Life

Toyin Owoseje, CNN British royalty and Hollywood royalty came together on the red carpet for the charity premiere of the new Tom Cruise movie, “Top Gun: Maverick,” on Thursday night. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were the ultimate wingmen when they arrived at Leicester Square in London ahead of the screening of the “Top

By Helen Regan, CNN Every spring, crowds flock to admire Japan’s cherry blossom — a dazzling pink and white bloom that has been revered in the country for more than a thousand years. But the world-famous sakura plants are flowering much earlier than normal due to human-induced climate change, a new study has found. Researchers

By Lilit Marcus, CNN A woman gave birth to a healthy baby in a lavatory on board a Frontier Airlines flight, according to a Facebook post from the airline. The passenger went into early labor during the flight from Denver (DEN) to Orlando (MCO), said the post, which was shared on May 17. Flight attendant

By Hada Messia and Lianne Kolirin, CNN An Italian coffee shop owner is in hot water after being fined 1,000 euros ($1,050) for failing to display the cost of a 2 euro ($2.12) espresso. The owner of the Ditta Artigianale cafe in Florence has been punished by police after a customer reported him at the

Leah Dolan, CNN At the Cannes film festival premiere of Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick” on Wednesday, former Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima became the latest celebrity to turn maternity fashion on its head. Dressed in a custom-made Balmain gown and without a jewel in sight, Lima’s primary red carpet accessory was her pregnant belly.

Sana Noor Haq, CNN A rare Chinese vase dating from the 18th century has sold for nearly £1.5 million ($1.8 million) at auction. The gilded blue artifact was initially valued at £150,000 ($186,000), according to Dreweatts, the English auction house that handled the sale. The seller inherited the vase from his father, a surgeon, who

Lianne Kolirin, CNN Britain’s Royal Mint has issued a commemorative 50 pence coin to mark the 50th anniversary of Pride UK. The coin, which will not enter circulation, was designed by London artist, writer and LGBTQ+ activist Dominique Holmes. This is the first time Britain’s LGBTQ+ community has been celebrated on official UK coinage and

Sana Noor Haq, CNN Bob Mackie, the designer who drew the sketch for a crystal-covered gown once worn by Marilyn Monroe, said “it was a big mistake” for Kim Kardashian to wear the dress at this year’s Met Gala. Early in his career, Mackie worked as a sketch artist for Paramount costumier Edith Head, and

Lianne Kolirin, CNN When New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) bought “The Starry Night” from a private collector in 1941, the painting was not well known. In the 81 years since, Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece has gone on to inspire everything from a hit single for singer Don McLean in 1971 to mass-produced merchandise

Jacqui Palumbo, CNN In a photograph taken in newly independent Ukraine during the mid-1990s, an elderly woman casts her eyes away from the camera, her mouth pursed with tension. Another woman, gray hair braided across her head, holds the subject’s face firmly, one hand cupping her jaw, the other behind her neck. A white backdrop

By Casey Barber, CNN People have never been able to resist the crunchy craving of deep-fried food. Archaeological evidence shows we’ve been enjoying fried dough and other delights since ancient Mesopotamians invented frying pans, and our love for the practice has only grown in the millennia that followed. It would take an iron stomach and

Jacqui Palumbo, CNN More than three years after the high-profile divorce proceedings of New York real estate developer Harry Macklowe and his wife, Linda, their art collection has become the most expensive to ever sell at auction, raking in $922.2 million over the course of two different sales. An initial batch of 35 artworks went

Jacqui Palumbo and Toyin Owoseje, CNN Pablo Picasso’s most curious painting of his lover Marie-Thérèse Walter, in which she appears as a tentacled sea creature, has sold for $67.5 million, over the estimate of $60 million. “Femme nue couchée” (“Naked woman reclining”), made its auction debut Tuesday at a Sotheby’s sale in New York. Ahead

Amarachi Orie, CNN Her billionaire son may have dominated headlines recently, but 74-year-old Maye Musk is now in the spotlight after becoming the oldest model to feature on the Sports Illustrated (SI) Swimsuit cover. The model and dietician is one of four SI Swimsuit 2022 cover stars, along with reality star Kim Kardashian, singer Ciara

By Jack Guy and Stephanie Halasz, CNN Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II made a surprise public appearance at the opening ceremony of a long-awaited train line in London on Tuesday. The monarch, walking with a stick, wore a bright yellow outfit and hat to visit the Elizabeth line, which is named in her honor. She was

By Terry Ward, CNN Want to become Italian? If you have Italian ancestors in your family tree, it might be easier than you realize. Thanks to the rule of jure sanguinis (“the right of blood”), Italy is one of the few countries in the world to offer the possibility of citizenship to many people who

Marcel Krueger, CNN Suspension railways today seem like an anachronism — a 19th-century vision of what the future of transport would look like. By the year 2022, surely we would all be commuting to work on upside down railways! Unlike boring ordinary train lines that stay determinedly fixed to terra firma, suspension railways dangle beneath

Toyin Owoseje, CNN Man Ray’s famed “Le Violon d’Ingres” made history Saturday when it became the most expensive photograph ever to sell at auction. The black and white image, taken in 1924 by the American surrealist artist, transforms a woman’s naked body into a violin by overlaying the picture of her back with f-holes. The

By Lilit Marcus, CNN As more and more countries reopen their borders to eager tourists, a trendy new phrase has emerged on social media: revenge travel. The term has been used to describe trips as varied as family reunions, big splurge vacations and re-visits to favorite places, which leads to one question: so, what is

Scottie Andrew, CNN From labor leader César Chávez’s decades of activism, to Roberto Clemente’s boundary-breaking career in Major League Baseball, to the “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz’s music with a message, the tales of notable Latinos who made history will be on display in a new Smithsonian exhibit. The National Museum of the American Latino

Fiona Sinclair Scott, CNN The recently opened Venice Biennale — an 8-month-long international festival of art and culture staged every other year (though it skipped 2021 due to the pandemic) — is an opportunity to see some of the world’s best artists all in one place. The event, with origins dating back to 1895, is

By Zoe Sottile, CNN His name is “Hector,” he’s over 100 million years old, and his fossils sold for more than $12 million in auction at Christie’s. Hector is the most complete skeleton of Deinonychus antirrhopus ever found, according to Christie’s. The specimen, excavated in Montana in 2013, dates back to the early Cretaceous period:

Jacopo Prisco, CNN Cita Sadeli saw the start of the pandemic from a different angle than most: standing on an articulated lift, hovering 120 feet above street level. She spent much of early March 2020 painting a mural on the exterior of Hotel Zena in downtown Washington, DC, watching from above as the coronavirus outbreak

Hannah Ryan, CNN A painting that served as the cover for one of legendary soul singer Marvin Gaye’s albums has sold at auction for almost $15.3 million. Ernie Barnes’ joyous depiction of a frenetic scene in a dance hall, titled “The Sugar Shack,” sold to Bill Perkins, a hedge fund manager and entrepreneur, after 10

Story by Francesca Street, CNN. Video by Teodora Preda, CNN Walking from one mountain to another, suspended high above ground with only a vast valley yawning below, isn’t for the fainthearted. But thrill-seekers — and lovers of infrastructure — will be flocking to the Dolní Morava vacation resort in the northeast of the Czech Republic

Jacqui Palumbo and Christiane Amanpour, CNN | Henry Hullah, CNN Four years after releasing the studio album “Dirty Computer” — a pop opus about love and rebellion in a dystopian future — Janelle Monáe has followed up with a new science fiction book set in the same world. On Thursday, the singer and actor spoke

Silvia Marchetti, CNN Making a trip to Sicily without indulging in a delicious cannolo pastry is akin to visiting Naples without tucking into an authentic pizza. Practically unheard of. These deliciously crispy tube-shaped shells filled with fresh ricotta are near impossible to resist. And once you’ve had one, you’ll more than likely be craving another.

By Jessie Yeung, CNN Authorities in China have imposed a de facto international travel ban, forbidding citizens from going overseas for “non-essential” reasons, as the government ramps up efforts to enforce its zero-Covid policy. In a statement Thursday, the Chinese National Immigration Administration said it would tighten its reviewing process on issuing travel documents such

Leah Dolan, CNN ASMR — short for autonomous sensory meridian response — is a physical sensation that has dominated a corner of the internet for the best part of a decade. It has a dedicated following, with more than 14 million monthly searches on YouTube, and has launched entire careers, where digital creators ever so

Julia Buckley, CNN Everyone who travels to Italy knows the drill. A day of culture and maybe a little shopping, followed by aperitivo and piles of pasta for dinner. Or, possibly a pizza — or even risotto. Because that’s what they eat in Italy, right? The people of Lake Trasimeno would beg to differ. The

Oscar Holland, CNN For modeling agent Chelsea Bonner, securing catwalk spots for plus-sized women at Australian Fashion Week has always been difficult. “The challenge every season, to get one, two or three models over a size 12 onto a fashion week runway, is enormous,” she said on the phone from Sydney. “The amount of time

Jacqui Palumbo, CNN The largest white diamond to ever come up for auction has been sold for 21,681,000 CHF ($21.9 million) at Christie’s in Geneva. The 228.31-carat, pear-shaped gemstone — dubbed “The Rock” — originated from South Africa, where some of the largest diamonds in the world have been found, including the pear-shaped “Star of

By Francesca Street, CNN The airports are crowded, the flights are packed and air travel in the US and beyond is back in full swing. But the return to the skies in the wake of the pandemic hasn’t been entirely smooth: passengers seem more badly behaved than ever, flight cancellations feel increasingly commonplace and airlines

Oscar Holland, CNN Actor Deepika Padukone has been appointed Louis Vuitton’s first ever Indian brand ambassador, the French luxury house announced Tuesday. The 36-year-old Bollywood star’s role was unveiled as part of a new handbag campaign, which sees her joining Emma Stone and Chinese actor Zhou Dongyu in a series of promotional shots. As well