Readable, teachable news.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
More than 6,000 adults dressed up as Santa Claus ran through the streets of Madrid, in Spain, just before Christmas.
Children dressed up as elves and ran the mini-marathon through the streets of Spain’s capital city–about 5.5 kilometres.
The run was organized by one of Europe’s biggest department store chains, El Corte Inglés.
The store’s managers felt that the colourful run would bring people together in a positive way.
If you hit the jackpot in a lottery, what would you do?
Last May Tom Crist, from Calgary, Alberta, was on the golf course with some friends when he got a phone call from the Western Canada Lottery organization.
They told him he had the winning ticket, and he’d won a lot of money.
He’d won $40 million.
Crist ended the call and he went right back to playing golf.
He didn’t tell anyone what had happened. He put it out of his mind.
A café in France has found a way to encourage politeness.
The more polite you are, the less you have to pay for your coffee.
A cup of coffee at La Petite Syrah cafe costs a whopping €7 (seven Euros, or more than $10).
However, you can bring the price down if you’re nice to the server.
If you say please when you order (or s’il vous plait in French) the price comes down to €4,25 (about $6.18).
And if you say hello as well (“bonjour, un café, s’il vous plait”) the price comes down to a much more reasonable €1,40 (just over $2).
There has been a lot of interest lately into the way countries obtain information about each other.
CBC News recently reported that it has a document showing that Canada has spied on its trading partners.
“Spied” (spying) in this case means obtained information about another country which that country may not otherwise have been willing to openly share.
The CBC said Canada was conducting “espionage” (spying) because it was asked to by a department of the United States.
The document the CBC is referring to is a four-page document that outlines the spying activities.
The CBC said someone “leaked” it to them, meaning that someone sent it out when it was supposed to be secret.
The document was marked “Top Secret.”
The father of South Africa was laid to rest on Sunday.
Nelson Mandela was an international icon who fought for peace and reconciliation.
During his life, he affected millions of people. He helped bring about the elimination of “apartheid” in South Africa.
Mandela died on December 5 at the age of 95.
On Sunday, he was given a state funeral, in his home village of Qunu, followed by a private graveside ceremony.
Canada Post is phasing out home delivery.
People, particularly those living in urban areas, won’t have their mail delivered directly to their home.
They’ll have to do what most people in rural areas already do—get their mail from a “community mailbox.”
Canada Post says about two-thirds of people in Canada already get their mail this way.
It will be about five years before home delivery is completely phased out.
The elimination of home delivery service is one of a number of things Canada Post is doing to save money.
Time Magazine has named Pope Francis its “Person of the Year” for 2013.
The magazine has been handing out the honour each year since 1927.
Time chose the pope “for his strong leadership, humility and concern for the poor.” They said he has “brought new energy to the church.”
On March 13, 2013, the Catholic Church chose Argentinian-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio to be its new pope; he later selected the name Pope Francis.
The pope lives simply, in a modest apartment. He drives around in a 30-year-old vehicle, although he could—as past popes have done—own expensive cars.
Pope Francis, 77, strongly believes in helping the poor.
The skies wept over thousands of mourners gathered yesterday in a soccer stadium in South Africa to remember Nelson Mandela.
Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, attended along with four former prime ministers: Jean Chretien, Kim Campbell, Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. Also in attendance was Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
Leaders of many other nations attended the memorial service to commemorate “the father of South Africa,” who passed away on Thursday at the age of 95.
But it was U.S. president Barack Obama that brought the crowd to its feet in a standing ovation with his words of praise for Mandela:
He makes me want to be a better man. He speaks to what’s best inside of us. After this great liberator is laid to rest, and when we’ve returned to our cities and villages and rejoined our daily routines, let us search for his strength, let us search for his largeness of spirit somewhere inside of ourselves.
One of the finest baseball pitchers in the history of the sport retired yesterday.
And he went out as a Blue Jay.
Roy Halladay had a distinguished career as a pitcher, with a record of 203 wins and just 105 losses.
He spent 12 years wearing a Blue Jays uniform; the last four years of his career he pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies.
On May 29, 2010, Halladay pitched the 20th perfect game in Major League Baseball history. Then, he threw a no-hitter on Oct. 6—only the second no-hitter in MLB post-season history.
He won the Cy Young Award twice and was selected eight times to play in special All-Star games.
In addition to his impressive baseball skill, Halladay is also known as an upstanding person who gave generously to people in need.
Although at the end of his career Halladay played for the Phillies, he wanted to finish his career as a Toronto Blue Jay.
Lots of people wear glasses to make their vision better, or even just for fashion.
But when Noah, 4, found out he needed glasses, he wasn’t happy about it.
In fact, he was downright sad.
His mother asked him why he was so sad about having to wear glasses.
Noah told her he was worried that everyone would laugh at him.
Noah’s mother started a Facebook page to show Noah that wearing glasses is cool.
She asked people to post pictures of themselves and their kids wearing glasses.
