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Euro 2012 Kicks-Off in Poland and Ukraine

Football fans across Europe are bursting with excitement, as Euro 2012 starts today. The international tournament is being held in Poland and Ukraine, and it is the former who will kick things off against Greece in Warsaw at 7.45pm (GMT) this evening.

The tournament starts with four groups of four teams, and there are some tasty looking groups. World champions and current holders of the European cup, Spain, are in the same group as Italy, whilst other favourites Germany and the Netherlands have been placed in a group alongside Portugal. After the teams have all played each other, two teams from each group will go through to the quarter-finals, when the straight knock-out part of the tournament begins.

Most people have one of Spain, Netherlands or Germany to win the tournament, though France and Italy are sure to provide strong competition. However, as Greece showed at Euro 2004, there is always room for a major upset at the Euros.

The Host Nations

Poland and Ukraine are hosting an international football tournament for the first time and have been preparing for five years. Six brand new stadiums have been built, the countries' infrastructure improved and transport links developed. Roughly half of the games will be played in Poland and the other half in Ukraine.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Weekend

Britain has just finished three days of parties, pageants, parades and concerts all in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. To mark Elizabeth II being on the throne for 60 years, the country was given a four-day weekend with millions joining in with the festivities, despite some typically wet British weather.

Sunday: Boat Pageant and Street Parties

It all started on Sunday with a ‘flotilla' of 1,000 boats making their way through London on the River Thames. The Queen was joined by close family members on a specially made Royal Barge. Surrounding it was one of the biggest gatherings of boats from around the world the Thames has ever seen. More than a million people flocked to the banks of the river to catch a glimpse of the unique site. Although prime spots filled up hours before the procession began, revellers were happy to simply join in with the party atmosphere.

See the Historic Wonders of the World with New Google Project

Surely seeing the ruins of Pompeii, or Stonehenge, or maybe the Palace of Versailles is a life ambition for most people? However, chances are, you haven't seen as many of the world's historic monuments that you would like to. To play on this, Google have introduced a new initiative called the World Wonders Project.

It allows people to see 132 historic sites from 18 different countries, using Google StreetView. As well as being able to explore each site online, the project also includes 3D models, pictures and YouTube videos of the sites. Google are hoping that not only will it be a quick new way to see sites you're interested in, but that it will also act as a learning resource.

Whilst the sites may not be quite as impressive as they are in real life, it is quite interesting and certainly a worthy 10 minute distraction from revision. You can find out more about the project in the video below, or start exploring at www.google.com/worldwonders.

Diamond Jubilee Events This Weekend

If you're in Britain, chances are that you've heard that the Queen is celebrating 60 years on the throne this weekend. As part of the massive four-day weekend Diamond Jubilee celebrations there are loads of events going on. Here we pick out some of the best for you to get involved in.

2013 UK University Table Puts Cambridge on Top

The latest UK university rankings were revealed this week, placing Cambridge in top spot for the second year running. Arch rival Oxford was placed second in the Guardian University Guide 2013 league table, whilst St Andrews in Scotland took third place.

The annual rankings are based on the quality of universities in a variety of different categories for full-time undergraduate students. The categories include:

  • How much they spend per student
  • Student to staff ratio
  • Career prospects of graduates
  • The ‘value-added' score between first and final year students
  • Final year student satisfaction (based on results from the National Student Survey)

The Big Winners and Losers

Here is the full top ten universities for this year, with last year's position in brackets:

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