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Welcome to Current Events!

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
The important thing is not to stop questioning.” —Albert Einstein

The world events of today shape our future in every way, from how well we understand one another to how healthy we keep our planet. Current Events gathers the most important and unique news stories into a magazine written and designed for students. Our readers don't just learn facts, they learn to think critically about the influences within their world and about their own responsibilities to make this a better world for everyone.

On this site you will find story updates, additional resources, including Smart Stuff quizzes, and links to CE’s News Blog for students. Be sure to check back each issue!

Issue 6 News Updates

  • The Somalian pirates who seized a cargo ship carrying tanks and military weapons now say they won’t blow the ship up as they previously threatened. The pirates initially demanded $20 million in ransom for the release of the MV Faina and its crew and cargo. As of October 15, they had lowered their demand to $8 million.

  • The rest of the Nobel Prize winners were announced in Stockholm, Sweden, and Oslo, Norway. Five of the winners work in the United States. Three are U.S. chemists who discovered that a glowing fluorescent green protein found in a type of jellyfish could be used as a tracer to watch biological processes within the human body. Another is a U.S. physicist who came up with an important theory about broken symmetry in particle physics. The fifth is U.S. economist Paul Krugman. They will receive their awards in ceremonies on December 10. You can read more about the winners in all six categories and find links to more information about the Nobel Prizes on the CE News Blog, www.cenewsblog.com.

  • U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that the first chunk of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout package, about $250 billion of it, would be used to buy stock in struggling banks, meaning the government would become part-owners of those banks. Paulson hopes the banks will use that extra money to open up more lending to businesses, other banks, and people that need cash. Read a detailed explanation of the plan at tinyurl.com/bailout7.

    • Election Coverage
    Your 2008 Election Kit, “Ready, Set, Vote,” accompanied CE Issue 4. To download the kit, go to www.weeklyreader.com and log in with your subscriber account on the address page of your Teacher’s Guide. Be sure to check out these subscriber-only exclusives: interactive election kit pages; access to Weekly Reader’s student presidential election poll; and historic Weekly Reader coverage of past elections with teaching activities.

    REMINDER: The last day to vote in the 2008 Weekly Reader Presidential Election Poll is October 24.

    A New Tool For Teachers
    WR BOOST gives your students online access to Current Events stories. Students can earn points for taking quizzes about those stories, and you get useful reports outlining how they did. Interested? Find out more at wrteachers.uboost.com/.

     

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