Tag: United States

News Politics

Stores Near G8 Summit Location Getting Temporary Facelift

Some businesses in Northern Ireland are getting a facelift before some of the world’s most powerful leaders meet there later this month.

The G8 Summit will take place in Ireland, June 17 to 18.

The G8 Summit brings together the leaders of eight of the world’s wealthiest countries. They are: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US. The European Union is also represented at the meeting.

More than 100 businesses in a small town called Belcoo have been “spruced up,” according to news agency Reuters.

Some businesses have been made more attractive with fake store fronts. Some ugly and crumbling buildings have been torn down. Others have been covered by huge billboards, according to Reuters.

The businesses are near a golf course where the G8 leaders will meet.

So instead of Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper or U.S. president Barack Obama seeing ugly storefronts, they’ll see posters of nice storefronts instead.

More than $3-million dollars have been spent by the government in Northern Ireland to make the villages look nicer.

At one store, which used to be a butcher’s shop but is now empty, colourful stickers have been put on the windows to make it look like it’s busy inside, Reuters reported.

Environment News

NBA Star Donates $1-Million To Oklahoma Relief Efforts

To help his home city “bounce back” after a terrible storm, NBA player Kevin Durant has donated $1-million.

The number of people harmed by a recent tornado in the U.S. state of Oklahoma was greatly reduced, thanks to a special early-warning system.

On Monday, a major tornado hit Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City.

A tornado is a violent storm that usually looks like a whirling funnel.

Residents were warned there was a big storm coming, and possibly a tornado, days before it arrived.

When it actually hit, sirens blared, giving people a 16-minute head start to find shelter.

Kids Lighter Politics

Four-Year-Old Becomes Mayor Of Small Town

A four-year-old boy named Robert Tufts is the mayor of the small town of Dorset in Minnesota.

He was given the job last August – when he was only three – and will continue to be mayor until this August.

The boy was awarded the position after his name was pulled out of a hat.

Once a year, people who live in or nearby Dorset can pay $1 to have their name written on piece of paper and put into a hat.

Then a name is randomly drawn out of the hat, and the person whose name it is becomes the mayor.

Last year, Robert Tufts’ name was pulled out.

News Sports

Toronto Maple Leafs Make Playoffs After A Nine-Year Wait

The Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team has finally made the playoffs.

Tomorrow, the Leafs will play their first post-season game since 2004.

Toronto hockey fans are well known for their enthusiasm for their team—and their patience.

They’re excited their team has finally made the playoffs again.

For each Maple Leafs playoff game Toronto’s CN Tower will light up blue, the colour of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

News Sports

Fourteen-Year-Old Golfer Shines At Masters Tournament

This year’s Masters golf tournament was very exciting.

The Masters is the most important golf tournament of the year for professional and amateur golfers.

This year an Australian golfer won the tournament.

Adam Scott beat Argentinian Angel Cabrera in a “sudden-death playoff.”

On the difficult 18th (last) hole, Scott made a great shot that seemed unbeatable.

To tie him, Cabrera would have to make a seemingly impossible shot. Scott went to the clubhouse, with everyone fairly certain he’d won.

But that feeling was very brief.

News Politics

Hugo Chávez, President Of Venezuela, Remembered For Social Reforms

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.

News Sports

Andrew Wiggins Awarded Naismith Trophy For High School Basketball

The top high school basketball player in the United States is a Canadian.

This week Andrew Wiggins was awarded the Naismith Trophy and named the Boys’ High School Player of the Year.

Wiggins was born in Vaughan, Ont. and is playing for Huntington Prep School in West Virginia.

Wiggins is 18 years old. His average per game is 23.6 points and 11.7 rebounds.

He hasn’t yet decided where he will go to university; many schools are competing for him.

The Naismith award winner is chosen by basketball journalists in the U.S.

Lighter

Homeless Man Gives Back Valuable Ring

What would you do if you had no money—and someone accidentally gave you something very valuable?

Would you return it to the person or would you assume that fate was smiling on you and take the money?

That was the decision faced by Billy Ray Harris, who lives in Kansas City.

But for him, it wasn’t a difficult decision at all.

Harris is a homeless man, who sometimes sleeps under a bridge.

Recently, he was asking people for spare change; Sarah Darling stopped and spilled all of the change from her change purse into his cup. Then she went on her way.

News Sports

Canada Shining At Winter Sports – Including “Slopestyle”

Downhill skier Erik Guay, from Mont Tremblant, Quebec, raced recently in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

The 3.3-kilometre course at Kitzbuehel is often referred to as “the Super Bowl of the ski season.”

Guay finished second, skiing just 0.13 seconds slower than the person who came in first. Because he came in second, Guay earned a spot on the “podium.” In skiing, “podiums” is an official statistic. It refers to coming in first, second or third.

Coming in second at Kitzbuehel earned Guay his 19th podium of his career. If he gets one more, he will be tied for the most podiums ever by a Canadian downhill skiier.

Guay is now preparing for the World Championships which take place on Feb. 10 in Austria.

Canada’s winter sports success continued in Aspen, Colorado at the Winter X Games.

Health News

New York City Bans Extra-Large Pop

Last fall, New York City banned the sale of extra-large servings of pop and other sugary drinks in restaurants and movie theatres.

They did it to help fight the problem of obesity in the city.

The ban, which is set to begin on March 12, 2013, was proposed by New York City’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and approved by the New York City Board of Health in September 2012.

Under the new rule, businesses that have food-service licences – such as restaurants, theatres, delis, fast-food places, hot dog stands and sports stadiums – would not be allowed to sell pop in containers larger than 16 ounces.

People would still be able to buy supersized drinks at convenience stores, vending machines and some newsstands.