- Chimp Escapes
In Northern Japan, a chimp escaped a zoo. The 24-year-old male climbed up power lines to try to get away.
Workers and animal experts tried to use a cherry picker to get the animal down, but that did not work, so a veterinarian shot the chimp with a tranquilliser gun.
After a moment, the chimp fell down. There were people on the ground who tried to catch him, but they failed. However, local media said that the chimp is fine.
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Difficult words: cherry picker (a thing often used by firefighters or builders that can safely move people up and down), veterinarian (an animal doctor), tranquilliser (a drug which makes you relax or sleep).
- ColdWater Chess
There is an interesting style of playing chess. It is cold-water chess – you play chess while you sit in icy water.
Two Russian swimmers got the idea for cold-water chess after reading about winter swimmers who played the game in Soviet times. It may look like a crazy thing to do, but the swimmers say that it has its benefits.
One of the men said that playing in cold water helps him concentrate, and it lets him stay in the water for longer.
- Earthquakes
Last month in Ecuador, an earthquake killed more than 650 people. It hit the infrastructure and 29,000 Ecuadoreans were left homeless.
Recently, there were two more earthquakes in the country. Fortunately, this time, only one person died and the earthquakes caused light damage to the region.
Someone filmed people running around the streets when the ground began to shake. Traffic came to a standstill.
- Exercise and get a free ticket
Mexico has a problem. Its people are fat. Around 37 million Mexicans are fat.
The government wants to help these people. It puts 30 health stations in Mexico City. If you walk to one health station, it tells you to squat. When you squat, it tells you how to be healthy. When you do 10 squats, you get a free ticket! You can use this ticket, for example, on a bus.
Why are so many Mexicans fat? The government says that it is because of bad food and drinks.
- Expensive kebab
This news is about a kebab. You can buy it in London. It is very expensive. It costs 925 pounds. However, its creator says that it is very good.
He uses the best ingredients. These ingredients are from all over the world. He uses expensive Japanese beef. He also uses lamb and goat.
He also puts a salad on it. He puts a 25-year-old vinegar on the salad. A bottle of this vinegar costs 180 pounds.
- Gang takedown
Nearly 700 federal agents attacked the Bronx, New York City’s poorest borough. The agents arrested 120 gang members. People believe that the arrests are the largest gang takedown in New York City history.
The police arrested those charged mostly with murder, robbery, and drug dealing. All of the people were members or partners of two rival gangs. Over the last 9 years, many people died in the gang wars, including a 92-year-old woman. A stray bullet hit her at her home.
People hope that the arrests will make the borough a safer place.
- Leonardo
Leonardo da Vinci was very talented. He painted the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. He also drew very interesting things. He drew things like a helicopter and a diving suit.
People like his drawings. They turn them into 3D models. You can see these models in the Science Museum in London.
Difficult words: was (past of “is”), drew (past of “draw”), diving suit (a thing which you put around the body to go underwater).
- No guns on Facebook
Mass shootings happen in the USA. Because of this, Barack Obama makes new rules. The rules control guns.
1.59 billion people use Facebook. 300 million people use Instagram. Some of these people sell guns. They use Facebook and Instagram. With the new rules, people cannot sell the guns.
However, the rule is only for people. Special shops can sell guns online.
Difficult words: mass shooting (a situation when somebody shoots a lot of people), rule (a text which tells you what you can do and cannot do), sell (to give something for money).
- San Fermin Festival
The Spanish San Fermin Festival attracts 1 million visitors a year. It includes daily bull runs in the morning and bullfights in the evening.
The festival divides people into those who enjoy it and those who think that it’s just animal cruelty. Animal rights activists covered themselves in fake blood in protest. They wore nothing but black underwear, bullhorns, and carrying red buckets reading, "Pamplona: Bloodbath for Bulls.”
An animal rights organisations organised the protest. The organisation wants to bring an end to the use of bulls in Spain's fiestas. They say that people kill or mistreat around 50 bulls every year.
- Snowy owl
A traffic camera in Montreal filmed a snowy owl. Many people liked and shared the video on Facebook.
The owl is beautiful, and it is rare to film a snowy owl. The owls inhabit places where people don’t live. However, the birds sometimes die in collisions with cars and airplanes.
The snowy owl is an official symbol of Quebec, and Canada protects it from hunters.
- Upside down house
In Taiwan, there is a three-storey upside down house. It is fully furnished with real-size tables, chairs and crockery. It even has a car stuck to its ceiling.
Hundreds of visitors come to visit the American country-style home. One visitor explained that being in the house feels like being in a movie like “The Exorcist” or “Spider Man”.
The house is 334 square metres and it includes a living room, a bathroom and a garage. It took around two months and $600,000 USD to make.