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I've had the good fortune to travel the world as the daughter of a pilot. I've used every kind of luggage imaginable and visited more than 30 countries. For instance, my preferred bag for a short vacation with friends is a little weekender bag. A larger, checked wheelie is ideal for longer trips, and a wheeled carry-on works in practically any circumstance. Since most of the terrain in Asia wasn't suitable for wheels, I discovered that carrying a duffel bag over my shoulder made the most sense. No matter what kind of travel I do, I've always liked to spend my money on experiences rather than stuffing it into my suitcase. Additionally, several of my favorite items are much under $150 and have endured over time. GO Ahead and SkipHow did I choose the best cheap luggage? | Best cheap luggage o...

Following a strong bomb cyclone that killed two people, took out electricity to half a million people at its height, and brought down trees and power lines, Washington state is in shock. However, this reprieve won't stay long because another storm is approaching. The storm, which erupted off the coast Tuesday, brought severe winds, rain, and heavy mountain snow to Washington, battering the Pacific Northwest. The severe weather caused confusion and road closures, left cities buried in white snow, caused extensive damage, and knocked off electricity to hundreds of thousands of people in Washington, which Puget Sound Energy described as a multi-day outage. According to PowerOutage.Us, more than 320,000 people in Washington were without power as of 10 a.m. ET on Thursday. The storm claimed th...

Even though Black Friday is less than two weeks away, you should start shopping now. If you don't seize a fantastic deal as soon as you see it, it may sell out because many merchants are already advertising their best pricing of the season. You may maximize your budget and spread out your spending by starting to shop Black Friday discounts now. I have five years of experience covering Cyber Monday and Black Friday at NBC Select, so I know how to spot deals that are truly worth checking out. The top early Black Friday offers of 2024 from some of our favorite stores, including Amazon, Target, Walmart, Home Depot, and REI, are compiled below. Every day before Black Friday, I'll update this list to include the best discounts, new bargains, and other promotions you won't want to pass up. GO Ahe...

Washington A supporter of Donald Trump who was one of the first rioters to enter the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was found guilty of planning to murder FBI special agents who were looking into his crimes there. Edward Kelley was found guilty on Wednesday of three additional charges: conspiracy to murder U.S. employees; solicitation to commit a crime of violence; and influencing or retaliating against federal officials by threat. Kelley was previously convicted this month of assaulting law enforcement officers and other offenses during the Capitol attack. The trial for the murder plan began Monday in Knoxville, Tennessee. After only an hour of deliberation, the jury found Kelley guilty on all three counts, according to Knoxville's NBC News station WBIR. One month after being sentence...

Amazon's Black Friday discounts have officially begun. Significant discounts on kitchen appliances, beauty products, giftable technology, and more are available at the store from now until November 29. Many of these offers are valid through Cyber Monday. Amazon is now providing their best deals of the season (and many things at their lowest price ever), joining a number of other merchants. As an editor at NBC Select, I have been covering Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales for more than four years. I looked through sales that are currently worth purchasing on Amazon to uncover the greatest early Black Friday bargains. In the upcoming weeks, I'll regularly update this list with the latest prices and new offers. GO Ahead and SkipWhich early Black Friday Amazon bargains are the greatest? How ...

After a quiet summer, homebuyers were no longer on the fence in October due to a steep decline in mortgage rates. The National Association of Realtors reports that sales of previously owned homes increased 3.4% from September to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 3.96 million units last month. For the first time in over three years, sales increased by 2.9% over October of the previous year. Since this number is based on contracts that have been signed, the majority of the transactions took place in August and September. The average rate on the widely used 30-year fixed mortgage was decreasing at the time. According to Mortgage News Daily, it began August at roughly 6.6% and fell to a low of 6.11% by the middle of September. According to a report from the NAR's chief economist, Lawre...

Due to prosecution concerns, the state's top court overturned the actor Jussie Smollett's 2019 conviction for fraudulently reporting a hate crime to Chicago police. The Illinois Supreme Court considered Smollett's case and decided on Thursday that the former "Empire" star shouldn't have been charged following his signing of a non-prosecution agreement with the Cook County State Attorney's Office. In 2022, Smollett was found guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct and given a sentence of 150 days in jail and 30 months of probation. Because he is Black and gay, the actor was viciously attacked in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood, and he told authorities in January 2019 that he was the victim of a hate crime. Olabingo and Abimbola Osundairower, brothers who worked on the "Empir...

On Thursday, Colin Gray, the father of alleged Georgia school shooter Colt Gray, entered a not guilty plea to charges pertaining to the September mass shooting at Apalachee High School, which claimed four lives. Colin Gray's lawyers showed up in court Thursday morning and pleaded not guilty on his behalf. A formal arraignment was also waived. He didn't attend the hearing. According to online court records, the older Gray was indicted by a Barrow County grand jury in October on 29 counts, including reckless conduct, involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder, and second-degree cruelty to children. According to Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith, Colin Gray's accusations were the first time a father of a suspected school shooter had ever been charged in the state. In the Septembe...

A definitive version of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's announcement that it will soon oversee nonbank companies that provide financial services including wallet apps and payments was released on Thursday. The examination, which is intended to make sure the newer entrants follow the same rules that banks and credit unions do, would apply to tech titans and payments companies that process at least 50 million transactions a year, the CFPB announced in a release. Seven nonbanks are eligible for the further inspection, according to the CFPB. This would include peer-to-peer services like Venmo and Zelle, fintech companies like PayPal and Block, and payment systems from Apple, Google, and Amazon. The new rule enables the CFPB to treat tech companies more like banks, even though it pre...

The father of JonBen Ramsey, who said on Thursday that he welcomed the fresh pop culture spotlight on the nearly 28-year-old murder, still holds out hope that his daughter's killer will be apprehended. According to 80-year-old John Ramsey, police in Boulder, Colorado, can use new DNA technology to investigate the murder that attracted international notice around Christmas 1996. Ramsey said, "So we want to keep the case alive and in front of people," on the "TODAY" program on NBC. "If the cops accept assistance from outside their system, I think it can be resolved. For twenty-five years, that has been the fault. Ramsey appeared on "TODAY" alongside Joe Berlinger, the director of Cold Case: Who Killed JonBen T. Ramsey, a Netflix documentary series that premieres next week. According to Berli...