Much-loved comedian dies suddenly

Thirty years ago there was a big change in the kind of comedy shows which appeared on British TVs and in theatres. Comedy shows often had lots of jokes about women and people from different countries.

Then Rik Mayall and a group of new comedians started appearing with something called "alternative" comedy. The jokes were about politics and things that younger people found funny.

Rik Mayall, who died this week, became famous for a comedy called The Young Ones, which was about a group of four students living in a horrible house. The fridge was full of horrible things, the four didn't have any money, and there was lots of violence. People loved the show and the character played by Mayall, who was a middle-class student pretending to be a revolutionary.

After that he appeared in other shows with lots of comedy violence and swearing which people loved. He died suddenly this week and lots of people were very sad. Lots of clips of his classic comedies have been shared on Twitter and Facebook.

Heavier glass makes drink taste better

Drinks like gin and tonic should be served in a heavy glass because it makes people enjoy them more, researchers say.

Charles Spence, a psychology professor at Oxford University, says that people will think the drink is much better if they have it in a heavy glass rather than a plastic one.

He says less heavy cups make people think that the drink is poor quality and cheap. The effect is the same for beer, where people think beer drunk from a bottle is better than beer from a can.

War anniversary gets a new story

It was the 70th anniversary of a significant World War 2 battle last week. Old soldiers from the UK, Canada and other countries joined the Queen and President Obama in France to remember the day when troops invaded France from the sea.

It will be the last big anniversary as the men who took part in the D-Day landings are now aged around 90. There were lots of stories about the official events - but also lots of stories about one man called Bernard Jordan.

Mr Jordan, who lives in a home for older people, had wanted to join an official trip to France for the event, but his care home could not get him a ticket. He went for a walk on the day before the D-Day anniversary, and did not return.

Staff told police that Mr Jordan was missing - and later got a phone call from France. When he did not return, the staff told police he was missing.

Someone then rang the home from France and said that Mr Jordan was taking part in the anniversary event.

This story appealed to British people, as Mr Jordan had apparently escaped from the home and made his own way to France.

Huge bird flies into woman's home

An eagle flew through open doors into a woman's home near Bournemouth this week. The eagle's wings were four feet across, and it knocked over many things in the room before sitting on a cabinet.

Home owner Wendy Morrell and her friend tried to persuade the bird outside again using pieces of ham. In the end they got an expert from a bird rescue centre who got the eagle out by feeding it a dead chick.

The eagle's owner was then found. The eagle is a working animal. It was being trained to scare seagulls away from a rubbish tip.