St Trinian's creator dies

You may have seen the St Trinian's films. They are about a terrible English boarding school (one where the pupils live during term time) where the pupils are almost all involved in some sort of crime.
St Trinian's was created in a series of cartoons of scary schoolgirls by Ronald Searle. He started drawing the girls in the 1940s, wearing their own version of school uniform, such as tight, short dresses. The girls were often smoking and always being evil to teachers or other people.
After that, Ronald Searle went on to become one of the world's best cartoonists, and he moved on from his work with St Trinian's. But when he died this week at the age of 91, he was most famous for his St Trinian's cartoons.

New Year's Celebrations

Over the New Year the UK was warmer than many places in the Mediterranean. That still does not explain why so many people celebrated the New Year by going for a swim in the sea.
There are annual New Year swims in many parts of the UK, including Scotland, Yorkshire, North Tyneside and along the South Coast.
Many of these raise money for charity, and swimmers often wear fancy dress.
The mild weather was followed by a storm which battered much of the UK with hurricane-force winds and very heavy rain.

Two men jailed for 1993 murder

Stephen Lawrence was an 18-year-old student when he was killed while waiting for a bus in South London one night 18 years ago. He was killed by a gang of white men who attacked him simply because he was black.
At first the police investigation was not done well, and Mr Lawrence's family kept on campaigning for the killers to be caught. The names of several suspects were given to the police again and again. One newspaper even named five suspects and accused them of murdering the student.
There was an enquiry into the police investigation which concluded that the force was "institutionally racist". It also recommended that the law should be changed so that people could be tried for the same crime more than once.
All of this means that the Stephen Lawrence murder has done a lot to change society in the UK and lots of people remain interested in the case.
This week, two men have now been found guilty and jailed for the murder. It has been the biggest news story of the week.

Computer science pioneer gets late honour

Alan Turing was a mathematician and code-breaker. His work during the Second World War helped to break enemy naval codes. Later, he designed the first computer which could store programs, helping the development of computer science.
But Mr Turing was gay, and was found guilty of breaking the law in 1952. He killed himself two years later.
In 2009, the prime minister apologised on behalf of the British government, saying that the UK owed Mr Turing "a huge debt". Next month he will appear on a set of postage stamps dedicated to British people who have made a difference to the country.

Susan@Englishuk.com