One of the world's longest novel coronavirus lockdowns wound down Wednesday morning, allowing roughly 5 million people in the Australian city of Melbourne to leave home anytime they want, eat dinner at a restaurant and drink at bars for the first time in more than three months.

The malfunctions of two unoccupied elevators in the same Bangkok hotel, one of which dropped from the 24th floor to then get stuck at the 16th, sent some guests running for fear of their safety as smoke poured out of the lift shafts on Friday morning.