AN EYE ON...: Marriage

Kenya: a date has been set for the trial of Moita Ole Risa on a charge of wife-beating. The case breaks with Maasai tradition as it is the first time a Maasai woman has filed assault charges against her husband. The woman's lawyer has also filed a civil case in the Nairobi high court seeking to have wife-beating declared unconstitutional.

New York: Nicole Conttos went ahead with her $65,000 wedding reception last week even though her groom - apparently changing his mind at the last moment - failed to turn up to the wedding. He sent his best man to the church to inform the wedding party. Guests had been invited from Greece, Italy and Japan and the flowers had been flown in from France.

England: Roy and Patricia Newman, from Halesowen, West Midlands, have said they are to divorce over constant rows about the disappearance of Rocky, their crested cockatiel. The pounds 795 bird vanished from a pet dealer where it had been taken to have its wings clipped. "You just won't believe what that damn bird has done to us," Mr Newman said. "It has caused my marriage to break up."