Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
The conservative party won the election in Greece last Sunday and around the world, economists and other people involved with the world’s money heaved a collective sigh of relief.
If another party had won the election, many people were predicting that Greece might stop using Euros as its currency.
That move would likely have affected many countries around the world including those in Europe and North America.
On Friday night Nik Wallenda became the first person to walk over Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
More than 100,000 people gathered to watch the feat, which has taken more than two years and help from many people, including NASA engineers, to accomplish.
Nik Wallenda is a descendant of the famous “Flying Wallendas” family of acrobats.
The stunt was incredible, not just because no one has ever done it before but because it took a lifetime of training and a lot of physical and mental strength to perform.
Niagara Falls creates a lot of mist, which drenched Wallenda most of the time he was on the tightrope. Swirling winds threatened to knock him from his perch, 200 feet in the air above the thundering falls.
The government of Canada had a sleepover, and all of the MPs were invited.
In fact, attendance was mandatory.
What’s really happened is that the Members of Parliament stayed up all night working.
They were voting on a bill, but the way they did it was very unusual—and very interesting.
It all started when Stephen Harper’s Conservative government introduced Bill C-38.
Bill C-38 is an enormous 425-page bill covering all kinds of things including budget items.
The opposition party (the NDP) wanted to protest the fact that the government bundled all of those extra items into the bill.
They say that when too many items are bundled that way, none of the items can be looked over and properly discussed.
Last week Spain’s Prime Minister asked for $125-billion to help the country’s failing economy.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the country needs the money to save its banks.
For months the country has tried to avoid seeking outside help.
There are 17 countries that use the Euro as their currency. Spain is the fourth of these countries to request a bailout. In this case a bailout is when other countries lend a country money to help prop up its economy.
Because its economy is so large, the need for a bailout is troubling for the European union. For instance, the Spanish economy is five times larger than that of Greece (another country that is suffering from economic problems).
Usually countries’ economies affect each other. That’s because they buy and sell things from and to each other. So if one country’s economy isn’t doing well, it affects other countries.
Canadian-owned I’ll Have Another was a favourite to win the Belmont Stakes horse race this year.
The race was held last Saturday.
If he’d won, he would also have won all three of the major horse races and become the U.S. Triple Crown winner, every horse-owner’s dream.
However, it wasn’t to be.
Just before the big race, his trainer announced that the horse had tendonitis in his left front leg and would not be able to race. The owner decided to retire the colt from racing.
The good news is that I’ll Have Another will recover from his injury and will be fine. It’s likely that the horse will become a stud, which means that he will father other colts which may go on to become excellent race horses themselves. In that way, I’ll Have Another’s legacy will live on.
Toronto is banning plastic shopping bags in stores.
Starting in January 2013, you’ll have to bring your own reusable bag to the store to cart your goods away.
More than 250 million bags end up in landfill every year, never breaking down into compost, according to a report by CBC News.
Plastic bags can also clog drainage systems and, when they are washed out to sea, can hurt fish and other marine animals.
Governments from just a handful of countries have flown into space.
But never has a private company successfully sent a spacecraft into space.
Not only is it extremely expensive, but it’s incredibly risky. There are a million things that can go wrong.
Last month an American company called Space Exploration Technologies – better known as SpaceX – made history by sending its unmanned Dragon spacecraft into space.
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been sent to prison for life.
Last year, as part of the Arab Spring protests* Mubarak was forced from government. He had been in power for nearly 30 years.
During the anti-Mubarak protests, Mubarak’s security forces fired on the protesters, killing more than 850 people.
Recently, a judge found Mubarak guilty of participating in those killings and sentenced him to life in prison.
The Canadian penny will soon be a thing of the past—like the Canadian one-dollar and two-dollar bills. The loonie and the toonie replaced those bills in 1987.
In its last budget, the government said the Royal Canadian Mint will stop making pennies starting this Fall, and that stores will stop using them.
Everyone is asked to return their pennies to a bank; they will be melted down and recycled.
Pennies will always be worth one cent. However, there will be fewer and fewer of them out there as the years go on.
Any prices that don’t end in a zero or a five (in other words, purchase we can use nickles, dimes or quarters for) will be rounded up or down to the nearest zero or five.
The people who are rebuilding the High Park castle are getting some high-profile help.
Mike Holmes is a celebrity contractor. A contractor is someone who is skilled at the kinds of jobs needed to build or renovate homes. Contractors hire and oversee all of the work—for instance, electrical, plumbing, carpentry and design work.
Holmes became famous for his motto, “make it right.” On his TV show, he rescues homeowners from renovations that have gone wrong and he brings in workers who fix the house properly and “make it right.”
Holmes also does a lot of charity work. On one of his TV shows, he helps people in New Orleans whose houses were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Now he’s lending a hand to help rebuild the children’s play castle in the High Park neighbourhood of Toronto, Ont. Much of the wooden structure was destroyed by a fire last March.
