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Best Valentine’s Day gifts under $500
Ooni via Amazon; Apple via Amazon
If you’ve got a big budget to work with this Valentine’s Day, go ahead and treat your loved one to a gift they’ll never forget. To help you find the perfect gift for your Valentine, we scoured the internet to find the best Valentine’s Day gifts under $500 that will suit multiple interests, including home cooks, tech enthusiasts, fashion fans and more.
We’ve made sure these gift ideas are worth the big price tag. All of these items have a four-star rating or higher, and include tons of positive reviews from customers and CBS Essentials staff.
KitchenAid Artisan Series 5 stand mixer
KitchenAid Store via Amazon
This stand mixer is widely considered to be one of the best stand mixers on the market, making it a coveted kitchen essential for home cooks. The KitchenAid stand mixer features an impressive 10 speeds that can handle everything from whipped cream to cookie batter. The Series 5 comes with a five-quart, dishwasher-safe stainless-steel bowl, a coated flat beater, a coated dough hook, a six-wire whip and a pouring shield.
Last time we counted, we found a dizzying 23 color options for this model, so if your loved one has a thing for ice blue, a classic, candy-apple red or — get this — “matcha green,” KitchenAid has you covered.
Get it at Amazon for $450. Rated 4.8 stars.
WalkingPad C2 mini foldable walking treadmill
WalkingPad
Your fitness-minded partner who works from home will love getting their steps in on this compact walking treadmill. This treadmill is the perfect size to slide under a standing desk. When it’s not in use, this fitness machine can be folded to almost half its size for easy storage, so it’s the best treadmill for a small space.
“If your goal is to up your daily step count without compromising your house decor, the compact WalkingPad is an excellent option,” personal trainer and studio owner Lauren George says. “You can fit it under a standing desk to accrue more steps while answering emails, or hop on for a stroll while watching TV. The belt is also designed for maximum cushion and comfort.”
Originally available for $600, this treadmill is on sale for $450.
Apple Watch Series 9
Apple
The Apple Watch Series 9 boasts better speeds, battery life and functionality than previous generations. It now supports a double-tap gesture that makes it easier to control the watch with just one hand. A new chip also improves how the watch gathers and analyzes data from the accelerometer, gyroscope and optical heart sensor.
There are two case size options -– 41mm and 45mm –- and multiple casing color options including starlight, midnight, silver and (Product)RED. You can also choose between several different case material options (all of which are waterproof). The aluminum option, for example, also now comes in pink. Prices vary by size and color.
All run the WatchOS 10 operating system which comes preinstalled on the watch, along with a collection of apps.
Ooni Fyra 12 wood-pellet pizza oven
Ooni
Looking for a Valentine’s Day gift for the home chef who seems to have it all? Surprise them with this outdoor wood-pellet pizza oven.
This wood-pellet pizza oven from Ooni can reach temperatures of up to 950 degrees, creating stone-baked, 12-inch pizzas in as little as 60 seconds (though the oven takes about 15 minutes to warm up). And at just 22 pounds, it’s highly portable and storable.
Sure, it may take a little practice to perfect that perfect pizza toss, but that’s all part of the fun. Through experience, CBS Essentials has found that this sweet little oven turns a pizza party into a social event. Everyone will want to take a turn with the pizza peel.
“Normally I am a skeptic but this won me over almost instantly,” an Amazon customer says. “What an amazingly well-designed tool. I burned a couple of the first pizzas getting used to the cooking speed (I rather expected it) but by the fourth pizza perfection was at hand.”
Ganni Bou bag
Ganni
Ganni is one of the most popular affordable luxury brands out there. The Danish fashion label’s T-shirts, dresses, shoes and bags are all over fashion-forward Instagram and TikTok feeds.
If your loved one is a Ganni fan — or a fan of great handbags — get them this unique hexagonal silhouette bag made from recycled leather. It boasts a tone-on-tone metallic Ganni butterfly logo, nine hand-braided strands with a knotted detail and metallic dice engraved with the Ganni butterfly logo.
With double compartments, internal magnet closure, a flat card pocket and an adjustable, removable shoulder strap for crossbody wear, it’s a must-have addition to your Ganni collection. And did we mention that the colors are irresistible?
Comfier neck and back massager with heat
Comfier via Amazon
The Comfier neck and back massage chair pad brings a spa-like experience to any chair in your house. It features 2D/3D finger pressure Shiatsu massage and rolling, compression, vibration and heat functions.
The chair massager is designed to target your neck, shoulder, back and thighs. It can be placed on a sofa, couch, recliner, office chair or dining chair. This corded electric massager features three adjustable intensity settings.
CBS Essentials shopping expert Joan Kubicek gifted this massager to her husband. “It definitely relieves upper back tension, and those cricks I get in my neck,” he told her. “Plus, you can move it from your desk chair to many, many other chairs, so the end of your work day doesn’t have to mean the end of your massage.”
Nespresso Pixie Espresso Machine
Amazon
If you’re significant other looks forward to their morning coffee, splurge on this Nespresso coffee maker for them. The Nespresso device features a high pressure pump and great heat control.
“I love how much space this saves on my countertops,” CBS Essentials editorial director Leslie Gornstein says. “It’s amazingly easy to use and very easy to maintain.”
“Nespresso is constantly putting out new and interesting coffee flavors, including iced-latte pods for warmer seasons and — my favorite — Hawaiian Kona, so there’s always something fun to try if you’re a Nespresso owner,” Gornstein says.
Sonos Beam Gen 2
Sonos
The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) soundbar is able to generate spatial audio that makes the sound seem like it’s surrounding you, without the need for a subwoofer and rear speakers. (You can still easily add these items to your home theater setup if you want them.)
The Sonos Beam can be controlled using the Sonos app or voice commands. The soundbar supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay 2. You can manually adjust the bass, treble and loudness in the Sonos app, plus activate the soundbar’s Speech Enhancement feature that makes it easier to hear dialogue.
We like how the Beam can be used in conjunction with all other Sonos speakers located throughout your home.
Beam is suitable for TVs 65 inches or smaller. It works best in a small- to mid-sized room, such as a living room or bedroom.
Comme des Garçons Play high-top Converse sneakers
Saks Fifth Avenue
The problem with heart-shaped accessories or heart-themed clothing is that they tend to be corny, or something that is hard to integrate into an everyday wardrobe. Not so with these Comme des Garçons Converse sneakers. The curious and cheeky Play heart is just plain fun, and has an edge to it that makes it fashionable.
One of our CBS Essentials shopping experts, Rachel Center, has owned these sneakers for years. She says she frequently gets compliments on these when wearing them out.
Get these Converse for your sneakerhead significant other, or for anyone who will appreciate a cute pair of shoes to wear on Valentine’s Day (and beyond).
Longchamp custom My Pliage Signature travel bag
Longchamp
This travel bag by Longchamp may be the most customizable bag available this Valentine’s Day. You can choose between 16 different color options for the body of the My Pliage bag, the primary and shadow colors, and the recipient’s own pop-art inspired initials.
You can also customize the color and metal types used in the trim, as well as the color of the initials stamped on the snap enclosure.
Not quite sure what will look best on the bag? The brand offers inspiration images if you’re seeking color combination ideas.
Gorjana Diamond Alphabet necklace
Gorjana
Valentine’s Day is one of the best times to get your loved one diamonds. We love this dainty diamond initial necklace from Gorjana because it’s an everyday piece, instead of something that is more appropriate for special occasions.
Each initial is set with 11 diamonds; the rest is made with 14-karat solid gold. We like that, unlike other “affordable” pieces of diamond jewelry, the diamonds in this necklace aren’t too small to see.
What’s also great about this gift is that it comes with complimentary gift wrapping that allows you to write a personalized note to your Valentine.
CBS News
Malaysia agrees to launch new search for MH370 plane, which vanished a decade ago with 239 people on board
Malaysia announced on Friday it has agreed to launch a new search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared 10 years ago in one of aviation’s greatest enduring mysteries.
The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found. Malaysia’s prime minister said 17 days after the plane disappeared that, based on the satellite data, his government had concluded that the plane crashed down in a remote corner of the Indian Ocean, and that there were no survivors.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Malaysia had agreed to a new search operation by maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity, which also carried out an unsuccessful hunt in 2018.
The company’s first efforts followed a massive Australia-led search for the aircraft that lasted three years before it was suspended in January 2017.
Loke said a new 5,800 square mile area of the southern Indian Ocean would be scoured by Ocean Infinity, which is based in the United Kingdom and United States.
“The new search area proposed by Ocean Infinity is based on the latest information and data analysis conducted by experts and researchers,” Loke said.
“The proposal for a search operation by Ocean Infinity is a solid one and deserves to be considered,” he told reporters.
The government said it agreed to Ocean Infinity’s proposal “in principle” on December 13, with the transport ministry expected to finalize terms by early 2025.
The new search will resume “as soon as the contract is finalized and signed by both parties”, Loke said.
“They have informed us that the ideal time for the search in the designated waters is between January and April. We are working to finalise the agreement as quickly as possible,” he added.
“I truly hope there will be an end to the loss of MH370. May all questions be answered,” Malaysian Rosila Abu Samah, 60, the stepmother of one of the passengers, told AFP.
Supian Ahmad/NurPhoto/Getty
Malaysian Shim Kok Chau, 49, whose wife was a flight attendant on the ill-fated flight, said he had come to accept her fate but hopes to know what happened to the plane, “why it happened and who did it.”
Among the other victims was a celebrated group of 24 Chinese calligraphy artists coming from an exhibition of their work. Two young Iranian men on the plane, 18-year-old Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad and 29-year-old Delavar Seyed Mohammadreza, were traveling on stolen passports to seek better lives in Europe.
Two of the U.S. citizens on the plane were young children, Nicole Meng, 4, and 2-year-old Yan Zhang.
Philip Wood was the only American adult on the flight. The IBM executive had been living in Beijing and was planning to relocate to the Malaysian capital with his girlfriend, Sarah Bajc.
“No find, no fee”
The new search will be on the same “no find, no fee” principle as Ocean Infinity’s previous search, with the government only paying out if they find the aircraft.
The contract is for 18 months and Malaysia will pay $70 million to the company if the plane is found, Loke said.
He said the decision to agree to a fresh search “reflects the Malaysian government’s commitment to continuing the search operation and providing closure to the families of the MH370 victims.”
The original Australia-led search covered 120,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean but found hardly any trace of the plane, with only some pieces of debris picked up.
In July 2015, an airplane fragment later confirmed to be a flaperon from MH370 was found washed ashore on the western Indian Ocean island of Reunion. It was the first hard evidence that the plane had gone down in the area. More debris was later found washed up on the coast of eastern Africa.
YANNICK PITOU/AFP/Getty Images
The plane’s disappearance has long been the subject of theories — including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.
A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.
Asked if he was confident the plane will be found during the new search, Loke said: “At this point, no one can provide guarantees.
“It has been over 10 years, and it would be unfair to expect a concrete commitment. However, under the terms and conditions, any discovery must be credible. It cannot just be a few fragments; there are specific criteria outlined in the contract.”
A Utah mother who police believe was shot and killed by her husband along with three of their children was a refugee who fled violence in Myanmar and dreamed of thriving with her family in the U.S., relatives said Thursday.
Police believe the husband killed his family before shooting himself, and a teenage son was badly wounded.
The bodies of Bu Meh, 38, along with her daughters Kristina Ree, 8, and Nyay Meh, 2, and son Boe Reh, 11, were found in their home in West Valley City, a Salt Lake City suburb, on Tuesday. A handgun was found under the father Dae Reh, 42, leading police to believe this was a murder-suicide, but no evidence of a motive has been released.
One child, 17-year-old Sha Reh, survived being shot in the head and is hospitalized with a severe brain injury, police said.
Bu Meh, a member of Myanmar’s Karenni ethnic minority, fled what her relatives described as ethnic cleansing in the Southeast Asian nation about 10 years ago. She and her small family lived for a time in a refugee camp in Thailand, then came to the United States “with little more than the clothing on their backs,” the family said in a statement.
She taught herself English, learned new skills and worked hard to support her growing family, achieving a way of life “far beyond the nightmare of her former country or the refugee camp,” the family said.
“For reasons that we cannot comprehend, her husband robbed her and their children of that security and their very lives,” her family said.
Police believe the shooting happened over the weekend.
Police initially went to the home Monday night after a relative asked them to check on the family but did not find any sign of an emergency that would allow them to enter the home. The relative went to the home Tuesday, saw Sha Reh wounded in the garage and called police, who found the bodies inside the home.
In their statement, relatives called Sha Reh their hero and said he faces a “long and complex road to recovery.” An online fundraiser is collecting donations to pay for his care and to help him go to college.
“After moving into their own home and finally enjoying a level of prosperity far beyond the nightmare of their former country or the refugee camp in Thailand in which they lived for a season, and for reasons that we cannot comprehend,” the family wrote, “her husband robbed her and their children of that security and their very lives.”
Neighbors hadn’t reported any gunshots in the area over the weekend, police spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku said at a news conference Wednesday. The family had no previous reports of domestic violence or other disturbances.
One neighbor spoke to CBS affiliate KUTV about the shock they felt.
“How can a father shoot his children?” neighbor Mike Webster told the station. “I just can’t grasp for that concept at all. I can just see that poor little two-year-old looking at her daddy.”
This Utah case is the 38th mass killing in the United States this year. At least 165 people have died this year in U.S. mass killings, which are defined by the FBI as cases in which four or more people die within a 24-hour period, not including the killer.
Mark Barden, whose child was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, urged Utah lawmakers to pass Red Flag laws after the incident in Utah, KUTV reported.
“When it is recognized that an individual is in crisis, measures to safely and temporarily remove firearms from their possession are proven to save lives,” Barden said.
A journalists’ association says two journalists working for Kurdish media outlets were killed in northern Syria while covering fighting between Turkish-backed fighters and Syrian Kurdish militia.
The Turkey-based Dicle-Firat Journalists Association said Friday that Nazim Dastan and Cihan Bilgin were killed Thursday when their vehicle was reportedly targeted by a Turkish drone on a road near the Tishrin Dam.
Tishrin Dam, located some 56 miles east of Aleppo, has been the scene of clashes between the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, and the Turkey-backed opposition forces.
There was no immediate comment from Turkish officials.
Bianet, a news website dedicated to human rights issues, said Bilgin was a reporter for the Kurdish Hawar News Agency, while Dastan worked as a freelance journalist for the Firat News Agency, which is associated with the militant group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because its main component is a group aligned to the PKK.
The group has been engaged in an armed struggle against the Turkish state since the 1980s in pursuit of its objective of securing autonomy for Kurds in the country.
