Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Last week, Portugal asked the European Union to help it pay its debts. They did it because they owe so much money – €80-billion, or more than $109-billion Canadian dollars. (€ is the symbol for euros, the money used in many countries in Europe.)
Portugal is the third country in Europe to ask for this kind of help recently. The first country was Greece and the second was Ireland.
All three country’s leaders have suffered for their decisions about their country’s money.
Bilaal Rajan is an “Underage Overachiever,” just as the title of his book suggests. The 14-year-old teenager from Toronto has devoted much of his life to helping people. He gave a speech at Ryerson University last Thursday to spread his message of “giving” to students. He hopes that by talking about what he’s done, he can inspire other kids to make a difference in their community.
Bilaal started his life of giving when he was only four years old. After feeling personally affected by earthquake victims in India, he started selling Clementine oranges door-to-door in his neighbourhood.
Last Saturday night you may have seen something in the sky that only happens every 18 years. It was a super moon.
A super moon looks a lot bigger and about 30 times brighter than the moon normally is. That’s because it’s closer to the Earth than normal. Its official name is a super “perigee moon,” but people just call it “super moon.”
The moon moves around the Earth in an oval shape, not a perfect circle, so there are times when the moon is closer to the Earth or farther away from it. On Saturday, the moon was really close to the Earth.
People all over the world could see the super moon on Saturday, including Australia, Russia, Canada and the United States. According to NASA, the last time a super moon like this was visible was 1993.
Recently, Japan suffered the fifth largest earthquake in history. Although Japan is extremely well prepared for earthquakes, nothing could have prepared the country for something this big. And that’s not even counting the tsunami (giant wave) that was created by the quake.
You may be hearing news reports about “radiation” and “nuclear reactors.”
Normally, nuclear reactors are very safe. They supply clean energy and can create a lot of electricity. For a country like Japan, that is relatively small but uses a lot of electricity, nuclear energy has been important.
However, the buildings that house the reactors have been damaged by the earthquake and the tsunami.
The earthquake damaged four enormous buildings that supply power to Japan. They are called “nuclear reactors” and they supply nuclear power that creates electricity for the country.
Things are heating up in Libya.
The leader there, Moammar Gadhafi, does not want to step down. However, the people have had enough of his terrifying reign and want him to go.
At first, the people took to the streets in a peaceful protest.
However, Gadhafi banned the protests. When the people did not stop, he attacked them using the Libyan military. This shows how bad the situation has become – the leader of a country has started attacking his own people.
The UN, or United Nations, is a group of nations (including Canada, the United States, Britain and many other countries) that meets to discuss world events and promote world peace.
Thousands of people in Vietnam are worried about a giant turtle they consider sacred. A sacred object is something that you worship because you believe it is very important.
The turtle is endangered. There are thought to be only four of them left. It is a giant turtle, weighing about 200 kilograms. Its Latin (scientific) name is Rafetus swinhoei.
After the tragic earthquake in Japan last Friday, things there are in turmoil. The tsunami (a huge wave caused by the earthquake) has left some villages and towns completely under water. Homes and buildings were destroyed.
The estimated amount of money lost by people and business owners because of the disaster is more than $180 billion, not to mention the many lives that have been lost and the people who have been injured or lost their homes.
Many countries around the world believe that they need to help this suffering nation in its time of need, including Canada.
Last Friday there was a massive earthquake in Japan. It measured 9 on the Richter Scale, which is the scale that is used to measure how bad an earthquake is. This is the worst earthquake Japan had in 140 years, and they’ve had a lot of them. It was the fifth most powerful earthquake ever in in the world.
The earthquake caused buildings to “shake like palm trees,” according to one witness. Fortunately, because Japan does have a lot of earthquakes most of their buildings are built to be able to withstand them.
The people of Libya want rid of their leader, Moammar Gadhafi. He has been a brutal dictator for many years and they want him to step down.
They have been taking to the streets in protest.
However, Gadhafi (pronounced Ga-daf-fee)* refuses to leave. He said that he is “loved” by the Libyan people and he will never go.
Recently, there have been many “mass protests,” particularly in countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
A mass protest is when many people (often hundreds of thousands) gather in a city to show their government that they don’t like it, or that they don’t agree with something it is doing.
In Tunisia protests began last December, to force the country’s president to leave. The people were upset because they had no jobs, food was too expensive and many people in the government could not be trusted. The protest worked and President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family were forced to leave Tunisia. They are accused of having stolen money and property.
