This week's UK news: 17 November 2015
j0314269
17 November 2015


Spiders close school

Two London primary schools have been closed for a week because they have large numbers of false black widow spiders living in them. The spiders are not dangerous but have a "nasty bite". None of the children have been bitten so far.

The false black widow spiders are not native to the UK. They arrived in the UK in 1879 in a batch of bananas from Madeira and until now have been living in the far south-west. Now the spiders are spreading north, and two have been seen in Scotland.

The spiders are about the size of a large coin (an UK 50p piece). There are 12 species of spiders which bite in the UK and these are the most dangerous. Bites can cause swelling, chest pains and tingling fingers.

 

George Clooney has lunch in Edinburgh

Actor George Clooney got big crowds in Edinburgh when he visited a special sandwich shop. Social Bite gives all its profits to help homeless people, and Clooney donated GBP 1000 to the charity when he bought his lunch.

Social Bite has five cafes in Scotland. It donates its profits to help homeless people, and also encourages customers to buy a coffee or a sandwich which a homeless person can claim later. A quarter of the workers in the cafes were once homeless.

Clooney said he thought what Social Bite was doing was "amazing". He ate a wrap with pesto, avocado and peppers.

 

New Warhol show in Oxford

Over a hundred pictures by Andy Warhol go on show in Oxford next year. Many of the Warhols have never been shown in an exhibition before, and have been borrowed from private collections. They will be at the Ashmolean Museum from February. After this exhibition closes in May, another will show items found in the sea around Sicily, including a whole 5th century church. The church was in pieces and going to be put together on site, but the ship carrying it sank.

 

One Direction pay more UK tax than Facebook

One Direction are the UK boyband who are hugely popular with teenage girls all over the world. The band has just taken its first break in five years, after constant touring and releasing albums.

Last year the band made a profit of more than GBP 45m, more than five times as much money as in the previous year. They were the world's second best-selling act in 2014, behind only Taylor Swift. The band paid tax of GBP 10.5 million, compared with the GBP4,327 Facebook paid to the UK tax authorities.

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