Monday, 27 January 2014

Holocaust Memorial Day: Two survivors tell their story

Holocaust survivors Ingrid and Henry

The victims of the Holocaust in World War Two are being remembered on Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday.

Six million Jews, and other people, were killed in prisons called concentration camps during the war between 1939 and 1945.
They were sent there because German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler thought certain groups of people were inferior.
But thousands of children managed to escape and were sent to the UK, including Ingrid and Henry.
They have been speaking to school pupils in South Lanarkshire about their experiences.
From CBBC newsround

Saturday, 25 January 2014

Cute lion cubs on show at San Diego zoo

The zoo said the cubs can be viewed at the Safari Park between 10 a.m. and noon, and were the first cubs born at the park since 2007, according to the zoo.

Two adorable lion cubs have posed for the cameras at San Diego Zoo in the US.


The six-week-old brother and sister are doing really well and growing up super fast, according to staff there.
The pair are starting to learn essential lion skills like learning to climb and jump.
The unnamed male and female, born Dec. 6 to Oshana, are being bottle-fed 30-40 milliliters of kitten starter formula every two hours. That amount will increase as they grow.
After their 8 a.m. feeding, the male weighed 5.5 pounds, and the female 3.5 pounds, according to the zoo.
Keepers say the female cub is very feisty, while the male cub is calm.
Both are vocal when they want something, such as food or attention from animal care staffers. They also call for each other when separated for feedings or measurements.
The zoo said the cubs can be viewed at the Safari Park between 10 a.m. and noon, but like adult lions, they can sleep about 20 hours per day.
The cubs were the first born at the park since 2007, according to the zoo.
From 
  • CBBC newsround 
  •  KPBShttp://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/dec/16/lions-cubs-limited-display-san-diego-zoos-safari-p/


Super-rare Nintendo game on sale

An extremely rare Nintendo game is expected to sell for over £3,000 in an online auction.

A grey Nintendo cartridge. The label is ripped off and Mario has been written on in pen.
The cartridge is called Nintendo World Championships and features short versions of three games - Super Mario, Tetris and Rad Racer.
The cartridge was never available in shops. Only 116 copies were ever made, for a gaming contest in 1990.
A Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
The game was designed for the NES console

A bid of £3,000 has already been made and experts say it's likely to fetch more.
Sadly the cartridge is in poor condition. The label has been ripped and somebody has written "Mario" on it.
In 2011 a copy of the same game sold at a charity auction for £6,600 - but it was in better condition.
FRom CBBC Newsround




Thursday, 23 January 2014

Dog owner's shock to find blueberry muffin that looks like her pet CHIHUAHUA

A teenage girl was shocked to discover the blueberry muffin she had just bought looked exactly like her pet Chihuahua

Oh my dog! Pet looks just like a blueberry muffin


Oh my dog! Pet looks just like a blueberry muffin

A  teenage girl in La Mesa, Calif went out to buy a muffin and came back home with one that looked exactly like her pet dog.
"We bought a big pack of muffins at Costco last week and on Monday, I walked into the kitchen and got the last muffin," Kaelin Bell, 14, told The Huffington Post.
She was about to eat it when she noticed it had a strange resemblance to Chico, her six-month-old Chihuahua.She lost her appetite. At least for muffins.
The 14-year-old girl posted the extraordinary similarity on her tumblr page.
Her Chihuahua is seen staring up at her as she holds a muffin in a plastic bag.
The two - the muffin and the dog - look like mirror images of each other.
The girl, who lives in California, posted: "my blueberry muffin looks exactly like my dog I'm gonna cry.”
"I couldn't eat it," she said. "So we froze it in a plastic bag. My dad is wondering if we'll be able to sell it, but, so far, no one has offered to buy it."
kaelin bell muffin
Around a quarter of a million people have viewed the picture so far.
From Mirror News and Huff Post Weird News

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

'Hero rats' used to sniff out landmines


Nice work, little fellows!
Giant rats are being trained to sniff out buried landmines in war zones.
Landmines are placed in the ground during a war to seriously injure or kill the enemy.
But they often remain undiscovered for many years and ordinary people can end up stepping on them by accident.
The rats are being used because they are light enough to walk over the devices without blowing them up and can search wider areas more quickly than humans.

When the first of Apopo’s furry and four-legged HeroRats were released into a landmine-ridden field of Mozambique, there was understandable skepticism among the various government officials in attendance.
“In Mozambique we eat rats,” joked Alberto Augusto, the director of Mozambique’s national demining institute, “so it was very strange to see them working and demining. We were thinking to grill them.”
But as the gigantic rodents (bigger than New York City sewer rats) stuffed into tiny harnesses began to sweep back and forth on ropes between their human handlers, stopping every so often to scratch and point out a landmine, it didn’t take long for the crowd to be convinced.
“These are not normal rats,” Augusto declared. “They are very special rats.”
The HeroRats are officially known as Mine Detection Rats (MDRs), specially trained by Apopo, a Belgian NGO that researches, develops and implements detection rat technology for humanitarian purposes like demining.
Landmines continue to be one of the world’s most dangerous weapons, especially in post-conflict countries. Scattered across 78 countries, these weapons of war can remain buried beneath the surface for decades, and their deadly nature does not diminish over time. According to The International Committee of the Red Cross, more than 800 people are killed and 1,200 maimed by landmines every single month - most of them children, women, and elderly.
The sleepy African coastal nation of Mozambique remains one of the most heavily mined countries in Africa. Tens of thousands of landmines were laid during the struggle for independence between 1964-1975 and the civil war that followed for nearly two decades. With no maps of mined territories, Augusto says working to clear the entire country is a “major challenge.”
Yet since Apopo’s rats launched into action in 2006, they’ve successfully cleared more than 6 million square meters of Mozambique’s countryside, uncovering 2,406 landmines, 992 bombs, and 13,025 small arms and ammunitions.
“They are doing a great job,” Augusto says, and with their help he believes Mozambique can be mine free in less than 20 years.

From CBBC and BBC - Future- Technology
 

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

2022 World Cup dates still undecided


The dates when the 2022 World Cup will be played will not be decided until after the 2014 World Cup, according to the world football governing body Fifa.





Al-Wakrah stadium

On 8th January the general secretary of Fifa told Radio France: "The dates for the World Cup will not be June-July."
He suggested it could take place between 15 November and 15 January.
But later Fifa bosses said no official decision will be made until later this year.

Why would they move the tournament?

Qatar stadiums


Temperatures in Qatar where the World Cup will take place, can reach up to 50 degrees Celsius in the summer and would be dangerous for players and fans alike.
If the tournament is moved to the winter months, temperatures would be more like 25 degrees Celcius.
Sepp Blatter, Fifa president said two months ago that a firm decision on dates for the 2022 World Cup will be made in December 2014 .
Qatar organisers have indicated they would be happy to switch to a winter World Cup.
From CBBC newsround

Friday, 3 January 2014

UK's top selling singles of 2013 revealed

Pharrell Williams had three number ones in 2013

Pharrell Williams

Well done to Pharrell Williams, who has scored 2013's top two biggest selling singles!
The American star features on Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, as well as Daft Punk's Get Lucky.
Blurred Lines was the UK's most popular single of 2013, selling more than 1.47 million copies and spending five weeks at number one.
Pharrell also grabbed a third chart-topper with Happy in 2013, which is currently sitting at number one.
UK music fans bought 182.2 million singles last year - the second biggest year-end total in British music history (after 2012).
The UK's top 10 selling singles of 2013

1. Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and               Pharrell Williams
2. Get Lucky - Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
3. Wake Me Up - Avicii
4. Let Her Go - Passenger
5. La La La - Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith
6. Roar - Katy Perry
7. Thrift Shop - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
8. Just Give Me A Reason - Pink featuring Nate Ruess
9. Counting Stars - OneRepublic
10. Mirrors - Justin Timberlake
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