In pictures: Michael Jackson funeral

The funeral of singer Michael Jackson has been held at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.












Mourners waited for over an hour as the performer's family travelled from their home in neighbouring suburb Encino.



















The late pop star's family - including Jackson's sister LaToya - arrived in a motorcade of 31 vehicles.













It was after dark by the time Jackson's parents Katherine and Joe took their seats.













Michael Jackson's brothers all wore a single white glove in memory of their legendary sibling.



















Comedian Chris Tucker, star of the Rush Hour action comedies, was among the other guests in attendance.



















Record producer Quincy Jones was one of many famous faces from the world of music.



















Dame Elizabeth Taylor, a friend of Jackson's, was photographed as she arrived for the 45-minute service.













Former Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin attended the funeral with actress girlfriend Mila Kunis.



















Jackson's son Prince Michael was seen leaving the cemetery in a bus with family members.

Voting change for best film Oscar

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire won best film at the last ceremony
The voting system, which will determine the winner of the best picture at this year's Oscars is being changed, it has been announced.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said preferential voting will now be used to tally the final vote for the award.

Voters will be asked to rank nominees in order of preference from 1 to 10.

In all other categories, the victory goes to the performer who earns the most votes.

The new system for tallying vote for best picture is the same preferential voting system that the Academy uses in its nominating process.

However, this is the first time it has been used for best picture voting since 1945.

'Strongest support'

The voting process has been adapted to accommodate the new picture shortlist, which has been increased to allow 10 films into the category, instead of five.

"Instead of just marking an X to indicate which one picture they believe to be the best, members will indicate their second, third and further preferences as well," Academy president Tom Sherak said.

He explained that would "establish the best picture recipient with the strongest support of a majority of our electorate".

The decision to use the preferential system was made because a larger field meant a winner could emerge with just slightly more than 580 votes out of the potential voting pool of 5,800 members.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on 2 February at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
by:bbc