CNN – Style

Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Three years after Barack and Michelle Obama’s official portraits were unveiled at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the paintings have arrived at the Art Institute of Chicago, where the former President and First Lady had their very first date. On display there through mid-August, the artworks by Brooklyn-based Kehinde Wiley and Baltimore-based

The 270-mile railway between Lhasa and Nyingchi entered into service on June 25, giving all regions in mainland China access to high-speed train travel.

By Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN For the first time, travelers in Tibet can enjoy the area’s mountainous views at high-speed. A 435-kilometer (250-mile) rail line connecting Tibetan capital Lhasa with the city of Nyingchi entered into service on June 25, giving all 31 provincial-level regions of mainland China access to high-speed train travel. 47 tunnels,

By Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN For the first time, travelers in Tibet can enjoy the area’s mountainous views at high-speed. A 435-kilometer (250-mile) rail line connecting Tibetan capital Lhasa with the city of Nyingchi entered into service on June 25, giving all 31 provincial-level regions of mainland China access to high-speed train travel. 47 tunnels,

Isabelle Gerretsen, CNN Amsterdam’s well-known tolerance of recreational drugs and sex has long attracted tourists in search of the seedier side to the city of canals and cycle paths. But when border closures and lockdowns brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic emptied the Dutch capital of all visitors, many locals found the absence of the

By Helen Regan, CNN As countries around the Asia-Pacific region tighten restrictions once again to curb potential breakouts of the Delta coronavirus variant, Singapore has laid out a new vision for life to return to normal. The roadmap, proposed by three members of Singapore’s Covid-19 task force, would scrap lockdowns and mass contact tracing and

By Helen Regan, CNN As countries around the Asia-Pacific region tighten restrictions once again to curb potential breakouts of the Delta coronavirus variant, Singapore has laid out a new vision for life to return to normal. The roadmap, proposed by three members of Singapore’s Covid-19 task force, would scrap lockdowns and mass contact tracing and

By James Briggs and Zamira Rahim, CNN A car given to Princess Diana by Prince Charles as an engagement present has sold for more than £52,000 ($72,000) at auction. The 1981 Ford Escort Ghia sold for about $30,000 more than the lower range of the expected price. The auctioneer’s estimate had suggested that the car

Jack Guy, CNN A “forgotten” painting kept in the same family for generations has sold for 7.68 million euros ($9.1 million) at auction after experts discovered it was the work of French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard. “A philosopher reading” by Fragonard was spotted by Antoine Petit, an auctioneer at the Enchères Champagne auction house in Épernay,

By Alexandra Meeks and Hollie Silverman, CNN A man is facing a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew after attempting to breach a cockpit and jumping out of a departing airplane at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, officials said. It’s the latest in a series of incidents on planes over the

By Forrest Brown, CNN After a pandemic-induced hiatus last year, many places in the United States known for their Fourth of July celebrations will be back in action for 2021. And the highlight of many of those celebrations? An awe-inspiring display of fireworks, of course. Those who can’t make the trips to enjoy the shows

CNN’s Natasha Chen reports from aboard the Celebrity Edge, the first cruise ship to sail out of a US port in more than 15 months.

By Natasha Chen and Kevin Conlon The usual embarkation day boarding rush didn’t happen. There are no lines at the buffet. The casino’s slot machines are on, but few passengers are playing them. During dinner service, the bottom floor of a multistory restaurant sits empty, save for one table reserved for media. There are plenty

By Karla Cripps, CNN China’s long-awaited Chengdu Tianfu International Airport has officially begun operations, offering travelers a new gateway to Sichuan province. Its inaugural flight, operated by Sichuan Airlines, took off at 11:10 a.m. on Sunday, bound for Beijing. Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, is now the third city in the country to have

By Pauline Lockwood, CNN As someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 in both Britain and Hong Kong, I’ve experienced the worst of both worlds. In one, I fell victim to the complete failure to check the disease’s spread, and in the other I got caught up in a zealous system intended to completely eradicate

Francesca Street, CNN The world’s cruise ships were once titans of the oceans, raking in billions in profit as their city-sized passenger populations traveled across the globe. But last year, many of these floating palaces became coronavirus epicenters, turned away from port after port as Covid cases rose on board and the pandemic escalated on

AJ Willingham, CNN There are some things that cannot be properly explained within the lines of your average news website. “Ice Planet Barbarians” is one of those things. The science fiction romance series chronicles a band of human women stranded on — you guessed it — an ice planet, along with the hunky blue aliens

By Marnie Hunter, CNN It’s been a long circuitous journey to restarting cruise travel in the United States. But more than 15 months after the pandemic halted the industry, the first big cruise ship has sail out of a US port on Saturday. Celebrity Edge left from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale just after 6

Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Three years after Barack and Michelle Obama’s official portraits were unveiled at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the paintings have arrived at the Art Institute of Chicago, where the former President and First Lady had their very first date. On display there through mid-August, the artworks by Brooklyn-based Kehinde Wiley and Baltimore-based

Isabelle Gerretsen, CNN Amsterdam’s well-known tolerance of recreational drugs and sex has long attracted tourists in search of the seedier side to the city of canals and cycle paths. But when border closures and lockdowns brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic emptied the Dutch capital of all visitors, many locals found the absence of the

Hada Messia, CNN Some things never change in Rome, they say. Now, however, the Colosseum has proved that theory wrong, by opening its subterranean levels to the public. It is not only the first time in 2,000 years that the area — described as the “heart” of the building — has been open; since the

By Zeena Saifii, CNN Eighteen months ago, its terminals were teeming with transiting passengers or travelers arriving to enjoy some desert sunshine, then Dubai International Airport became a ghost of its former self. After retaining its crown in 2019 as the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, by early 2021 the effects of the pandemic

After being closed for 15 months, Dubai’s Terminal One has reopened, in an effort to get the world’s busiest international airport back on its feet. CNN takes a look inside.

Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN After going on several big trips together as a couple, Robin Lachhein and Judith Schneider, both from Frankfurt, Germany, wanted to do something extra special for their next vacation. They talked through various potential ideas before coming up with something that excited both of them — traveling to a movie location and

Jack Guy and Nicola Ruotolo, CNN A lost Rembrandt has been discovered after it fell off the wall of a country home in the province of Rome, Italy. Rembrandt painted the work in 1632-33, but it was “considered lost and never shown until now,” according to a press release from the Italian Heritage Foundation, which

Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN Just a few years ago, it looked as though European sleeper trains were on their way to becoming a thing of the past as services were continually cut back. But Europe’s night train network has experienced something of a revival over the past 12 months, with a number of national rail providers

Julia Buckley, CNN Its founder calls it “the biggest shakeup in Italy” in the past decade, it’s been hailed as a “vital way to combat overtourism,” and now it’s ready: the region of Tuscany has taken the first step towards becoming one giant gallery. The Uffizi Galleries in Florence — Italy’s most visited museum, and

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN If you’re trying to avoid airborne viruses, heading to a near vacuum might not be the worst idea. A Florida company is planning to fly passengers to the edge of space in a high-tech version of a hot air balloon, with a pilot and up to eight travelers riding in a

A scuba diver in Cheboygan, Michigan, found a 95-year-old message in a bottle at the bottom of the Cheboygan river. After posting about it on Facebook, she was able to contact the daughter of the man who wrote the message. CNN affiliate WWTV has more.

By David Williams, CNN Boat captain Jennifer Dowker runs shipwreck tours all summer long, so she knows that there are all sorts of secrets hidden under the surface of Michigan’s waterways, but she was still shocked to find a message in a bottle written in 1926. Dowker is the owner of Nautical North Family Adventures

Julia Buckley, CNN Venice should be added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage in Danger, advisors to the body have recommended, due to “threats” facing the lagoon city — including the cruise ships that continue to dock in the city center. The recommendation — or draft decision — was made Monday, following the production of

Jack Guy and Nicola Ruotolo, CNN Italian art police have repatriated an “archaeological treasure trove” of almost 800 stolen artifacts from Belgium in one of the largest operations of its kind in the country. The collection included “artifacts of exceptional rarity and inestimable value,” according to a press release from the cultural heritage protection unit

Francesca Street, CNN Ashgabat in Turkmenistan is the most expensive city in the world for overseas workers, according to this year’s Mercer Cost of Living Survey. The annual report ranks 209 cities based on the comparative cost of expenses including housing, transportation, food and entertainment, with New York City used as a baseline comparison. The

By Neelam Bohra and Justin Lear, CNN Water cannons blasted over United Airlines flight 1258 as it left its gate, celebrating that every person on the flight crew, from pilots to gate agents and ramp staff, was Black. The all-Black crew flew from Houston to Chicago on Saturday morning, commemorating Juneteenth, now a federal holiday

By Paula Newton, CNN Canada is easing its mandatory two-week quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated nationals and residents arriving in the country after traveling abroad. From just before midnight on July 5, Canadians and permanent residents who’ve received a full course of a coronavirus vaccine accepted by the government can leave isolation early of if

Francesca Street, CNN As more airplanes return to the skies, airports and airlines continue to enforce measures designed to keep passengers as safe as possible while Covid-19 remains a problem. But even though face masks and temperature checks are commonplace — as are destination requirements for proof of vaccination or negative test — there’s still

By Rashard Rose, CNN The United States has extended Covid-19 restrictions on non-essential travel at land and ferry crossings with Canada and Mexico until July 21, according to a tweet from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Sunday. “To reduce the spread of #COVID19, the United States is extending restrictions on non-essential travel at

CNN’s Pamela Brown talks with Fina Kiefer about her encounter with multiple bears that she says charged her while hiking before being lost in the Alaskan wilderness for two days.

By Forrest Brown and Daisy Carrington, CNN Call it romance. Call it sensuality. Heck, call it old-fashioned lust if you wish. But whatever you call it, the summer solstice for 2021 is arriving — and it has a history of stirring our hearts and our libidos. The longest day of the year in the Northern

CNN Staff If you’re planning to travel to Italy, here’s what you’ll need to know and expect if you want to visit during the Covid-19 pandemic. The basics Italy is currently in a state of emergency because of the pandemic. Most of the country has now emerged from a two-month lockdown as it battled with

CNN Staff If you’re planning to travel to Thailand, here’s what you’ll need to know and expect if you want to visit during the Covid-19 pandemic. The basics Thailand has recorded over 1,700 deaths and more than 229,000 cases of Covid-19 as of June 24. All travelers must quarantine for 14 days in an Alternative

By Scottie Andrew, CNN Disney World’s Magic Kingdom bills itself as “the most magical place on Earth,” which is only true if you buy in completely. There, the pretzels are shaped like Mickey Mouse, the air on “Main Street USA” circulates the scent of fresh-baked cookies and Cinderella herself might blow you a kiss from

Sarah Molano, CNN When record-setting “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings first guest-hosted the show after Alex Trebek’s death, he had a good-luck charm in his pocket: a ticket from the 1983 debut episode of the current version of the show. It was a gift from Bob Boden, a veteran producer of game shows such as “Funny

CNN staff If you’re planning to travel to Mexico, here’s what you’ll need to know and expect if you want to visit during the Covid-19 pandemic. The basics Mexico is open to travelers. There is no need to provide a negative PCR test or quarantine on arrival, though most resorts ask guests to fill out

By Lilit Marcus and Connor Spielmaker, CNN When Rachel Carle moved to Boston for college, she received a surprising gift — a ticket to the New England Aquarium that had been in her great-aunt’s wallet for nearly four decades. Issued in 1983, the “late gate” tickets were given out to visitors who arrived too late

Text by Serenitie Wang, CNN; Video by Dan Hodge, CNN For three years, Eleanor Liao and her boyfriend Aaron Leung lived about 12 miles away from each other. But the onset of the coronavirus pandemic made them feel like they were in a long-distance relationship. Liao lived in Shenzhen, a metropolis at the southern tip

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN As always, June is a-jostle with corporations revealing their Pride-themed initiatives, but one US airline has gone a little further than the usual rainbow-decked Instagram post. Alaska Airlines debuted its Pride plane on Tuesday, truly nailing its colors to the mast — or decals to the fuselage. The Airbus A320’s new

By Terry Ward, CNN Just a 25-minute car ride from Iceland’s Keflavik International Airport, a hiking trail winds over two miles to a view of what’s quite possibly the greatest show on Earth right now. Iceland’s newest active volcano, Geldingadalur, rumbles up — at regular intervals for the moment — into a fountain of bright

By Aya Elamroussi and Rebekah Riess, CNN A Canadian businessman and his wife pleaded guilty Wednesday to violating quarantine requirements after flying to a small indigenous town in the Yukon territory and allegedly posing as local workers to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Rodney Baker, the former president and CEO of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation,

Katie Hunt, CNN Caves, often their deepest reaches, were humanity’s first art galleries, where early artists produced star maps, hunting scenes and friezes of ice age animals. However, caves weren’t great studio spaces — there is no natural light and humans can’t see in the dark. And while some art is found at cave entrances

Jack Guy, CNN Fashion giant Zara is under fire after its head women’s designer, Vanessa Perilman, sent inflammatory messages to Palestinian model Qaher Harhash on Instagram. Harhash posts pro-Palestinian content on his Instagram account and it appears Perilman responded to a post via direct message last week. “Maybe if your people were educated then they

Zamira Rahim, CNN Whether at the Met Gala or in the pages of Vogue, Rihanna has never played it safe with her own fashion choices. But it’s not clear if fans of her lingerie line Savage X Fenty will be similarly brave when it comes to a pair of leggings that took the internet by

Scottie Andrew, CNN The study of Jane Austen’s novels, many of them about 200 years old, is never complete. And neither is the excavation of the beloved author’s personal life. Austen’s personal values — namely, whether she supported slavery — have been debated by literary enthusiasts and experts who read her work like a cipher.

Story and photos by Joe Yogerst, CNN It’s late afternoon in Santa Elena Canyon — a 19-mile gorge that separates Big Bend National Park in West Texas and three national parks in Mexico — and we’re setting up camp along a remote stretch of the Rio Grande. We came across two other canoe groups this

Lola Méndez, CNN Filled with nerves, I intentionally left my bikini behind before embarking on my first nudist beach experience on the uninhabited Lokrum Island in Croatia. This was the only way I could be sure that the fear of baring it all in front of strangers wouldn’t cause me to back out at the

David Williams, CNN A painting by rock icon David Bowie has sold for almost $88,000 at an online art auction after someone picked it up for a few bucks at a donation center at an Ontario landfill. The portrait, titled “DHead XLVI,” is part of a series of approximately 47 works that Bowie created between

By Marnie Hunter, CNN Disneyland is welcoming out-of-state guests for the first time since March 2020, six weeks after the resort reopened to California residents. With the full reopening of the state on June 15, Disneyland is also lifting many of its Covid-related restrictions. Reservations and a valid ticket are still required for guests ages

By Ivana Kottasová, CNN Strolling across the Charles Bridge or having a dinner under Prague’s famous Astronomical Clock is not something most locals would consider either fun or bearable. Unless, it turns out, they do it in the middle of a pandemic. The restrictions on travel put in place because of the coronavirus have slashed

This popular city has an enigmatic soul that extends far beyond its Communist past. CNN’s Richard Quest explores Prague’s built-in “magic” that even locals find too enticing to resist.

By Alexandra Meeks and Hollie Silverman, CNN One of California’s popular hiking trails will reopen to the public after being damaged in a fire nearly 13 years ago. The devastating Basin Complex Fire of 2008 charred 162,818 acres and is among the top 20 largest wildfires in California’s history, according to Cal Fire. Big Sur’s

By Tina Burnside, Amanda Jackson and Hollie Silverman, CNN Southwest Airlines said it was “resuming normal operations” and investigating the cause of technical issues that paused departing flights Tuesday afternoon. The outage was the second technical issue in less than 24 hours, and the airline said it is “in the process of investigating the root

By Lauren M. Johnson, CNN A note tucked away on a Delta plane in storage for more than a year is providing a look at the days right before the world shut down because of Covid-19. On March 23, 2020, Capt. Chris Dennis parked Delta ship 3009 at the Victorville airport in the California desert.

By Forrest Brown, CNN Riders are at the top of a 130-foot drop. They’re about to plunge almost 60 mph. Now’s a good time to ask: “What in the devil are they thinking?” These coaster enthusiasts — “daredevils” if you will — are willing riders on the Jersey Devil Coaster, which debuted to the public

Kate Eshelby, CNN It’s mid-morning when three velvet-helmeted swimmers suddenly bob up from deep underneath the turquoise sea. Dazzles of light dance as kayakers swoosh oars through glacier-clear water, propelling over a kelp forest towards Nor Nour, a tiny, deserted island. It’s then the divers appear: Atlantic Grey seals just meters away, rare in many

By David Williams, CNN Workers testing underwater surveying equipment say they found the wreckage of a small airplane deep underwater in California’s Folsom Lake -— and they may have solved a 56-year-old aviation mystery. Sonar images show the outline of the plane, covered in a thick layer of silt, about 160 feet below the lake’s