Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese said Monday his decision to shoot the historic-drama "Silence" was inspired by his religious childhood, despite the Hollywood heavyweight not typically being known for spiritual outpourings.

Lauded for his direction of often violent box office hits such as "Gangs of New York" and "The Departed", Scorsese said at a press conference in Taipei that his Christian beliefs and faith had helped him face the world.

Royal watchers around the world waited to discover the name of the two-day-old British princess born to Prince William and his wife Kate, which could be announced on Monday.

Gun salutes at Hyde Park and Tower Bridge will also celebrate the birth, after senior members of the royal family visited the couple's Kensington Palace residence to see the baby.

Raucous performances by New Orleans hometown hero Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, rocker Lenny Kravitz and rising country star Kacey Musgraves closed out the 2015 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Sunday.

The seven-day celebration of Louisiana's heritage features music stages dotted around the city's fairgrounds, booths selling food and stalls showing art and handicrafts.

The ashes of Maya Plisetskaya, the renowned Bolshoi Theater ballerina who died this weekend, will be spread over Russia in accordance with her wishes.

Bolshoi director Vladimir Urin said Plisetskaya left instructions for her to be cremated and, after the death of her husband, the composer Rodion Shchedrin, for the ashes to be joined together and spread over Russia.

The Avengers are mighty, but not enough to beat themselves. The Marvel and Disney sequel earned a staggering $187.7 million in its debut weekend, making it the second biggest U.S. opening of all time according to Rentrak estimates Sunday.

But "Avengers: Age of Ultron" failed to top the all-time record of the first film's $207.4 million debut in 2012.

Prince William's wife Kate gave birth to a girl on Saturday, sparking celebrations for the royal couple's new arrival, a princess who becomes the fourth in line to the British throne.

"Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a daughter at 8.34am," the royal residence of Kensington Palace said in a statement.

Classic 1970s TV series "Roots," about one African family's struggle to survive slavery over generations, is to be remade for US television next year, the companies behind it said Friday.

Emmy-award winning actor LeVar Burton, who played Kunta Kinte in the original show, will serve as executive co-producer on the new series, being made by TV companies History, A&E Network and Lifetime.

Ben E. King, the soul singer whose Gospel-influenced "Stand By Me" became one of the most broadcast songs of the 20th century, has died at 76, his spokesman said Friday.

King, who lived in New Jersey, died of natural causes on Thursday, spokesman Phil Brown told Agence France Presse.

Olympic champion turned transgender reality TV star Bruce Jenner is being sued for wrongful death damages over a car crash which killed a 69-year-old woman, legal documents filed Friday showed.

The stepchildren of the dead woman, Kim Howe, are seeking unspecified compensation over the accident in February, involving four cars on the Pacific Coast Highway in the Los Angeles metro area.

Actor Nicholas Brendon says a warrant for his arrest in Florida is a "huge misunderstanding."

Brendon, who has appeared on the television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Criminal Minds," was arrested in March in Tallahassee after a disturbance at a hotel.