Life

Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN When British traveler Zoe Stephens flew into the South Pacific island nation of Tonga last March, she was only planning to stay for the weekend. Originally from Crosby, Merseyside in the UK, the 27-year-old had been living in China for two and a half years, before taking some time out to travel

Megan C. Hills, CNN Two men attempted to steal a prized Claude Monet painting from a museum in the Netherlands, though the robbery was foiled and the suspects fled empty-handed, according to Dutch police. Gunshots were fired during the botched raid at the Zaans Museum in Zaandam, just north of Amsterdam, though nobody was injured

By Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN The main reason people come to visit the Old North Church in Boston’s historic North End is to see the famous steeple where two lanterns signaled to Americans Paul Revere’s famous cries that “the regulars are coming!” “We fit right into a paradox because of this steeple that everyone is looking

Oscar Holland, CNN Dozens of artworks once stolen from Jewish collectors by the Nazis in the 1930s and ’40s will be exhibited in New York starting on Friday. Taken before and during World War II, the paintings being displayed at Manhattan’s Jewish Museum include works by European greats Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne.

Julia Buckley, CNN Its 403 bridges, myriad canals and pretty cobbled streets have made Venice one of the world’s most beautiful cities. But what’s one person’s Instagram dream is another’s mobility nightmare. The lagoon city has long been near impossible for wheelchair users to navigate, with only a limited number of areas of the city

Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN The artist behind the world’s first underwater sculpture park has just unveiled his latest subaquatic project — a spectacular sunken forest located off the coast of Pernera beach in Ayia Napa, Cyprus. The Museum of Underwater Sculpture in Cyprus (Musan), which cost €1 million ($1.1 million) to bring to life, is made

By Will McGough, CNN The United States’ railroad system is getting a boost from its northern neighbor. One of Western Canada’s most-decorated luxury scenic train lines, the Rocky Mountaineer, launched its first US route on August 15 through its namesake mountain range, running two-day, one-night trips back and forth between Denver, Colorado, and Moab, Utah.

George Engels, CNN The United Kingdom hasn’t had the sunniest of summers, but that didn’t stop Banksy from dropping by seaside towns and leaving his mark. In a video clip posted to Instagram, the enigmatic street artist confirmed he is responsible for several artworks that have recently appeared in British coastal communities. The video titled

Text by Will Noble; video by Max Burnell, CNN On October 1, 2000, the skirts of Princess Anne and Princess Margaret deflated for the final time. These two colossal SR.N4 hovercraft had shuttled vacationers and booze cruisers between the UK and France since the late 1960s. Now it was time to say au revoir. What

By Amir Vera and Cheri Mossburg, CNN San Francisco became the the first major US city to mandate proof of full vaccinations for certain indoor activities Thursday. City residents age 12 and older will now be required to show proof they have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to enter indoor restaurants, bars, gyms

Richard Quest, as told to Francesca Street, CNN I’ve been a transatlantic avgeek for decades, regularly flying back and forth from the US to the UK. I always welcome a new entrant into the arena, but many of the newcomers don’t really have a strong business plan and their efforts don’t survive the harsh economics

By Jack Guy, CNN A previously undiscovered section of Hadrian’s Wall has been found during work on a water main in the city of Newcastle, northeastern England. The 1,900-year-old wall was uncovered under a busy road just outside the city center, according to a press release from utility company Northumbrian Water. Hadrian’s Wall is a

By Katia Hetter, CNN As Covid-19 cases are surging across the United States again, daily infection rates are at their highest levels since February, due in large part to the very contagious Delta variant. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has once again urged a return to indoor mask-wearing, citing that even vaccinated

By Ben Westcott and Carly Walsh, CNN New Zealand will open its doors to vaccinated travelers from low risk countries from early 2022, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday, signaling a tentative relaxation of the country’s strict pandemic border controls. In a speech on Thursday morning, Ardern said the government would ramp up New Zealand’s

By Nicola Ruotolo and Amy Woodyatt, CNN Any budding lifeguards might want to work on their doggy paddle this holiday season, after a group of 14 people struggling in high wind and waves at sea were rescued with the help of Italy’s lifeguard dogs. The animals helped to rescue bathers who got into difficulty around

By Shawn Deng and Amy Woodyatt, CNN China will create a “blacklist” of karaoke songs, banning those that contain “harmful content” from entertainment venues. According to interim rules outlined by the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, karaoke must not endanger national unity, sovereignty or territorial integrity, incite ethnic hatred or undermine ethnic unity, promote

By Chris Dwyer, CNN Inflight dining was far from its glory days even before Covid ensured everything was plastic-wrapped and pre-ordered. On long-haul international flights, the question “chicken or fish” is often met with resigned acceptance of a nuked, tiny meal in an aluminum foil tray. A limp salad — with half a cherry tomato.

CNN staff If you’re planning to travel to Croatia, here’s what you’ll need to know and expect if you want to visit during the Covid-19 pandemic The basics Croatia has had one of the highest death rates in Europe from Covid-19. While the country reopened to tourists for the 2021 summer season, it soon began

By Jack Guy and James Briggs, CNN A technical fault has left world-famous London landmark Tower Bridge stuck open on Monday afternoon, with cars and pedestrians unable to cross. City of London police confirmed in a tweet that the bridge was stuck due to “technical failure,” while numerous pictures and videos posted on social media

By Liz Stark Norwegian Cruise Line can require proof of Covid-19 vaccination for passengers and crew members, a federal judge ruled Sunday, after the cruise line operator had challenged Florida’s ban on vaccine passports. US District Judge Kathleen Williams granted Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ request for a preliminary injunction to Florida’s law that prohibits companies

By Kay Jones, Gregory Lemos and Susannah Cullinane, CNN Rising cases of Covid-19 in Louisiana have led to the cancellation of the New Orleans Jazz Fest for the second year running, organizers announced Sunday. Louisiana broke its own record for Covid-19 related hospitalizations on multiple days last week, with 2,421 individuals hospitalized with the virus

By Liam Reilly, CNN Actor Julie Bowen of “Modern Family” and her sister helped rescue a hiker when she fainted last week at Arches National Park in Moab, Utah, the hiker told CNN. “They could have just ignored me, passed on, but they didn’t,” Minnie John said Saturday. “She could have gone on — she

By Paula Newton, CNN Days ahead of her road trip north, Robin Masters had already packed her car, filled the tank and mapped her route, all a measure of the anticipation and relief this Texas nurse says she feels now that she can finally return to her beloved Canadian cottage. “Going home for me is

Harmeet Kaur, CNN A new controversy has rocked the Romance Writers of America — barely a year after a course correction that followed a major scandal over racism and exclusion. In the past year, the leading industry trade group rebranded its annual awards in honor of founder Vivian Stephens, a Black woman who championed romance

CNN staff They’re one greatest cultural and religious treasures not only in Ethiopia but also in Africa and in Christendom: the ancient rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. And now a United Nations agency is worried they could be in peril after reports that fighters from Ethiopia’s Tigray region have seized control of this UNESCO World Heritage

Megan C. Hills, CNN The days of stadium concerts may feel like a distant memory, but singer-turned-photographer Bryan Adams is recreating the touring lifestyle with the likes of Iggy Pop, Jennifer Hudson and Grimes for this year’s Pirelli calendar. The 2022 edition of the star-studded calendar, themed “On the Road,” will see the Canadian rock

Rebecca Cairns, CNN Growing up in South Africa in the 1950s and ’60s, it was inevitable that Penny Siopis’ work would be political. The multimedia artist was born during apartheid, South Africa’s period of legislated segregation, and began her career in the 1980s when anti-apartheid activist (and later president) Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. The “momentous

Selina Wang, CNN | Chie Kobayashi, CNN Wearing tall platform sandals and a long kimono, Ikuko glides across the room as if she were balancing a glass of water on her head. She gazes at a wall of old photos in Tokyo’s Akasaka geisha house. In one image, she’s pictured mid-dance in a vibrant pink

By Ashley Killough and Amir Vera, CNN A Dallas firefighter was charged with theft after allegedly taking paid leave for nearly a month while lying about testing positive for Covid-19. William Jordan Carter, 38, who’s been with the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department for 14 years, was arrested Friday, and bail was set at $1,500, according to

By Sarah Dean and Lauren Kent, CNN The UK government will update its “green” travel list on Thursday to add Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania, and Norway to the list. Travelers returning from green-listed countries do not need to quarantine unless their required PCR test result is positive. The travel list changes announced will

By Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN Tokyo is considered one of the world’s top food cities, drawing travelers from around the world who spend their days sampling renowned Japanese dishes, from sushi to ramen. But for those who flew into the city to compete or work at the Tokyo Olympics, most local restaurants are off limits.

By Sarah Molano, CNN Imagine this: Four worlds collide following a cosmic event 25 years ago. All inhabitants lose their memories, leading to the disappearances of four women. What sounds like the premise of a sci-fi novel is actually the foundation of art collective Meow Wolf’s third permanent immersive experience in Denver, “Convergence Station.” But

By Alaa Elassar, CNN Park volunteers patrolling a beach in South Carolina on Wednesday stumbled upon an unexpected surprise: a two-headed baby sea turtle. A group of patrollers and volunteers at Edisto Beach State Park were making a routine inventory to check on sea turtle nests when they stumbled across the special hatchling, South Carolina

By Tina Burnside, CNN A major bridge connecting Memphis, Tennessee, to Arkansas reopened to traffic in both directions on Monday afternoon, nearly three months after a crack forced its closure, the Arkansas Department of Transportation announced in a tweet. The Hernando DeSoto Bridge, which carries Interstate 40 over the Mississippi River, was shut down for