Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Syria is a country in the Middle East.
Many Syrians have been protesting against its government, which has been accused of doing terrible things to its own people.
The leader of Syria is President Bashar al-Assad.
The fighting between the Syrian government and its opponents this year has been intense and very violent.
Many Syrians want al-Assad to step down as leader. They want to be able to elect a new leader. (Bashar al-Assad’s family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years.)
Greece was in trouble because it took on too much debt.
But other countries have agreed to help Greece by lending the country more than 130-billion euros. Euros (€) are the units of money used in 17 countries in Europe including Greece, France and Germany.
The countries that have agreed to bail Greece out of its money problems are demanding something in return. They are insisting that the government of Greece spend less.
The head of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) was fired from his job this week.
Most people think it’s because he disagreed with Toronto’s mayor’s plans for public transit.
In this case, public transit refers to the city’s system of buses, subways and streetcars.
Gary Webster has worked at the TTC since 1986; for nearly six years he has been the TTC’s Chief General Manager.
As the head of the TTC, part of Webster’s job was to advise Toronto’s politicians about how the city’s transit system should operate.
Canada is expecting two very special visitors from China.
Er Shun and Ji Li are two giant panda bears, which China will be lending to Canada. The pair will live in Toronto for five years, and then in Calgary for five years.
The giant panda is unique to China. They are more than just a native species, however. To the Chinese, panda bears are very symbolic.
If China lets one of its panda bears live in a country, it’s a sign that China feels warmly towards that country.
In this case, the offer came during a recent four-day visit to China by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Last month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper outlined some new rules about immigration to Canada.
Immigration is when someone comes from another country to live in Canada.
People who want to immigrate because of their work must apply and say what work they want to do when they get here.
Harper presented the immigration rules in January at a special meeting in Switzerland.
He said Canada will still look at all people who want to come to Canada — including people who are in danger in their own homeland, and family members of people already here.
However, people with certain skills and money-making ideas will now top the list.
There are two main political parties in the United States: the Republicans and the Democrats.
Right now, the Republicans have to choose someone to run for president against Democrat Barack Obama, in time for the presidential election on Nov. 6.
To pick a Republican candidate, every state in the U.S. holds an early election called a primary.
The front-runner in the Republican race is Mitt Romney, who was the Governor of Massachusetts and is now in business.
Yesterday, some schoolkids in Toronto learned first-hand what democracy is all about.
Toronto’s mayor, Rob Ford, was proposing some cuts to the city’s budget.
He said many of the city’s services should go on the chopping block to balance the city’s budget, including closing down services at: 10 arenas, three daycares, three shelters, a city zoo and a farm on Toronto Island.
The city also proposed cutting services like swimming lessons at five swimming pools in Toronto schools. That could potentially lead to the pools being closed in the future.
The parents and kids at those schools went into action to try to prevent the budget cuts.
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.
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.
Canada and the United States are working together to make it easier for people to travel across their common border.
This week, U.S. President Barack Obama and Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, agreed to a “cross-border plan” to make it easier and quicker for Canadians to travel to the U.S. It will also help companies in both countries to do business together.
Harper has agreed to a “common perimeter”–a type of border all around North America–so more careful checking can be done on who and what comes across the borders from Canada. Canada has also agreed to get more information about people when they come into Canada from other countries and to put in American-style bomb detection machines for checking luggage.
