‘Friday’ Nets a Profit
The latest teen sensation has become famous not because she is so good, but because most people believe she is so bad. 13 year old Rebecca Black posted the music video of her song ‘Friday’ on youtube in February. The song, which includes banal lyrics like ‘Tomorrow is Saturday / And Sunday comes afterwards’ soon got attention, for all the wrong reasons.
Footlong Inches Ahead of Big Mac
For years, McDonald’s has been the leader of the fast food field. It has had the most franchises, the widest international reach, and the highest profits. Now, however, Subway, the sandwich maker, has nosed ahead of the famous chain. At the end of 2010, Subway had 33,749 restaurants worldwide, whereas McDonald’s had 32, 737. This is a result of Subway’s aggressive expansion strategy. It has broken away from the pack mostly because of its determination to develop world markets. For example, it already has 199 stores in China, and expects to have more than 500 by 2015.
Aid Workers Face Uphill Battle
Last week, Japan was hit by the most devastating earthquake in its history. The magnitude 9.0 quake was followed by a tsunami, which washed away whole towns. Thousands of people are now feared dead. Millions more are enduring everything from power cuts to homelessness. Most frightening of all, a Japanese nuclear power plant is struggling to control a radioactive leak.
Rebellion Brings Libya to the Edge of War
First there was Tunisia and then Egypt. Now, the storm of popular protest in the Middle East has reached Libya. The country has been ruled by Colonel Gaddafi, a dictator, for the past forty years. However, his rule is now threatened. Waves of rebellion against his government have brought the country to a standstill. In response, Gaddafi has ordered the army to attack the protestors.
“Curveball" Throws Curveball on Iraq
You may not know the name Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi. However, under the codename “Curveball", he was one of the chief sources of information about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD). This information led directly to the Iraq war, because the US believed that Iraq had to be stopped from building these weapons. Even at the time, people questioned the call. Now, “Curveball" has admitted that he was lying about the WMD program. The CIA and their German counterparts, the BND, were responsible for passing on Curveball’s information as true. As a result, they are facing serious criticism. Colin Powell, the former US secretary of state has stepped up to the plate to demand that the CIA explain why they did not cover all the bases. It seems that the CIA are now facing curveballs of their own.
Chaos in Cairo
Over the past few weeks, thousands of people have been on the streets in Egypt. They have been holding some of the biggest demonstrations the country has seen in recent history. They were unhappy with their President, Hosni Mubarak, and wanted him to leave. Demonstrators in Cairo said they would not go home until the President resigned. They made beds, bathrooms and all the things necessary to live for a long time in a public square in the city centre.
Biggest Mafia Crackdown in History
FBI* officers have arrested 127 people across the north-east US in one day. They are all believed to be members of the mafia, the well-known crime organisation. It is the largest ever crackdown on organised crime in a single day. The FBI say leaders of the five biggest mafia families in New York have all been arrested. They are involved in gambling, extortion and other illegal activities.
Stealth Fighter Signals New Arms Race
China’s new prototype stealth fighter plane, the J-20, has had its first test flight. Stealth planes have an unusual body shape and are made of modern lightweight materials instead of metal. This means they are harder to see and produce less noise than normal aircraft. It also means they are invisible to radar and are very hard to follow.
Wikileaks Causes Diplomatic Storm
No-one likes it when their dirty laundry is aired in public. When the laundry belongs to the most powerful government in the world, the story is explosive. This is what happened when the website Wikileaks published hundreds of thousands of secret US documents at the end of 2010.
Down Under Under Water
Australia is usually in the news for its droughts, not its floods. This year is different, though, and heavy rains have caused biblical flooding. Thousands of people have lost their homes, and life across the country isin chaos.
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