Gatherings tips

Thousands of protesters opposing a proposal that would allow Russians to buy property in Abkhazia, a Russian-backed separatist region of Georgia, stormed the parliament and presidential offices on Friday.

Prominent Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli was officially charged with assaulting a police officer on Monday after being arrested over the weekend.

More than two feet of fresh snow fell on Park City, Utah, this past week, perfectly timed for the throngs of holiday skiers gathering at Park City Mountain, the largest ski resort in the United States. But instead of experiencing a powder high, skiers and snowboarders encountered long lift lines, limited terrain and widespread frustration brought on by a strike by ski patrollers.

Venice has introduced a ban on alcohol consumption on New Year’s Eve as a safety measure.

You don't really think that Santa preps for Christmas, gathers all those toy requests, fills the orders and delivers them around the world with just some reindeer and a magic sleigh, do you?

Urban Africa is a love letter to the bustling African metropolises south of the great desert—Dakar, Kigali, Lagos, Addis Ababa, and Johannesburg, to name a few—that are dynamic, diverse, and more traveler-ready than ever. Find more inspiration here.

In 2014, when the artist Dan McCarthy moved from Brooklyn into a converted schoolhouse in upstate New York, he decided the grand hall would be a future gathering spot for his many Facepots: large, wonky vessels decorated with a spectrum of grins and grimaces. The earliest ones, about a decade old, recall a time of emotional swings. “I hadn’t even found the clay that worked,” McCarthy says of that experimental phase, “so a lot of the pots were breaking in the kiln.” He learned to relinquish control, repairing the salvageable works using the Japanese technique known as kintsugi, in which mended seams are accented in silver or gold. The Facepots brought a new openness to McCarthy’s practice, as did the Hudson Valley. Absent the city’s pressures, he explains, “I was like a kid — on my hands and knees, lost in making a thing.” “Freedom,”a new monograph of McCarthy’s work, charts that arc, with nods to his Southern California upbringing, seen in rainbow-colored paintings of surfers and songbirds perched on guitars. Birds also animate new ceramic works in his solo exhibition at the Tokyo gallery Kosaku Kanechika, on view through Nov. 16. For McCarthy, these first faceless pots offer a shift in narrative. “Instead of a vessel, maybe it’s a nest,” he says, describing a fascination with his neighborhood birds. Kintsugi-like detailing appears on these pieces, too: Silver-leafed slabs camouflage the occasional split, while shiny rectangles evoke the little mirrors tucked inside birdcages. For the artist, fresh off his first flight to Japan, it’s a time of possibility. “I’m 62, which is old and not,” McCarthy says. “I think I’ve got another act in me. It should be an adventure.”

I spent my second day in Iceland in a hotel on the outskirts of Reykjavik, trying resolutely to knit. Gathered around a coffee table with me were Ragga Sjofu Jóhannsdóttir, my instructor, and my friend Lindis Sloan, both experienced knitters who fluidly worked the yarn with barely a glance at their hands.

I was chest-deep in bathwater, listening to the sound of soapy foam popping. I'd timed the moment so that when the clock struck midnight — and I turned 40 — I'd be soaking in a bubble bath on the coast of Algeria. I needed an elegant backdrop as I stared my future in the face.

The party started an hour before the M/S Gabriella ferry slipped out of Stockholm harbor for its overnight voyage to Helsinki. At the outdoor bar on Deck 9, passengers had gathered for the 4 p.m. sailing. Talking excitedly over drinks, they reveled in the Nordic summer weather — bright sun, cool breeze, electric blue sky with cotton-ball clouds — while a D.J. mixed bass-heavy Eurodance and vintage disco. Kids on holiday with their families dashed about.

Every July, tens of thousands of visitors descend on Colombia’s Pacific Coast, crowding the frenzied passenger docks in the seaport of Buenaventura as they wait for speedboats that will whisk them to the small communities lining remote Málaga Bay. They’ve come to see the humpback whales.

Left-wing anti-racism protesters rallied in London on Wednesday to counter far-right agitators amid concerns of another night of violence across the country.

In the bohemian district of Almagro in Buenos Aires, the wistful notes of the tango classic “Vida Mía” drift out a window of a small cultural center. Inside, on a makeshift dance floor, couples move carefully, studying their steps as they dance in the arms of another. All the pairs are same-sex or nongender-identifying: from slickly dressed silver-haired pensioners to artistic university students clothed entirely in black. Some dance with friends, others with lovers. Each individual in a couple takes turns leading the dance as music floats over the scene, its lyrics telling a story about love and loneliness, breathing and embracing.

Following an extensive five-year restoration project, the East Wing at Buckingham Palace is available to tour for the first time ever. Beginning July 11, visitors will have the opportunity to tour the previously restricted area throughout the summer as part of the palace’s annual Summer Opening of the State Rooms. “Led by expert guides, small groups of visitors will tour a series of rooms on the East Wing’s Principal Floor, which have never been accessible to the public before,” reads a press release from the Royal Collection Trust.

BMA House has introduced the “History of BMA House Tour” to enrich event experiences by integrating historical tours, enhancing attendee engagement and offering insights into the venue’s rich past.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) today reported that some 40 airlines have signed a formal agreement to contribute their schedules data to the IATA Schedule Data Exchange Program. A further 40 are in the process of preparing to join. Work on the program began in October 2023 with the first release planned in March 2025.

If involved in an accident out of state, remember these steps.

I’m here to guide you through the ins and outs of transforming your clunker into cold hard cash.

Inaugural sustainability conference to welcome curated participation.

Conference aims to enhance industry competitiveness through initiatives focused on environment, connectivity, market liberalisation and much more.

Every year around the summer solstice, Swedes gather to celebrate Midsummer, a festival marking the longest day of the year.