Outside the aircraft hangar-sized venue, the crowd of Gen Z office workers and teenagers is thickening. Event staff scan QR codes and fasten wristbands. Friends take selfies together as they wait in a queue. As night falls, the doors open and the nearly 5,000 attendees walk in. Inside the venue in India’s commercial hub Mumbai they remove their shoes and sit cross-legged on the floor. The lights dim. In the front row, a young mother rocks her baby on her shoulders, waiting for the music to begin. When it comes, it’s not thumping electro or pop lyrics that boom through the speakers, but centuries-old Hindu devotional songs more commonly heard in a temple or religious procession.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/03/india/india-gen-z-trend-spiritual-bhajan-clubbing-intl-hnk
Prehistoric human relatives, nicknamed “hobbits” due to their short stature, may have been scavengers, rather than skilled hunters capable of taking down big game or building cooking fires, according to new research. The study adds to growing evidence that Homo floresiensis, which had a brain only slightly bigger than that of a chimpanzee, wasn’t as advanced as scientists previously believed. Fossils unearthed by archaeologists in the Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003 led to the discovery of the diminutive hominin. The creature had a skull the size of a grapefruit and likely stood about 3.3 feet (1 meter) tall.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/03/science/homo-floresiensis-scavenged-food
If you’re visiting Paris this summer, you may want to add swimming in the Seine to your itinerary. And after the heat this city has seen in the past few weeks, you may absolutely need to. Paris just experienced its hottest day on record, with temperatures topping 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) in late June. With a third heatwave set to hit next week, the opening of three swim spots along the river couldn’t come at a better time. From Saturday, Parisians and tourists can take a refreshing plunge in the Seine, for the second summer in a row. A century-old ban has given way to what is fast becoming a new Parisian summer tradition.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/04/travel/paris-seine-river-toxic-swimming-spots
Extreme climber Angelina Nikolau, in the trailer for the 2024 Netflix documentary, “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” said: “Love is like heights. The fear never goes away. You just get better at facing it.” On Wednesday, Nikolau, 33, who goes by Angela, and Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, who goes by Ivan Beerkus, elevated their romance to a height of about 1,450 feet above the sweltering city, ascending the needle of the Empire State Building, unfurling a black banner that read “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace,” and getting engaged. A day later, they were arraigned on felony charges and released under court supervision. Many New Yorkers and observers from afar are likely asking how the two trespassing daredevils managed to breach security at one of New York City’s most iconic landmarks – and how they did it amid a heightened NYPD presence for World Cup matches, the expected wedding celebration for pop star Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden, and festivities commemorating America’s 250th birthday.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/03/us/empire-state-building-climbers-stunt
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/04/world/video/tehran-iran-funeral-khamenei