The American way of love and war

Beyoncé may have severed business ties with her father Matthew earlier this year, but it will take more than the simple nullifying of a contract to remove the strong work ethic he spent almost 30 years instilling in his daughter. Ever since the singer's new album 4 emerged in June, it has seen stuttering sales and disappointing chart showings. This is all relative of course; 99.9 per cent of the world's performing artists would do cartwheels of celebration if they'd managed to shift a million albums in two months and scored two Top 30 singles in the US Billboard Chart. But for the Texan megastar, such achievements are piffling and have prompted this series of hastily arranged intimate club shows in an attempt to reboot the campaign.

Amidst the Sunday mudbathing, the novelty of an almost completely redesigned site and some thrilling headline performances, this year's T in the Park was memorable for two very different sets that nailed the spirit of their times. One, although not quite up there with Glastonbury '95, was the latest instalment of Pulp's reunion tour on the Sunday evening, a poignant reminder of just how few contemporary pop artists write from the position of taking a close look at the world around them.

Beyonce Knowles has dropped her father Mathew as her manager.

The Denver Broncos only flew in yesterday for tomorrow's game at Wembley against the San Francisco 49ers, who arrived in London on Monday – the Broncos, perhaps, were hoping not to draw too much attention to themselves while the 49ers are probably happy to have been a long way from the Bay Area while baseball's Giants were basking in the glory of a World Series appearance.

Ann Widdecombe's dance debut could not compete with the X Factor, with the ITV1 show pulling in almost 4 million more viewers.

A former producer to pop sensation Lady Gaga has sued his one-time protege for more than $30 million claiming he was instrumental to her success but unable to profit from it when their romance ended.

Vernon Forrest won world titles at two different weights, controlled his career by refusing to sign away his rights, was ignored by many of his generation's best fighters and is perhaps best known for his charity. Forrest was a well-known fighter and charity worker in his adopted city of Atlanta, and late on a Saturday night he was on his way home when he stopped at a Chevrolet petrol station in south-west Atlanta to put some air in a back tyre of his Jaguar.

It Is just over six years since Aaron Barschak donned a merkin, pink dress and Osama bin Laden disguise to clamber over the walls of Windsor Castle and storm Prince William's 21st birthday party.