News

There are just two weeks to go until the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. The final preparations are being put in place and excitement is growing all the time. Over the last few months, the members of the team who will compete for Great Britain have gradually been revealed. The whole team has now been chosen, with an amazing 542 members competing for their country.

Selection Controversy

There have been a few controversial decisions over which athletes have been chosen for the team. The first one to make the news was when the taekwondo team was announced. Just one spot was given to the men in the under-80kg weight division, and that was taken by Lutalo Muhammad. However, it wasn't so much him that caused the controversy, but the man he replaced. Whilst Muhammad was ranked just 59th in the world, a fellow Brit who was overlooked- Aaron Cook, was ranked number one in the world and reigning European Champion.

Cook was devastated and felt that the selection process was very unfair. He therefore appealed, firstly to the British Olympic Association and then to the World Taekwondo Federation. However, both upheld the decision made by the GB Taekwondo, claiming their selection process had been transparent throughout.

Here's my short and sweet guide to what's hot and trending on the web. These series of posts will keep students up to date with international insights, current technology and popular culture:

Murray shouldn't be too upset

The UK has been gripped by news of Andy Murray's defeat at wimbledon, however, many tennis followers (and opportunists) on Twitter have raised an interesting point that after his Wimbledon loss, things aren't all doom and gloom for Mr.Murray. Their reasoning is based on the good looks of his girlfriend Kim Sears, read their entertaining comments on Buzz Feed Sports.

Andy Murray lost in four sets to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon tennis final yesterday, but his performance and post-match interview gained him millions of new fans in Britain. Meanwhile, Federer confirmed himself as one of, if not the, greatest player of all time, equalling Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon titles and returning to number 1 in the rankings.

Murray Making History

As the number four in the world, Murray had already appeared in three other Grand Slam finals, though hadn't won even a single set in any of them. However, after reaching the semis at Wimbledon each of the previous three years, he eventually made it to the final after beating Frenchman Tsonga on Friday.

Amazingly, this was the first time a British man had reached the final of the London tennis tournament since 1938- a huge 74 year wait. However, up against Murray was the most successful man ever to have played the sport- Roger Federer. Murray started well, breaking his opponent in the very first game, before going on to win the first set 6-4. The joy was short-lived though, as he lost the next three sets.

We've known for a while that the jobs market has been challenging for graduates, but figures recently released shed some more light on the situation of ‘underemployment'. This is where graduates are employed, but in jobs for which they don't technically need a degree.

For the graduating class of 2010/2011, over 10,000 of them are in posts that fall into this category - such as customer service roles, cleaning, carrying out odd-jobs, and labouring. This is almost double the number of grads who found themselves in ‘elementary occupations' five years ago, further highlighting the fact that recent years and economic struggles - plus growing numbers of graduates competing for jobs - have made things tougher for those after graduate level employment.

However, at least we can take some comfort from the fact that these graduates are still in work. It's thought that 9 per cent of the 2010/2011 class was unemployed six months after graduating from university. This is roughly the same amount of graduates that were unemployed the year before.

London's latest landmark, the Shard, will play host to a laser show tonight to mark the building reaching its highest point. It is now officially the tallest building in London, and indeed in the whole of Europe, at 309m tall.

Located by the River Thames at London Bridge, the Shard is quickly becoming one of London's most recognisable buildings. Over the last year it has been steadily growing taller, becoming more and more dominant in the London skyline. However, the building has split opinion; whilst many have praised the modern and sleek design, others have complained that it isn't in keeping with surrounding buildings and its height ruins views of the city.

With the external work on it finally complete, an inauguration ceremony is taking place from around 10pm tonight. For the finale of the ceremony, 12 lasers and 30 search lights will beam out from the Shard across London, picking out famous landmarks throughout the city. Locations such as the Gherkin, St Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge will all be marked, before the Shard itself is lit up from all sides. This light show is expected to start at around 10.10pm tonight, so if you're out and about in London around then, make sure you look up.