets so raw that when Shires reveals that she made Isbell take a test for sexually transmitted diseases before she slept with him, you’re tempted to shout, “too much information!”To Isbell, it’s a necessary part of the job.“If I’m holding back part of myself from the audience, I’d be within my right to do that,” he said. “But I don’t think the connection would be as strong. For me, it’s more important to connect with people on an honest level than it is for me to con...

Lawsuit filed by resident injured in Iowa building collapse alleges city, owner, others failed to warn tenants of risk

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:54 GMT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Lawsuit filed by resident injured in Iowa building collapse alleges city, owner, others failed to warn tenants of risk.Source

Prominent figure in German far-right party charged over alleged Nazi slogan

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:54 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A prominent figure in the far-right Alternative for Germany party has been charged over his alleged use in a 2021 speech of a slogan used by the Nazis’ SA stormtroopers, German prosecutors said Monday.Prosecutors in the eastern city of Halle said that Björn Höcke was charged with public use of a symbol of an unconstitutional organization. Höcke, an influential figure on the hard right of Alternative for Germany, heads his party’s branch in the neighboring eastern state of Thuringia.Höcke is accused of ending a speech to some 250 people in Merseburg in May 2021 with the words “Everything for Germany!” Prosecutors charge that he was aware of the origin of the phrase as an SA slogan. In a statement, they said Höcke’s lawyers had denied that his words had any “criminal relevance.”Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has come under increasing scrutiny from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, which has placed its Thuringia branch under formal observat...

AI a new reason for white-collar layoffs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:54 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — The nation is facing the kind of layoffs it did in the Great Recession, though Colorado isn't high on the list. Career placement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. released a May report on national job cuts and layoff information. Detailed by Fortune, the report records the biggest year for layoffs in the last decade except for the first portion of 2020. These Colorado companies are planning mass layoffs, records show U.S.-based companies have announced 417,500 cut jobs. This is the highest number of layoffs from January to May of any year since 2009, with the exception of 2020.The tech industry has had the most layoffs this year, while the retail, financial, health care and services industries followed. Denver employees among the most anxious about layoffs A little less than half the jobs were cut because the business was closing for market or economic reasons. For the first time, however, artificial intelligence is cited as a r...

Crews repair broken water main in Pembroke Pines

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:54 GMT

Crews responded to a water main break in Pembroke Pines, which caused a road closure in the area. After five hours, crews were able to patch up the broken water mane. The breakage occurred at 6900 SW 3rd St. which caused flooding in the area, Monday morning. Due to the break, the Pembroke Pines Police Department announced that Southwest Third Street, between 70th Avenue and 68th Avenue, was blocked off. Live video footage showed the water bubbling in a significant crack on the street. The local water department was also on the scene as they worked to stop the leak. Residents in the area may be advised to not drink the tap water as the water could be contaminated.