The heart of the Lionheart was embalmed with daisy, myrtle, mint and frankincense, kept sweet-smelling in saintly fashion in hope of speeding King Richard of England’s ascent to heaven. French scientists have analysed the organ, kept at Rouen Cathedral since the death of Richard I, known as The Lionheart; they found it was wrapped in linen, treated with mercury, herbs and reverence, and that it held pollen confirming records of his death from a war wound in the spring of 1199, in central France.

Pope Benedict XVI bid an emotional farewell at his last general audience on Wednesday, saying he understood the gravity of his decision to become the first pontiff to resign in 600 years, but said he had done it for the good of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Onion, a source for online and printed satire that routinely skewers celebrities, apologised on Monday for a what it called a crude and offensive tweet directed at nine-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis.

Dame Shirley Bassey earned a standing ovation at the Oscars on Sunday when she led a tribute to James Bond’s 50th birthday by singing Goldfinger, the 1964 Bond theme song that launched her international career. Bassey, 76, wearing a gold dress, gold necklace and gold earrings, appeared on stage following a film and music tribute to the Bond movie franchise, which began in 1962 with the first Bond film Dr No, starring Sir Sean Connery.

One FBI employee was fired for sleeping with a drug dealer and lying about it under oath, while another got the boot for bugging the boss’s office.

Voting for Sunday’s Oscars,the highest honors in the movie industry, closed on Tuesdayevening after a big spending campaign by Hollywood studios and the first online balloting system in the 85-year hi

US film and television writers gave their top two movie awards on Sunday to Zero Dark Thirty and Argo in the final Hollywood guild awards show before next week’s Oscars.

Britain’s Royal Mint has started to manufacture gold sovereign coins in India for the first time in almost 100 years, it said Monday.

A new United Nations plan to involve all nations in marshalling science to fix environmental problems ranging from toxic chemicals to climate change will be put to the test from Monday at talks in Nai

South African prosecutors will argue that international sports star Oscar Pistorius committed premeditated murder when he shot his girlfriend dead at his luxury home, they told a Pretoria court on Friday.