A man was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting he involved his children in killing the family cat. Danield J. Collins from Indiana forced his 7-year-old daughter to kill the family cat by holding a knife in her hand and making her stab the pet. The 39-year-old pleaded guilty to a felony count of animal cruelty and two felony counts of neglect of a dependent. In exchange, the state dropped three other felony charges, The Star Press reports.

An Ohio mother was convicted Friday of killing her baby by burning it to death in a microwave oven. She now may face the death penalty. China Arnold reportedly showed little emotion upon hearing the verdict, but put her head down and looked at the defense table.

There is a link between high spending on children's apparel and number of senior residents, according to Pitney Bowes Mapinfo, a demographic research firm. Three of cities with high spending patterns on children's clothes have retirement homes for affluent grandparents. These are in Juneau, Alaska and West Palm Beach and Fort Myers in Florida.

Children who are clumsy and poorly coordinated are more likely to become obese when they become adults, according to Swedish and British researchers. Researchers assessed a number of children testing cognitive and physical functions. They found that children who performed least well in the tests were more likely to be obese at age 33. It is also likely that these children do not engage in sports.

In addition to using fake fireworks at Friday evening's grand opening of the Summer Games in Beijing, the ceremony also used the recorded voice of a young female singer who did not have impressive-enough looks to appear on the globally-broadcast show. According to the Guardian Unlimited, nine-year-old Lin Miaoke, who sang "Ode to the Motherland" merely lip-synched. Seven-year old Yang Peiyi, who was considered not photogenic enough for international stardom, was the real voice behind the song.