Among the more unusual news stories recently…a French businessman pulls an eject handle that sends him flying from a speeding jet, a 16-year-old chess whiz beats the world champion, and Tom Hanks cheers up a boy named Corona.
Published in “News Bag”
Tomorrow, April 25, is World Penguin Day. It's not an actual holiday, but it's a fine time to think about these amazing flightless birds and take a look at some recent penguin news.
Among the more unusual news stories recently, Nicaragua is the only country in Central America not taking steps to control the coronavirus, Florida declares wrestling "essential", and a professional darts tournament begins - from players' homes.
Scientists have discovered a bit of hand-made string that's around 50,000 years old. The prehistoric string suggests that ancient Neanderthals had more knowledge and skills than scientists realized.
With sports around the world shut down because of the coronavirus, things are getting a little strange. Now real pro basketball players are playing basketball video games against each other and it's being shown on the sports station ESPN.
It may seem strange to think about countries being "happy" when most of the world is struggling with the coronavirus, but last week, researchers released a yearly report which ranked the world's countries by how happy they are.
A pine tree in the Czech Republic, known as the "Guardian of the Flooded Village", has won the European Tree of the Year contest. The goal of the contest is to encourage people to appreciate and protect trees.
Like many public spaces around the world, the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is now closed because of the coronavirus, COVID-19. That's given some of the animals at the Shedd the rare chance to see the aquarium as visitors.
In late February, the UK's Parliament announced that a secret door had been found under the House of Commons. The door led to a secret passage that was used by important people hundreds of years ago.
Today, March 14 (3/14) is Pi Day - a celebration of the number pi which is equal to about 3.14. Pi is a special number that describes the connection between the distance around a circle and the distance across it.
A strange looking insect known as a treehopper has been given an unusual name by Brendan Morris, who's training as an entomologist. He called the insect Kaikaia gaga - after the singing star Lady Gaga.