Tag: international

News

New Facts Emerging About Italian Cruise Ship Disaster

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Since the Italian cruise ship sank off the coast of Tuscany on Jan. 13, many new facts have come out.

As you may recall from TKN’s article about the disaster, the captain of the 13-deck Costa Concordia cruise ship steered the boat too close to an island. Rocks tore a hole in the hull and the ship sank.

There were more than 4,200 people on board; some said that while they were scrambling to leave the ship, they saw the captain already in a lifeboat.

Since TKN reported on the story on Jan. 15 there have been many accusations against the captain, Francesco Schettino, who is currently under house arrest.*

He is accused of manslaughter (unintentional murder), causing a shipwreck and leave the ship when there are passengers and crew still on board.

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Health News

No More Cases Of Polio In India

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India made history this month when it announced that there were no more cases of polio in the country.

The victory came after years of work by India’s public-health workers. They travelled to the most remote places and the poorest areas in the country. They gave vaccines—medicine that prevents diseases—to 172 million children.

Polio is a viral infection that can paralyze (stop movement in) the body, especially in people’s arms and legs. It can also make people’s breathing difficult is if they have very bad asthma. It can even be fatal.

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Breaking News News

Cruise Ship Runs Aground In Italy

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It began like any other cruise, with more than 4,200 people aboard the Costa Concordia.

However, the scene became tragic on Saturday as the massive ship ran aground a few hundred metres off the tiny island of Giglio near Tuscany, Italy.

Rocks tore a 50-metre gash down one side of the hull and the ship took on water.

By Sunday morning five people were dead and 10 unaccounted for. Two of the victims were French and one was from Peru. Another 30 people were hurt; two people were seriously injured.

Others on board were from Italy, Germany, France and Britain. There were 1,000 crew members on board.

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News Science

Stephen Hawking Turns 70

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Stephen Hawking turned 70 on Jan. 8.

Cosmologists – scientists like Hawking who study the origins of the universe – gathered in Cambridge, UK, to pay tribute to him.

Hawking was a mathematics professor at the University of Cambridge for 30 years. He retired from that job in 2009. He still works for Cambridge, in cosmology research.

Hawking is a mathematical genius, who changed the way scientists think about the universe.

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Arts News

White Room + Children + Dots = Art!

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What do you get when you start with a white room and then give thousands of children coloured dot stickers?

That is exactly what artist Yayoi Kusama wanted to find out.

She painted a room in the Brisbane Gallery of Modern Art completely white.

The walls, floor and ceiling were white. The piano was white. The couch, TV and seats were white. Even a fern was painted white.

And then she invited thousands of children inside.

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News Politics

The Euro’s Tenth Birthday Not A Happy One

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This year, the “euro” celebrates its tenth anniversary.

The euro is a unit of money (or “currency”) that is used by 17 countries in Europe.

It wasn’t always that way.

Before the euro, every country had its own currency.

For instance, France had the franc, Italy had the lira, Germany had the Deutschmark and so on.

The euro was created in 2002 when a group of European politicians and financial leaders decided it would be helpful if they had the same type of money.

The idea of the euro was to make it easier for countries to buy and sell more easily between themselves, because they would all be using the same currency.

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News

2011 – Year In Review (Part II)

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Every year, news editors across Canada vote for the “newsmaker of the year” – the person who dominated the headlines.

For 2011, that person was Jack Layton.

A whopping 90 per cent of editors polled said they thought the NDP leader was the newsmaker of the year.

Layton helped to build his political party up from just 19 seats in 2003 when he took over as leader, to 103 seats last year — enough to make the NDP Canada’s national opposition party for the first time in history.

Layton died from cancer in 2011 and the country mourned for this great “representative of the people.”

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Entertainment News

G’bye 2011, Hello 2012 (Year In Review, Part I)

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There were many fascinating news stories in 2011.

Today and tomorrow TKN takes a look at some of the most significant news stories from the past year.

Protests and dissent

The year 2011 may be known as the year of “dissent” – the year people protested. In a number of Arab countries — including Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria and Libya — people took to the streets to protest against their governments and many leaders were ousted.

It was known as the Arab Spring.

There were other protests closer to home. In North America and many other places around the world, young people rose up to protest the growing difference between the rich (the one per cent) and the rest (the 99 per cent).

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Lighter News

Cairo’s “Taxis Of Knowledge”

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Cairo, the capital city of Egypt, has a lot of traffic. Commuters often find themselves stuck in a traffic jam, unable to move.

One book store came up with an ingenious program to help the people who take taxis in the city. They call it, “The Taxi of Knowledge.”

Alef Books gives taxi drivers five free books, which they can place in the back seat of their cab.

Passengers can read a good book while they’re stuck in traffic.

The taxi driver gets to choose which books he wants. He can also trade them in whenever he wants, for different books.

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News Politics

North Korea’s Kim Jong-il Dead

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The ruler of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, passed away on Saturday.

He died, at age 69, of heart failure.

North Korea’s people know him as “Dear Leader.” They went into the streets to mourn his passing.

However, his death creates a lot of uncertainty about what will happen in North Korea.

Many world leaders are concerned about the situation there now.

One reason is that North Korea has nuclear weapons, so nearby countries like Japan and in particular South Korea, reportedly have their military on “high alert.”

Another reason for concern is that before his death, Kim passed control of the country to one of his sons, Kim Jong-un, who is in his 20s.

Kim Jong-un is largely unknown to other world leaders. In fact, until two years ago, the only picture the CIA had of him was as a student in short pants at a school he was attending in Switzerland.

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