Paris Opera Ballet director steps down

French choreographer Benjamin Millepied, 38, is stepping down as director of dance at the Paris Opera Ballet after lambasting the ensemble as being stuck in the past.

In just more than a year at the helm, the husband of actress Natalie Portman faced stiff resistance to his plans to radically reform the institution, a bastion of classical ballet tradition.

He told reporters on Thursday that he wanted to focus on "creation and artistic expression".

Prince to tour New Zealand and Australia

Prince, who scrapped a tour of Europe after the Nov 13 Paris terror attacks, said he would perform in Australia and New Zealand.

He posted a flier on Twitter that read: "Piano and a Microphone - Prince - Australia and New Zealand - February 2016."

The Europe tour would have been the first in which he solely sings and plays piano.

Spider named after singer Johnny Cash

Scientists scouring the fields of Folsom in California found a new kind of tarantula which they have named after the late country legend Johnny Cash.

The spider named Aphonopelma johnnycashi is all black, the way Cash often dressed when he performed. Folsom is also where Cash performed for prison inmates in 1968.