This week's UK news: 8 June 2012
8 June 2012

The biggest news story of the week

It was impossible to avoid hearing about the Queen's Jubilee celebrations if you bought a newspaper or switched on the television or radio.

We have just had a weekend with two extra public holidays to cover all the events to celebrate the 60 years since the Queen was crowned. These included a procession of a thousand boats down the River Thames in London, a pop concert at Buckingham Palace, and a church service followed by a grand procession through London.

The weather was awful for most of this. There was very heavy rain for the river event, and most of those involved got soaking wet, including one of the choirs on a music boat. Even though the weather was terrible, more than a million people stood by the Thames for hours waiting to see the river pageant, and there were huge crowds for the procession through the city.

Not everything went to plan. The Queen's 90-year-old husband was taken to hospital by ambulance and missed several of the events.

Did anything else happen in the UK this week?

Yes, but you had to read to the back of newspapers to find out about it.
One major story is that a major whisky production company is investing more than GBP 1bn into making more of the drink which is becoming more popular around the world. Diageo, which owns Johnnie Walker and Bell's whiskies, is searching two locations in Scotland to create two new distilleries and warehouses to store the alcohol as it matures. The company is also considering building a third distillery. Scottish whisky sales are growing at more than 10 per cent a year. It has become a very popular drink in countries such as Brazil, Russia and China.

Another big story is that Shakespeare's original theatre has been found on a building site in London. Romeo and Juliet was one of the plays first seen on the stage of the Curtain Theatre in Shoreditch, to the north of the river Thames. The remains of the theatre are likely to go on show when the new building is completed.

And finally, wi-fi is finally coming to the London Underground. The service will be free to everyone this summer but there will be charges later. Up to 80 stations are being connected during the next few weeks, with another 40 to follow. The signal will not be available in tunnels.


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