Tag: international

Animals News Science

Giant Pandas Arrive In Toronto

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Two giant pandas arrived in Toronto on March 25 to begin a 10-year visit to Canada.

The pandas will spend five years at the Toronto Zoo, and then move to the Calgary Zoo for another five years. They are on loan to Canada from the Chinese government.

The pandas travelled by plane from their native China, along with several kilograms of bamboo shoots, boxes of apples and their favourite toys. The trip took 15 hours.

The pandas were greeted at the airport by a large crowd, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Zhang Junsai, the Chinese ambassador to Canada. A high school band played “O Canada” as the pandas’ crates were unloaded.

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News Politics

Change Comes 55 Years After the Cuban Revolution

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Sirens. Security alarms. Sales pitches: “Taxi? Good restaurant! Best music CD? My art studio?”

These are the new sounds of Havana, Cuba.

This is my sixth time in Cuba–I am here on vacation; this year, I hear and see change.

It is almost 55 years since Cuba became a socialist country. In Cuba, socialism means that each Cuban has the same rights, the same salary and the same education as everyone else in the country.

Fidel Castro, former President of Cuba, brought socialism to the country in 1959 when he and his rebel forces took over the government. Now Cubans receive free education, free health care and most jobs have been protected by the government.

But the Cuban government is running out of money to pay for everything.

Things have to change.

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Kids News

Malala Yousafzai Attends Her First Day Back At School

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Yesterday, Malala went back to school.

For girls in many countries — for instance, Canada or the United States — that statement would not be very startling.

But Malala Yousafzai is a 15-year-old Pakistani girl who was attacked for trying to get an education, and for speaking up for other girls who wanted an education.

She became known around the world as a hero for her courage in fighting for the rights of girls in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, a militant and terrorist group known as the Taliban believes that girls should not be educated. In 2009 they issued a ban that said girls are not allowed to go to school. Last October, when Malala was travelling to school, members of the Taliban attacked and seriously injured her. She was taken to a hospital in Britain, where doctors saved her life.

It has been a long road back to recovery for Malala, but yesterday she went back to school, this time in England.

Her father walked her to her first day at Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham.

She said it was the most important day of her life.

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News Science

Commander Hadfield’s Son, Evan, Helps Bring Space To Earth

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Chris Hadfield is the Canadian astronaut living and working on – and commanding – the International Space Station.

He’s the first astronaut to bring the “space experience” to Earthlings in the form of regular tweets, photos, Facebook posts, videos and even songs.

Hadfield lets us know what experiments he’s working on, what the Earth looks like from his vantage point and what it’s like to live in space.

Hadfield has three children, Kyle (30), Evan (27) and Kristin (26).

Evan lives in Darmstadt, Germany.

He has been helping his father communicate with Earth, via Twitter and other social media websites such as Facebook, tumblr and Soundcloud.

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News

Pope Francis A Lover Of The Poor

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The new pope has been chosen; he will be known as Pope Francis.

The pope was selected by cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy last Wednesday.

In a special meeting known as a “conclave,” the cardinals voted to elect Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina to be the new pope.

The pope is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and its more than a billion followers around the world. It is the first time a pope from Latin America has been chosen.

The new pope was chosen after the last pope, Pope Benedict XVI, resigned. It was the first time in 600 years a pope had resigned.

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News Politics

Hugo Chávez, President Of Venezuela, Remembered For Social Reforms

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Hugo Chávez, the charismatic president of Venezuela, died on Tuesday. He was 58.

Chávez had been the president of the South American country since 1998.

Chávez grew up in a very poor family. He dreamed of becoming a baseball player, but instead he studied at a military academy and then joined the army.

As a student and a soldier, Chávez read many books and became interested in politics and the problems affecting poor people in Venezuela. He believed that the people running the government at the time were dishonest, and were taking money that should have been used to help the whole country.

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News Science

Dragon Brings Fresh Supplies To International Space Station

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Did you ever wonder how the astronauts who are living on board the International Space Station get fresh supplies, like food, medicine and materials for their research?

A cargo capsule called SpaceX Dragon was recently sent up to the ISS to bring the astronauts fresh supplies.

Dragon was loaded with more than a thousand kilograms of science equipment, food and other materials.

It left Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Friday.

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Science

New Space Mission Will Study Asteroid In 2018

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A new joint project between the Canadian and U.S. space agencies will bring a piece of the universe to Earth.

The goal of the mission, known as OSIRIS-REx*, is to study an asteroid.

NASA, working with the Canadian Space Agency, will send a spacecraft to Asteroid 1999 RQ36. A robotic arm will grab pieces of the asteroid.

The spacecraft will be launched in Sept. 2016 and it will reach the asteroid in 2018.

The asteroid will be studied and mapped for about six months in space and then the sample will be brought to Earth in 2023.

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Health

Eating Like They Do In The Mediterranean Is Good For Your Heart

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Eat like they do in the Mediterranean and you’ll live to a ripe, old age. Or at least a little longer than you might otherwise have done.

A new study has found that people who eat a Mediterranean diet are less likely to suffer heart-related problems like a heart attack or a stroke.

The Mediterranean region comprises the 18 countries, plus Portugal, that border the Mediterranean Sea. It includes Spain, Greece, Italy, France, Egypt, Israel and Turkey.

People there eat lots of extra-virgin olive oil and nuts as well as fruit, fish, chicken, wine, beans and salads. They tend not to eat a lot of baked goods or pastries.

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News Sports

Wrestling Likely To Be Dropped As An Olympic Sport

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The International Olympic Committee is planning to drop wrestling as an Olympic sport as of the 2020 Summer Games.

Some countries will feel the loss more deeply than others.

Many Iranians view wrestling as their national sport.

The governments of Iran and the United States don’t normally agree on much. In fact, they are currently in a major disagreement about weapons.

But they are standing together on the issue of wrestling. They both want it put back in the Olympics, and they are willing to work together to make it happen.

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