EDINBURGH (Reuters) - The Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) spreads its wings westwards this year to bring to the Scottish capital the flamboyant and exciting cultures of the Americas and Australasia. "As these diverse cultures, separated by vast oceans, converge in Edinburgh, I hope you will join us to celebrate the synergies and revelations they offer," the festival's Australian director Jonathan ...

Pope Benedict XVI will make the first ever official papal visit to Britain with a four-day trip in September, the government announced Tuesday. The September 16-19 visit by the 82-year-old pontiff, at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II, will see the first official meeting between the British monarch and a pope. The visit, which follows recent tensions between the Vatican ...

The Queen's gaffe-prone husband Prince Philip proved that at 88 he is as undiplomatic as ever, when he asked a young sea cadet if she worked in a strip club, newspapers reported Friday. The former naval officer, infamous for his colourful off-hand remarks, was visiting cadets in Exeter, when he put the question to Elizabeth Rendle. The 24-year-old, who ...