US Couple Saves $12,000 Annually By Living In Hotel Instead Of Renting

By moving from a rented house into a hotel, a US couple claims they are now saving $12,000 (approximately Rs 10 lakh) every year. Maranda Bowers, 47, and her husband John, 40, were previously paying $2,300 a month for a three-bedroom home in Pensacola, Florida, but after a serious workplace incident in 2023 left John unable to work, the couple was forced to rethink their financial decisions.

With Bowers struggling to pay the rent as the sole provider, the couple decided to move out of their home and stay with family for two weeks before moving into a hotel.

“It was too hard with what I was making to pay the rent on my own," Bowers was quoted as saying by the New York Post. “By the time John's compensation kicked in, we could not afford the inconsistency to see whether or not we have money to pay the rent."

The couple finally moved into a hotel in November 2023, where they pay $307 a week for a one-bedroom accommodation. Bowers said she books a hotel room for up to six months in advance, adding that the total savings amount to $12,000 a year.

“The biggest positive about hotel life is you don't have to spend thousands of dollars on rent. You don't need to put together a security deposit or pay a month's rent in advance,” she said.

Bowers explained that she liked the convenience of staying in a hotel as she did not have to worry about running the water or turning on the air conditioning, in addition to making weekly payments.

“A lot of people also think living in a hotel room means we have to spend lots of money eating out, but that is not the case. I cook all the time. I cooked Thanksgiving and Christmas for half the hotel.”

Also Read | 'Exhausted And Ready To Come Home': Student Wants To Return To India Amid Visa Concerns

The couple said they were hoping to save the money and eventually buy a plot of land and a tiny home to own. Bowers said since the 'kids were grown', they didn't need a big place to stay. The small house would allow them to go on vacations rather than be forced into a mortgage.

“We want to live simply, go on vacations and live our life rather than put all our money into a huge home. I would love a tiny home. We no longer want a big house; we like the simplicity of living simply.”

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Tiger Woods Involved In Car Crash In Florida: Report

Golf superstar Tiger Woods was involved in a car crash in Florida on Friday, US media reports citing local law enforcement said.

There was no immediate word on Woods' condition following the incident in Jupiter Island, ABC television reported.

The Martin County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A press conference has been scheduled at 5pm local time (2100 GMT).

NBC local news affiliate WPTV showed a picture of the crash scene showing a sports utility vehicle flipped onto its side.

News of the incident comes five years after Woods was involved in a serious rollover car crash in California that left him with severe right leg injuries. 

The 15-time major winner needed pins inserted in his foot and ankle and a rod in his tibia as well as a follow-up surgery in 2023.

Woods returned from the 2021 crash at the 2022 Masters, where he finished 47th despite struggling to walk Augusta National for all four rounds.

Woods, who turned 50 last December, has been working to return from an Achilles tendon rupture last March and back surgery last October.

He competed earlier this week in the TGL simulator indoor golf league finals and had not ruled out playing in next month's Masters. 

He has won five times at Augusta, including his first major title in 1997 and his most recent in 2019.

Woods, whose 82 PGA Tour career victories is level with Sam Snead for the all-time record, has not competed at the PGA Tour level since missing the cut at the British Open at Royal Troon in July 2024.

He last made the cut at the 2024 Masters, where he finished 60th.

Woods was also involved in a traffic incident in 2017, when he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. He later pleaded guilty to reckless driving, paid a $250 fine and attended DUI school.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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'Bibi Really Sold It': A Rebuke In Vance-Netanyahu Tense Call Amid Iran War

US Vice President JD Vance had a tense phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week, during which he told the premier off for what he viewed as overly rosy assumptions about the war in Iran, Axios reported.

According to the outlet, Vance pressed Netanyahu on his confidence regarding the likelihood of regime change. One US official told Axios that "Before the war, Bibi really sold it to the president as being easy, as regime change being a lot likelier than it was. And the VP was clear-eyed about some of those statements", referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.

After the call, a US official claimed Israel was actively undermining Vance, who has emerged as a central figure in ceasefire talks with the Islamic Republic. A long-time critic of open-ended foreign interventions, Vance is participating in negotiations alongside US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

The same official alleged that Israel was responsible for reports suggesting Iran preferred negotiating with Vance because he might be more receptive to a deal to end the conflict. "It's an Israeli op against JD," the official told Axios.

Another senior US official told Axios that, in their view, Vance remained the most viable path to a negotiated end to the war. "If the Iranians can't strike a deal with Vance, they don't get a deal. He's the best they're gonna get," the official said.

Vance Treads Iran Tightrope

For a man with his eye on the White House in 2028, US Vice President JD Vance has kept a low profile since the start of the Iran war.

The former US marine, who served in Iraq, built a political brand as a non-interventionist who wanted to keep America out of any more long, foreign wars.

Even Trump admitted they had their differences on "Operation Epic Fury."

"He was, I would say, philosophically a little bit different than me," Trump said on Monday of Vance. "I think he was maybe less enthusiastic about going -- but he was quite enthusiastic."

While he has publicly backed Trump's Iran operation, Vance has only given one television interview since it started, in which he stressed it would not be another American "forever war."

However, Vance earlier this month downplayed the differences and said, "I think one big difference is...we have a smart president whereas in the past, we've had dumb presidents and I trust President Trump to get the job done, to do a good job for the American people, and to make sure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated," said Vance, standing alongside Trump during an Oval Office event.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Gujarat Man Kills Widow Who Used To Tie Him Rakhi, Then Joins Search For Her

A case of murder and deception has shaken up the Defence Colony area of Gujarat's Jamnagar after a missing widow was found dead in the home of a neighbour she considered her brother. The suspect, who allegedly strangled the woman, had joined her grieving sons in the search before his crime was uncovered.

Rinkidevi Bantu Singh Katheriya, a native of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, had been building a life for her three children in Jamnagar following her husband's death from a heart attack in 2021. Employed at a pharmaceutical factory in Naghedi village, Rinkidevi was the sole breadwinner for her children - Rohit (19), Nitin (17) and Anjali (6).

The alarm was raised two days ago when she failed to return home. Her eldest son, Rohit, filed a missing person's report with the local police, sparking a search that involved both the authorities and close family friends.

During the investigation, police traced Rinkidevi's last-known movements to the residence of Vijay Odich, who lived in the house below the Katheriyas. Rinkidevi shared a deep bond with Odich and even tied a rakhi on his wrist every year.

To avoid suspicion, Odich also participated in the search efforts alongside the victim's sons, pretending to be a concerned family friend while her body lay hidden in his own home.

"He treated us like nephews and we saw him as an uncle," Rohit said. "We never imagined the person helping us look for our mother was the one who took her from us."

'Investigating Motive'

Upon discovering the body, Jamnagar police immediately secured the scene and sent the remains for a post-mortem examination. Initial findings suggest the cause of death was strangulation.

Officials said Odich has been taken into custody. "We are investigating the motive behind this heinous act," said Jayvirsinh Jhala, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Jamnagar. "The victim and the accused had a long-standing social connection, which makes the circumstances of this murder particularly grave."

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A "Lousy Fighters" Jibe From Trump As Iran Calls US Proposal "One-Sided"

US President Donald Trump characterised Iranian leaders as "great negotiators" but said their country had "lousy fighters" during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday. 

"They're lousy fighters, but they're great negotiators, and they are begging to work out a deal," Trump said at the White House alongside top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.

Trump suggested that a deal might not ultimately come together.

"I don't know if we'll be able to do that," he said of the prospects for a deal. I don't know if we're willing to do that."

Earlier in the day, in a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that Iran had been "begging" for a deal but has publicly maintained that they are just "looking at our proposal".

Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that the US proposal to end the war was "one-sided and unfair". 

"In brief, the proposal suggests that Iran would relinquish its ability to defend itself in exchange for a vague plan to lift sanctions. It is one-sided and unfair, serving only US and Israeli interests", the official said.

He called Iranian negotiators "strange" and warned them to start taking things seriously before "it is too late".

Read | Trump's "Better Get Serious, No Turning Back" Warning For War-Hit Iran

"The Iranian negotiators are very different and "strange." They are "begging" us to make a deal, which they should be doing since they have been militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback, and yet they publicly state that they are only "looking at our proposal." WRONG!!! They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won't be pretty! President DJT," Trump wrote.

Trump's comments come after he claimed Iran was desperate to make a deal to end nearly four weeks of fighting, contradicting the Iranian foreign minister who said his country was reviewing a US proposal but had ​no intention of holding talks to wind down the conflict.

Trump has accused Tehran officials of covering up ongoing talks for fear of becoming assassination targets following the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Trump's warning came as Israel said it had killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' navy, calling him "directly responsible" for throttling the Strait of Hormuz since the war's outbreak.

But Pakistan confirmed Thursday it was indeed facilitating "US-Iran indirect talks" by relaying messages and that a 15-point American plan was being "deliberated upon" by Tehran.

The White House has declined to identify the "top person" it is speaking with in Iran -- beyond saying it is not the late leader's son Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to be injured and has not been seen since succeeding his father.
 

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NASA Plans Nuclear-Powered Spacecraft for Skyfall Mission to Mars

NASA’s Skyfall mission will test nuclear electric propulsion with the Space Reactor-1 Freedom spacecraft. Launching in 2028, it will deploy helicopter swarms on Mars to scout landing sites and search for water, potentially cutting travel time by 25%.

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Bhutan Moves 519 Bitcoin to Multiple Wallets, Including QCP Capital Link

Bhutan has moved 519.7 Bitcoin worth about $36.75 million from its sovereign holdings to multiple wallets, including one linked to QCP Capital. The transfer, identified through on-chain data, has raised speculation about potential selling activity. The move follows a similar transaction earlier this month, highlighting the country’s active approach to managing its crypto reserves.

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