Older and younger people are happiest

The most miserable people in the UK are men aged 45-49, according to new research done for the British government. Researchers questioned 80,000 people about their happiness levels, and asked them to rate their feelings on a scale from 1-10.
The happiest people were men and women aged from 65-80, and older teenagers. Women of all ages were happier than men. Married couples found life more satisfying than those who were living together, and single people were least happy.
The happiest place in the UK is Northern Ireland. People living in London and the West Midlands are least happy.

Happy birthday James Bond

2012 is the 50th anniversary of super spy James Bond's first film appearance and a new exhibition has just been announced.
007: 50 Years of Bond Style will include the gadgets, sets, costumes and cars used in the films from Dr No to Skyfall, which opens in cinemas this October. The exhibition will take up the entire ground floor and a theatre at the Barbican Centre in London from July.
Fans who want more can also go to the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire, which has an exhibition of Bond vehicles with many more of the famous sports cars used in the films.

A horse in the headlines

There is a long and complicated enquiry into how the British press works going on at the moment. This is because journalists on one newspaper were getting stories by listening to voicemail messages on the phones of celebrities and people in the news. There is also an investigation into payments made by some journalists to public officials.
The story took a strange turn this week when we heard that the London police force lent a retired horse to a senior journalist at the company, Rebekah Brooks, and that the Prime Minister may have ridden on the horse. There have been lots of jokes on Twitter about the horse, especially since Mrs Brooks' husband trains racehorses.

Shock at music competition choice

If you are a student from outside Europe, you may not have heard of the Eurovision Song Contest. This is an annual music competition, which is shown live on TV in all the countries taking part.
The competition has been running since 1956 and is not taken very seriously in the UK. This is a good thing, because we haven't won for 15 years. Each country votes for its favourites after all the contestants have performed, and the voting ceremony is famous in Europe. Around 150 million people watch live each year, and the most famous winners ever were Abba, who won in Brighton in 1974.
The UK has just announced who will perform its entry this year. It is a singer called Englebert Humperdinck, who is 75 years old and has not had a hit record for 40 years. He is the oldest-ever Eurovision entrant. People are very, very surprised that he has been chosen.