Other News

News Politics

US Democratic “Election Wave” In Virginia

Last week, some elections were held in the U.S. state of Virginia, to choose a new governor and other leaders.

There were some surprising results in that election; some key Republicans lost their positions to Democrats.

The new governor, Ralph Northam, was elected on Nov. 7. He is a Democrat.

Republicans are currently in power in the United States; the president, Donald Trump, most of the leaders in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and most U.S. governors are Republican. The Democrats are the other major political party in the United States.

News Sports

Houston Astros Win Their First World Series

The Houston Astros won the World Series, the biggest achievement in baseball each year, for the first time in their team’s history.
They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to three.
The Astros won the seventh game of the World Series 5 to 1 over the Dodgers on Nov. 1.
It was a hard-fought battle. The two teams were evenly matched. The fact that the World Series even went to seven games means that neither team ran away with the championship.
The Astros won game seven early. They got five points in the first two innings, putting them ahead of the Dodgers right from the start.

News Science

Cave On The Moon Could Be Base For Astronauts

Scientists from JAXA, the Japanese space agency, say they have discovered an enormous underground cave on the moon.

The discovery is exciting because the cave could provide a safe place for astronauts to live and work on future missions to the moon.

In 2009, a lunar probe launched by JAXA sent back images of the cave’s entrance. The probe used radar to determine the underground structures below the entrance and sent the information back to JAXA to be analyzed.

In October, JAXA announced that there appears to be a cavern about 50 kilometres (31 miles) long and 100 metres (328 feet) wide leading from the opening.

Scientists say the cave could make an ideal base for astronauts. It would protect the astronauts and their equipment from the extreme heat and cold on the moon’s surface. It would also help keep them safe from micrometeorites (tiny particles of space dust) that land on the moon, and from the harmful rays of the sun.

News Politics

Quebec’s Bill 62 Bans Face Coverings For Public Workers

People in Quebec are worried that Muslim women could be denied certain public services, after the government passed a “religious neutrality” bill.
The province’s Bill 62 was passed by the Quebec provincial government on Oct. 18. It says that people who work for the government in certain jobs must have their face uncovered. It also requires people who are using government services — for instance, riding a bus or using a library — must do so with their face uncovered.
It also bans public workers, like doctors and teachers, from covering their face while they are working.

Kids News

School Board Bans Offensive Hallowe’en Costumes

In about a week, many children will be going out for Hallowe’en. They may also dress up on Oct. 31 at school.

One school board in Ontario has written up a list of guidelines for Hallowe’en costumes. They don’t want anyone to be offended by what another child wears as their costume.

Lots of schools ask kids not to wear very scary costumes or ones that include toy weapons. The Conseil scolaire Viamonde (SCV), a French school board in Ontario, has taken things a step further. SCV runs 13 schools in Toronto.

The Viamonde school district asked parents to make sure their child doesn’t come to school in a costume that “can make others feel upset, insulted or humiliated.

News

33% Of Canadians Say They Are Science Illiterate: Survey

Science plays an important part in our everyday lives. But according to a recent survey, one out of three Canadians don’t feel they really understand it.

The Ontario Science Centre posted a “science literacy” survey online last August. People answered questions about how well they understand scientific information, and whether they believe and trust information they get about science from the media.

Most of the people who took the survey consider themselves “science literate.” That means they feel they have a reasonable knowledge of things like how science is done (scientific methods) and recent discoveries in science.

News Sports

What’s The “Take-A-Knee” Controversy All About?

People are talking about some athletes going down on one knee during the American national anthem.

Some people think it’s a good idea, and some people think it’s a bad idea.

The idea of going down on one knee (known as “taking a knee”) started in 2016. That’s when American football player Colin Kaepernick took a knee before games during the American national anthem.

He did it to protest people of colour being treated unfairly by police (in this case, in the United States). For instance, many African Americans may be questioned by police (when they have done nothing wrong) or pulled over when they are driving (again, when they have done nothing wrong).

Breaking News Environment News

Large Storms Affecting Caribbean, US

Everyone is talking about Harvey, Irma, Jose and Katia.

They are the names of very large storms, affecting the area around the Caribbean*, Mexico and the southern United States.

Hurricanes are given names, like “Irma” to make it easier to refer to them.

People in these areas are used to dealing with storms. But these storms are much larger than normal. They have very high winds—up to 120 kilometres an hour—with lots of rain that can flood people’s houses and force them to leave the area. (In this case, leaving your home is known as “evacuating.”) In Florida, more than 6.4 million people have been told to evacuate before Irma gets there, according to a report from CBC News.