Latest news with #Travel&Leisure
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
This Popular European Country Just Got a Heightened Travel Advisory Over Terrorism—What Travelers Should Know
The U.S. Department of State recently updated its travel advisory for Italy. The reissued advisory keeps Italy at a Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution, due to terrorism. Italy has held this ranking with the State Department since the summer travel season begins and travelers start getting ready to go on their European vacations, the U.S. government wants to make sure everyone is careful in certain areas with the potential for terrorism. Recently, the U.S. Department of State released a travel advisory for Italy warning travelers to exercise increased caution due to the threat of terrorism. The advisory ranks Italy at Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution, which recommends travelers stay alert to possibly heightened risk. The country has held that ranking since April 2022. 'There is risk of terrorist violence, including terrorist attacks and other activity in Italy,' the advisory states. 'Terrorists may attack with little or no warning.' The advisory warns that common targets for terror attacks include popular tourist spots, transportation centers, shopping malls and markets, local government buildings, hotels, clubs, restaurants, religious sites, parks, sporting events, schools, airports, and other public areas. It suggests that travelers should stay alert in tourist areas, and make sure to check local media for breaking news. At the moment there is no specific threat or terror plot that is cited. According to the State Department's 2023 Country Reports on Terrorism for Italy, there were no terrorism incidents in Italy that year. 'Domestically, Italy aggressively investigated and prosecuted terrorist suspects and regularly deported foreign nationals for terrorism-related security reasons,' the report states. 'Italian law enforcement has advanced capacity to detect and deter terrorist activity, links, and associations within its borders. Authorities employ those capabilities to counter terrorist recruitment, radicalization to violence, and networking. Law-enforcement agencies and intelligence services coordinate their efforts and meet regularly to review terrorist threats and share information.' The advisory should not deter travelers from going to Italy this summer. Instead, it should just function as a reminder to be aware of one's surroundings. It is only guidance, especially for countries ranked at Level 2. (And for some perspective, other countries have issued similar warnings to their citizens about traveling to the U.S.) Other countries in Europe that have a Level 2 ranking and a higher risk of possible terrorism activity include Belgium, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and The Netherlands. The United Kingdom also has a Level 2 ranking. Travelers abroad are advised to enroll in the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) in order to receive up-to-date messages and alerts from the local U.S. Embassy. Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Erewhon Pumpkin Seeds Cause Chemical Reaction That Brought Bomb Squad to Airport
Erewhon Pumpkin Seeds Cause Chemical Reaction That Brought Bomb Squad to Airport originally appeared on L.A. Mag. "Grey's Anatomy" star Ellen Pompeo loves to travel. Even after, she says, it led her to be detained at an unnamed airport in March because of a bomb scare triggered by "probably the most expensive sunflower seeds money can buy," purchased at an L.A. Erewhon. "I had a bag of sunflower seeds, like organic sunflower seeds from Erewhon," Pompeo told Travel & Leisure. "They literally held me for an hour, and they brought the bomb squad 55-year-old actress who lives in Los Angeles said she offered to throw away the pricey seeds, but was told by the Transportation Security Agency that she had to wait for the bomb squad. "I was like, what is happening? Is this a joke?" she said. After testing, officials told her that the scare was likely sparked by what she told the magazine was "a chemical on the packaging of these super expensive, fancy, organic, clean sunflower seeds. My protein on the plane!' She made her flight, she said in the interview, but not before texting her publicist: "I might not get on this plane, and you're never gonna guess why.'" Pompeo has starred in nearly 450 episodes of hit television series Grey's Anatomy, which was often filmed at Veterans Administration Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center, an actual working medical facility in North Hills. The south side of the structure is used for establishing shots of Grey Sloan Memorial, while the characters typically exit and congregate on the building's north side. She most recently appeared in the Hulu series Good American Family. This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Post
21-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Trendy workplace benefit is too good to be true: ‘It's not all it's cracked up to be'
This time-off policy is not making employees any happier. These days, when people are applying for jobs — they look for an employer that pays well and offers generous paid time off. However, if you see a job listing that offers 'unlimited' PTO, it might be a scam — here's why. Advertisement 'People hear you have it and are like 'Oh my gosh, I'm so jealous, you have unlimited PTO.' But from my experience, it's not all it's cracked up to be,' a disgruntled employee told Travel & Leisure in an interview. The outlet revealed that employers offer the time off benefit as a 'recruitment tool' as more job hunters are looking to work for companies that allow their employees to have a healthy work-life balance. 'People hear you have it and are like 'Oh my gosh, I'm so jealous, you have unlimited PTO.' But from my experience, it's not all it's cracked up to be,' a disgruntled employee told Travel & Leisure in an interview. Sergei Fedulov – Advertisement Supposedly, one in five Americans won't even give a job the right time of day if the employer isn't generous with employees' time off, according to a survey from Empower. 'There's a very powerful message when an organization adopts unlimited PTO,' Julie Schweber, senior advisor at SHRM, told the outlet. 'It says 'We value you. We trust you. We trust you'll get your work done.' I can't think of a better retention tool or motivator for employees.' Yet people are quickly learning that there's a catch when it comes to working for a place that offers this — like not having unused vacation days roll over or be paid out when an employee leaves the company — something that's often done at places with more limited time off policies. Advertisement 'I view the concept of unlimited PTO as more of a PR gimmick and a way for a firm to get out of providing a quantifiable benefit,' an unnamed Detroit-area senior systems engineer told T&L. Many employees who work for companies that offer unlimited PTO are not actually happy about it. Kirsten Davis/ – Employees who are offered unlimited PTO also notice that even when they do take a long vacation — they tend to feel the need to check in on work while away or feel guilty if they were to take another long trip later in the year. And since many people work at places that don't offer this 'gimmicky' policy — they have to get creative with how they use their limited amount of PTO. Advertisement The PTO hack that went viral earlier this year is to schedule vacations around holidays that land at the start of the week, like Memorial or President's Day. 'Federal holidays and long weekends are your best friend here,' Jesse Neugarten, CEO and founder of Dollar Flight Club, told Forbes. Doing this allows people to have an extra-long weekend without using up all their PTO.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This Continent Is Splitting and Might Create a New Ocean on Earth
Tectonic plates shifting in Africa could one day cause a new ocean to form. The plates in northeast Africa are moving at a rate of .3 inches per year. Once the continental drift reaches a certain point, it could create a sixth ocean in the region, but that could take millions of years to Earth might be getting a new ocean, though you'll have to wait a long time to see it. Due to tectonic plate movement, part of eastern Africa is slowly splitting apart, which could lead to the creation of a sixth ocean in one million to 20 million years. (While a million years is a long time by human life scale, it's considered to be a small time on a geological scale.) What is currently the countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Eritrea could be slowly moving away from the rest of the continent, eventually breaking off and allowing water from the Indian Ocean to rush in to fill the gap. This would lead to a separate land mass, new coastlines, and a change in climate patterns and geography for northeast Africa. This area is part of the East African Rift System (EARS), home to an active continental rift zone, where one plate is slowly pulling away from another one. According to research on the plates, parts of the rift are separating at a rate of .3 inches per year due to the movement of magma deep below the surface. Scientists were alerted to its relatively rapid movement due to a large fissure that appeared in Ethiopia in 2005. This isn't, of course, certain but scientific experts believe it's likely since similar geological activities created the Saudi Arabian peninsula. 'In the future, as extension continues along the rift, the rift valley will sink lower and lower eventually allowing ocean waters to flood into the basin. If rifting continues, new basaltic oceanic crust may form along the centre of the rift producing a new narrow ocean basin with its own mid ocean ridge between the Nubian and Somalian plates,' the London Geographical Society says on its website. The movement of tectonic plates can be responsible for volcanoes, geysers, and valleys when the plates move apart, and large mountain ranges when they move together, as well as earthquakes. The last new ocean to be identified was the Southern Ocean around Antarctica in 2021. Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This Continent Is Splitting and Might Create a New Ocean on Earth
Tectonic plates shifting in Africa could one day cause a new ocean to form. The plates in northeast Africa are moving at a rate of .3 inches per year. Once the continental drift reaches a certain point, it could create a sixth ocean in the region, but that could take millions of years to Earth might be getting a new ocean, though you'll have to wait a long time to see it. Due to tectonic plate movement, part of eastern Africa is slowly splitting apart, which could lead to the creation of a sixth ocean in one million to 20 million years. (While a million years is a long time by human life scale, it's considered to be a small time on a geological scale.) What is currently the countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Eritrea could be slowly moving away from the rest of the continent, eventually breaking off and allowing water from the Indian Ocean to rush in to fill the gap. This would lead to a separate land mass, new coastlines, and a change in climate patterns and geography for northeast Africa. This area is part of the East African Rift System (EARS), home to an active continental rift zone, where one plate is slowly pulling away from another one. According to research on the plates, parts of the rift are separating at a rate of .3 inches per year due to the movement of magma deep below the surface. Scientists were alerted to its relatively rapid movement due to a large fissure that appeared in Ethiopia in 2005. This isn't, of course, certain but scientific experts believe it's likely since similar geological activities created the Saudi Arabian peninsula. 'In the future, as extension continues along the rift, the rift valley will sink lower and lower eventually allowing ocean waters to flood into the basin. If rifting continues, new basaltic oceanic crust may form along the centre of the rift producing a new narrow ocean basin with its own mid ocean ridge between the Nubian and Somalian plates,' the London Geographical Society says on its website. The movement of tectonic plates can be responsible for volcanoes, geysers, and valleys when the plates move apart, and large mountain ranges when they move together, as well as earthquakes. The last new ocean to be identified was the Southern Ocean around Antarctica in 2021. Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
