This week's UK news: 18 May 2012
j0314269
18 May 2012


UK is world's fourth biggest user of Twitter

The internet site Twitter now has 140m users in the world -- and ten million of them are in the UK, it was revealed this week. Only the US, Brazil and Japan have more users of the site.
UK users are more likely to use Twitter on their mobile phones than most people. Eight out of ten UK Twitter users logged in on their phone in the last month, compared with a worldwide average of 55 per cent.
Which UK Twitter users have most followers? Top of the list is Stephen Fry, who is a well-known actor and writer, who has 4.3m followers. Then come four singers: Jessie J and Lily Allen, plus Niall Horan and Liam Payne from the boy band One Direction. Also in the top ten are Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, footballer Rio Ferdinand, and comedian Eddie Izzard.

English UK is on twitter. Follow us on www.twitter.com/englishuk

 

Manchester City win the title at the last minute

Football fans could not believe their eyes. The two teams at the top of the Premier League before the final game on Sunday were Manchester United and Manchester City. Both teams started the day on level points, but City had a better goal difference.
Both had different matches to play. United beat Sunderland 1-0, while City was 2-1 down to Queen's Park Rangers. But City had an extra five minutes to play because the match had been stopped -- and in that time, the team scored two goals. This meant they won their first league title in 44 years.
For the first time in many years, the celebrations in Manchester were among fans wearing blue football shirts rather than red ones.

 

Long-running musical is back on stage

Starlight Express was a spectacular musical which was famous because it was performed on roller skates. The characters are on wheels because they are supposed to be toy trains which come to life in the mind of a little boy.
The show was written by British composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber, and was one of the longest-running shows in London, with performances from 1984 to 2002. It is also the most popular musical show in Germany.
Now the show is being staged again in London before going on tour around the UK.

Dog wins talent show

Britain's Got Talent is a competition show which runs for several months on TV each year. Thousands of acts audition for the show, and many of these are shown on TV. There is a judging panel led by Simon Cowell, and anyone can vote by phone.
This year the show was won by a teenage girl called Ashleigh Butler and her dog, Pudsey. Ashleigh had trained Pudsey from when he was a puppy, and the pair performed dance routines to win the show. Ashleigh encourages Pudsey to perform by hiding food in her hands.
The pair will perform for the Queen on stage in London, and there have already been offers from film-makers to hire the dog.
Watch Ashleigh and Pudsey's show audition here.

 

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