Tag: grade 8

News

EU Wins Nobel Peace Prize

The European Union, a collection of countries in Europe, has been awarded an important prize — the Nobel Prize.

It was given the honour for keeping peace for more than 65 years.

That is a very big accomplishment, especially because the Second World War began just 21 years after the First World War ended in 1918.

But not everyone is happy to see the European Union receive the prestigious prize.

That’s because even though Europe is not at war, it is struggling with a different kind of problem.

Many countries in Europe, including Greece, Spain and Italy, are having trouble paying down their debts.

Their governments borrowed too much money and now they must cut back on the amount of money they spend to pay their workers and for things like roads, hospitals and schools.

News Sports

Broncos Come Back To Shock Chargers

Football quarterback Peyton Manning’s comeback season continues to develop.

Manning missed all of last year with a serious neck injury.

He is back in the National Football League (NFL) and playing quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

Manning has accomplished much in his career.

He has been a four-time NFL Most Valuable Player and a Super Bowl winner.

Last Monday he had a night to remember, adding to his historic NFL career.

News Politics

Dalton McGuinty’s Sudden And Shocking Retirement As Ontario’s Premier

On Monday night, the Premier of Ontario did something surprising. He quit his job.

It was shocking, because most people didn’t see it coming.

Dalton McGuinty has been the Premier for nine years.

He is also the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, a position he has held for 16 years.

At the same time as he resigned, he also “prorogued” the legislature. That means he stopped all business taking place in the Ontario House of Commons.

Most of the work MPPs were working on has been cancelled until a new session is called.

No one knows exactly why McGuinty quit, and so suddenly.

Some people say he intends to run for leader of the federal Liberal party—in other words, take over the national Liberals so he can run for Prime Minister in the future.

Other people say he quit because his provincial government is in the middle of many difficulties including contract negotiations with some unions.

News

Ikea Criticized For Airbrushing Women From Its Saudi Arabia Catalogue

Ikea is a large chain of stores around the world that sells furniture and home accessories.

Recently the company came under fire for removing all of the images of women from the pictures in the Saudi Arabia edition of their catalogue.

In the Ikea catalogue, families are shown using and enjoying Ikea’s products. In the Saudi Arabia version of the book, none of the families show women in them.

In other editions of the catalogue, women are featured in the photos.

The images of women were digitally removed from the pictures in the catalogue. This is known as airbrushing or photoshopping.

Ikea said they shouldn’t have removed the images; they regret having done it.

Ikea prints more than 60 versions of its catalogue and sends them all over the world.

Arts Lighter News

Woman Buys $34,000 Painting At Goodwill For $10

Beth Feeback, who lives in North Carolina, knows how to find a good bargain. In fact, she recently turned $10 into $34,375.

Feeback shops at Goodwill, a thrift store, where people can buy used clothing and items cheaply.

In her spare time, Feeback paints folksy pictures of large-eyed kitties.

Last April, Feeback was combing Goodwill for a nice warm blanket. Instead, she stumbled on two large paintings that she felt she’d be able to paint her kitties on–after painting over them, of course.

She paid $9.99 for the paintings and took them home. It wasn’t until five months later that she fetched them to recycle them into cat paintings.

But something caught her eye on one of the paintings.

There was a sticker on the back of the canvas that said that the painting–a red diamond with blue and white stripes–had come from the Weatherspoon Art Museum at the University of North Carolina.

Sports

Miracle Night In New York

The Major League Baseball playoffs continue to deliver excitement.

The New York Yankees are playing the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Division Series (ALDS).

In game three of the best-of-five series, the Yankees pulled off a very dramatic win on Wednesday.
It started with a bold move by the Yankees manager, Joe Girardi. The manager is responsible for team strategy on the field and team leadership.

In the ninth inning of game three, Girardi had to make a tough decision. He chose to pinch hit for Alex Rodriguez.

Rodriguez is currently ranked fifth on the all-time home run list.

He is also the highest paid player in baseball, with an annual salary of $30-million. He makes about $6-million more than any other player.

Kids

Spirit Of “Caine’s Arcade” Felt Around The World

Recently, the spirit of Caine’s Arcade went global.

The Global Cardboard Challenge was held on October 6 and proceeds from the day went to the Imagination Foundation.

The foundation supports creativity and entrepreneurship in children around the world.

Caine Monroy is a nine-year-old boy who lives in a neighbourhood known as East L.A. in California.

Health News

Pharmacists In Ontario To Have An Increased Role

When you’re sick, you go to the doctor.

She may give you a prescription for some medicine—for example, eye drops.

If you live in Ontario, you’d then go to a drug store and give that prescription to the pharmacist, who would “fill your prescription” – in other words, make up the eye drops and sell them to you.

As it is now, if you run out of your prescription eye drops and need more you would likely have to go back to your doctor to get another prescription.

This week the Ontario government announced a new plan that gives the pharmacist an expanded role in healthcare.

Sports

Extra-Exciting Finish To A Great Year In Baseball

After 162 games, baseball’s regular season came to an exciting close.

This year, some new changes made the year even more exciting than usual.

Major League Baseball (MLB) changed the way they choose who gets to be in the playoffs this year.

And with that new system, some teams were battling for a playoff position right down to their last game.