VIENNA — Germany is tightening travel restrictions for people coming from Britain in response to the rapid spread of the omicron variant there. The country’s national disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, added Britain to its list of “virus variant areas” late Saturday. This means anyone traveling from the ...

From hunks of clay, artist En Iwamura (previously) sculpts minimal forms with wildly varied facial expressions that range from shock and surprise to moody contemplation. Etched across the surface of each character are neat pathways of parallel lines, which evoke the clean, sweeping patterns in zen gardens, that are a physical manifestation of the Japanese concept of Ma. The philosophy identifies “the space between the edges, between the beginning and the end, the space and time in which we experience life. More

 We’ve all been there: spending the entire day scrolling through social, responding to texts and DMs and email, descending into internet rabbit holes, and just generally escaping the world through our devices. A quirky, 2D animation titled “Blip” by Hannah Sun weighs in on this unending screen addiction as it plunges into a visual soundscape of incessant pings, bells, and other tones. Watch the colorful commentary above, and find more of the New York City-based designer’s projects on Vimeo and Instagram. More

In his Richmond studio, artist Christopher David White (previously) practices an alchemy of materials as he transforms slabs of clay into deceptive sculptures and functional objects that appear carved from hunks of decaying wood. His trompe l’oeil ceramics are fragile depictions of the hardy material, complete with its gnarled knots and splintered edges in various states of decomposition. To achieve such a hyperrealistic finish, each piece undergoes multiple rounds of detailing—head to Instagram for a glimpse behind-the-scenes—which White starts by shaping the initial form with knots and branches and imprinting large grooves for the grain. More

A scroll through Vanessa Mckeown’s Instagram reveals a bottomless trove of absurdity and the playfully unexpected: cooked spaghetti pours from a bronze tap, a tennis ball bounces off a tennis racket made of waffles, and a trio of donuts hangs from a toilet paper holder. The London-based artist has an eye for the strange, quirky possibilities of humble everyday objects like snacks and plants, and her body of work extends back to 2015 when she photographed minimally composed interpretations on bright monochromatic backdrops. More

France will ban nonessential travel from the U.K. on Saturday to try and slow the omicron variant that is surging on the other side of the English Channel. It is a sign that European countries are tightening rules on each other after early travel bans focused on South Africa, where ...

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A powerful typhoon slammed into the southeastern Philippines on Thursday and was blowing across island provinces where nearly 100,000 people have been evacuated from high-risk areas that could be devastated by flash floods, landslides and tidal surges, officials said. Forecasters said Typhoon Rai, which had sustained ...

The chiefs of United Airlines and American Airlines told lawmakers Wednesday that the federal mask mandate doesn’t give passengers much extra protection from COVID-19 on flights, while the head of a flight attendants union called for a crackdown on airport alcohol sales to curb a spate of unruly travelers who ...

 In an extravagant display of evolutionary tricks and mating rituals, new footage by Adrian Smith of the wildly popular Ant Lab YouTube channel focuses on six tropical butterflies. The extremely slow-motion montage zeroes in on a trio of tropical creatures as they crack open and emerge from their chrysalises and others like the striking Blue Morpho as they take flight. Smith paired the spectacular clips with behind-the-scenes footage of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Living Conservatory, which fosters a climate-controlled environment that hundreds of butterflies hatch from every few weeks. More

It’s easy to mistake Irma Gruenholz’s whimsical ceramic figures for two-dimensional illustrations. The Madrid-based artist (previously) is known for her sculptures and still lifes in clay that resemble flat graphics and drawings, although her works require precise positioning and photographing before they’re printed in the pages of a magazine or children’s book. In addition to working on commissions for major publications and brands in the last few years, Gruenholz’s most recent projects include four imaginative figures tattooed with foliage and sprouting leafy branches from their heads. More

Amtrak is backtracking on its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees after a court decision prompted it to reevaluate its policy and take steps to avoid service cuts the rules might have caused. Its chief executive officer, William J. Flynn, said the rail service instead will let unvaccinated employees get tested ...

The Washington-area’s Metro system said Tuesday that a safety commission has accepted its plan to phase back into service the 7000-series railcars, which make up most of the fleet and were taken off the tracks following a derailment in October. The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC) told Metro that it ...

At once minimal and endlessly confounding, the elegant ceramic vessels that Matthew Chambers (previously) creates are precisely scaled iterations of the same shape. His hypnotic sculptures are comprised of individual, wheel-thrown pieces in varying sizes that are embedded within a larger form. Each abstract work is unique in color and position, sometimes displaying single monochromatic rings at incongruent angles or striped colors flush in alignment. In a note to Colossal, Chambers says his most recent pieces are an experiment in allowing the inner pattern to pop from the outer vessel. More

The top executives of three airlines will tell Congress on Wednesday how the carriers spent $54 billion in COVID-19 government aid, and why they are still grappling with thousands of canceled flights, staffing shortages and frustrated customers who can’t get refunds. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker will tell the Senate ...

Suffice to say, 2021 has been an emotional rollercoaster, so it’s no surprise that the short films topping Colossal’s list span the gamut: there are uncomfortable situations of poor (and relatable) office etiquette, heartwrenching indictments of the injustices around us, and purely fun works of animation. We’ve listed the most-watched shorts here and included a few extras in case you need to escape from end-of-year work projects or family gatherings.    “Moonwalk” by Nalle Sjoblad Nalle Sjoblad’s “Moonwalk” uses brutal Home Alone-esque sequences of poor planning, office rage, and failure to appreciate even basic spatial relationships in order to remind us that the most uncomfortable, humiliating scenarios only last for a moment. More

Soaring more than 22,000 feet above the landscape, the frigid Meili mountain range sits at the edge of Yunnan’s Deqin County in the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and borders the phenomenal “Three Parallel Rivers,” a UNESCO world heritage site where the Jinsha, Mekong, and Salween each run alongside each other but never converge. The imposing landmark, while steeped in cultural and historical significance, is majestic and sublime in its own right, features Shenzhen-based photographer Rainlook captures in a new series. More

Kent-based ceramicist Kate Malone mimics the plaited texture of a basket with her series of woven vessels. The wide-mouthed vases and small, covered boxes are wrapped in rolled strips of clay that the artist threads through small gashes in the surface of the pot. Long, vertical bars structure the braided effect, which wraps horizontally around each form. “Initially inspired by passementerie, baskets, and all things woven, for this series, I intended to imitate a woven surface on my ceramics. More

Estonian installation artist Katja Novitskova’s art career started with a collaboration—a curatorial project—so it’s fitting that she continues to excel in opportunities that involve working with other artists. Her latest project, a six-piece NFT series of Angels, represents an ecological concept that permeates throughout and defines our world. For this ambitious project, Novitskova collaborated with artists Kévin Bray and Alexandra Martens Serrano to portray the visual identity of non-human entities: animals, bacteria, molecular structures, and more. More

Illustrations of the elegant atlas moth and paper kite and orange-barred sulphur butterflies fly through a new trio of analog animations by J.C. Fontanive. The Cleveland-born artist created a sleek flipbook machine while he was a student at the Royal College of Art back in 2004 and has since crafted myriad designs featuring birds and insects that fly around the small, metallic frame. His most recent works bring the 2D Lepidoptera to life as they burst into a flurry of quick movements, and the individual paper cards emit a subtle whirring, similar to that of fluttering wings. More

39 curators, artists, editors and other photography experts reveal their personal favorite photobooks from 2021 — a delightfully diverse list of great recommendations.

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday made a historic trip to the United Arab Emirates, the first visit by an Israeli premier, as part of a blitz of regional diplomacy against the backdrop of struggling nuclear talks with Iran. Israel has watched with concern as Iran has ...

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice ruled Saturday that all travelers arriving in Brazil must present a vaccine passport documenting they have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. The decision from Luís Roberto Barroso challenges a more lenient rule announced by the government of President Jair Bolsonaro, ...

Football star and TV celebrity Michael Strahan caught a ride to space with Jeff Bezos’ rocket-launching company Saturday, sharing the trip with the daughter of America’s first astronaut. Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket blasted off from West Texas, sending the capsule on a 10-minute flight with the two VIP guests ...

DAMARISCOTTA, Maine — Humans aren't the only species packing on extra pounds during the pandemic. Some squirrels are letting themselves go, too. Many squirrels are eating well this fall in New England. But one portly squirrel is so big it earned the nickname, “Fatty McFatterson.” Most squirrels sprint or scoot. ...

Calm, flexible, and undeniably adorable, Lucia Heffernan’s brood of chicks would likely be the star students of any yoga class. The fluffy creatures curl into backends, contort into triangles, and stretch their feathered little bodies into warriors and dancers in perfect alignment. Heffernan is showing the lunging and twisting characters through December 15 at CODA Gallery in Palm Desert, California, and even though all originals are sold, you can still shop prints on Etsy and see the entire troupe on Instagram.  More