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A rare Mexican plant which flowers only once in its lifetime has bloomed in Britain.

Scientists at Bangor University have waited 28 years to see the Century Plant (Agave americana) blossom.

Nobody was more shocked to see the 20ft specimen in full bloom than curator Nigel Brown, who planted the seed when he was a young student in 1979.

Mr Brown said: “We planted it to see if it could survive the British weather and pretty much forgot about it for a long time, just tending to it occasionally.

“Over the last 10 years I was hopeful that it might bloom but it wasn’t to be.

“This year’s poor summer didn’t augur well so you can imagine my shock when I arrived at work after the weekend to see it had sprouted a 5ft flower stalk with such force as to break the roof of the glasshouse.

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Everyone loves a movie with a good twist, and the Hollywood engine knows that and exploits it. Almost every film that comes out now has at least one twist or another, but some really stand out for their brilliance or shock value. This is the list of the 15 best film twists. Contains Spoilers.

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Here’s something for you film buffs who are also Simpsons buffs: 66 stills from various episodes of The Simpsons, each one beside the still from the movie scene to which they refer.

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After A. J. Jacobs spent a year reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica for his book “The Know-It-All,” he figured he had the yearlong experiment thing down. How much harder could it be to follow every rule in the Bible? Much, much harder, he soon discovered, as he found himself growing his beard, struggling not to curse and asking strangers for permission to stone them for adultery. Jacobs spent the year carrying around a stapled list of the more than 700 rules and prohibitions identified in the Good Book, and also consulted with religious leaders and spent time with the Amish, Hassidic Jews and Jehovah’s Witnesses. He spoke to NEWSWEEK’s Jennie Yabroff about his experience and his new book, “The Year of Living Biblically” (Simon & Schuster), which goes on sale Oct. 9.

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