This week's UK news: 10 August 2012
j0314269
10 August 2012


News? What news?

The UK's TV, newspapers, radio and websites are all still dominated by a little sports competition going on in East London… the 2012 Olympics.

It has been an extraordinary competition for Team GB. Last Saturday UK sportsmen and women won an astonishing six gold medals. By Wednesday this week, the home team had won 22 gold medals, passing the 19 won at the last Olympics in Beijing, the biggest number since 1908. By Thursday the British team was in third position in the overall medal table behind China and the USA. Even more surprisingly it had won more gold medals than the USA. By Friday morning, it was 25 gold medals.

Many of the winning athletes come from Yorkshire, a region of England. If Yorkshire counted in the medal table, it would be in higher position than countries such as Japan and Australia.

Australia's sports minister, Kate Lundy, has lost a bet with the UK sports minister. They each bet that their country's team would win the most medals. The loser would have to row a boat down the rowing course dressed in the opposite team's sports uniform.

Other highlights for UK viewers have included Andy Murray winning the men's tennis final at Wimbledon against Roger Federer. The pair met at the Wimbledon final earlier this summer, when Federer beat Murray. There has also been a lot of interest in Jessica Ennis winning the Heptathlon, brothers getting gold and bronze in the Triathlon, and a 54-year-old rider becoming the oldest medal winner for 40 years.


What else is happening in the UK?

  • The two parties in the Coalition government are not happy with each other. The problem has come because one party wanted to reform part of the Government system, and the other party wanted to reform another part. The first reform was blocked, and now the second reform will be as well. It could be an interesting autumn in Parliament.
  • Amazon says e-books are outselling printed books on its website. It says British owners of Kindles (the e-book machine) are buying four times as many books as they did before getting the machine.
  • Samantha Cameron, the wife of the British Prime Minister, has given an interview to a glossy magazine. She said David Cameron rings her at work – and she tells him she can't talk now. She also says she "loves a bit of accounting". This is the art of making sure that money earned and money spent is all accounted for.

 

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