Tag: Europe

News Politics

The Netherlands Gets Its First King In 123 Years

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On Tuesday, the people of the Netherlands got a new king.

That’s because their queen, Queen Beatrix, abdicated the throne.

Abdicated means she stepped down—stopped being queen—to let her son take over the throne and become king.

Her eldest son is Willem-Alexander; he was Crown Prince and now is King.

Canada and the Netherlands have a connection.

During World War II, Beatrix’s family lived in Ottawa, Ont., Canada’s capital city, for five years.

Beatrix’s younger sister, Margriet, was born in Ottawa Civic Hospital in 1943.

At that time, a “federal proclamation” was made to declare the maternity (birthing) ward of the hospital “extraterritorial.” In other words, the room in which Margriet was born was declared neutral ground. That’s so the new royal baby would obtain Dutch citizenship through her parents, rather than Dutch plus Canadian (dual) citizenship because she was born in Canada.

The Dutch royal family thanked Canada for allowing them to live in Ottawa during the war by giving Canada 100,000 tulip bulbs. They continue to send the bulbs each year to Canada. The tulip bulbs form the basis for Ottawa’s stunning annual tulip festival.

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News

“Bitcoin” Is A New Type Of Money

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Bitcoin sounds like what it is–a type of money.

But it’s a special kind of money that could not exist without the Internet. It is digital and virtual; people can’t carry it around in their pockets or keep it in a bank.

Despite these differences from traditional money, there are places around the world that are starting to accept bitcoins to pay for things.

Some restaurants and shops in New York and San Francisco accept bitcoins, and so does WordPress, a blogging website.

A man in Alberta is offering to sell his house for bitcoins instead of Canadian dollars.

Bitcoins have been around for a few years but are becoming more popular.

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Politics

Cyprus The Latest Country To Get A Bailout

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Cyprus is the latest country to require a financial “bailout” from other European countries to keep its banks and economy from collapsing.

Like Greece, which was bailed out of an economic crisis last year, Cyprus is one of 17 countries in Europe that uses a type of currency, or money, called the Euro.

The problems for Cyprus began with the country’s banks, which loaned money to people who didn’t pay it back. Governments of other countries that use the Euro became nervous that Cyprus banks would fail if they were re-paid, and that the problems could spread to their countries.

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News Science

King Richard III’s Bones Discovered Under A Parking Lot

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He was the king in Shakespeare’s play who uttered the famous words, “My kingdom for a horse!”

His name was Richard III, and he ruled as King of England from 1483 to 1485. He died in battle at age 32 at a place called Bosworth Field near Leicester (pronounced like “Lester”), England.

His body was buried by King Henry VII in a monastery (a place where monks live). Later, the monastery was destroyed and no one ever knew what became of Richard III’s bones.

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News

Belgium To Issue Chocolate-Flavoured Stamps

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People who are sending mail from Belgium will soon have a special treat to add to their package—chocolate-flavoured stamps.

The country’s postal service, BPost, is issuing half a million stamps that smell and taste like chocolate. The glue on the stamp will taste like chocolate. The varnish on the picture will smell like cocoa.

Belgium is a country in western Europe. It’s known for many things, including being host to the headquarters of the European Union.

It’s also known for producing some of the most delicious chocolate in the world.

There will be five chocolate stamp designs that celebrate chocolate in a number of forms including chocolate spread and sprinkles.

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News

Bank Of Canada’s Loss Is England’s Gain

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On Monday, Mark Carney made news when he announced that he was leaving his job as Governor of the Bank of Canada to become the Governor of the Bank of England.

The governor of a country’s central bank watches over the country’s money, and sets interest rates for borrowing or lending money to governments and others.

The governor also has to make sure there is enough cash in government accounts to cover all the programs it runs.

The central bank’s governor sets policies and rules for money matters at the highest level.

Carney told reporters that he took the job with the Bank of England because it will be a challenge.

He meant that he wanted to see if he could do a harder, or different, job than what he is doing now.

England is part of the United Kingdom, which is a member of the European Union.

Right now, the European Union is facing big decisions to make sure Europe’s financial future is strong.

Carney will have to help England to make those decisions.

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News Politics

EU Donates Peace Prize Money To Children Affected By War

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The European Union has decided to put all of the money it won for the Nobel Peace Prize towards projects that help children in war zones.

The EU includes 27 countries in Europe that are closely tied in business and politics.

The EU was awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts in keeping the peace in Europe for more than 65 years.

The Peace Prize is a very prestigious honour; the winner receives a medal and eight million Swedish kronor—about $1.18 million.

That money will be put towards projects that help children who live in areas of the world that are experiencing conflict or war.

“Children are the future of any society and at the same time the most vulnerable,” the European Commission said in a statement about the prize money.

What those projects will be, and how the money will be divided, will be decided in the next few weeks.

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News

EU Wins Nobel Peace Prize

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The European Union, a collection of countries in Europe, has been awarded an important prize — the Nobel Prize.

It was given the honour for keeping peace for more than 65 years.

That is a very big accomplishment, especially because the Second World War began just 21 years after the First World War ended in 1918.

But not everyone is happy to see the European Union receive the prestigious prize.

That’s because even though Europe is not at war, it is struggling with a different kind of problem.

Many countries in Europe, including Greece, Spain and Italy, are having trouble paying down their debts.

Their governments borrowed too much money and now they must cut back on the amount of money they spend to pay their workers and for things like roads, hospitals and schools.

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News

Pope’s Butler On Trial For Leaking Documents

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The Pope’s butler is on trial.

The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church around the world. The current Pope is Pope Benedict XVI.

The Pope’s butler is named Paolo Gabriele.

His job is to look after the personal needs of the Pope—for instance, serve the Pope his meals and help him dress.

Naturally, he has access to some very private areas of the Vatican, like the Pope’s bedroom and other rooms.

For months, Italian media have been publishing private information about the Catholic Church. No one knew where the media got the information.

It looks like the butler may have done it.

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News Politics

A Plan To Help Eurozone Countries In Debt

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Europe’s central bank thinks it has a good plan to help countries like Greece, Spain and Italy. Those countries are struggling because they took on too much debt.

The idea is that the European Central Bank will agree to buy some of the debt.

In return, the troubled countries must agree to spend less money and to put their finances in order.

When countries lend money to other countries, they receive small payments called interest.

When a country borrows too much money, some of the people who lent the money begin to worry that they won’t get their money back. So they demand higher and higher interest payments.

This puts pressure on countries that are already having trouble paying back all the money they borrowed.

It pushes their debt even higher.

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