Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
The world is mourning the passing of one of the greatest leaders of our time.
Nelson Mandela is dead at 95.
He died on Thursday in Johannesburg, South Africa, from a lung infection.
Mandela was a symbol of freedom for the people of South Africa.
“Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father,” South African President Jacob Zuma said in an announcement.
He called this, “the moment of our deepest sorrow.”
It’s customary for the country that will host the Olympic games to send the Olympic flame on a vast relay.
The flame is passed from person to person, travelling around the country, often accompanied by cheering crowds watching the runners along the route.
For the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, the torch is on a journey like no other.
It has moved by runner, troika, reindeer sleigh, dragon boat, go kart, snowmobile, skier, snowboarder, ice-swimmer, speed skater and even on a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker (ship).
Some former professional hockey players are suing the National Hockey League.
In this case, it means they are asking the NHL to pay them money.
Two hundred former players say the NHL didn’t do enough to protect them from concussions.
They say they have brain injuries because hockey is so rough, and they want the NHL to pay for their medical treatment.
The players say they should have been told how dangerous repeated brain injuries are.
They say the NHL waited until 1997 to put a “concussion program” in place, but the league should have known long before that how dangerous concussions are.
The players say the league should have changed the rules of hockey to make it less likely that players would get concussions.
The Olympic torch has been to outer space and back.
The torch has even been on a spacewalk.
It’s the first time that has ever happened.
The torch will be used to light the flame that will launch the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, hosted by Russia.
On Nov. 7, a spacecraft called the Soyuz TMA-11M left Russia carrying three crew members and the Olympic torch.
It was bound for the International Space Station (ISS), which is in orbit around the Earth.
Two Russian cosmonauts on the ISS received the torch. Later, they brought it outside and symbolically handed it off to each other in open space. The hand-off took about an hour.
What would you do with a thousand dollars? You can probably think of a lot of fun ways to spend that much money.
But what if your family didn’t always have enough to eat? Or what if you lived in a house with a dirt floor and a thatched roof? A thousand dollars could change your life.
That’s the idea behind a charity called GiveDirectly, which puts money in the hands of poor people and lets them spend it however they choose.
GiveDirectly was founded in 2008 by four American university students. Paul Niehaus, Michael Faye, Rohit Wanchoo and Jeremy Shapiro were studying economics in the developing world. They wanted to find the best way to help the poorest people.
Traditional charities work by raising money from donors and spending it where they think it can do the most good. Charities often support major projects like building schools, hospitals, roads, wells and irrigation pipes, or providing medical care for people in need.
The air pollution was so bad in Harbin, in China, on October 21 that the city was forced to close roads and schools, and to cancel hundreds of flights from its airport.
News reports said the smog (a mixture of smoke and fog) was so thick that people couldn’t see more than 10 or 20 metres in front of them.
According to unofficial reports, people could not even see the person standing next to them.
The city’s website said: “You can’t see your own fingers in front of you.”
Residents said there was a “burning” smell in the air.
Many people covered their noses and mouths with scarves or masks.
The pollution was blamed on several factors.
Canada has a new deal with the European Union. The agreement is expected to increase the amount of trade between Canada and many countries in Europe.
Trade, in this case, is when one country buys something from another country and vice-versa.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said the new deal could increase trade by 20 per cent, beginning in 2015, and add $12-billion to Canada’s income (the money it makes) each year.
The new trade deal is called CETA, which stands for Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
It is expected to create 80,000 new jobs in Canada.
Canada and the European Union have been working on the new trade deal for the past four years.
Canada’s largest trading partner is the United States, but increased trade with other partners is good so Canada is not as dependent on any single country.
Canadians John Greyson and Tarek Loubani are home at last.
The two were in an Egyptian jail for more than seven weeks.
They were never charged with any crime. Egyptian security held them in jail under terrible conditions.
Many people fought for Greyson and Loubani’s release. Canadian politicians, friends and family members, Canadian officials and even people Greyson and Loubani will likely never meet—tried to convince Egypt to let the pair go.
The two were in Egypt so Loubani, a doctor, could volunteer at a hospital there. Greyson, a filmmaker, was going to film his work.
One of Canada’s best-loved authors has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The Nobel Prize is one of the most prestigious prizes an author can win. It comes with a $1-million cash award.
Alice Munro won the prize for her brilliant short stories.
Munro, 82, grew up in a small town in Ontario. Many of her stories are set in rural Ontario.
In making the announcement, Peter Englund, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, called Munro “master of the contemporary short story.”
Munro was surprised and delighted to find out she had won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
She told CBC News that, “I never thought I would win.”
It was a year ago this week that the world came to know young Malala Yousafzai.
The girl, who is now 16, was riding a bus on her way home from school in Pakistan.
Two men, who were members of a terrorist organization in Pakistan, came on the bus and attacked Malala. The group known as the Taliban, doesn’t agree with girls getting an education.
Malala had been writing online about the importance of girls going to school and about her own love of learning.
The Taliban wanted to stop Malala—but their actions created a world-wide outpouring of affection for the brave girl, who has since nearly fully recovered from her ordeal.
Malala was taken to a hospital in England, where she had a life-saving operation. She now lives and goes to school in England.
