CNN10: Saudi Arabia's Bid to Host 2034 World Cup, and Other News PDF

Going into FIFA\`s meeting this week, that\`s soccer\`s global governing body, Saudi Arabia was the only country bidding to host for that year.\ \ There was also only one bid for the 2030 Games, with Spain, Portugal, and Morocco together getting their chance to host in six years. \ \ Saudi Arabia fo...

Going into FIFA\`s meeting this week, that\`s soccer\`s global governing body, Saudi Arabia was the only country bidding to host for that year.\ \ There was also only one bid for the 2030 Games, with Spain, Portugal, and Morocco together getting their chance to host in six years. \ \ Saudi Arabia for years has been investing in sports as part of a project called Saudi Vision 2030, spending billions on changing the landscape of \ \ sports like golf, boxing, esports, and Formula One in recent years. Even buying the famous English Premier League team, Newcastle United.\ \ The project has been spearheaded by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and it aims to diversify the nation\`s economy to make Saudi Arabia one of \ \ the world\`s leading countries. But the decision comes as a number of human rights groups warn of issues in the Gulf nation, including the abuse of \ \ migrant workers, freedom of speech, and the rights of minority groups like the LGBTQ plus community. \ \ CNN\`s Amanda Davies gives us more background on what went into FIFA\`s decision and shows us what challenges may lie ahead of the 2034 Games.\ \ (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)\ \ UNIDENTIFIED MALE: \-- to FIFA, to host the 2034 World Cup, Saudi Arabia \--\ \ AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR (voice-over): Saudi Arabia and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman have made no secret of their desire to become \ \ the world\`s sporting destination of choice. Now, it\`s set to host the biggest prize of them all, the FIFA World Cup.\ \ UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Qatar.\ \ (CROWD CHEERING)\ \ DAVIES (voice-over): It\`s the most controversial awarding of the tournament since that infamous day in December 2010 that saw Russia and Qatar given \ \ the nod for 2018 and 2022 amidst corruption scandals and human rights concerns. \ \ DAVIES: Do you think FIFA learned any lessons, Steve, good or bad, from the Qatar experience?\ \ STEVE COCKBURN, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL\`S HEAD OF LABOUR RIGHTS AND SPORT: My fear is that the lesson they\`ve learned from Qatar is that they can ride \ \ out the criticism.\ \ DAVIES (voice-over): In Qatar, there was unprecedented levels of construction of stadiums and infrastructure. Migrant workers died in the \ \ process. \ \ Saudi Arabia meanwhile has pledged to build 11 new purpose-built venues. It was seen as a landmark moment in 2017 when FIFA became the first global \ \ sports body to write human rights commitments into the bidding process for its major events. But nearly eight years on, actions are speaking louder \ \ than words.\ \ LINA AL-HATHLOUL, SAUDI HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I think no organization \-- human rights organization has been consulted. And I will even add on that \ \ Saudi Arabia has been forbidding human rights organizations from entering the country since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came to power.\ \ DAVIES (voice-over): Lina al-Hathloul is a Saudi human rights activist. Hers is one of 11 organizations that recently raised concerns about FIFA\`s \ \ approach to Saudi\`s World Cup bid. \ \ (END VIDEOTAPE)\ \ WIRE: Ten-second trivia. \ \ Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of what food sticking to the roof of your mouth? \ \ Cheese, peanut butter, bread or caramel?\ \ Answer is peanut butter. The word coming from the Greek word for Iraqi, for ground nut. And butcher, meaning butter. And, of course, phobia for fear. \ \ Now to a major shake-up in the business world as grocery chain Albertsons calls off its \$25 billion merger with Kroger. This comes one day after a \ \ federal court in Oregon all but halted the mega-merger, ruling that the deal would limit competition and harm consumers.\ \ Kroger\`s proposed deal with Albertsons was announced in 2022. If approved, it would have been the largest merger in U.S. supermarket history, \ \ combining two of the largest chains in the country. This would include dozens of other chains that the companies own, like Safeway, Vons, Harris \ \ Teeter and Fred Meyer.\ \ Most of the workforce at Kroger and Albertsons are unionized, so a goal of the merger was to be more competitive against non-union giants like \ \ Walmart, Amazon and Costco. But high grocery prices played a big role here, and the judge ruled that the merger would eliminate the competition between \ \ Albertsons and Kroger that kept prices down, potentially raising prices for consumers. \ \ Now Albertsons is suing Kroger for breach of its contract agreement, saying that Kroger failed to make its best efforts to secure regulatory approval \ \ of the merger. We will let you know what Kroger has to say if they comment on termination of the deal or the suit. \ \ Now to Southern California, where a fast-moving fire gave thousands of people little time to evacuate as it barreled towards nearby neighborhoods. \ \ The Franklin Fire caught residents by surprise earlier this week.\ \ The fire\`s scorching growth was so explosive at one point it tripled in size in just one hour. The Los Angeles County Fire Department issued \ \ evacuation orders or warnings for more than 8,000 homes and businesses, with several shelters open for displaced residents. All Malibu schools were \ \ closed earlier this week due to the fire threat.\ \ CNN\`s Veronica Miracle gives us the latest, and then we\`ll turn to meteorologist Chad Myers to explain the role the Santa Ana winds play when \ \ a wildfire is raging.\ \ (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)\ \ VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Malibu\`s scenic hills ablaze after a fast-moving wildfire exploded overnight.\ \ LINDA MICHEL, HOMEOWNER: From 1 to 10, it was like a 15, like scary.\ \ MIRACLE (voice-over): The Franklin Fire tripling in size in just one hour, at one point scorching the equivalent of five football fields every minute \ \ since it ignited late Monday evening, prompting evacuation orders.\ \ MICHEL: Everything, all these mountains were covered in flames, just covered. Like you took a crayon and just colored everything.\ \ MIRACLE (voice-over): Linda Michel is a caretaker who lives on a property with horses in the evacuation zone. She says she awoke to a wall of flames \ \ surrounding the area and had to scramble to save the animals.\ \ UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see the wind down there.\ \ MIRACLE (voice-over): The inferno fueled by dry conditions and Southern California\`s infamous Santa Ana winds creating what fire officials call a, \ \ quote, \"particularly dangerous situation.\"\ \ Some wind gusts reaching 40 to 60 miles per hour. The flames destroying some homes and threatening businesses, even the iconic Malibu Pier.\ \ GABRIELLE SALGADO, STUDENT, PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: It has definitely been a stressful and very tiring night.\ \ MIRACLE (voice-over): Hundreds at nearby Pepperdine University had to shelter in place for hours in the campus library. Classes were canceled on \ \ Tuesday.\ \ SALGADO: I called my friends, found whatever friends I had in the same residential hall as me, and I just packed a bag. You look out the window \ \ and, you know, the sky is red.\ \ (END VIDEOTAPE)\ \ (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)\ \ CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There\`s a lot of talk out there about Santa Ana winds, and what they are, where they come from, and how they are \ \ formed. Well, really, the word Santa Ana wind has turned into a generic term, just meaning a gusty wind in Southern California. But there truly is \ \ a basis to this term.\ \ If you get a west wind, you have wind coming from the west. If you have a north wind, you have wind coming from the north. If you have a Santa Ana \ \ wind, you have wind that\`s rolling down through the canyon, the Santa Ana Canyon, which is between, really, the Chino Hills, Santa Ana Mountains. It \ \ rolls down from the high desert and rolls right through and heats up and speeds up all the way to the ocean. \ \ The term Santa Ana winds is used for any real gusty wind, typically warming, going downhill, and many times associated with wildfires.\ \ (END VIDEO CLIP)\ \ WIRE: Today\`s story getting a 10 out of 10, a \$28 million pair of shoes? An anonymous bidder spent the \$28 million on these ruby slippers from the \ \ legendary movie, \"The Wizard of Oz.\"\ \ These iconic kicks were worn by the one and only Judy Garland. The price kept going up and up, but the bidder was like, I\`ll get you, my pretties. \ \ The bid set a new record for the most money ever spent at auction on a piece of movie memorabilia.\ \ The dazzling slippers are one of only four surviving pairs, and these were actually stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota in 2005 before \ \ they finally found their way back in 2018. \ \ All right, let\`s click some heels together and bring this show home. But before I give today\`s shout out, I have to show some love to a group that \ \ doniferously contributed to yesterday\`s show.\ \ For your word Wednesday. See, Mrs. Lisa\`s class at Ashfield Academy in Lehighton in Pennsylvania, they too submitted the word doniferous, which \ \ means carrying or bearing gifts. So they deserve credit for that.\ \ Mrs. Lisa let me know on Instagram and I told her we would make it right. So right on. \ \ All right. Today\`s shout out goes to Mrs. Sweeney\`s advisory class in Annapolis Middle School in Annapolis, Maryland. We see you dragons.