Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Rhinos are being poached in South Africa.
“Poaching” is when people (“poachers”) illegally kill a wild animal.
This year so far 341 rhinos have been poached in South Africa.
That’s the most, ever, for one year.
Rhino horns are believed by some people, particularly in Asia, to be able to cure ailments like nosebleeds and fevers.
No one knows if this is actually true.
Students at the Etobicoke School of the Arts had a special guest at their anti-bullying assembly last week.
Lady Gaga sent the Toronto school a specially recorded video message.
The student council president, Jacques St. Pierre, is a huge fan of Lady Gaga.
He had sent emails to several celebrities, asking them to help launch the school’s anti-bullying campaign.
He was thrilled when Lady Gaga read his email and responded.
St. Pierre was the only student at the school who knew about the video until the assembly.
Almost a year later, the effects of Arab Spring are still being felt.
Last December, the people of North Africa started what is being called “Arab Spring.”
Arab Spring refers to a series of uprisings by the people in a number of Arab countries.
The citizens rebelled when they could no longer put up with dictators and their cruelty.
They forced the President of Tunisia to flee to Saudi Arabia and the President of Egypt to quit his job and move away.
Nearly a month ago, the northern Canadian First Nations community Attawapiskat declared itself to be in a “state of emergency.”
This week, as winter sets in and snow is on the ground in the remote community, they are finally getting some attention–and some help.
In Canada, a state of emergency is normally declared when something terrible happens to a place, such as an earthquake, flood or large fire.
It’s a signal to the country’s government that “we need help, immediately.”
In this case, the state of emergency is that the people of Attawapiskat, in northern Ontario are living in conditions that are worse than those in many third-world countries.
One reporter described going to Attawapiskat as, “like stepping into the fourth world.”
There are good passwords, and then there are passwords that are easy for hackers to crack.
But the worst password to use on the Internet is: “password.”
Many websites on the Internet require users to enter a password in order to use them. A password is a secret combination of letters, numbers and symbols.
“Hackers” are people who try to break into websites, in order to steal information or vandalize the site.
Hackers don’t guess at passwords. They use special computer programs that try tens of thousands of letter combinations very quickly to uncode a password.
When a person uses a simple password, the hacker can figure it out very quickly.
Last weekend, Canadian football fans had a lot to be happy about.
First, they were treated to one of the best Vanier Cups of all time.
Then, the Canadian Football League’s (CFL’s) biggest prize, The Grey Cup, was also awarded.
On Friday, two very different teams competed for the Vanier Cup, the trophy for Canadian Inter-university Sport (CIS) football.
Laval, the defending champions, boasted an incredible defense which allowed opponents a measly 12 points a game throughout the 2011 season.
McMaster, which hadn’t appeared in the CIS final in 41 years, possessed a strong offense featuring one of the league’s top quarterbacks, Kyle Quinlan.
The Bank of Canada introduced a new $100 bill recently – and it has a window in it.
It’s Canada’s first “polymer” (a type of flexible plastic) bill.
The new $100 bill features a picture of Sir Robert Borden, who was the Prime Minister from 1911 and 1920.
The back of the bill celebrates innovation in medical research, including the Canadian discovery of insulin, which is used to treat diabetes.
For more than a month, the people of Occupy Toronto staged a peaceful protest on behalf of what they call “the 99 per cent.”
They built a tent village in St. James Park in downntown Toronto and camped there.
They set up a media centre, so TV news stations, newspapers and websites like Teaching Kids News could get information about them and their cause.
They used “social media” tools like Twitter and Facebook to communicate with each other.
This allowed them to talk to each other and let people know what was happening at all times.
Canadians — whether they were hockey fans or not — were glued to their TV sets on Monday night.
One of the sport’s greatest players was making his comeback.
Sidney Crosby had been off the ice since early January after suffering two blows that left him with a concussion.
On Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins’s captain came back into the game. And boy, did he put on a show!
Crosby scored a goal in the first five-and-a-half minutes of the game against the New York Islanders, flipping a backhander over the glove of goaltender Anders Nilsson.
The Penguins ultimately won 5-0 against the lacklustre Islanders.
Crosby took home four points, with two assists and then another backhand goal in the third period.
Not bad for a guy who hadn’t played in 10 months.
Nat Atherton is a Canadian living and working in Thailand. He gave TKN a first-hand account of the day-to-day havoc this year’s floods have caused.
The flooding here has been horrible. It hasn’t yet come into the centre of the capital (Bangkok), where I live, but has affected many of the people I work with.
Many of the poorer Thais live in the surrounding areas, which are flooded chest deep (1.5 metres) in some places.
I know a great many people who have lost their houses.
Many others haven’t been able to go home to check on their homes since rivers of dirty water separate their work from their houses.
Many well-known tourist districts have also been affected, including the world’s largest outdoor market, Chatuchak.
