Cleaning the house good for men

Men who do most of the work around the house do not make their wives or girlfriends any happier, but they do feel better about themselves.

A Cambridge University study of men in seven countries found that men who do most jobs around the house, such as cooking, washing, shopping and repairs, were happier than those who did not.

The men who did most were happier and had less conflict between their working and home lives. Researchers say the men may be happier because they expect work to be divided more equally at home, and because women are more likely to complain about lazy partners.

Weird weather continues

If you are coming to study in the UK this summer, it would be a good idea to bring a good raincoat as well as your summer clothes. We have had some summer weather, but mixed in with more rain than anyone can remember.

This week, there were problems at a rock festival on the Isle of Wight after a month's rain fell in one night. Car parks were so muddy that queues went all the way back to the ferry port, and ferries were unable to dock.

And there have been rare "super cell" thunderstorms in the Midlands and north of England, caused by warm air from Spain meeting cooler air from the west. These storms are more commonly seen in the "Tornado Alley" area of the USA. This caused widespread flooding and in one case a storm with hailstones the size of golf balls.

June is likely to be the wettest on record in the UK.

Problems with banks

The banks have been in the news all week. First of all there was a computer problem with NatWest bank which caused absolute chaos. Payments did not enter and leave accounts, and customers were unable to see how much money was in their accounts. The problems went on for days, affecting many people who were not directly customers of the bank as well.

Later in the week, the focus turned to Barclays Bank. The bank was fined GBP 250m for its role in fixing borrowing rates, which will have cost customers money. People are now calling for a criminal investigation into what happened.

England out of Euro 2012

The English football team does not have a good record in international competitions, and new manager Roy Hodgson was appointed only weeks before the Euro 2012 finals began. So nobody expected much of the England team, and there was surprise when they made it through to the quarter-finals. But there was less surprise about the outcome of the match against Italy, which went to a penalty shoot-out.

England has not been good at penalty shoot-outs since the 1990 World Cup, and has crashed out of tournaments four times since then when the shoot-outs went wrong.