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Pakistan held a day of mourning on 19 June for the hundreds of Pakistani people who died on a fishing boat that sank off the coast of Greece. Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has ordered an investigation into the disaster. Protests and tributes have also been held across Greece. What happened? A fishing boat crowded with up to 750 people is believed to have left Libya and headed towards Italy. Most of the passengers were refugees. A refugee is someone who has left their home country because of war or the threat of violence. The boat was between 20 metres and 30 metres long, and pictures show hundreds of people packed onto the deck. A charity that helps refugees in need of rescue at sea received phone calls from passengers…

A SPEEDCUBING CHAMPION On 11 June, Max Park broke the world record by solving a Rubik’s cube in 3.13 seconds. Park is autistic (a condition that affects how people experience the world) and his parents say speedcubing is a form of therapy for him. Park’s motto is “don’t think, just solve”. BIRDWATCHERS IN NORFOLK European bee-eater birds have been spotted in Norfolk, England, for a second year. Last year, a group of them appeared at an old quarry near Cromer. This year, three of the birds have been seen again. It is unusual for them to breed in the UK as they usually spend the summer in southern Europe and northern Africa. A CAMPING SUPERSTAR A man who has been documenting his camping adventures around Scotland since 2021 has become…

Kaija Saariaho was a famous composer (a person who writes music). Her musical style was unusual because it mixed sounds from nature with traditional instruments and electronic sounds using computers. Saariaho said that when she was growing up in Finland she heard music in her head all the time. For her, music was in the sounds made by trees; when she crunched through snow; and even when she lay down in bed at night. “The sounds of nature all around us are really, for me, the most beautiful sounds you can hear,” she said. Saariaho learned to play the violin, guitar and piano, and also played the organ in a local church. Then she started to write her own music. When she was 11, she heard about what the 18th…

The word democracy comes from the ancient Greek words demos (“people”) and kratos (“rule”) and means “rule by the people”. It is based on the idea that people have a say in how their country is run. Democracy dates back to 500BC in Athens, Greece, where 30,000 men would gather on a hill to vote on the city’s laws. On 30 June, the International Day of Parliamentarism celebrates a system that allows ordinary people to help decide who governs their country and how it is run through a “parliament”. What is a parliament? A parliament is group of people who take decisions about their country and set important rules. It makes the process of taking decisions much smoother than asking everyone their opinion on every topic. The word comes from…

Katie Boulter & Andy Murray Boulter won the women’s title at the Nottingham Open tennis event while Murray took the men’s trophy. Nia Wedderburn-Goodison At the England Under-20 Championships, Wedderburn-Goodison won the women’s 100 metres sprint event for the third year in a row. Spain men’s football team Spain defeated Croatia to win the Nations League final. The game was 0-0 after extra time and Spain won the penalty shootout. Wyndham Clark American golfer Clark won the US Open event, which is one of the four “Majors” – the biggest competitions in men’s golf.…

Lots of children offered ideas on what they wanted to see during the planing of a new museum, the Young V&A in London, which opens on 1 July and is free to visit. One said, “I want it to be the most joyful museum in the world.” Alex Newson, who is head curator (in charge of what goes on display) at the Young V&A, told The Week Junior that they kept this message in mind the whole time they were planning what to show. It is a part of the famous V&A (Victoria and Albert) museum, also in London, and used to be called the V&A Museum of Childhood. It has taken seven years to rebuild. Newson says that the new museum aims to develop “young people’s natural creativity”. It…

Celebrities vs. Kids Special Sky TV This special episode of Portrait Artist of the Year is sure to appeal to fans of art, drawing and painting. The Celebrities vs. Kids Special will show famous people, including actor Nitin Ganatra and musician Toyah Willcox, try to paint a brilliant picture alongside six children. Pokémon Ultimate Journeys Available now on Netflix Part 3 of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series features familiar faces such as Pikachu and new Pokémon discoveries as Ash, Goh and Chloe embark on new adventures.…

Animated stars Wallace and Gromit have a very special birthday in 2023. It’s 30 years since the release of their popular film The Wrong Trousers. The anniversary celebrations include an exhibition at London’s Cartoon Museum, a new escape room in Bristol, England, and a version of the film with live music touring the UK in December. However, before that it’s the official Wrong Trousers Day on 30 June: an annual event when people dress up in their weirdest trousers and raise money for charity. You can read about that on the Wrong Trousers website, which also has information on how to get your school involved. If you’re a fan of the famous duo, you can also check out the Wallace and Gromit official website, which has lots of information and…

If visitors to Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park in Wales are looking for some time to themselves, they only need to go underground to the world’s deepest overnight accommodation. Visitors can stay more than 400 metres underground in a luxury cave room or in heated log cabins. To get to the cavern – which was once part of a slate mine – guests need to make their way down some miners’ stairs and cross some very old bridges. The journey down below is worth it, though, because guests have described it as the “best sleep of their lives”.…

Sometimes planned events and what’s happening in the news come together in unexpected ways. Like many people across the world, we have been watching the sad events in the Mediterranean (page 2) and finding hope in the stories about the people who hurried to help. Refugee Week is on 19–25 June and this year’s theme is compassion. Art director Dave read the story on page 19 and suggested this week’s cover should be Open Your Heart. It is a beautiful idea and from the letters, emails and photos you send, we know you feel the same way. How can you show compassion and help others? In lots of ways – and they can be small. When you meet someone who is far from home, take time to talk and share;…

Create like Shakespeare Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation (CSSF) has launched a creative competition for eight to 25-year-olds to create their own speech for one of William Shakespeare’s famous characters, such as Romeo, Othello or Lady Macbeth. The competition, called What You Will, allows young people to reimagine the characters and make them their own. The way your character communicates is completely up to you. You can use movement, a song, art or written words. Entries are welcome in English, British Sign Language, Welsh, Irish, Gaelic or no words at all. Find out more and ask a parent or guardian to help you enter your speech before 31 July at tinyurl.com/TWJ-whatyouwill GET INVOLVED Email your news, views and pictures to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk…

Teacher’s name: Mrs Risner-Green School: Yavneh Primary School, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire “I would like to nominate my teacher Mrs Risner-Green for Teacher of the Week because she is overall an amazing teacher and she encourages my class and I to reach our full potential. I feel like she understands me.”Kayla If we pick your teacher as Teacher of the Week, we’ll send your school three free issues of The Week Junior. Send your nominations, along with a picture of your teacher and your school’s full name and address, to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk…

1 Which type of metal is made by mixing copper and tin? ☐a) Iron ☐b) Steel ☐c) Bronze 2 True or false? Haricot beans are a common sight on UK plates because they’re used to make baked beans. 3 Which fruit is in short supply in India because of bad weather? 4 Which is the best-selling music group of all time? ☐a) BTS ☐b) Little Mix ☐c) The Beatles 5 True or false? Fourteen-year-old Kairan Quazi has been offered a job with NASA. ☐True ☐False 6 In which English county have 38 hazel dormice been released? 7 Burmese peacock softshell turtles live in which country? ☐a) Myanmar ☐b) Tunisia ☐c) Indonesia 8 True or false? The Magna Carta was signed by King Charles I. ☐rue ☐False 9 Infrared is a…

The world’s oldest known musical instruments are more than 40,000 years old. For tens of thousands of years, humans have been making music for pleasure and to express themselves. Recently, there has been a rise in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create music. Some AI music has become so popular that it’s gone viral online. The technique has been used by lots of musicians. Recently, Paul McCartney from the famous 1960s band The Beatles, used it. Taking an old song created by Beatles member John Lennon, who died in 1980, McCartney created a “final Beatles record” with the help of AI. Some people think that using AI to create music isn’t original or creative because it just makes songs out of old music. What do you think? Is…

A group of conservationists (people who work to protect the environment and wildlife) wanted to see which birds in zoos would survive best if released into the wild. To find out more, the team decided to set a kind of bird exam. The 22 birds tested were Bali mynas living in three zoos in the UK. The species is from Bali, an island in Indonesia, but there are fewer than 50 left in the wild. Conservationists have been releasing Bali mynas bred in captivity into the forest and hoping that they will breed – but it doesn’t always work. The aim of the tests was to see which bird personalities are best suited to surviving when they are released into the wild. Tests included putting jelly in the birds’ enclosures…

YOUR PHOTOS Email photos you have taken to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk. If your photo is printed in the magazine you’ll receive a Roving Reporter badge. Photos could be of buildings, pets, nature or anything you find interesting.…

Refugee Week (19–25 June) highlights the millions of people around the world who have been forced to leave their country because of war or violence or because it is no longer safe to live there. This year’s theme is compassion, which means building connections with others. What is compassion? Compassion is when you care about someone else and treat them with kindness. It’s similar to empathy because you understand their feelings, but it means doing something to help too. It could be sharing your snack with a hungry friend or giving up your seat on the bus when someone needs it. Nataliia Nahorna from Ukraine is an ambassador for Refugee Week 2023. She explains, “Compassion is having an open heart, showing kindness and empathy.” It also means spreading positivity wherever…

The Kingdom Over the Sea by Zohra Nabi (Simon & Schuster Children’s) In this fantasy adventure, Yara travels from the home she has always known to a place that is not on any map – Zehaira, an enchanted land of sorcerers and mystery. There, she must take on an evil sultan who has outlawed magic – and find her own place in this incredible new world. The Magic Hour by David Wolstencroft (Scholastic) Ailsa is always late to everything! However, that changes when she discovers the incredible secret that there are, in fact, 25 hours in every day. The extra “Magic Hour” only exists in a fantastical parallel version of Edinburgh, where anything seems possible. Ailsa is about to learn that messing with time can have dangerous consequences. Greenwild: The…

Name: Arthur You Can Do It Marcus Rashford “Interesting, inspiring and informative. I would recommend this to all ages. It gives me great joy whenever I read it.” YOUR TURN Email your book review to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk. If your review is printed in the magazine you’ll receive a Roving Reporter badge. Tell us what you liked about the book and why you’d recommend it to others, and don’t forget to include your name and address.* *If you are the competition winner, we will only use the details you provide to contact you and arrange delivery of your competition prize. Further details about how we manage the data you provide can be found at www.futureplc.com/privacy-policy…

Kairan Quazi, from San Francisco, US, says he had a very normal, if very quick, education. When he was little, tests showed that he was extremely clever, and by the age of 11 he had left school and gone to university. He studied computer science and engineering and graduated this year, aged 14. Quazi has just been offered a job at SpaceX, a company that builds and launches new spacecraft. At kindergarten, Quazi would discuss things he heard on the radio. Sometimes his understanding of grown-up topics got him in trouble. “Telling my science teacher that her knowledge of gravity lacked depth earned me a spot on her naughty list for the rest of the year,” he told BrainGain Magazine. Being so young at university, Quazi heard other students whispering,…

The summer holidays are almost here and that means it’s time to go wild with The Week Junior Science+Nature’s Scavenger Hunt. This competition is all about getting outside and exploring your local environment with family and friends. The monthly magazine is challenging its readers to track down 10 items from a list of natural objects. While you’re uncovering nature’s treasures, you can also snap pictures and submit them to the photo contest for a chance to win big prizes. To enter the competition, you need to take a photo that shows nature’s beauty. You can send pictures of animals, plants or wild places wherever you live. You don’t need fancy equipment – smartphone cameras can take fantastic images. This year’s competition is even bigger and better, with not one but…

Even though winter is months away for the UK, a British company called Satellite Vu is going into space to prepare to keep us warm. It has launched a satellite (an object that orbits the Earth) that can measure the temperature of buildings across the country. The aim of the project is to identify which buildings need better insulation. Insulation uses special materials or ways of building to keep as much heat as possible inside a building. Insulation is important in winter when it’s cold. If a building is not well insulated, people have to put on the heating a lot to stay comfortable. If a building is properly insulated the heat can’t escape and people don’t need to turn on the heating as often. Insulation saves people money on…

The Ashes is a famous cricket competition. Played between England and Australia over several weeks, it is held around every two years and there is a men’s and a women’s event. On 16 June, the 2023 Ashes series started with the men’s teams playing in Birmingham, England. That opening contest was won by Australia, who beat England in a very exciting finish. The men’s Ashes is made up of five matches, which are called Tests. The second Test starts on 28 June at Lord’s Cricket Ground, in London, with three more to play in Leeds, Manchester and London. The final Test is due to finish on 31 July and each one can last for five days. To win the men’s Ashes, one team needs to win more Tests than the…

Mohammed, aged 16, came to the UK as an asylum seeker (someone who has asked another country for protection) from Afghanistan last year, and now lives in a home with other unaccompanied children. These are children and young people who arrive in the UK without their families. Mohammed is cared for by a charity that helps him learn English and go to school so he can build a life for himself. He told The Week Junior, “We are all different. Do not judge us – understand us instead.”…

An out-of-this-world trailer for a new animated film from Disney and Pixar has been released. In Elio, a young boy who struggles to fit in finds himself transported into space following a mix-up. Here, he comes into contact with the Communiverse, an organisation made up of aliens from lots of different galaxies. The aliens mistakenly think Elio is the leader of Earth and he ends up going on a mind-blowing adventure, during which he must discover who he is truly meant to be. Fans have praised Disney and Pixar’s 28th animated feature film for having a lead character who wears an eye patch. Patches can be used to protect the eye or correct eyesight. The trailer is available to watch on YouTube now but you will have to wait until…

(Bloomsbury Children’s) Heather isn’t sure about Fablehouse – a home for Britain’s “brown babies” (children born to African-American soldiers and white British women after the Second World War). She’s lived in several children’s homes and she knows not to get too comfy. Fablehouse is a crumbling cliff-top mansion surrounded by mysterious woodlands. It also has a very unusual headteacher in Miss Isolde. When children start acting strangely, Heather discovers a plot from a magical realm to overthrow the human world. With the help of Palamedes – the Black Knight from the tales of King Arthur – Heather and her friends set off on a quest to rescue the children who have been replaced by changelings. Combining Arthurian legend, folklore and myth with real history, this is an exciting adventure that’s…

The first books you read for yourself can stay in your mind for the rest of your life. If the characters seem real and the world of the book is inviting, then you will share it with other young people and remember it years later. The books on this shortlist (perfect for readers aged 6+) range from the hilarious Grimwood, to The Boy Who Grew a Tree, which is about a big change in the main character’s life. Three detective stories feature on our list. Anisha, Accidental Detective is set in a holiday camp, and in The Secret School Invasion, students go undercover in class. In Major and Mynah, Callie and a mynah bird called Bo are on the trail of a troublesome thief. There’s fantasy too, including Creeping Beauty,…

Crossword Read the clues carefully and write the answers into the grid. ACROSS 1 Dinner or lunch, e.g. (4) 3 Groups of birds (6) 8 GP’s workplace (7) 9 Florida’s country (initials) (3) 10 Amazing (10) 13 Timepiece on the arm (10) 17 Conger ___, sea fish (3) 18 Give a solemn oath (7) 19 Summer thigh-length trousers (6) 20 Face pimple (4) DOWN 1 Pole on a ship (4) 2 Cook’s pinny (5) 4 Place or set down (3) 5 Biscuit fragment (5) 6 ___ and ladders, popular board game (6) 7 ___ agent, spy (6) 11 Mythical fire-breathing creature (6) 12 Caramels, mints etc (6) 14 House made of snow blocks (5) 15 Potato snack (5) 16 Buckled waistband (4) 18 Animal kept in the home (3) Spot…

Name: Adelaide “Last week I completed my first ever Parkrun. I did it to raise money for SANDS (the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society). I asked for sponsorship from my friends and family, and raised £275 in total. I did it in memory of my cousin Millie on what would have been her eighth birthday; we treasure her memory and this was a nice way to remember her. For the Parkrun I had to run 2K. To prepare, I trained by running around our estate and the park. I went out twice a week, running a variety of distances between one and 2.5K. My final time on the day of the run was 14 minutes and 30 seconds. There were about 50 people running and I came 33rd. I saw…

“I was inspired by the nice weather and all the blooming flowers to make the longest daisy chain I could hold – I love this time of year!” Lyra “The beekeeping season is in full flow so I went to visit. I am super proud of the bees for producing a beautiful frame of honey and can’t wait to eat it on toast.” Andreas “In May, I was moth trapping with my gran and we caught some. This is a privet hawk moth and flies in June and July. It came out especially early for me.” Thomas…

We love hearing from you! It’s easy – just write a comment when you vote in our online Big Debate poll, or even record a voice note for The Week Junior Show. Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and we’ll print some of the best comments here. We asked you if baths are better than showers… “I think showers are better because it is faster and also it can save more water.” “I love baths. Showers might save time and money but as a nine-year-old, my only concerns are: living life to the full, relaxing and having fun!” “Having a bath once in a while is ok but having it every day is a waste of water.” Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and…