Air France flight attendants set to strike At press time, Air France was expecting flight attendants to strike beginning Saturday (Oct. 29) through Wednesday, Nov. 2. "Delays and some same-day cancellations of flights are expected," the airline reported. For updated flight information during the strike, go to www.airfrance.us, and click on "Industrial dispute," at the top left.

KERRI WESTENBERG

Red tide in Texas doesn't mean 'flee' Red tide, a disagreeable algae bloom, is affecting a large swath of Gulf of Mexico coastline, from near Galveston to Mexico, including such popular beach destinations as South Padre Island. Visitors can still fish, eat seafood and swimming in the gulf. But pick a calm day for a beach outing; strong winds and surf stir up the red tide, causing it to release an irritating aerosol.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Check credit card website for travel deals It's not uncommon to see credit-card companies partnering with tourism bureaus. Right now, Visa has a promotion with Alaska Airlines for travel to Hawaii or Mexico. Travelers who use a Visa card can receive 20 percent off fares to Hawaii or Mexico for travel through Dec. 14. Details at www.startribune.com/a76.

MCCLATCHY NEWS SERVICE

Learn from a native speaker on your iPad The iPad app Hello-Hello World lets you connect to native language speakers anywhere, anytime. It's free, and the conversational courses were developed in collaboration with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. The first version, Hello-Hello Spanish, debuted last year. Hello-Hello promises versions for smartphones.

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