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☆ Dutch police use hologram in bid to solve cold case murder of Amsterdam sex worker
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-10 | by ( Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —In Amsterdam’s Red Light District, the hologram of a woman sits behind a window. This hologram is modeled on Bernadett “Betty” Szabó, a 19-year-old Hungarian sex worker who was murdered in the Dutch capital in 2009. Despite a large-scale investigation, in which police monitored CCTV, interviewed witnesses, and combed over the crime scene, the case eventually became cold. Bernadett "Betty" Szabó was murdered in February 2009, three months after giving birth to her son. The reward for information related to the case has been raised to €30,000 (around $32,160).

Persons: ”, Betty ” Szabó, Szabó, Betty, ” Benjamin van Gogh, van Gogh, “, ” Eline, Roovers Organizations: CNN, Light District, Amsterdam, Amsterdam Police, “ Locations: Hungarian, Nyíregyháza, Amsterdam

More than a year later, she is still in debt and resorting to sex work to pay her bills. But now she would have to repay him – with sex work the only way to raise the cash. Yu is one of hundreds of women coerced to sell their bodies after frequenting Japan’s so-called “host clubs,” experts told CNN. Of those detained, 40% told police they were soliciting to repay debts run up at host clubs, NHK reported. “It’s a romance scam, basically,” said Ayaka Shiomura, a member of Japan’s upper house of parliament, who has unsuccessfully pushed for better safeguards against exploitative host clubs.

Persons: Tokyo CNN — Yu, she’d, Yu, ’ ”, “, ” Yu, Daniel Campisi, Behrouz Meheri, ”, Ayaka Shiomura, Mikami Rui, ” Mikami Rui, Hidemori, Gen, Shiomura, “ let’s, ” –, ‘, ’ ” Yu, –, Rui, “ I’m Organizations: Tokyo CNN, CNN, Getty, Tokyo, NHK, Asahi Shimbun, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Befrienders Locations: Japan’s, Kabukicho, Tokyo, AFP, Japan, Okinawa, Macao, Hong Kong

In the small Bombay theater that showed big films, his father brought him — over and over again — to see the biggest of them all. With every one of his 18 viewings of “Mughal-e-Azam,” a hit 1960 musical about a forbidden romance between a prince and a courtesan, the young boy fell more in love. The rays of light, beamed in black and white, opened to him a world at once majestic and lost. The music swept him to places that only later in life would he fully understand. India, cinema and music — they would all change, too.

Persons: —, ”, Sanjay Leela Bhansali — Organizations: Alankar Talkies Locations: Bombay, Mumbai, India

☆ Photos shine a light on Taiwan’s ‘betel nut beauties’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Emma Russell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

To meet her sales targets, the betel nut “must be delicious.” she told CNN in an email. A betel nut stall in Taipei. “I loved driving there because there were the betel nut girls,” she recalled in a phone interview. One of Han's subjects, Ju Ju, is pictured at a booth in the city of Taoyuan. But Ju Ju has since grown to value the stability of the job.

Persons: Mong Shuan, Mong, Constanze Han, “, ”, we’d, Han, Han “, ’ ”, Susan Meiselas, Xiao Hong, Ju, Ju Ju, —, Constanze Organizations: CNN, Mong, ”, island’s Ministry of Health, Welfare Locations: Taiwan, Asia, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and New York, America, New England, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Constanze

☆ Amsterdam bans construction of new hotels as a way to fight overtourism
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Lilit Marcus | Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

This means: no overtourism, no new hotels, and no more than 20 million hotel overnight stays by tourists per year,” it said in a statement. This is the latest in a series of measures the Dutch capital has taken to mitigate the issue of overtourism in the city. Last year, the Amsterdam City Council voted to ban cruise ships and close its cruise terminal. The city also banned the use of marijuana on public streets in the red light district and ended guided tours that passed by sex workers’ windows. Under a 2021 ordinance called “Amsterdam Tourism in Balance,” the city council is “obliged to intervene” when tourism numbers reach 18 million people.

Organizations: CNN, Amsterdam City Locations: Netherlands, Amsterdam, Balance

☆ Amsterdam’s Latest Effort to Fight Excessive Tourism: No New Hotels
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Claire Moses | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Amsterdam has been searching for any way to rein in the number of tourists that visit the city every year. The city has also long tried to control the crowds in its red-light district, where rowdy groups of tourists often cause disruptions to local residents. It has added stricter rules about smoking marijuana. It has banned new tourist shops. And still, the people keep coming.

Persons: ”, — Locations: Amsterdam

☆ 'The Davos underground': A final take on the secretive parties of the world's rich and powerful
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +23 min

"That's when you get the good s---," said a Davos attendee who is regularly selected to join the exclusive backroom of the Annual Davos Wine Forum Tasting. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards JPMorgan took over the Kirchner Museum for its annual drinks event. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards The attire of the Davos set is decidedly not chic. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards The color of your conference badge determined access to World Economic Forum events. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Skiing and snowboarding post panels and broadcasting was another favorite pastime of some Davos goers.

Persons: bankrolled, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, George Soros, Bill Browder, Anthony Scaramucci, Anthony, Scaramucci, queued, Latour, Donald Trump, —, Mark Milley, Matt Damon, Richard Branson, Andrea Bocelli, Chris Coons, Paul Ryan, bartenders, Champagne Perrier, Chateau Latour, L'Eglise, Burgundy Olivier Bernstein Bonnes, Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue, Tenuta, Casanova di Neri, Stephen King, Browder, Doug Emhoff, Gary Cohn, Ian Bremmer, Sir Martin Sorrell, Sting, Bill Gates, Sam Altman, Marc Benioff, Ray Dalio, Emhoff, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Brian Moynihan, IBM's Gary Cohn, Jack Hidary, Sir Richard Moore, Barry Colson, Davos goer, Moritz, Eve, CNBCers, Emmanuel Macron, John Kerry, Joe Short, roundtables, Wyclef Jean, Diane von Fürstenberg, George Osborne, David Rhodes, Osborne, Politico's Suzanne Lynch, Princess Beatrice, David Blaine, Milley —, Tij, CNBC Tij Organizations: Economic, CNBC, Congress Center, Russian, Russian Direct Investment Fund, Moonshot Investor Network, Putin, Hermitage Capital, SkyBridge, White House Communications, Chiefs, Bordeaux Smith Haut, Platz, Politico, IBM, AB InBev, White, Trump, Eurasia Group, Capital, Microsoft, Wall Street, Billionaire Microsoft, Light, Infosys, Bloomberg House, JPMorgan, Kirchner Museum, Financial, Hotel, CNBC CNBC, Bank of America, New, Davos, U.S . Climate, Accenture, Golf Club Davos, Palantir, Chancellor, Sky News's, Sting, Workers, Swiss Army, Army, Gliding Locations: Davos, Switzerland, Soviet, Ukraine, Moscow, Hungarian, Hermitage, Providence, Europe, Davos's, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Smith Haut Lafitte, Bello, Santa Cruz, Napa Valley Tuscany, Schatzalp, Scalettastrasse, Emirates, Halifax, Canada, Salt Lake City, U.S, Palantir, Swiss

☆ Mary Ellen Mark: Vintage photos offer rare glimpse of Mumbai’s red-light district
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-05 | by ( Christy Choi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

CNN —Mary Ellen Mark couldn’t forget Falkland Road. Despite being harassed and intimidated, legendary photographer Mary Ellen Mark spent 10 years trying to take photos on Falkland Road. Mary Ellen Mark A young woman and her customer photographed by Mary Ellen Mark. Mary Ellen Mark Falkland Road's infamous cages, where sex workers were displayed to passersby and potential customers. Mary Ellen Mark A young woman and a child seen reflected in a mirror.

Persons: Mary Ellen Mark, Mary Ellen Mark couldn’t, ”, Falkland, ” Meredith Lue, Lue, didn’t, Mark, “ Saroja, ’, Mary Ellen Mark Friends, “, ” Lue, she’s, Asha, Mumtaz, Usha, Mary Ellen Mark Late, Mary Ellen Mark Falkland, wouldn’t, Champa, Martin Bell, ” Mark, Mary Ellen Mark Hidden, ” Bell, Mark’s, ’ ” Lue, Ward, They’re, they’ve, It’s, ” Mary Ellen Mark Organizations: CNN, New York Times, Mary Ellen Mark Foundation, GEO, Olympia, Mental Institution, Ward, Times, “ Locations: Mumbai, Bombay ”, Bombay, —, Falkland, “, Mumbai's, South India, America, Berlin, Germany, India, Seattle, Oregon

☆ 'They just come, take a nice selfie ... and leave.' Overtourism returns, but cities are fighting back
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Many cities have come full circle to worrying about too many tourists rather than too few. "They just come, take a nice selfie, publish them on social media, increase the popularity of this place … and leave," she said. And an additional 50 million international tourist arrivals are expected per year — mostly from Asia — between now and 2030, according to the U.N.'s World Tourism Organization. James Matsumoto| Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesSome travelers supported Bhutan's $200 per day Sustainable Development Fee, which was announced in 2022. Managing 'tourist flow'The United Nations World Tourism Organization secretary-general, Zurab Pololikashvili, told CNBC Travel that the key to overcoming overtourism lies in "tourist flow."

Persons: Lionel Saul, Tatyana Tsukanova, What's, Tsukanova, Reinhard Hormandinger, Saul, Jesus Merida, It's, Luca Zanon, Ivan Saprov, Saprov, Miyajima, James Matsumoto, Zurab Pololikashvili, overtourism, Jon Hicks, —, Darrell Wade, Reinhard Hoermandinger Organizations: Hospitality Business, United Nations, Asia —, Tourism Organization, South, Afp, Getty, Guardian, daytrippers, CNBC, United Nations World Tourism Organization, CNBC Travel, Stone, Japan Times, Intrepid Travel Locations: Lausanne, Switzerland, Asia, South Korean, Machu Picchu, Peru, Acropolis, Athens, Borobudur, Indonesia, Sardinia, Venice, Bora Bora, Amsterdam, Spanish, Malaga, Spain, France, trialing, daytrippers . New, Valencia, Manchester, England, Thailand, Iceland, U.S, Bali, Germany, Yogyakarta, Labuan Bajo, Lake Toba, Austria

☆ Opinion | Ban Online Porn for Kids
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

New Yorkers above a certain age remember the old Times Square. Peep shows, adult bookstores and live sex shows stretched on for block after block. When I started my freshman year at a college in Nashville, the city’s Lower Broadway was a miniature version of Times Square. Lower Broadway is so packed with tourists that locals steer clear — not because it is debauched but because it is just so darn crowded. And we can use our successes in Times Square, Lower Broadway and elsewhere as a conceptual legal model for reforming these virtual public spaces.

Organizations: Times, Broadway Locations: Yorkers, New York, Nashville, Broadway, America, Square, Lower Broadway

☆ Sex in self-driving cars: Passengers are reportedly hooking up in San Francisco's driverless taxis
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Kylie Kirschner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Riders are reportedly using San Francisco's self-driving taxis, operated by Cruise, to hook up. A 2018 study predicted that more autonomous vehicles could mean more sex on the road. With no one in the front seat driving, some people are using self-driving taxis for a little bit more than just transportation. A 2018 study by Scott Cohen and Debbie Hopkins in the Annals of Tourism Research journal predicted that passengers might use robotaxis for sex. "Hotels-by the hour are likely to be replaced by connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs)," the researchers wrote.

Persons: Cruise, Waymo, Alex, he's, Megan, Scott Cohen, Debbie Hopkins, Elon Musk Organizations: Cruise, San Francisco, California Public Utilities Commission, Tourism Research, Tesla Locations: San Francisco, California, robotaxis

☆ Lizzo is ‘hurt’ by suit filed by former dancers
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Lizzo is addressing a lawsuit filed against her by three of her former dancers. On Thursday, Lizzo addressed the complaint publicly for the first time in a statement on her verified social media. “These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional,” Lizzo wrote in her response. I know what it feels like to be body shamed on a daily basis, and would absolutely never criticize or terminate an employee because of their weight,” Lizzo continued. “I am hurt, but I will not let the good work I’ve done in the world be overshadowed by this.

Persons: ”, Lizzo, ” Lizzo, “, it’s Organizations: CNN, Los Angeles Superior Court, Light Locations: Los Angeles

CNN —Beyoncé appeared to skip over Lizzo’s name as she performed “Break My Soul (Queen’s Remix)” at a concert in Boston on Tuesday, following the news that Lizzo is being sued by three former dancers alleging harassment and hostile work environment. Normally, Lizzo’s name appears in the lyrics of “Break My Soul (Queen’s Remix),” alongside the likes of Nina Simone, Lauryn Hill and Nicki Minaj, as part of Beyoncé’s song celebrating black women in the entertainment industry. Lizzo is facing a lawsuit from three former dancers. Lizzo had posted a video of herself on Instagram in June watching the same set at a previous show on Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” tour, saying, “I think of what we all mean to people and how cyclical it is. We are all so infinitesimally and maximally connected and significant.

Persons: CNN — Beyoncé, Nina Simone, Lauryn Hill, Nicki Minaj, Paras Griffin, Lizzo, “, ” Organizations: CNN, Los Angeles Superior Court, ” CNN, Lizzo Locations: Boston, Los Angeles

☆ Lizzo sued by three former dancers alleging harassment and hostile work environment
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Lizzo has been sued by three former dancers who claim they were subjected to a hostile work environment and harassment while they were members of the Grammy-winner’s dance team. The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday and obtained by CNN through an attorney for the plaintiffs, also names her production company Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. (BGBT) and a person described as “dance cast captain” as defendants in the suit. Fearing retaliation, the suit states the plaintiff eventually “acquiesced” despite having expressed numerous times she had no desire to touch the performers. The suit alleges that this comment from the the accountant was “charged with “racial and fat-phobic animus.”Lizzo is known for her uplifting messages and advocacy for body positivity as an integral part of her work. CNN has reached out to a representative for Lizzo and Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. seeking comment on the complaint.

Persons: CNN — Lizzo, ”, “, Lizzo Organizations: CNN, Los Angeles Superior Court, Light, Lizzo, Inc Locations: Los Angeles

CNN —Amsterdam’s city council has approved a proposal banning “polluting” cruise ships as part of the city’s latest move to clamp down on overtourism. A spokesperson for Amsterdam Deputy Mayor Hester van Buren, who has responsibility for the city’s port, told CNN that the council approved a proposal on Thursday to close the city’s cruise ship terminal. The ban on "polluting" cruise ships is just one of many moves by Amsterdam to limit the effects of overtourism. D66 party chairwoman Ilana Rooderkerk emphasized in the statement that “polluting cruise ships do not fit with the sustainable ambitions” of Amsterdam. “Cruise ships in the heart of the city do not fit into Amsterdam’s goal of reducing the number of tourists,” Rooderkerk added.

Persons: Hester van Buren, van Buren’s, Ilana Rooderkerk, “, ” Rooderkerk Organizations: CNN Locations: Amsterdam’s, Amsterdam, Balance

☆ Amsterdam Tries to Dim the Glare on Its Red-Light District
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Claire Moses | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It has been a goal sought after by Amsterdam for years: dissuading rowdy, brawling tourists from overtaking the red-light district. The Dutch city announced new measures this spring to crack down on noise and substance abuse, which residents have long complained about in the district. But sex workers, bartenders and entrepreneurs say the new rules haven’t been effective in making the area safer or quieter. The new rules introduced this spring set earlier closing times for bars (2 a.m., and no new entry after 1 a.m.), stopped sex workers from working after 3 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. and banned marijuana smoking in the street. But many sex workers say the regulations make them less safe because they have less time to earn enough money to cover the cost of their rooms, pressuring them to accept clients they would otherwise turn down.

Persons: haven’t Locations: Amsterdam

☆ In Tokyo, Skipping the Hot and New for Enduring Haunts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Tom Downey | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Continuing my quest, I visited Fukube, another “Q Guide” favorite, located in a bustling neighborhood a couple blocks east of Tokyo Station. The main room, with just a handful of seats in front of a narrow bar counter, was full of suited salarymen. Before, I had savored the feeling each time I entered that Fukube was just as it had been since 1938. The usual images of Tokyo oscillate between two extremes: gilded metropolis of the future and repository of the aristocratic past. The “Q Guide” evokes a different, real, thoroughly proletarian and much more intriguing city, most faithfully depicted in works of art and literature that I love.

☆ Why sex workers are protesting in Amsterdam
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Jessie Gretener | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The reduced hours come amid an ongoing campaign by the city council to move sex workers into an “erotic center” outside the heart of the city. She also spoke about welfare concerns for all sex workers, explaining how it could impact their ability to get home safely. A protest organized by sex workers interrupted a city council meeting on Thursday that was discussing location options for the proposed erotic center. Sex workers disagree, with Red Light United arguing that the erotic center could create an environment for more crime and “shady” behavior. Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty ImagesRestrictions for sex workers is just one bullet point on Amsterdam’s re-branding attempt.

☆ Amsterdam, Sick of Partying Tourists, Says No Thanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Allison Pohle | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Amsterdam is redefining the role tourism will play in the city. Amsterdam has a message for tourists who want to party hard while visiting the city: Stay away. The Netherlands’ capital plans to launch a deterrence campaign later this month aimed at tourists who go wild during their visits. In addition to new ads, the city has proposed rules in its infamous Red Light District, such as a ban on smoking marijuana in the street, earlier weekend closing times for bars, clubs and sex-work establishments and reduced alcohol sales.

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