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☆ Hotels are leaning into their spookier sides to sell ‘rooms with a boo’
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-29 | by ( Blane Bachelor | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Perhaps unsurprisingly, more and more hotels are happy to show off their spookier side as a result. “They ditched the [premise of], ‘Oh, people may be scared,’ and said, ‘Wow, people will come and I can market it, so we’re a haunted hotel,’” said Melchiorri. The inspiration for Stephen King’s novel-turned-film “The Shining,” the 420-room grande dame, whose imposing facade is nearly as dramatic as its Rocky Mountains backdrop, is arguably the world’s most famous haunted hotel. From a messaging and marketing perspective, hotels should share their ghost stories or spooky lore “in a way that they don’t surprise anyone,” Orr said. “My experience is, whether they will admit it or not, most hotels have something that goes bump in the night,” Hunnings said.

Persons: Brian Hunnings, you’re, “, Anthony Melchiorri, ”, Katherine Orr, Elizabeth Harlow, Stephen King's, Helen H, Richardson, ’ earshot, ’, ’ ”, Stephen King’s, Stephen King Suite, –, Steve Azar, Vincent Alban, Hunnings, ” Hunnings, ” Steven Azar, Gifford, Azar, Don’t, ” Azar, Kumar Sriskandan, ” Orr, chambermaid Sallie White, Orr Organizations: CNN, Red Cliffs, CNN Travel, Hotels of America, Hospitality, Hyatt, Marriott, Denver Post, National Retail Federation, Stanley Film Center, Boston Globe, Cliffs, of Film, Western Heritage, “ Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, Alamo Locations: Red, Moab , Utah, Colorado, Estes Park , Colorado, Gifford, Provincetown, Moab, Provincetown , Massachusetts, San Antonio , Texas

☆ Steven van de Velde: Sent to jail for raping a child, Dutch beach volleyball player qualifies for Paris Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A Dutch beach volleyball player who served time in prison for raping a child 10 years ago will represent the Netherlands at this year’s Olympics. “We know Steven’s history,” Michel Everaert, general director at Nevobo – the Dutch Volleyball Federation – said in a statement. Everaert said that the federation spoke extensively with the Dutch National Olympic Committee (NOC), the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and van de Velde before his return to the sport. “I am also grateful to the Dutch volleyball federation, because they offered me, with clear conditions and agreements, a future in this beautiful sport again. The International Olympic Committee told CNN that the “nomination of individual team members, following qualification on the field of play, is the sole responsibility of each respective National Olympic Committee.

Persons: Steven van de Velde, “, ” Michel Everaert, Nevobo, Dutch Volleyball Federation –, Everaert, van de Velde, Steven, ” Everaert, Van de Velde, ”, ” Nevobo, ” “, de Velde Organizations: CNN, Dutch Volleyball Federation, Dutch National Olympic Committee, International Volleyball Federation, FIVB, NOC, Olympic Games, Olympic Committee, Olympic Locations: Netherlands, Paris, England, “, Dutch

☆ Apparent death of Wagner boss Prigozhin might pay dividends for the Kremlin
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The Ukrainians and their allies, Solovyov insinuated, were “spreading a fake message about the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin” based on a report from Rossiya-24, a Russian state television channel. After all, Russian investigative outlets have reported that the Wagner head apparently employed at least one body double. Awaiting an impartial report from the Investigative Committee is like expecting a Russian state TV host to stop taking talking points from the Kremlin. The crash of Prigozhin’s plane happened just about two months after Prigozhin and Wagner staged their insurrection, the biggest challenge to Putin’s rule in over two decades. Russian investigative journalist Artem Borovik died in 2000 shortly after his plane to Kyiv crashed after take-off from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin’s, Wagner, Prigozhin, Vladimir Solovyov, Solovyov, Yevgeny Prigozhin ”, Prigozhin –, Batya, –, Vladimir Putin’s, Alexey Navalny, Putin, “, Russia, That’s, Alexander Lukashenko, defenestration, Artem Borovik, Alexander Lebed –, cui bono –, Vanda Felbab, Brown, liquidating Wagner, ”, Vladimir Putin Organizations: CNN, Embraer, Kremlin, Russian Federation, Brookings Institution Locations: Kuzhenkinskoe, Russia’s Tver, Russian, Rossiya, Moscow, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Africa, St . Petersburg, Niger, Kyiv, Moscow’s Sheremetyevo, East

☆ FIDE bans transgender women from competing in women’s chess events pending ‘further analysis’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Ben Church | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

In a meeting earlier this month, FIDE’s council approved the updated policy which will come into effect on August 21. The policy says that once a player informs FIDE they are changing their gender from male to female, they will be banned from competing in official women’s events. This is so insulting to cis women, to trans women, and to the game itself,” it wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “So FIDE just published (yesterday) a list of anti-trans regulations, like it was ‘the biggest threat of women in chess’. WA said the exclusion would apply to “male-to-female transgender athletes.”Advocates of banning transgender women from women’s sport have argued that transgender women have a physical advantage over cisgender women in sports.

Persons: Federation –, –, ” “, Yosha Iglesias, “, ” Iglesias, FIDE’s Organizations: CNN, Federation, FIDE, Center for Transgender Equality, Cup, FINA, Athletics, WA, Sports Medicine

☆ Simone Biles stepped away from ‘corrosive’ gymnastics for mental health. Now she’s back
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Savanna Stewart | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“We’ve never seen an athlete like Simone Biles,” Ryan said. And yet that sport was corrosive enough and abusive enough that she really had to step away for her own mental health,” added Ryan. “I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being.”Biles was replaced in the all-around final by Jade Carey, who had finished ninth in the qualifying round. More than 150 athletes, including Biles, said that the former USA Gymnastics team doctor sexually abused them under the guise of providing medical treatment. “I think this just really shows the lack of leadership of USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee.”However, there is hope that a brighter future is in store for USA Gymnastics.

Persons: –, “, Joan Ryan, ” Ryan, Ryan, ” Simone Biles, Biles, “ We’ve, Simone Biles, ”, ” Biles, Jade Carey, Carey, Jamie Squire, Simone, ” Carey, Ryan’s, Dmitri Lovetsky, ’ ” Ryan, Larry Nassar, Nassar, …, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols, General's, Saul Loeb, Jake Tapper, ” Raisman, Jill Geer, Gabby Douglas, Suni Lee, ” Geer, Geer, Douglas — Ryan, “ It’s, you’ve, what’s Organizations: CNN, CNN Sport, Olympics, USA Gymnastics, Oregon State University, US Gymnastics Federation –, Tokyo, USA, United States Olympic, Paralympic, New York, United, Capitol, United States Olympic Committee, National Team, “, ”, US women’s Locations: Hoffman Estates , Illinois, Tokyo, United States, Washington, Biles, “, Paris

☆ UN efforts to save Black Sea grain deal to continue in coming days
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The final two ships are due to leave Ukrainian ports on Tuesday under the Black Sea deal, said a U.N. spokesperson. "The (Black Sea) Initiative refers to the export of ammonia, but this has not yet been realized," Griffiths said. "While Russia keeps Ukrainian grain supplies from feeding the hungry, Russia is successfully exporting its own bumper crop of grain," Deputy U.S. 'CRUCIAL'Nebenzia again complained that not enough poor countries were benefiting from the Black Sea grain deal. Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to deliver Russian grain and fertilizers free of charge to African countries.

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