Mpumelelo Masinga takes a deep drag from his cigarette, his hand trembling with apprehension.

Masinga is preparing to spend three hours at Black and White Tattoo Studio in Johannesburg getting Nelson Mandela's face tattooed on the center of his back.

A DNA study confirming that a skeleton found in 2012 was that of Richard III also found evidence of "false paternity" that raises doubts about the royal claims of centuries of British monarchs, researchers said on Tuesday.

The study said the remains matched the DNA of two descendants of Richard III's sister, Anne of York, meaning researchers are certain "beyond reasonable doubt" that the skeleton is indeed the king's.

An Italian historian's theory that Mona Lisa might be a Chinese slave and Leonardo da Vinci's mother -- making the 15th-century polymath half-Chinese -- sent online commentators into a frenzy Wednesday.

Angelo Paratico, a Hong Kong-based historian and novelist from Italy, told the South China Morning Post: "On the back of Mona Lisa, there is a Chinese landscape and even her face looks Chinese."

Turkish students know Albert Einstein but can't name any Muslim scientists or scholars, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan complained on Tuesday as he called for a new curriculum in schools.

"If you ask them who Einstein is, every young person has something to say about him. If you ask who Ibn Sina is, you see the child has never heard about him," Erdogan told a teachers' forum in the southern city of Antalya.

Iran was urged by human rights groups on Tuesday to drop the death sentence given to a man convicted of insulting the Prophet Mohammed in several Facebook posts.

Soheil Arabi was found guilty in August and the decision was upheld by Iran's Supreme Court last month.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott Tuesday weighed in on a debate about gender-specific toys in the lead-up to Christmas, saying boys should be boys and girls should be girls.

Greens senator Larissa Waters has backed a "No Gender December" campaign, aimed at breaking down stereotypes around buying dolls for girls and trucks for boys.

Ninety-two-year-old Johanna beams at the 20-year-old stepping into her room -- not a visiting grandson, but rather a housemate at her retirement home.

Town planning student Jurrien is one of six who have chosen to live in the yellow-brick home in Deventer in the eastern Netherlands as part of a unique project that benefits everyone.

Diamond and ruby-studded jewelry crafted by celebrated Italian master goldsmiths Mario and Gianmaria Buccellati and inspired by Renaissance great Benvenuto Cellini are going on show for the first time.

More than 130 pieces designed by father and son, including pearl scorpions, silver chalices as well as silk and gold evening bags, can be seen from Tuesday at the Pitti Palace in Florence, a stone's throw from the Ponte Vecchio.

More than 13,000 people have left Finland's Lutheran Church in three days in a row over gay marriage after an archbishop said he "rejoiced" that it could soon be legal.

Archbishop Kari Makinen said he "rejoiced from the bottom of his heart" on Friday at parliament's vote approving a people's petition that paves the way for a same-sex marriage law.

Like most children his age, Denis Akimov spends hours daily on his computer surfing the Internet. It isn't just for fun.

As schools are forced to limit operations in the conflict-battered eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, educators are turning to the Web to keep their charges learning.