Life

By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN New York (CNN) — On Monday evening, it took auction house Christie’s just 40 minutes to sell more than $630 million in art, smashing records for both the painter Jackson Pollock and sculptor Constantin Brancusi. Later in the night, it rounded things off with yet more broken records and another $490

By Chris Lau, CNN (CNN) — Jet Li’s work has always carried some degree of risk. Performing many of his own stunts, the martial arts star has fought opponents on shaky bamboo ladders (“Once Upon a Time in China”), leapt from tall buildings (“Romeo Must Die”) and dodged fireball explosions (“High Risk”). But no amount

By Silvia Marchetti (CNN) — Not long after Charly Oliver and Michelle Denton met in the 1990s, they found they had the same dream — to live on a sailboat and explore the world. It took many years for that goal to be realized, but the couple were finally able to sell their home in

By Oscar Holland, CNN (CNN) — One company sells millions of low-cost watches a year, the other makes luxury watches that have sold for millions. Together, Swatch and Audemars Piguet have sparked a “high-meets-low” retail frenzy that saw scenes of mayhem unfold in cities around the world over the weekend. From Paris to Kuala Lumpur,

By Sheena McKenzie, CNN (CNN) — Like many of us, director Ron Howard had come across Richard Avedon’s photos all his life, without realizing it. There’s the iconic portrait of Marilyn Monroe looking off-camera, deflated. Charlie Chaplin mimicking devil horns. Brooke Shields in a provocative Calvin Klein ad. As Howard dug through the archives and

Story by Chris Lau, CNN. Photos by Bertha Wang Hong Kong (CNN) — A coffee roaster hums like an idling train in the attic of LCC Roastery, churning out freshly cooked beans at the artisan coffee seller on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island. Owner Ringo Lam is proud of the broad selection of beans on offer:

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN (CNN) — In our roundup of travel stories this week: the Wyoming monument made famous by “alien encounters,” the rise of solo dining, and the lowdown on the “Schengen Shuffle.” Rock of ages The Sicilian village of Gibellina was destroyed by an earthquake in 1968, but its ruins were to be

By Leah Dolan, CNN (CNN) — At the Cannes Film Festival, a historic annual celebration of cinema, American supermodel Alton Mason has been demonstrating a different type of artistic mastery: The art of the open shirt. It’s a delicate craft with many varied and intricate elements. For example, how many buttons should be left undone?

By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN When she was four, the artist Widline Cadet was separated from her mother for six years as she emigrated from Haiti to New York to pursue a better life for her family. Cadet, her father and older sister remained in Thomassin, eventually joining her. During that time, her father would travel

By Marnie Hunter, CNN Devils Tower, Wyoming (CNN) — The buzz started in a hay meadow at the foot of a mysterious-looking geological formation. Helicopters and trailers arrived in large numbers, famous faces and a distinguished director settled in near grazing cattle, and the cameras started rolling. Fifty years ago, Devils Tower National Monument became

By Lilit Marcus, CNN Koror, Palau (CNN) — A neon-pink blob appears in my line of vision. Even though I’m wearing a snorkel mask, I’m holding my breath. Slowly, the blob floats closer and closer before suddenly puffing up like a balloon. The water is swirling in its tiny wake and the sun glowing above

By Leah Dolan, CNN (CNN) — At the 79th Cannes Film Festival, which concluded on Saturday, there was no shortage of interesting, unusual and plainly fabulous fashion. This year, the storied celebration of film held on the French Riviera looked a little less “Mission: Impossible,” which premiered on the Croisette in 2025, and a lot

By Griffin Shea, CNN Kampala (CNN) — When Emmanuel Jonathan Okello decided to open a restaurant, he knew exactly what the menu would include: Rolexes. “There’s a common saying; in Uganda, we don’t wear the Rolex. We eat the rolex,” he said. Now a national dish in the East African country, and beyond, the humble

By Carole Rosenblat (CNN) — Christina and Eric Schwendeman’s travels had them bouncing around Asia for several months early last year. In the spring, the American retirees returned to their home base in Italy for a few months. But because of 90-day restrictions on stays, the couple spent the next three months on the go

By Barry Neild, CNN Lebanon, Kansas (CNN) — To find the very middle of America, you have to drive a long way — but it’s worth every undulating mile of blacktop. It’s a journey that perfectly captures the dream of the American road trip. Wide-open highways stretch across vast acres of arable emptiness. Pit-stop towns

By Chrissie McClatchie, CNN (CNN) — In the gardens of Paris’ emblematic Champs Élysées, tucked behind the Petit Palais where works by Rembrandt, Gauguin and Cézanne decorate the walls, is an ornate two-story Neoclassical building with a buttercream and forest green façade. The Pavillon Ledoyen is a historic restaurant that since 1792 has hosted names

By Lilit Marcus, CNN (CNN) — This week in travel news: Korean cafe culture has taken over the world, Delta Air Lines is changing its snack policy, and a cemetery is hoping to become a hot tourist attraction in New York. Love is in the air Angela Buckner was flying from Wichita to New York

By Fiona Sinclair Scott, CNN Venice (CNN) — After a dramatic lead up to this year’s Venice Biennale, involving the tragic death of its chief curator, outcry over Russia, Israel and the United States’ participation, and a prize jury that abruptly quit, it was, in the end, a set of portable toilets that stole the

By Amarachi Orie, CNN London (CNN) — The depiction of an enslaved Black child known as “Jersey” by celebrated 18th-century portrait painter Joshua Reynolds has long puzzled art historians, raising questions about the boy’s identity and life — and whether or not he was even real. Now, researchers in London say they finally have some

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN (CNN) — Artworks by Renoir, Degas and Rodin that are believed to have been looted by the Nazis from their Jewish owners have gone on display at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The museum, home to the world’s largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art, has this week taken a significant

By Joe Yogerst (CNN) — Disney World, Times Square and Yellowstone National Park can be packed to the rafters with tourists. But there are plenty of other places across the United States that continue to fly beneath the travel radar. While there are literally hundreds of locations that fit that description, here are 25 destinations

By Charlotte Reck, CNN (CNN) — A German tourist has been awarded more than 900 euros (about $1,100) by judges after his family was left without sun loungers while on vacation in Greece because other guests had got there first. While vacationing with his wife and two children on the island of Kos during the

By Julia Buckley, CNN Milan, Italy (CNN) — With its monumental façade, ornated with Roman-style columns, pedestals, and huge statues — naked men, winged horses, lions’ heads and gargoyles, for starters — Milan’s main train station is a tourist sight in its own right. This is a city that doesn’t do things by halves —

By Ali Halit Diker, CNN (CNN) — Muğla in southwestern Turkey delivers exactly what travelers expect from this corner of the Mediterranean: sunlit coastlines, rugged mountains and the ruins of long-fallen empires. Yet beyond these well-trodden attractions, it hides something far less familiar — a place that attracts a secretive, devoted stream of visitors for

By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN (CNN) — Generally speaking, you can’t sit on the art in a museum. But in one gallery of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago — which is currently staged to resemble a karaoke bar complete with a disco ball, stage and jukebox — three plastic chairs, upholstered with the face of

By Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN (CNN) — They’ve lived in various destinations, including San Francisco and Ireland, over the years but Geoffrey and Sarah say they’ve never felt as at home as they do in Germany. The couple, who relocated to Breisach, located along the temperate Rhine Valley, in 2023, loves exploring the riverbanks, parks and

By Leah Dolan, CNN (CNN) — Extreme visibility has historically been the name of the game on the Meta Gala’s celebrity-packed red carpet, but this year some guests hid (or at least obscured) their biggest asset: Their faces. It started with the eye masks. Rachel Zegler, dressed in Prabal Gurung and referencing Paul Delaroche’s 19th

CNN By Jacqui Palumbo, Oscar Holland, Bianca Betancourt, Jennifer Arnow, Lanna Apisukh New York (CNN) — Hundreds of stars ascended the steps of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Met Gala on Monday evening, bringing a range of interpretations to this year’s dress code, “Fashion is Art.” The theme mirrored an accompanying exhibition

By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN (CNN) — When Beyoncé was announced as a co-chair of this year’s Met Gala, it signaled the end of her decade-long hiatus away from the annual Costume Institute fundraiser — which became a globally watched phenomenon in the 2010s thanks to appearances from superstars like her. It wasn’t a surprise then

By Francesca Street, CNN (CNN) — When Angela Buckner decided to fly halfway across the United States for a blind date, she didn’t consider the decision a leap of faith. Instead, Angela saw the trip as simply a fun adventure — another in a series of carefree romantic escapades. “I was a recreation supervisor, laid

By Oscar Holland, CNN (CNN) — Ever wish your dog was more patriotic, better company during soccer games and sufficiently excited for this summer’s FIFA World Cup? No? Well, Adidas is here to help anyway. Replica jerseys have become a staple part of World Cup summers. And on Friday, the German sportswear giant released a

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN (CNN) — In our roundup of travel stories this week: Trump’s face will appear on some new US passports, why a Chinese city is cracking down on dim sum, plus a surprise delivery on a Delta Air Lines flight. Psilocybin therapy Martha Stem, a retired paralegal and grandmother in her early

By Marnie Hunter, CNN (CNN) — Thousands of Spirit Airlines passengers are facing a chaotic weekend as the budget carrier announced it’s halting all flights as of early Saturday after days of mounting shutdown concerns. A proposed government bailout of the airline failed. The company was unable to emerge from its second bankruptcy. In a

By Rachel Tashjian, CNN (CNN) — The annual Met Gala, which takes place this year on Monday, May 4, is always a lightning rod for controversy. Was Karl Lagerfeld too problematic to serve as a 2023 theme? Was TikTok, which had just been deemed a national security threat by the US government, an appropriate sponsor

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN (CNN) — A dazzling collection of modern art belonging to the former owner of British soccer club Tottenham Hotspur is expected to fetch a record amount when it goes up for auction next month. Paintings by Gustav Klimt, Henri Matisse, Egon Schiele, Amedeo Modigliani, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud are among

By Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN (CNN) — When the world’s most prestigious international art exhibition, the Venice Biennale, opens next week, it will do so amid a series of crises. It will not receive its customary blessing from Italy’s minister of culture Alessandro Giuili who, along with a growing number of people and organizations, is

By Lex Harvey, CNN (CNN) — Banksy has confirmed that he is behind a large statue that mysteriously appeared in the heart of London depicting a suited man marching off a pedestal with a flag smothering his face. The enigmatic artist took credit for the work in a humorous video, posted to his Instagram page

By Chris Lau and Joyce Jiang, CNN Hong Kong/Beijing (CNN) — The making of dim sum — the bite-sized delicacies hailing from southern China — is all about craftsmanship. Take har gow, or shrimp dumplings, for example: finely chopped ingredients placed on translucent wheat starch wrappers, sealed with just the right amount of finger pressure

By Rachel Tashjian, CNN (CNN) — The late fashion editor Diana Vreeland — who pioneered a spirit of probing whimsy that inflects everything from the Met Gala to “The Devil Wears Prada” to TikTok — was once asked what advice she’d give to young designers. “I think having a great sense of pleasure, and living

By Rachel Tashjian, CNN When “The Devil Wears Prada” was released in 2006, it won over countless fans: critics adored how it spikily satirized the sudsy but serious business of fashion magazine publishing; Meryl Streep, playing formidable magazine editor Miranda Priestly, and costume designer Patricia Field (who also masterminded the looks on “Sex and the

By Lilit Marcus, CNN Peleliu, Palau (CNN) — The island is lush, myriad shades of green made deeper by the effects of the morning’s rainfall. Just offshore, snorkelers float over beds of unbleached corals. Walking off the small wooden boat dock, visitors pass clumps of ficus trees and ankle-deep ferns, while cairns of gray stones

By Kati Chitrakorn, CNN London (CNN) — Buying a tailored suit is not something many would associate with Nigo, the Japanese multi-hyphenate designer who famously established the blueprint for modern streetwear with his loud, graphic-heavy, scarcity-driven designs. Yet one of the first things he did on his latest trip to London was visit the city’s

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN London (CNN) — Visitors to London Zoo will soon be able to watch its vets in action as they carry out operations, health checks and necropsies at a planned new wildlife health facility. The zoo, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this week, has announced plans to build a new medical center

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — A photo of a gannet with grass blowing over its face has been voted winner of the People’s Choice award at the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards. “Now which direction is my nest?” by Alison Tuck captures the scene on a windy day at Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire, England, during

By Francesca Street, CNN (CNN) — Every time you board a flight, you’re stepping into a matrix — a web of choices that have been made for you weeks, sometimes months, before departure. Most travelers won’t think about these behind-the-scenes machinations as they squeeze their carry-on into the overhead, slump into their seat and gaze

By Chris Dwyer (CNN) — Pancakes — in all sorts of forms, made from all sorts of ingredients — have graced tables around the world for millennia, across every culture and creed. They can be sweet or savory. Some pancakes are made with special kinds of flour such as chickpea flour. Others are made of

By Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN (CNN) — After deciding to cancel her June trip with friends to Dubai when the emirate became the target of Iranian strikes, Lorna Davis was determined to find a new summer vacation elsewhere for the group. Davis, who lives in London, began looking into fares for alternative breaks in destinations such

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN (CNN) — In our roundup of travel news this week: the viral “snow” spot that’s actually hazardous waste, the design concept that reinvents the worst seat on the airplane, plus CNN spends a night at the world’s biggest capsule hotel. Cozy or claustrophobic? London is one of the world’s most expensive

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN (CNN) — The dense forests, twisting rivers and granite peaks of Northern Ireland’s Mourne Mountains have lived many lives and assumed many names. They’re Westeros in “Game of Thrones.” They’re “Krypton” in the Superman prequel. They’re also Transylvania in “Dracula Untold”, Sherwood in the upcoming “Death of Robin Hood” and the

By Jessie Yeung, CNN (CNN) — Anxiety is growing at Everest Base Camp, more than 5,300 meters above sea level. Hundreds of climbers including sherpas have gathered, eager to summit the world’s most famous mountain as the annual spring climbing season kicks off – but there’s one problem. A massive serac, or a block of

By Francesca Perry Milan (CNN) — Held every springtime, Milan Design Week is the biggest moment of the year for the world of design – from the makers to the admirers of furniture and interior decor. Creatives converge from all over the globe, new designs are showcased, and trends are set for the forthcoming year.

By Avni Trivedi, CNN (CNN) — The last row of economy are the airplane seats few people want to sit in. There’s no room to recline your seat and the constant line for the bathroom — not to mention the smell — can be overwhelming. But what if the space could be transformed into something

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — A tourist has caused thousands of dollars in damage to a 16th-century monument in Florence, Italy, after climbing on it during a bachelorette party, according to authorities. The 28-year-old woman, whose name and nationality have not been publicly disclosed, climbed the Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria

By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN The curator Jeffrey Uslip wants everyone to know that everything is normal. “This is the smoothest exhibition I’ve curated in 30 years,” said Uslip, who has been working on the US Pavilion at the Biennale Arte 2026 in Venice, which opens in two weeks. Uslip was insistent on the point. “I

By Leah Dolan, CNN (CNN) — This week, Rihanna fronted the cover of W Magazine in head-to-toe Dior. Her eyes were ringed in purple shadow, her cheeks blended with orange blush, and a whacky lilac buccaneer-style hat by milliner Stephen Jones framed her face. And yet even with all that to look at, all eyes

By Lilit Marcus, CNN (CNN) — Kevin Miller considers himself a bit of a travel pro. The photographer says he’s able to fit all of his camera gear into a carry-on bag and mentally puts himself into “airplane mode” as soon as he closes the door on his taxi, a process singularly pointed at getting

By Adam Pourahmadi, CNN (CNN) — Salimeh stands in her yard, a rug suspended behind her, still heavy from washing. Her clothes, patterned in vivid reds, pinks and oranges, echo the mineral-rich sands of Iran’s Qeshm and Hormuz islands, where the earth itself seems to glow. The wind lifts her veil, just enough to show

By Vivian Song (CNN) — Steve Schwarzbach has attended every World Cup event since 2006. He had no apprehensions about attending the games in countries such as South Africa and Brazil which can have a reputation — fairly or not — of being dangerous for tourists. Given the scale of the international event, he trusted

By Marianna Cerini, CNN Milan (CNN) — If Sabato De Sarno were to distill the past year into a single idea, the gift of time might be it. After a short but widely scrutinized tenure as creative director at Gucci — where his restrained aesthetic struggled to gain commercial traction during a broader downturn in

By Griffin Shea, CNN Kampala (CNN) — Walking through the compound that houses the Kasubi Tombs, the main path leads to what should be an entrance. But it ends at one of the layers of thatch covering the 25-foot structure known as Muzibu Azala Mpanga. It looks like a giant basket turned upside down. If

By Silvia Marchetti, CNN When Francis Ford Coppola cast Enza Trimarchi as an extra in “The Godfather” in 1971, the 22-year-old seamstress had no idea she was taking part in something that would change her hometown and define it for decades. Trimarchi appeared in a key Sicilian sequence: the wedding of mafia-boss-in-waiting Michael Corleone and

By Sheena McKenzie, CNN (CNN) — Backlit by an orange sky, Romeo appears. He smokes on a derelict outdoor stage; the only curtains here the blonde hair framing his face. The moody keyboard of Radiohead’s “Talk Show Host” swells, a 21-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio comes into focus, and a million teenage crushes are launched. The year

By Harmeet Kaur, CNN (CNN) — Why are TikToks about dining out so boring? Dillon Davis and Nichols Neff were debating the question from their couch in their shared Manhattan apartment late last year, as they watched one video after another of influencers visiting the same handful of upscale restaurants. Neither one had any experience

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN (CNN) — This week’s Unlocking the World newsletter is all about air travel: the world’s busiest and best-rated airports, the most innovative new seat designs, and the most ambitious upcoming flight routes. Project Sunrise Australian airline Qantas Airways’ much-talked-about Project Sunrise will see a fleet of 12 Airbus A350-1000ULRs take on

By Charlie Boyd, for CNN Geneva (CNN) — While working out what women want in a timepiece might be less philosophical than asking what they want from life or love, any watch industry finsider will tell you that the answer is (almost) as complex. This week’s Watches & Wonders showcase in Geneva certainly proved that

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — Citlali Fabián has been named Photographer of the Year at the Sony World Photography Awards 2026, with the judging panel hailing her photo series focused on Indigenous activists and artists in southern Mexico. Fabián, who is from the Yalalteca Indigenous community, “uses photography to explore ways of addressing identity

By Julia Buckley, CNN Gibellina, Italy (CNN) — Sicily’s landscapes are a mix of dreamy coastline, rugged peaks and rolling hills that are every bit as spectacular as those in Tuscany. But in the far west of the Mediterranean’s largest island, amid the undulating landscape of the Belice Valley, lie two hillsides that could never

By Julia Buckley, CNN (CNN) — The Italian diaspora continued the fight against the government’s restrictions on citizenship by descent this week, as three cases were scrutinized by Italy’s supreme court. On Tuesday, the Corte di Cassazione, Italy’s highest court, met to evaluate citizenship restrictions for descendants of Italian citizens born abroad that were imposed

By Marianna Kim, CNN Every weekend, hundreds of thousands of people of all ages set out on treasure hunts in the heart of Seoul. Locals and tourists alike, many are looking for bargains on clothes, watches, jewelry, license plates, surplus foods, decades-old packs of cigarettes and various “sold only on TV items” one sees on

By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN (CNN) — Katie Holmes had not one but two major reunions at a film screening in New York on Tuesday. The first was with her original on-screen love interest from “Dawson’s Creek,” Joshua Jackson, sending every Joey and Pacey shipper hurtling back in time nearly three decades. The second was a

By David G. Allan, CNN You can stay at The Overlook Hotel, the famously chilling accommodation conjured by author Stephen King and director Stanley Kubrick in their respective versions of “The Shining.” You just need to decide which Overlook Hotel speaks to your soul. There are as many as three Overlook Hotels. There’s the one

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN (CNN) — Glamis Castle has a rich history. Reputed to be the most haunted castle in Scotland, it once hosted Mary, Queen of Scots and has strong links to the British royal family. It’s also said to have inspired William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Macbeth.” But perhaps one of its most alluring offerings

By Nina Giraldo, CNN Economy passengers can soon pay to lie down and stretch out for a few hours in bunk beds on Air New Zealand’s newest planes. The airline will offer sleeping pods, known as Economy Skynest, on new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flights. Bookings open May 18 for select flights starting in November. The

By Francesca Street, CNN (CNN) — The double-level airplane seat concept is back, this time in what designer Alejandro Núñez Vicente calls the “ultimate, final statement.” Premiering first as a college project in 2020, then as an early prototype in 2022, over the past several years this dual-level design — called Chaise Longue — has

Lianne Kolirin, CNN (CNN) — For weeks, months and even years before World War II broke out in September 1939, many Jewish people in Germany and beyond became increasingly fearful for their lives and frantically sought out ways to flee. Now, more than 80 years after the end of the war, an incredible trove of

By Marnie Hunter, CNN (CNN) — The world’s busiest airport rankings for 2025 are out. Global air traffic last year showed significant growth, and the No. 1 airport held onto its longstanding title. But 2026 has introduced more uncertainty for air travel. Total passengers are estimated to come in globally at 9.8 billion in 2025,

By Kate Youde, for CNN (CNN) — Our Earthly concept of time looks very different in space. For astronauts on board a space station orbiting our planet roughly every 90 minutes, there are multiple sunrises and sunsets within 24 hours. What watch then, should an astronaut wear? One Swiss maker has a new solution. Luxury

By Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN (CNN) — They drove almost everywhere when they lived in Miami, but since moving to the Italian city of Rimini with their two children and their dog, Gaston and Norma Galella have become keen cyclists. The couple, who’ve been married since 2005, ditched their car early on and love cycling around

By Foren Clark, CNN (CNN) — The roots of French cooking run deep. The foundations of the country’s culinary empire were laid as early as the mid-1600s when chef François Pierre La Varenne penned his hugely influential “Le Cuisinier François” recipe book, which emphasized regional and seasonal ingredients and highlighted complementary flavors. “French cooking is,

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN (CNN) — In our roundup of travel stories this week: how Paris’ first female mayor transformed the city, Japan’s iconic vending machines hit troubled times, plus why more and more Americans are moving to Central and Eastern Europe. North Macedonia: beyond the big three Most visitors to Europe focus their trips