Body language doesn’t translate well

People from Europe read people’s faces in a different way to those from Eastern Asia.

Scientists at the University of Glasgow have found that Europeans look at the whole face to detect emotions. People from Asia concentrate on the eyes and may misread some expressions.

The difference shows in the way people use computer emoticons too. Easterners use the eyes to convey emotion. So  ^.^ is happy and ;_; is sad. Westerners use the mouth instead, with :) for happy and :( for sad. 

£40m jewellery stolen

Smartly-suited men got away with diamond jewellery worth £40m after walking into a top jewellers in London this week.

They stole 43 of the most expensive items in Graff, whose shop is in the high-class Mayfair area of the city.

This is the second-biggest robbery in British history. 

Swine flu injections planned

Swine flu is in the news again this week, even though the number of infections is lower than before.

The Government has announced plans to vaccinate people against the flu from September or October. People with long-term health problems will be treated first. Then pregnant women will get the injections.

There has also been an argument about whether it is safe to give children anti-viral drugs. 

Child killers named

People in the UK have been horrified about the brutal killing of a baby boy by his mother and his boyfriend.

There has been anger about the way the pair treated the child, who is known as Baby Peter. There has also been anger that the authorities failed to protect him, even though they visited the family many times.

This week the adults were finally officially named. They are currently in prison and it is thought they will be given new names when they are released.

by Susan Young - susan@englishuk.com