Maybe because it won the bid for the 2016 Olympics, Rio de Janiero's getting prudish. A 7-year-old girl has been chosen for a role in the city's famous carnival that's usually given to a sex symbol.

The observation deck on the 124th floor of Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building that just opened last month, has been closed due to faulty elevators. On Saturday, some 15 people were trapped in an elevator after a small explosion. The elevator car was trapped between floors, and rescue crews had to hoist a ladder into the elevator shaft to get passengers out. At least it didn't require helicopters, like the recent rescue efforts at Machu Picchu to evacuate thousands of tourists, but it got us thinking about what the two closed sites having in common. One's a crumbly ancient city in South America, and the other's a really tall building in a crumbling, post modern Middle Eastern city that will make for interesting ruins someday. Let's compare.

Japanese authorities are trying to identify a body found inside the landing gear of a Delta Airlines plane traveling from New York to Japan. A lucky mechanic at Tokyo's Narita airport found the body last night shortly after the plane landed. The body had signs of frostbite but no other visible injuries, leading authorities to believe the man died of hypothermia during the flight.

Wondering just how someone stole your identity and went to Bloomingdale's? It could have had something to do with your recent hotel stay. Recent cybersecurity research has shown a spike in incidents targeting hotels and resorts. Happy travels!

Billy Murray is, as the olds say, full of surprises, so, naturally, he just happens to be appearing on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations on Monday. They're strangely attractive older dudes, they both like to booze, they both eat--why not? The two share a steak lunch and ponder the meaning of life at X20 in Yonkers in an episode focusing on the Hudson Valley. It all seems pretty random (Movieline is still trying to make sense of it all), but really, we should expect no less from Murray. Over the decades, his life choices have been consistently random and surprising, sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. A few of our favorites from the past decade alone:

Yes, it's nearly that time of year again. Just where to take that special someone...a cozy restaurant in the city, a getaway to the country, a weekend sojourn in Paris or Rome, or, perhaps a Toronto bathroom?

The New York Times has found yet another way to write about yoga (see last week's piece 'Chocolate and Chakras'). This week, they break the news that people want yoga when traveling! Even if they're staying in a chain hotel! Chekitan S. Dev, a professor of marketing at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, says "yoga is becoming a must-have amenity," like internet access. Really now.

Yesterday, we talked of ridiculous hotels that may never be; today, the Jay-Z hotel that never was is causing the hip hop mogul problems. In 2007, the jigga man borrowed money to open a "J Hotel" on West 21st Street, but when the economy took a nose dive, plans for the hotel were ditched. Now, he's suing the investment firm and the bank on the project for $3.7 million, claiming they're "bleeding" him on loans on the abandoned project.

Today, CNN asks an all-important question: "Could we be staying in floating hotels in the future?" The impetus for this question is a new hotel in the conception phase called the "Aircruise." The Aircruise is (or, really would be) a 256-meter-tall hotel that would float above the earth, providing dramatic views of the city or countryside. It could hold a max of 100 guests and crew in a space with 10 luxury apartments, a bar, lounge, and dining area. Essentially, it's a small, non-amenities filled cruise ship in the sky. "I can't think of another way you can experience pure luxury travel" says Nick Talbot, head of transportation at Seymourpowell, the company working on the hotel's design. Actually, we can think of plenty of other ways to "experience pure luxury travel." And we can also think of a few other "hotels of the future" that we don't really need to see.

There comes a time in every man's (or woman's) life when he must leave the nest and the known and those who have cared for him and strike out on his own to a find a new life, and a new love, of his own. That time has come for a young panda in Washington, DC. And, also, the Chinese government wants him back.