Hundreds of thousands of revellers gathered for an outdoor concert by the Rolling Stones as others intended to show the world that Canada’s largest city was free of SARS and ready to rock.

Bee Gees Barry and Robin Gibb received an honorary Grammy Award last night without their brother Maurice, who died last month.

A Russian rocket, in which US pop star Lance Bass was hoping for a ride, lifted off from a launch site in the steppe today, carrying two cosmonauts and a Belgian astronaut to the international space station for an eight-day mission.

Organisers of the weekend’s three all-star benefit concerts will know by the end of this week how much money was raised for victims of the US terrorist attacks, with about $17m (£11m) raised so far.