A band of rioters descended on the British Parliament yesterday in scenes not witnessed in Westminster for a century.
But MPs did not have to take cover – the 250-strong mob are extras in a major film being shot on the estate.
They are appearing in Suffragette, which tracks the struggle for women to get the vote and stars Meryl Streep as Emmeline Pankhurst. (PA)
Britain’s got talons! Owl man a flop
The Britain’s Got Talent panel was left ’owling with laughter after a less than impressive animal act kicked off the new series.
Andrew Charlton, 53, from Lincolnshire and his owl Rocky had hoped to repeat the success of series winners Ashleigh and Pudsey, but left the judges less than impressed with their agility act. Amanda Holden told him: “You’re like a very old, unmagical Harry Potter.”
More impressive were five-piece boyband Collabro whose version of Stars from Les Miserables won them a standing ovation and left Holden wiping away tears to tell them they were “bloody brilliant”. (PA)
Mugged – while reporting on crime
A woman has been shown on TV being robbed – while being interviewed about crime near Rio de Janeiro’s main railway station.
Brazilian TV showed the woman complaining about the lack of police presence near the station when the mugger approaches her from behind and rips off what appears to be a gold necklace.
The TV Globo clip shows the thief fleeing down a busy street and the reporter is seen chasing him for a few seconds.
The thief, however, was left empty handed. He dropped the necklace which was returned to the woman. (PA)
Store toe-sucker gets 60 days’ jail
A man who sucked an unwilling woman’s toes in a department store has been sentenced to 60 days in jail.
Michael Brown told the woman he was a podiatry student and asked her to try on shoes for him at the Wal-Mart in Lincolnton, North Carolina, police said.
Investigators said Brown eventually stuck the woman’s foot in his mouth and sucked her toes, then offered to pay for her groceries after she appeared outraged. Brown, 31, was convicted of assault.
Prison crisis...not enough inmates
The Dutch government is facing an unusual crisis: Prison undercrowding.
There are now more guards and other staff than prisoners in the Netherlands for the first time.
In 2008, there were more than 15,000 inmates, but by March this year there were 9,710, compared with 9,914 staff.
Crime rates have fallen slightly in recent years but are not notably lower in the Netherlands than in neighbouring countries, and many Dutch people think sentences for violent offenders are too light. (PA)
Author Sue Townsend dies
British author Sue Townsend, who found international fame chronicling the travails through life of self-obsessed “Adrian Mole”, has died aged 68, her publishers said yesterday.
Townsend, who had to dictate novels in her later years after losing her sight from diabetes, passed away at her home in Leicester, England, after suffering a stroke.
She found success after penning the The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13-3/4 in 1982, detailing a boy’s comedic exploits as he dealt with adolescence against the backdrop of Margaret Thatcher’s time as prime minister. (PA)