Thousands of people joined Yoko Ono and tried to set a world record for largest group of human bodies forming a peace sign. The record attempt to honor Ono's husband, John Lennon, didn't succeed. Still, the Central Park crowd celebrated the upcoming birthday of the late Beatle. Lennon would have turned 75 on Friday. A Guinness World Records representative says Tuesday's effort brought together more than 2,000 people.

Wolverhampton’s Mayor is to join local war veterans and young people from Germany and the Black Country at a unique service of remembrance and reconciliation next weekend. A century after the end of the Battle of Loos in the First World War, students from the Academy of English in Oldenburg, Germany, and its partner institution, High Arcal School in Sedgley, will be taking part in the second in a series of annual Anglo-German Services of Remembrance and Reconciliation.

The curious tale of a former Bilston MP's links with Mount Everest and the Abominable Snowman will be regaled in a free talk on Wednesday. Community historian Greig Campbell will be showcasing the many adventures of former MP Charles Howard-Bury, a world renowned botanist and explorer who was one of the first Western explorers to traverse what is now Eurasia.

Researchers have compiled a list of things the nation feels will be no longer with us by the year 2025 – and no surprise that cheque books came out top with 69 percent of those polled claiming they will disappear. We also expect to have seen the last of high street staples such as fishmongers (34 percent), greengrocers (31 percent) and estate agencies (26 percent) within the next decade, according to the study.

This week sees the launch of a new scheme which aims to coordinate groups that help the homeless in order to provide more effective and targeted support. The Homeless Outreach Accreditation Scheme will be launched on Thursday 8 October and will bring together about 25 voluntary organisations in Birmingham with a shared commitment to helping homeless people.

Whitehall Director General Stephen Rimmer is confident children in the West Midlands are safer now than they were when he moved to the region two years ago. Stephen, seconded to the West Midlands from the Home Office, today ends two years as the region's strategic leader on action against the sexual exploitation of children and other vulnerable people.