With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire for Journalists. Here are some of this week’s most newsworthy releases you might have missed. 

Condé Nast Traveler Reveals the All-New 2016 Readers’ Choice Awards: The World’s Best Hotels, Resorts, Cities, Islands, Airlines, and Cruise Lines

Condé Nast Traveler announced on Oct. 17 the results of its 29th annual Readers’ Choice Awards, ranking the best hotels, resorts, cities, islands, airlines, and cruise lines in the world. Over 300,000 dedicated readers – nearly twice as many as last year – cast votes for 7,394 hotels, 606 cities, 500 cruise ships, 236 islands, in an average survey time of 8.4 minutes. The result? The 1,402 best travel experiences in the world. See the full release to see the winners.

CareerBuilder’s Annual Study Reveals This Year’s Craziest Excuses for Calling in Sick

While calling in sick, when you are feeling just fine, is not a new phenomenon in the office, slightly less workers say they have done it over the last 12 months, according to a new CareerBuilder survey. Slightly more than a third of workers (35%) said they have called in to work sick when they were feeling just fine, down from 38% last year. More than 3,100 full-time workers and more than 2,500 full-time hiring and human resource managers (of which 2,379 are in the private sector) across industries participated in the nationwide survey, conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from Aug. 11 to Sept. 7. See the full release to find out the most common (and the craziest) excuses for missing work.

APA Survey Reveals 2016 Presidential Election Source of Significant Stress for More Than Half of Americans

Facing one of the most adversarial contests in recent history and daily coverage of the presidential election that dominates every form of mass media, 52% of American adults report that the 2016 election is a very or somewhat significant source of stress. The survey was conducted online among adults 18 and over living in the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of the American Psychological Association (APA). See the full release to learn more about how this election is affecting Americans and get tips for how to cope.

Chicago Holds Top Spot on Rattiest Cities List

As fall rolls in, pest control leader Orkin reminds homeowners to take precautions to help keep rodents out. Orkin released its Top 50 Rattiest Cities list today (Oct. 17). Chicago topped the list again, after previously ranking first in 2014. The Midwest region had the greatest number of cities on the list, with 13 in the top 50. The cities are ranked by the number of rodent treatments the company performed from Oct. 1, 2015 – Sept. 30. This ranking includes both residential and commercial treatments. See the full release to learn what other cities made the list.

Clowns Without Borders USA Condemns Creepy Clown Pranks

Clowns Without Borders USA (CWB-USA) recently condemned the actions of agents who are impersonating clowns to frighten others and the actions of those who are using distorted clown images to make fictitious threats and incite anxiety. From their statement: The wave of negative and hurtful sentiments expressed against professional clowns pains our community. “While this phenomenon in the U.S. hasn’t affected our international programming, it certainly has affected the climate here at home. We honor and support our community of professional performing artists, who are experiencing prejudice because of this,” says Molly Rose Levine, Executive Director for CWB-USA. See the full release to learn more about Clowns Without Borders.

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Larry Grady is online content manager at PR Newswire for Journalists.  He has worked in business media for nearly 30 years and enjoys reality TV and daydreaming about travel and wine.