Westminster Abbey, where Prince William will marry Kate Middleton, has been paramount to Britain's royal family through the centuries and was the scene of his mother princess Diana's funeral.

Construction began on the imposing Gothic church near the Houses of Parliament in central London in 1245 under the orders of king Henry III, but a church has been on the site for more than a thousand years.

A statue of Michael Jackson dangling his baby son out of a hotel window has been erected in Britain, sparking anger Wednesday from die-hard fans of the late pop icon.

The life-sized sculpture, entitled "Madonna and Child", depicts the notorious incident when the singer held his youngest son Prince Michael II out of the window in Berlin in 2002 in front of hundreds of shocked fans.

British scouts are giving their age-old motto "be prepared" a new twist with the launch Tuesday of sex education classes in a bid to tackle the country's high rates of sexually transmitted diseases.

The Scout Association is adding learning about the birds and the bees to its more traditional activities such as camping, canoeing and climbing.

Prince William has admitted to being so nervous in a rehearsal for his wedding to Kate Middleton this month that his knees were knocking together.

William, who will marry long-time girlfriend Middleton on April 29 at London's Westminster Abbey, confessed that Britain's biggest royal wedding for 30 years would be "quite a daunting prospect."

A rebel advance westwards towards Tripoli, which was halted Monday by Moammer Gadhafi's troops about 140 kilometers east of the strongman's hometown Sirte, resumed later in the day, an Agence France Presse reporter said.

After their rapid progress on Sunday, helped by the overnight coalition air raids, Monday proved something of a sticking point and by mid-afternoon they had pushed forward just 40 kilometers from Bin Jawad to the small town of Ras Al Awaja, on the road to Sirte, the Libyan strongman's home town.

The United States, Britain and France pounded targets in Libya with airstrikes and Tomahawk missiles on Saturday, in a campaign to prevent Moammar Gadhafi from crushing a month-old uprising against his rule.

Libyan state television said a French plane was shot down, as an official in Tripoli denounced the "barbaric aggression" despite its announcement of a ceasefire in a month-long showdown against rebels.

Britain called Tuesday for restraint from all sides in Bahrain after its Gulf neighbors sent in hundreds of troops to support its royal family in the face of opposition protests.

The call came after a member of the Bahraini security forces was killed when he was run over by a protester's car in the south of the country on Tuesday.

Western powers ramped up pressure on Moammar Gadhafi Friday, with France calling for targeted strikes if he bombs his people, as a crisis summit exposed an EU rift over how to force the Libyan leader out.

The pivotal summit, capping 48 hours of talks also involving NATO defense ministers and European Union foreign ministers, opened with the 27-nation bloc divided over military action as well as a British-French push for formal recognition of Gadhafi's opponents.

Britain will upgrade the status of the Palestinian delegation to London to the level of a mission in line with a number of other EU countries, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday.

"Given the extent of our aid to the Palestinian Authority and our work with them, we will join many other countries in upgrading the status of the Palestinian delegation to London to the level of a mission," he told parliament.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed Monday that Britain was working to draft a U.N. resolution on a no-fly zone over Libya to counter Moammar Gadhafi's offensive against rebels, but said it must have regional support and a "clear legal basis".

"At the U.N. Security Council we are working closely with partners on a contingency basis on elements of a resolution on a no-fly zone, making clear the need for regional support, a clear trigger for such a resolution and an appropriate legal basis," Hague told lawmakers in the House of Commons.