Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived back in his native country of Austria on Thursday where he is to visit a museum devoted to his eventful life in Thal, the village where he was born 64 years ago.

The former Mister Universe bodybuilding champion, movie star and California governor landed in a private jet at Graz airport before being whisked away in a dark blue Bentley, first of all to visit his mother Aurelia's grave.

U.S. toy giant Mattel, maker of the world-famous Barbie doll, has decided to use more environmentally friendly materials in its packaging after months of criticism from Greenpeace.

The California-based company said Wednesday it hopes to source 70 percent of its paper packaging from recycled material or sustainable fiber by the end of the year, with the goal rising to 85 percent by the end of 2015.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday named Colombian pop diva Shakira a member of his advisory commission on Hispanic education, citing her pioneering work to help children in Latin America.

The singer, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, a Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter and producer founded the "Barefoot Foundation" which set up schools and education projects in Colombia, South Africa and Haiti.

Disney plans to release 3D versions of four more classic movies, including "Finding Nemo" and "The Little Mermaid," after the success of the revived "The Lion King," the studio announced.

A 3D version of "Beauty and the Beast," originally from 1991, will hit screens in January next year, followed in September 2012 by Disney Pixar's "Finding Nemo," the cute fish tale which first made a splash in 2003.

The dress worn by the former Kate Middleton when she married Prince William fueled a surge in regal tourism with 600,000 flocking to see the gown on display at Buckingham Palace, it emerged Tuesday.

Hordes of enthusiasts queued for hours to see the Alexander McQueen ivory and white satin-gazar dress, designed by Sarah Burton, swelling palace visitor numbers by 50 percent.

Sumptuous and feminine with intricate lace and pleat work, Alexander McQueen's new look unveiled on Tuesday was also edgy and unsettling, as models stepped out with hoods or masked faces.

Sarah Burton, chosen to design Kate Middleton's wedding dress, was showcasing her third collection since the death of the label's founder.

Hank Williams Jnr, whose song was pulled as the opening of ESPN's U.S. Monday Night Football telecast, apologized on Tuesday for an analogy about Adolf Hitler in talking about U.S. President Barack Obama.

Williams, the son of a 1940s and 1950s U.S. country music legend, spoke Monday on the Fox News show "Fox & Friends" about Obama's recent golf outing with a political rival, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner.

In its 23rd year on TV, "The Simpsons" could be on the endangered species list.

The show's producer said Tuesday that the show can't continue under its current financial model.

The Baghdad International Film Festival, which runs all this week, is the latest effort by Iraqis to use an improving but precarious security situation to break their decades-long cultural isolation.

The opening ceremony on Monday had all the glitz of a major film premiere. A huge crowd, mostly young, massed along a red carpet as ushers handed out glossy programs at the entrance to the national theatre in the city center.

A treasure hunt devised by composer Stephen Sondheim prompted hundreds of people, including Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, to scamper through the dinosaur section of the American Museum of Natural History on Monday night.

"That was a blast," said Tony Award-winning actor John Benjamin Hickey, even though his team came up short at the charity gala. "It's the most fun I've ever had losing."