Michael Jackson’s three children were guests of honour at a UK concert in memory of the superstar.
Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket took to the stage in front of an audience of 50,000 for the Michael Jackson Forever concert at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
The children of the King of Pop, who died from a drug overdose at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009, introduced a performance by Beyonce, who appeared via videolink from the United States to play the Jackson Five hit I Wanna Be Where You Are.
Pumpkin problems
This year’s unusual weather means Halloween pumpkins could be on the small side, the Royal Horticultural Society said.
Gardeners trying to grow the fruit for Halloween lanterns have struggled in the face of an unusually dry spring and a cool, damp spell in late summer, to get pumpkins to grow well, the experts said.
The conditions also allowed mildew to thrive, while a lack of high temperatures or long periods of sunshine through the summer stopped the plants developing properly.
Bright side
Humans have an in-built tendency to always look on the bright side of life, scientists have found.
Researchers identified an “optimism bias” in the brain that resists accurate information about the world.
This means people “update” their beliefs accurately only when things turn out to be better than expected, not when they are worse than expected, according to the study by University College London scientists, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Porn addict
An 18-year-old woman in the US told police she broke into a neighbour’s home three times by squeezing through a dog door to steal items to feed her porn addiction.
Sheriff’s investigators in Anoka County, Minnesota, said the neighbour called to report he had surveillance footage of Amanda Rose Owens sneaking into his East Bethel home. He set the camera up after $300 (€224) and several items were stolen.
Investigators said Ms Owens admitted the crime and said she needed money so she could pay for 20 to 30 pornographic DVDs she had bought. She has been charged with second-degree burglary.
Fashion boost
The return of hit period drama Downton Abbey has led to an increase in sales of fur capes, pearls and elbow-length gloves, a high-street retailer said.
Fashion items which were popular in the early 1900s have been flying off the shelves at Debenhams since the second series of the ITV1 show began last month, a company spokesman said.
Week-on-week sales of the gloves increased by 584 per cent, fur capes are up 220 per cent while sequin capelets – a short cape worn over the shoulder – saw sales rise by 55 per cent.
Traffic mime
Venezuela’s capital is giving dangerous drivers the silent treatment, sending mimes into the streets to do what police alone have not: tame the lawless traffic.
About 120 mimes dressed in clown-like outfits and white gloves took to the streets of the Sucre district of Caracas this week, wagging their fingers at traffic violators and at pedestrians who streaked across busy avenues rather than waiting at crossing points.
Mayor Carlos Ocariz turned to the mimes to encourage civility among reckless drivers and careless pedestrians. He is following the example of Antanas Mockus, a former mayor of Bogota, Colombia, who combined mimes and stricter police enforcement in a programme that was widely seen as a success.
Facebook thief
A suspect in a car break-in used a phone stolen from the vehicle to take his own photo, which was then posted to the car owner’s Facebook page, police in the US said. Police Major Jason Bolton of Henry County, Georgia, said the phone was set to automatically post images on the social network site.