Whether it’s spring break or summer vacations, all of us could use a little vacation.

But airline travel can be stressful when you factor in flight cancellations.

Connecticut’s Bradley International airport was among the 15th highest in the nation for flight cancellations due to bad storms and power outages, according to Insuremytrip.com.

Last November, Bradley experienced several power outages that forced hundreds to miss their flights.

"It was dark, everything was black and a sea of people. There had to be thousands and thousands of people,” said Kasie Provencal.

"Power came on and then it went off and then it came on and then it went off. And I've been waiting ever since. I missed my flight. They boarded it and sent off while waiting online and they rescheduled,” said Mike Labonte.

Airport officials say more than a handful of flights were canceled.

Kevin Dillon, the executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority released this statement to NBC Connecticut news:

“Delays and cancellations vary year over year and are primarily caused by weather conditions and airline equipment issues. Very rarely are delays and cancellations generated by the airport itself. The vast majority of the airports in the top 20 ranking of this list are located in the northern part of the country, which is prone to inclement weather conditions and as such related flight disruptions. When compared to all the other major airports in the region (i.e. LGA, JFK, BOS, EWR and PVD), Bradley International Airport, which had a 2018 cancellation rate of 2.30 %, ranks the best on this list, with fewer cancellations than any of these airports.”

“It’s hard for an airline which is based predominantly or has a lot of flights in New England during the winter to have the same on time arrivals,” said Charlie Leocha, president and co-founder of Travelers’ United.

Travel expert Charlie Leocha says this causes a domino effect for the rest of your travel itinerary.

“If your flights’ canceled, you’ve already booked a hotel, you already have a rental car, and you can’t get out of some of those situations.”

Leocha tells us flight cancellations can be detrimental to the airlines themselves.

“DOT has got a special system set up for flight set up that are always late or canceled very often. If that happens, the airlines are penalized,” said Leocha.

He has recommendations to consumers.

“Always leave yourself time to make connections, if you’re connecting and if you got appointments going on, do not plan on arriving right on time,” Leocha said.

Leocha added that his company is working to get airline passengers more compensation when it comes to delayed or canceled flights.

The UConn Huskies fell to Notre Dame in the Final Four Friday with the final score 81-76.

The defending champion Irish and UConn have played six times in the Final Four or national championship game since 2011. They have split the six meetings with the Irish going 3-1 in the semifinals.

Christyn Williams beat the buzzer to give the Huskies a 30-29 lead over the Fighting Irish at halftime.

Then it was Katie Lou Samuelson heating up from three as she knocked down three at the foul line to put UConn up 54-52 going into the fourth quarter.

But it wasn't enough. 

Notre Dame will go on to play Baylor, who beat out Oregon 72 - 67 earlier Friday.

Ecuador has denied WikiLeaks' claims that it is set to expel Julian Assange from its embassy in London, rejecting what it called "an attempt to stain the dignity of the country," NBC News reported.

Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, hasn't left the embassy since 2012. He sought refuge there to avoid arrest and potential extradition to the United States for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables on the website.

The organization has also repeatedly claimed that the U.S. Justice Department is building a criminal case against Assange centered on the leaking of Democratic emails hacked by the Russians in the 2016 election.

On Friday, WikiLeaks tweeted that Assange would be expelled from the embassy "within 'hours to days'" and claimed that Ecuador "already has an agreement with the UK for his arrest."

Ecuador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late Friday that Assange and WikiLeaks have shown "ingratitude and disrespect" toward the country that has given him protection on its diplomatic soil by fueling rumors that he would be handed over to British authorities. 

Ecuador "has made significant expenditures to pay for his stay" and has "endured its rudeness," the ministry said.

To help make sure you stay informed on the most shared and talked about stories, each Saturday and Sunday we'll revisit 5 stories from the previous week, including the most recent updates.

Campus Stabbing

A student at the University of Hartford was arrested after police say he stabbed two classmates in a dorm on the West Hartford campus on Sunday. Jake Wascher, 21, of San Diego, California, stabbed the two students while they were all filming a scene for a movie as part of a class assignment, according to police. Wascher told officers he wanted to see what it was like to stab someone, police said. See more on the incident here.

Fatal Uber Mistake

Family and friends mourned 21-year-old Samantha Josephson, who was killed after mistakenly getting into a car she believed was her Uber. The University of South Carolina student was found dead outside Columbia, South Carolina. Police have charged a 25-year-old man with killing Josephson. Click here for more on the student's death.

Milford Woman Claims Uncomfortable Moment With Biden

A Milford woman is one of several women who have come forward claiming to have had an interaction with Joe Biden that they considered inappropriate. Amy Lappos, a former aide to Rep. Jim Himes, said Biden touched her face with both hands and rubbed noses with her in 2009. The encounter took place at a political fundraiser in Greenwich in 2009 when Biden was vice president, Lappos said. In a video posted to Twitter, Biden acknowledged social norms have changed and that he would be more mindful of people's personal space. See more here.

Debate Site?

Hartford is one of six places being considered for a presidential or vice presidential debate during the 2020 campaign. The Commission on Presidential Debates made the announcement Wednesday. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin released a statement that said the city "would be proud to host a debate." For more on the announcement, click here.

So Long, Farmington

After years of trying to sell it, rapper 50 Cent finally found a buyer for his 50,000-square-foot mansion in Farmington. The 21-bedroom, 25-bathroom home was sold for $2.9 million. 50 Cent bought the mansion in 2007 for $18.5 million. See details of the sale here.

Two people were transported to the hospital after a single-vehicle crash in Danbury early Saturday morning.

First responders were called to a serious motor vehicle accident on West Street near Pleasant Street.

When police arrived, they said they found one person trapped in a car. Another person had already gotten out of the vehicle, firefighters said.

Firefighters who arrived shortly after said a small convertible had struck a telephone pole, a wooden fence, a mailbox, a sign, a steel pole, two stone walls and then came to rest against a tree near a house.

According to fire officials, firefighters used multiple tools to remove the passenger door and disentangle one person's legs from the crushed floorboard.

Once the person inside of the vehicle was rescued, he or she was placed into the care of Danbury EMS, firefighters said. The second person was transported to the hospital by a second ambulance.

The Danbury Police Department is investigating the crash.

Reports that the family of Saudi Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi could receive millions of dollars after his murder in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate focus attention on a specific aspect of Islamic law: "blood money" payments.

The Post reported Tuesday that Khashoggi's two sons and two daughters had already each been given homes and monthly payments of $10,000 or more. According to the newspaper, the payments were cleared late last year by King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. One official described the handouts as an acknowledgment that “a big injustice has been done,” the report said.

In addition, the children could get tens of millions of dollars each as part of negotiations when the trials of his killers are wrapped up over the next few months, current and former Saudi officials and people close to the family told the Post. 

The payments, which NBC News has not independently confirmed, are likely an attempt to use a "traditional approach" to mitigate the international fallout from the murder, said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Hundreds of volunteers from the greater Quinnipiac community came together for the university’s tenth annual day of service called The Big Event.

This year, 1,500 Quinnipiac students, faculty, staff and alumni spent their Saturday giving back.

Katie Wilcox-Smith is a 2019 Co-Director of the decade old tradition.

“The big event means so much to me, because I get to see firsthand how great college students can really be,” Wilcox-Smith said. “This is the one time a year that the entire Quinnipiac community can come together. There’s nothing like it.”

Volunteers spread out across 87 sites all over the state.

It’s freshman Finn Ruane’s first time participating.

“Giving back to this community, it’s what’s important as a university,” said Ruane. “You take these opportunities to kind of get out and see a bit more of the world apart from academia.”

Lianne Audette is the groundskeeper at Edgerton Park in New Haven. She says she looks forward to this day, and the extra help, every year.

“They’re getting me off to a flying start that’s kind of like grunt work. The kids are great, they talk they have fun, and they take it seriously,” she said.

University President, Judy Olian, says watching students do good in the world makes her proud to be a part of the bobcat family.

"We have an obligation to the community, we are proud of what Quinnipiac stands for in terms of generosity and caring and the great engagement that this embodies," she said.

A vehicle fire has closed part of Interstate 91 north in North Haven on Saturday afternoon. 

The right and center lanes are closed between exits 12 and 13, according to the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Officials expect the highway to fully reopen within an hour or less.

There is no word if anyone was injured in the vehicle fire.

A Silver Alert has been issued for a 78-year-old man who was reported missing from Stratford on Saturday.

Lawrence Jones was last seen wearing a black jacket and tan pants, police said.

Jones has grey hair and brown eyes, according to police. He is 5'4" and weighs about 150 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call Stratford Police at 203-385-4100

East Windsor Police have received multiple reports of a suspicious man and are warning residents to keep away.

Police said the man has approached several elderly women both on foot and in his vehicle representing himself as an Uber driver and asking if they needed rides.

The man also asked about the value of the mobile homes in the area of Laurel View Estates off of South Water Street and wanted to enter one of the homes, according to police.

Police said the man was spotted driving a grey/silver Nissan four door sedan on Saturday. The vehicle the man drove has a partial license plate of 78061.

The man has a heavy European accent, according to police.

Anyone with information is asked to call East Windsor Police at 860-292-8240.

A deadly crash involving a stolen vehicle has closed part of Broad Street in Hartford on Saturday afternoon.

Police responded to the intersection of Broad Street and Grand Street around 12:40 p.m. after getting a report of a crash.

A man was transported to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said. His identity has not been released.

A vehicle stolen out of Colchester was involved in the crash. Two people were taken into custody at the scene and two people remain outstanding, according to officers. There is an active search for the two outstanding people.

Broad Street between Russ Street and Park Street is closed. Police expect the road to be closed for several hours. Motorists are advised to avoid the area.

A reconstruction team is at the scene.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

A seven-month investigation across five countries with significant refugee populations has found widespread reports of the U.N.'s refugee agency UNHCR's staff members exploiting refugees, while victims and staff members who report wrongdoing say the agency fails to act against corruption, NBC News reports.

In interviews, more than 50 refugees registered with the UNHCR in Kenya, Uganda, Yemen, Ethiopia and Libya have described corruption and exploitation involving the agency's staff and personnel from other aid agencies, following similar claims by refugees in Sudan last year.

Refugees, current and former UNHCR employees, aid workers and two former U.N. investigators say bribery and corruption are found in a variety of services the UNHCR and companion organizations are charged with providing, but report that it is especially unavoidable in resettlement — a precious opportunity for the world's most vulnerable refugees to restart their lives in safe new countries, usually in the West.

UNHCR spokesperson Cecile Pouilly said the agency strongly denies the allegations of widespread corruption within the organization.

On Thursday, a committee of the Florida House of Representatives voted along party lines to advance a bill that could bar from the ballot box many of the estimated 1.5 million convicted felons who just regained the franchise, NBC News reports.

Rep. James Grant, a Republican who represents Tampa in the Florida House, says he absolutely believes in second chances and redemption but is sponsoring a House bill requiring felons who have completed their jail terms to pay all fines and fees associated with their case before regaining the right to vote. "I also took an oath ... and swore to uphold the fidelity of the Constitution,” he said.

The House bill approved Thursday by the State Affairs Committee will next go to the Florida House Judiciary committee. If it passes there, it will go to the full floor of the Republican-controlled Florida House of Representatives for a vote. A similar bill is working its way through committees in the Republican-dominated Senate.

“It’s hard for me to say what the legislature’s intent is,” said Julie Ebenstein, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, “but what I can say is it’s clear what the effects of all this will be, and who will be most deeply affected because of the relationship between race and income, race and policing, race and employment.”

Authorities were responding to reports of at least seven people shot Saturday evening in the West Englewood neighborhood.

The incident occurred around 6:20 p.m. in 6300 block of South Seeley Ave., according to police.

Authorities said two of those individuals shot were children, ages ranging around 5 or 6 years old.

"The shooting occured at a family gathering," CPD Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi later tweeted.

Guglielmi also mentioned that individuals on the scene were not being cooperative with detectives. 

Officials said those injured were transported to nearby hospitals; their condition remain unknown.

No other details were immediately known.

This story is developing.

Police are investigating after a field was doused with gasoline and set on fire in Ridgefield on Saturday.

The town of Ridgefield said 24 gallons of gasoline were poured on the field at Governor Park in an attempt to "dry the field quicker."

The town plans to excavate the infield, place dirt in a safe container and add fresh, clean soil to the field.

A Ridgefield High School baseball game was delayed as a result of the incident.

No one was injured and no one is in danger, the town said.

The Town of Ridgefield said the field may be closed for the week for testing to be completed.

Like any good, respected pop culture icon, the San Diego Zoo’s giant pandas launched their “farewell” tour of sorts on Saturday – a three-week celebration highlighting their time in the city before they are repatriated to China.

The panda party marks exactly three weeks until Bai Yun – the zoo’s beloved 27-year-old female giant panda – and her son, 6-year-old Xiao Liwu – leave the San Diego Zoo, a facility known globally for its successful panda conservation program.

San Diego Zoo Global and China have been collaborating for the past 23 years on panda research and conservation of the species. Part of Saturday’s farewell ceremony included the unveiling of a new plaque marking the conservation program.

Zoo director Dwight Scott also led Chinese Ambassador Zhang Ping of the People’s Republic of China Los Angeles Consulate on a tour of the panda habitat.

The departure of the giant pandas marks the end of San Diego Zoo Global’s giant panda program. The zoo said in a press release that now comes “the beginning of a new era of panda conservation at the San Diego Zoo,” and the facility is working with their colleagues in China to determine what those future plans may entail.

While the San Diego Zoo has said it wants the giant pandas to return to the facility someday, the decision ultimately lies with China. A new agreement would likely center around the next challenge: reintroducing pandas to the wild. The ambassador said he's optimistic.

"They've done a very good job in panda research and conservation, so I think this is a very good thing for continuation of the program in the future," Zhang told NBC 7.

He said on every level, the agreement between China and the San Diego Zoo has been a model of success.

"I think the successful story of this project, here at the San Diego Zoo, is that we see a very successful breeding program," Zhang said. "I think it’s a very successful collaboration, and I think because of these kinds of exchanges, people in China also learned about the giant panda. It also helped the Chinese side advance its course on giant panda protection and conservation."

For now, giant panda fans have until April 27 to say goodbye to Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu. The San Diego Zoo said visitors can show their love for the furry creatures in several ways over the next few weeks, including sharing their memories and hopes for the giant pandas on social media using the hashtag #pandas4ever.

There’s also something called the Giant Panda Friendship Wall located across from the Giant Panda Research Station at the zoo’s Panda Canyon. Visitors could buy a commemorative bell from the zoo’s panda shop or grab a free tag and hang either – or both – on the wall as a symbolic gesture of love and appreciation for the pandas and everything they have meant to the city of San Diego.

Those who may not be able to make it to the San Diego Zoo to say goodbye to the giant pandas in person can take another approach: watching the Panda Cam on the zoo’s website here.

Bai Yun and her son are the last two giant pandas to live at the San Diego Zoo, one of only a few zoos where giant pandas can be found in the United States. Zoos in Washington, D.C, Atlanta and Memphis also have the animals.

The news of the departure of the giant pandas came a couple of weeks ago. Although it may have been shocking to locals and visitors fanatical about the animals, the move was not unexpected, as a long-term conservation agreement was ending, San Diego Zoo officials said.

"Although we are sad to see these pandas go, we have great hopes for the future," Shawn Dixon, chief operating officer for San Diego Zoo Global said last month in a statement released to the media.

The zoo’s giant panda conservation program began more than two decades ago when the species was threatened with extinction. The San Diego Zoo's work with Bai Yun and her cubs has helped to boost the wild population of pandas in China to more than 2,000, according to the zoo.

In 2016, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species changed pandas from endangered to vulnerable.

In October 2018, Bai Yun's longtime mate, Gao Gao, was returned to the Chinese Center for Research and Conservation for the Giant Panda. The father of five cubs born at the San Diego Zoo, Gao Gao had been living at the zoo for 15 years as part of the long-term loan agreement with the People’s Republic of China.

Meanwhile, longtime panda-keeper Dallas Dumont told NBC 7 on Saturday that the imminent departure of her furry friends still hasn’t sunk in. 

"For me it's not going to hit me ‘til I come back and see the empty bedroom," Dumont told NBC 7. "So, I think that's when the tears will probably come after they're gone."

The zoo plans to keep the panda enclosures intact, ready for a possible return. In San Diego, if you’re a panda, the door is always open.

Police said a suspected car thief is in custody after being caught by a sharply dressed detective trainee in Hartford on Friday afternoon.

Officer Jay Montrose was wearing a bowtie and tap shoes when he ran after 25-year-old Dante Flowers on foot, Lt. Paul Cicero said.

Flowers was spotted driving a stolen car from Manchester, Cicero said.

The brief foot chase took place near Asylum Hill, police said.

Flowers was arrested and charged with first-degree larceny, interfering with police, operating with a suspended license and possession of narcotics after officers discovered crack cocaine on his person, Cicero said.

Hartford Police took to social media to share tips about not stealing cars or running from police.

[[508216981,c]]

Cicero spotted Flowers enter the stolen car at the intersection of Sigourney and Ashley streets, he said. He keeps a list of recently stolen vehicles in his vehicle and noticed the car while driving.

Circero and other officers followed Flowers and boxed him in a few blocks away, but he got out of the car and started to run away, Cicero said. That’s when Montrose followed Flowers and caught up to him about two blocks away.

Montrose is one of the department’s two current detective trainees. Cicero said they are expected to dress the part with a shirt and tie.

Cicero said Montrose "did a good job" with the chase.

In the wake of Nipsey Hussle's death, a large mural honoring the slain hip hop artist brings hundreds to Heaven Skatepark in Hartford.

"It's sad that someone that does so much for a community that inverted his lifestyle to do much greater is gunned down," fan Melissa Mahon said. "He's a modern-day Martin Luther King."

The huge crowd that gathered for the vigil is a testament to Hussle's legacy and how he touched so many lives.

"He just was somebody who really like could bring people together and just really like understood himself as a person and try to like spread that kind of knowledge," mural artist Corey Pane said.

People came to remember Hussle's work and talk about how he will shape their future.

"We've got to keep the positivity going," fan Sarita Carter said.

"He has helped so many people through certain stages of life," fan Marques Boasu said.

Fans of the slain rapper say even though his life was cut short, his memory will live on.

"With our generation, you see it's very tough with individuals now trying to find their way, find their purpose," vigil organizer Daeson Benjamin said. "I just want to figure ways I can give back and help individuals."

New Hampshire state Rep. Renny Cushing opposed the death penalty before his father was murdered more than 30 years ago. He opposed it still in 2011, when his brother-in-law was shot and killed in Tennessee.

And in early March, he took to the House floor to encourage his colleagues to support his bill to abolish capital punishment in his home state — the bipartisan fruit of about six years of work in the Legislature, the Democratic lawmaker told NBC News and one that comes 21 years since he sponsored his first piece of legislation aimed at repeal.

Repeal efforts such as Cushing's are gathering steam in state legislatures across the country, mostly in places where the death penalty has been seldom issued in recent years, Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said, as lawmakers in both parties increasingly embrace change.