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This week's news for kids

Wednesday 2nd February 2011

UK bulletin

Hi there, I'm Ricky from Newsround. It's Wednesday the 2nd of February.

First to Egypt - where protests against President Mubarak have been fighting with his supporters in Cairo's main square.

CLIP: Protesters shouting FX.

People have been seen throwing stones at each other, and there are reports of some people being injured. The clashes come after President Mubarak told the country that he would not step down until after the next elections - hundreds of thousands of demonstrators aren't happy with that, they want him to go right away.

Next, only weeks after the east coast of Australia was hit by floods that devastated towns and cities - a huge cyclone has hit the same state. Cyclone Yasi is blowing 185 miles an hour winds across northern parts of Queensland, and thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes and go to special evacuation centres. As for those who haven't left their homes yet - officials are warning them to stay where they are....

CLIP: "No one should be leaving home now. The time for movement and evacuation has now passed. People should be sheltering in place wherever they are. We expect to see very dramatic acceleration of winds and wind gusts over the next couple of hours".

Next up - kids have been out campaigning against government plans to sell off public forests in England. Today politicians are deciding whether or not forests should be sold to different owners. Lots of people are very worried about this as they're scared they might be shut out of forests or charged an entry fee - even though the government say that won't happen. Hayley's been to meet James, he's been out protesting against the plans. James is worried he could be charged to access the forest...

CLIP: "We wouldn't be able to come very often, because my dad wouldn't pay for us to come in here."

And finally, Newsround's been to meet Europe's youngest black belt! Kechelle is only six years old but has already reached the highest belt level in karate. She started training aged 3! In a few years time she hopes to make it big at the Karate World Championships. To see her in action head to the Newsround website.

OK that's all from us. We're back tomorrow. Bye!

World Bulletin

Hi there, I'm Sonali from the BBC World News for Schools. It's Wednesday the 2nd of February.

Coming up:

Egypt's President says he won't go yet!

A cyclone bears down on Australia.

And the bloodsucking creature that's infesting America.

First, fights are breaking out in Egypt's capital Cairo between supporters of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and demonstrators who are demanding that he steps down. The clashes follow the President's announcement that he won't go until after the election in September. Hundreds of thousands of protestors want him to go now! The army has told demonstrators to stop protesting and go home - but these locals say they aren't going anywhere...

CLIP: "We will stay here for ever. He will, must, be go!" "We want to say one word to our President. We don't leave the square. We don't leave the square. We, or he. We leave the square after leaving our country!"

Egypt's not the only Middle Eastern country that's seeing big changes. The president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh - who's also been in power for thirty years - says he too will step down after his presidential term comes to an end - and in Jordan, the King has sacked the government and put a new Prime Minister in power!

Now to Queensland, in Australia, where winds of more than a-hundred kilometres an hour have begun hitting the coast. People there have been warned to expect their most powerful cyclone ever. So far, about thirty thousand people in the city of Cairns have been moved from their homes - so many, that a shopping mall in the city has been turned into an evacuation centre. Red Cross worker, Daryl Hangar, said there were long queues of people waiting to get in....

CLIP: This is absolutely massive. We were here at 6 o'clock this morning...So there was about 200 metres of people queued up waiting to get in."

Those who haven't yet left their homes have been told by the State Premier that it's now too late...

CLIP: "No one should be leaving home now. The time for movement and evacuation has now past. People should be sheltering in place, where ever they are."

And the extreme weather doesn't stop there - a powerful winter storm has hit the United States mid west, with snow, winds and freezing rain leading to thousands of flights being cancelled, and a state of emergency being declared in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Finally, to the blood sucking creatures that can reportedly be found in every American state. Yep, we're talking about bed bugs! Experts are so worried about the increase in these tiny creatures that they're flocking to the capital, Washington DC to discuss what to do about them!

Before we go, we have the answer to yesterday's question. We asked you what century the oldest woman in the world was born in, if she was born in 1896? And the answer is..... the 19th century! And for today's question we want to know how many centuries there are in a millennium?

OK, that's all from the World News for Schools team. We're back tomorrow.

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