Arts, Culture & Books

Australia wooed hundreds of thousands of international students to its shores with the promise of a first-class education and fun-kissed adventure, but the coronavirus crisis has left many jobless and depending on food handouts. Each day up to 100 students from Asia, Latin America and beyond stand on carefully spaced fluro-pink crosses outside a Melbourne […]

One of Germany’s top virologists has become a hate figure for conspiracy theorists and the anti-lockdown movement, leading to an ugly spat with the country’s top-selling newspaper and exposing a growing rift over the role of scientists in fighting the pandemic. Christian Drosten, a world-leading expert on coronaviruses, has advised Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government on […]

Tobacco companies are deliberately using “deadly” tactics to target children and get them hooked on smoking, the World Health Organization said Friday. The WHO said cigarette firms were still trying out all manner of ways to get youngsters lighting up — and it was no accident that the vast majority of smokers start before they […]

“You can take off your mask and kiss the bride,” the priest said, as a septuagenarian US couple who spent the pandemic lockdown together after a single date married on Thursday. “In normal circumstances, we would still be dating,” said Linda Delk, 72, her hand clutching that of her husband Ardell Hoveskeland, 78. But the […]

When Yahaira Caraballo opened her nail salon in the Bronx, New York nearly seven years ago, it was a bare-bones shop with two nail technicians. Earlier this year, she had six nail technicians, a full-time receptionist and a cleaning person, a renovated salon, and a following that included as many as 45 clients on a […]

Hold that smile, Mona Lisa. The Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles will remain off-limits for the immediate future, too. None of France’s three most iconic tourist sites will reopen when the country lifts most of its remaining coronavirus lockdown restrictions next week. Some of Europe´s other major cultural sites are also taking their […]

This summer, dozens of incoming students at New York’s Columbia Business School had planned to sail around the coast of Croatia for a week to get to know each other. Instead, they are chatting online and playing icebreaker games on Zoom. With the coronavirus still spreading, social gatherings like the sailing trip organized by students […]

It’s late spring when Traverse City, Michigan should be planning its annual cherry festival, and the sounds of young racehorses should fill the air in Saratoga Springs, New York. Small towns across America rely on summer tourism to stay solvent the rest of the year. But the coronavirus pandemic has chased visitors away, leaving residents […]

As much of the world begins to emerge from lockdown, people are looking back at time spent cut off from friends, family and colleagues by the coronavirus and forward to what happens next. Reuters has captured some of those reflections along with portraits from across Africa and the Middle East of people inside their rooms […]

Winding stone streets, usually packed with tourists, silent as a graveyard. Restaurants closed. Beaches deserted. Hotels bolted shut. When Europe locked down in response to the spread of the coronavirus, northern Croatia´s picturesque Istria region shut down, as well. And the consequences were dire for the people who live there and depend on visitors´ spending. […]