CNN – Style

By Forrest Brown, CNN Wreaths, candles and calendars. These are sure signs of Advent for many Christian groups around the world. But what is Advent exactly? The word Advent derives from the Latin adventus, which means an arrival or visit. Advent is the beginning of the spiritual year for these churches, and it’s observed the

By Theresa Waldrop, CNN US Customs and Border Protection officials seized a shipment of almost 4,000 bongs at Washington Dulles International Airport, the agency said. The $56,000 shipment arrived from China on October 2 manifested as “gravity pipes,” the CBP said in a release Wednesday. CBP import specialists “confirmed that the glass bongs violated U.S.

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN Countries around the world imposed travel restrictions after the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant in South Africa, more than 2.3 million Americans traveled by air on a single day for Thanksgiving, and in Asia-Pacific, New Zealand and the Philippines revealed new reopening plans. Here are some of the biggest developments

Ben Jones, CNN The romance of rail travel has seduced many travelers over the years. Sitting in a train as it slips quietly out of a city, along tunnels and viaducts, sneaking glimpses of people’s backyards before rolling into open countryside is one of life’s true pleasures. It’s a love affair that started in Britain,

By Melissa Bell, CNN France’s Burgundy winemakers agree on one thing: 2021 was about as catastrophic a year as any of them can remember. It was in April that disaster struck. Even as the delicate buds of their vines were burgeoning, the weather forecasts warned of a sudden and unseasonable drop in temperatures. For three

By Tamara Hardingham-Gill, Laura Smith-Spark and Ivana Kottasová, CNN Major travel destinations including the European Union, Japan, Australia, the United States and Canada have moved to block flights from African countries following the discovery of the Omicron variant, echoing previous emergency responses that triggered a global freeze on travel. The speed with which the new

Francesca Street, CNN It was November 1997 and Dina Honour was hosting Thanksgiving dinner for the first time. The then 27-year-old had invited a group of New York City friends who, like her, had decided to stay in the city over the holidays. It has been a tough year for Honour. She’d been suffering from

Jacopo Prisco, CNN Crystal Palace Park, in south London, still hosts the world’s first dinosaur sculptures. They were created in the 1850s based on what were, at the time, very recent scientific discoveries: fossils, unearthed in England just decades earlier. Scientists struggled to make sense of the creatures, and the sculptures were the first attempt

Chris Dwyer, CNN For Sandeep Arora, home is the ancient city of Jalandhar in India’s Punjab region. His wife, son and parents live there, but he hasn’t seen them since March 2020. Amy Stott hasn’t seen her parents — or eaten at her beloved local fish and chip shop — in Manchester, England since June

Hada Messia and Nicola Ruotolo, CNN The “Afghan Girl” made famous after featuring on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1985 has been granted refugee status by Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi, according to an Italian government press office statement. The striking portrait of then 12-year-old Sharbat Gula, a Pashtun orphan in a refugee

Jack Guy, CNN A Michelin-star restaurant in northern England housed in a 14th century building has suffered significant damage after its thatched roof caught fire. The Star Inn at Harome caught fire at 10.13 p.m. local time (5.13 p.m. ET) on Wednesday, according to the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. The restaurant, which is

Sara Spary, CNN A rare Roman mosaic has been unearthed on a British farm in a “remarkable” discovery. Historic England, a public body that looks after the country’s historic environment, said it is the first time the mosaic — found in Rutland, East Midlands — has been uncovered in 1,600 years. The Roman mosaic is

By Sara Smart, CNN After 187 years, a statue of America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson, no longer sits in New York City Hall. The statue, which is a plaster replica of the original, according to the city, was removed from its pedestal Monday. The process took several hours, and the 7-foot statue was transported in