Innholdsfortegnelse for 201 i The Week Junior

On 9 October, Turkey launched an attack on Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Around 200,000 people have fled from towns along the Turkish-Syrian border to escape the fighting. Who are the Kurds? The Kurds are a group of people who live in the Middle East but do not have their own country. There are between 25 and 35 million Kurds, who live in a mountainous region that includes parts of Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Armenia. For many decades there has been conflict between the Turkish state and some Kurds who live in Turkey. Why is there tension between the Turkish government and the Kurds? Turkey doesn’t want the Kurds to form their own state on its border. Many Kurds belong to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which was formed…

1852 the year the ceremony was first held in its current form. 64 the number of Queen’s Speeches delivered by Queen Elizabeth II. the number of times 3 the Queen’s messenger, known as Black Rod, has to knock on the door of the House of Commons before he or she enters to tell MPs to attend the ceremony in the House of Lords. 1,300 the estimated number of diamonds on the tiara the Queen wore this year. 200 roughly the number of horses that travel with the Queen to Parliament.…

Now that you’ve read a bit more about it, tell us what you think by voting in our poll at theweekjunior.co.uk/polls. Vote YES if you think arts organisations should accept funding from fossil-fuel companies, or NO if you don’t. The aim of the Big debate page is to present two sides of an issue fairly and objectively, in order to stimulate discussion and allow our readers to make up their minds. The views on the page do not reflect those of The Week Junior, and the page is not funded by third parties. The page is created in association with the English-Speaking Union, an educational charity helping young people discover their voice and realise their full potential. For more information, please see esu.org…

Sam Aberdeen Senior Keeper, ZSL London Zoo Generally, bigger spiders are not dangerous – the bite from a bird-eating spider or a tarantula is similar to a bee sting. One exception is the Brazilian wandering spider. It has a 12cm leg span and one of the most toxic venoms of all spiders. Still, deaths from spider bites are very rare. Of nearly 50,000 species, only a few are considered “dangerous”. Do you love animals? ZSL London Zoo’s Junior Zoo Academy is a great way to learn about creatures from all over the world. Find out more at zsl.org/experiences…

When you next go swimming, you might be able to take a computer with you. The company, Form, has launched smart goggles that count lengths, measure speed and track fitness goals using a tiny computer. The goggles display the results on the inside of the lens, so you can follow your progress while you swim. Form’s smart goggles will soon have rivals though, including one which is also due to include games. You’ll be able to swim through an underwater course, race the computer or even get chased by a shark! Enjoy these stories? Find more in this month’s The Week Junior Science+Nature magazinesciencenature.theweekjunior.co.uk…

Return to Wonderland by various authors (Macmillan Children’s Books) Go down the rabbit hole and revisit Wonderland with this short story collection. There are new Alice-inspired tales from authors including Peter Bunzl, Pamela Butchart, Lauren St John, Robin Stevens and Piers Torday. Find out what has happened to the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter and Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Becoming Jo by Sophie McKenzie (Scholastic) In this fun, modern retelling of Little Women, Jo March dreams of being a writer. But with three sisters – Meg, Beth and Amy – in the house, plus a new friend next door, and a dad away in war-torn Syria, she’s got a lot going on in her life. Fans of the original Little Women, released 150 years ago, will be fascinated by this…

Basketball is a fun sport you can play at school, with friends at a club, and even by yourself. The aim is to throw (shoot) the ball through the other team’s basket to score points. There’s no need to be really tall or strong because it’s an activity for everyone. In a game between two teams, players run while bouncing the ball (called dribbling) and pass to their teammates. They also try to block and steal the ball to win it back. Full-size games usually have four periods of 10 or 12 minutes. There are different games of basketball. The most common is for each team to have five players on court at the same time. The attacking team moves towards the other basket, scoring two points if the ball…

There are some incredible characters in this week’s magazine (and I’m not just talking about the wonderful creations of Aardman Animations). Many people thought the climate activist Greta Thunberg would win the Nobel Peace Prize this year, but it instead went to a no less worthy winner – the prime minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed (find him on page 7). Abiy has been praised for making peace with Ethiopia’s bitter enemy, the neighbouring country of Eritrea, and for governing with forgiveness and understanding. He’s an example to the rest of the world and a reminder that peace is always achievable. Abiy said he was “thrilled and humbled” to have won the prestigious award, and there’s hope that he will carry on his good work and continue to inspire others. Back…

Teacher’s name: Miss McDermott School: Dundonald Primary School, London “Miss McDermott is a wonderful teacher. She tries hard to make our lessons lots of fun and the day goes so quickly. She encourages us to challenge ourselves and help each other. Miss McDermott is so cheerful, which makes us feel cheerful too.” Emily If we pick your teacher as Teacher of the Week, we’llsendyourschoolthreefreeissuesof The Week Junior. Send your nominations, along with a picture of your teacher and your school’s full name and address, to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk Please ensure you include your full name and address so that we can send you one of our Roving Reporter badges if your contribution makes it onto the page. We will only use the details you provide to arrange delivery of badges, and we…

Syria is a country in the Middle East that has been devastated by an eight-year civil war (when people from the same country fight each other). The war started in 2011 when some people demanded to have a greater say in how the country was run. On one side is the Syrian army, which is loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. On the other side are the rebels who want to remove him from power. More than half a million people have died and around 5.6 million have fled the country since 2011.…

AN INCREDIBLE FIND When Jo Carter realised she’d accidentally thrown away her engagement ring, she was very upset. But after a quick call to a recycling centre in Caldicot, Wales, two council workers spent four hours trawling through bags of rubbish, and they eventually found it. A HAPPY REUNION In 2007, a fox terrier called Dutchess went missing from her home in Orlando, in the US. Her owner, Katheryn Strang, kept the dog’s microchip active, and 12 years later Dutchess turned up at an animal shelter in Pittsburgh – almost 1,000 miles from Orlando. Katheryn and her dog have now been happily reunited. A BRILLIANT BIRTHDAY A Second World War veteran’s wish has come true after he was sent thousands of cards on his 100th birthday. James South lives in…

23 October 1956 Hungarians rise up against Soviet rule On 23 October 1956, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Hungary to protest against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, a country made up of Russia and other nearby nations, had occupied Hungary since 1944. After the protests, the Soviets allowed the former Hungarian prime minister, Imre Nagy, to return to power. However, on 4 November, they sent thousands of tanks into Hungary. In the fighting that followed, around 30,000 people died. Hungary remained under Soviet control until 1989.…

Chiwetel Ejiofor first started acting when he was 13 years old. Since then, he has gone on to enjoy a successful and varied career, appearing in films such as Doctor Strange, The Martian and Sherlock Gnomes. This year has been a particularly busy one for Ejiofor, who appears in two big Disney films. The first to be released was the updated version of The Lion King, in which he voiced the villainous Scar. The second, out now, is Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which is a sequel to the 2014 film Maleficent. Appearing in The Lion King was a dream come true for Ejiofor, who told The Week Junior that when he was growing up, the 1994 original was his favourite Disney film. But he wasn’t quite as young as he…

Takahē The population of a rare flightless bird in New Zealand is at its highest for more than a century. An annual study of takahē across the country found there are now at least 418 of the birds, which were once thought to have gone extinct. These include 130 breeding pairs, up from 66 in 2013. A royal tortoise A tortoise that lived at a palace in Nigeria has died at the official age of 344 (although there have been questions raised over her true age). Alagba, which means elderly one, lived in the palace of Ogbomoso in Oyo state and was believed to have magical healing powers.…

On 11 October, visitors to the Made of Dough pizza restaurant in Peckham, London, were able to try a pizza from the year 2039. The pizza hadn’t actually travelled back in time, but was made by people looking ahead to the future. The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair challenged a futurist – someone who studies the future – called Tom Cheesewright, to design the pizza of the future, in order to show how science can help us make food more sustainably. Despite looking like a normal pizza, it was made with some unusual ingredients: tomatoes grown in an indoor lab with no soil, dough made from ground-up insects, and cheese made from tree nuts called almonds. Tomatoes grown indoors use less water than outdoor tomatoes and making…

BOOK OF THE WEEK The Last Human by Lee Bacon (Piccadilly Press) In a world in which robots have taken over and humans are extinct, there is no war, no pollution and no crime. Everything runs smoothly and efficiently – and that’s just how the robots living there like it. Then a young robot, XR_935, discovers something that ought to be impossible: a human girl. XR and co-workers Ceeron and SkD must decide whether to report Emma to the authorities, or to help her in her dangerous quest into the mountains to reach a mysterious place marked on a map. How will they get through a world where humans are not even meant to exist? And what will they find at the end of their journey? Fans of sci-fi will…

“I first started playing basketball when I was four, after watching my mum play. My school competed in the Jr. NBA Basketball England League, representing the Detroit Pistons (an NBA team), and we won the Girls’ League. A year later I attended the Jr. NBA Global Championship selection camp in Italy. In August, I went to the US to play for Europe and Middle East and we reached the semi-finals. It was an amazing experience.”…

Oppidan Education is giving readers of The Week Junior the chance to win a place for you and a friend on one of their five-day summer camps in Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire next summer. Runners up will win a camp day for your whole class. To win a place at an Oppidan Camp, Oppidan Education wants you to write a persuasive letter of 350 words or less explaining to the judges who your hero is and why. If you are the competition winner, we will only use the details you provide to contact you and arrange delivery of your competition prize. Further details about how we manage the data you provide can be found at dennis.co.uk/privacy-policy. For competition terms and conditions go to theweekjunior.co.uk/OppidanHeroes…

Follow The Week Junior on PopJam@TheWeekJunior. You can download the PopJam app from the App Store or Google Play. Last week, we asked you if everyone should give money to charity. You said... “Yes, because it’s an amazing, thoughtful and kind thing to do.” “No, because what about people who don’t have any money?” A robotic suit controlled by the mind has allowed a man to walk for the first time in two years. You said… “This is revolutionary!” “I know what I want for Christmas.” Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and we’ll print some of the best comments here.…

Wasting food can have a terrible impact on the environment. Growing crops and rearing the animals we eat uses lots of water, not to mention energy, which is needed for packaging food and transporting it to the shops. Wasting food means all this happens for nothing. However, there are lots of ways you can cut down on food waste. Talk to your family about which food and snacks you actually like, and see if you can make some changes. There’s no point having packed lunch foods that you might not want. Work out what portion sizes you need. Make sure you have enough, but not so much that you end up throwing food away. If you do have to get rid of food, check if it could be composted or…

Super League champs In rugby league, St Helens beat Salford Red Devils 23-6 to win the men’s Super League Grand Final. Leeds Rhinos beat Castleford Tigers 20-12 in the women’s final. Coco Gauff The 15-year-old US tennis player won the Linz Open in Austria. It was her first Women’s Tennis Association title. Mercedes F1 team The Northamptonshire-based team won their sixth constructors’ title (the championship given to teams) in a row when Valtteri Bottas came first in the Japanese Grand Prix. Belgium men’s football team They beat San Marino 9-0 to become the first team to qualify for Euro 2020.…

Where did the idea for the book come from? A world ruled by robots: this idea was both terrifying and fascinating. I knew I had to tell this story from a robot’s point of view. Are any characters based on anyone you know? I drew inspiration from the electronics all around me. When XR_935 is upset, it gets hot – just like my laptop. When it has to make a decision, it considers millions of choices – the same way Google does. Who is your favourite character in the book? A little robot named SkD that has a very unique way of communicating: through emojis. This was a fun challenge because I grew up before emojis even existed. Do you think that one day robots will take over the world?…

Until now, there have been two main ways to pay for games. You can either buy a game, or download it for free with the option of paying for in-app purchases. Now Apple is trying something different: its new Apple Arcade service is the gaming equivalent of Spotify or Netflix. How? It gets people to pay a £4.99 monthly subscription for access to a big collection of games, which can be played on various Apple devices – from iPhones and iPads to Apple TVs and Mac computers. Saved games can be shared between them. Subscribers are able to download and play as many games as they want for as long as they like. Apple doesn’t allow advertising or in-app purchases in any of the Apple Arcade games either. What’s more,…

Can you type faster on a smartphone or on a computer keyboard? A new study suggests that the “typing gap” between the two is narrowing, even if keyboards are still in the lead. Researchers at three universities – Cambridge in the UK, Aalto in Finland and Zurich in Switzerland – studied more than 37,000 people’s typing speeds on smartphones and keyboards, using the website TypingMaster.com. “We were amazed to see that users typing with two thumbs achieved 38 words per minute on average, which is only about 25% slower than the typing speeds we observed in a similar large-scale study of physical keyboards,” says Anna Feit, one of the researchers. The study also found that people aged 10–19 are on average about 10 words per minute faster than those in…

How hard is it to score? The basket, or hoop, is three metres high in adult games and 2.4 metres for players under 12. Like all sports, it takes practice to get good at scoring. The skills needed are accuracy and concentration. Shots can be taken by throwing the ball with one or both hands. How can I watch a basketball game? The British Basketball League (BBL) and Women’s British Basketball League (WBBL) are the highest levels of professional basketball in the UK. Games are played most weekends and tickets can be found at bbl.org.uk/club-tickets and wbbl.org.uk/tickets What is the NBA? The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the top league in the US and Canada, with the world’s best players. A competition called the Jr. NBA – for girls and…

Start your piece by introducing yourself to the reader, and explaining why it is that you’re writing to them. For example: “Dear judges, my name is ..... and I’m writing to you to tell you who my hero is.” Then, clearly state who your hero is and use the next paragraph to explain why in greater detail. Perhaps there was one event or moment that made you realise it. At the end of the piece, briefly recap what you’ve written, so that the judges will remember it once they’ve finished. Finally, thank them for having taken the time to read your piece and sign off with your name.…

Snooker player drives to the wrong Barnsley Professional snooker player Neil Robertson – a former world champion – was forced to miss a match after he accidentally drove to the wrong venue. Robertson, who lives in Cambridge, got in his car to drive to a competition in Barnsley. However, he didn’t realise he had set the car’s sat-nav to take him to the village of Barnsley in Gloucestershire, rather than the town of Barnsley in Yorkshire – which is 150 miles away. This isn’t the first time that Robertson has had problems travelling to a competition. He had to withdraw from the Riga Masters event in Latvia earlier this year after his flight was cancelled. Wedding dress made from toilet paper On 30 September, Mimoza Haska was announced the winner…