The state of Nevada in the United States has issued its first driverless car license. Wait a minute, what’s “driverless”? It means a car that can drive itself. Google, the Internet company, has used Toyota’s Prius car, attached a small tower-like structure on the top that keeps revolving with a radar, added cameras, sensors, and fancy technology, and has created a car that can drive itself. The radar and other equipment in the car figure out what’s in front of the car, what’s behind, and what’s on the sides. The car can “see” better than a human being. Even though the car has a driverless car license, it is required to have two people in it since it is still being tested out. Google is using its driverless technology to test out cars other than a Prius also.

You can watch a video here:

A new hotel project has been announced in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Yup, that’s the city with the world’s tallest building, one of the largest malls in the world, the largest indoor ski resort, man made islands in the shape of a palm, and much more. This new hotel is going to have rooms underwater. Here is a design example for such a hotel.

Many people consider one of two days (May 4 or May 25) as “Star Wars Day”. May 25 is celebrated because the first Star Wars movie was released on this day in 1977. May 4 is celebrated because ” ‘May the fourth’ be with you” sounds like a popular phrase from the movie series, “May the force be with you”.

The Constitution of Turkey is going to be re-written. Work has started on it. The Constitution is not a simple document. It defines the rights of the citizens living in the country, and what the country will do for them. It also describes, amongst other things, the type of leadership that the country will have, and who will have what powers.

The current Constitution that is in use in Turkey was written 30 years ago. Why change it? Well, the current Constitution gives more rights to the military in the country, and less rights and freedom of speech to the citizens. Also, the current constitution hardly gives rights to some minorities who live in Turkey. The new constitution will be written with an aim to make Turkey more democratic and fairer to its citizens.

The modern country of Turkey was founded in 1923. Its first president was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who is looked upon as the founder of the country. He was given the title “Ataturk” meaning “Father of the Turks.” It was under him that the first constitution of modern Turkey was written. Before 1923, Turkey was part of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest empires in the world. It lasted for over 600 years. At its peak, parts of Europe and Africa were also part of the Ottoman Empire.

Today, Turkey lives in two continents, Asia & Europe. Most of the Turkish people are Muslims. However, Turkey is a secular country, meaning Turkey does not support or oppose any religion. Ankara is its capital city and Istanbul is its largest city. Istanbul is the only large city in the world that is a part of two continents. The country has been a home to many great civilizations – Byzantine and Ottoman are two of them. Turkey has also created some of the greatest architectural marvels in the world, and is a gold mine of historical artifacts. Two of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” (the Mausoleum of Maussollos and the Temple of Artemis) were located in present-day Turkey.

There is a connection between the country Turkey, and the bird of the same name. When Europeans first encountered the bird in North America, they confused it with a kind of bird that was found in Turkey. That mistaken identity led to the name “turkey” for the bird, and that name has stuck.

Did You Know?

The tallest man in the world is from Turkey. Sultan Kosen is 8ft 1in (2.5m) tall!

A British magazine, Restaurant, publishes a list of the world’s best 50 restaurants every year. The number 1 spot on the list this year went again to Noma, a restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark. Noma serves new and innovative Nordic cuisine, and many of the ingredients are brought in from the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). Even the drinking water is brought in from Greenland (which is part of Denmark). The number two spot went to a restaurant in Spain called El Celler de Can Roca. To see the rest of the list, click here.

Talking about Copenhagen and food, there’s a chocolate store there called the Anthon Berg Generous Store. When you walk in, you’ll see a fine display of mouth watering chocolates. When you look for the price tags, you’ll notice there are none. You pay by promising to do a good deed. After you decide your deed and chocolate, you log into your social media account (such as Facebook), commit to your deed, and walk out with your chocolate.

Did You Know?

There is a “Hug-Me” Coca-Cola vending machine at a university in Singapore. You give the machine a hug, and it gives you a bottle of Coke.

credit: paz.ca for Noma’s image

China and the Philippines are having an argument over Scarborough Shoal, a few islands and reefs in the South China Sea. It started on April 8, when a few Chinese fishing boats were spotted near the shoal. The Philippines said that the Chinese boats were illegally fishing since the shoal belongs to the Philippines. The Philippines sent its war ship to the area, which was followed by China sending a couple of its ships to protect the Chinese fishing boats. China claims that Scarborough Shoal belongs to China.The situation cleared up and the fishing boats were allowed to return to China. However, a few days later, the Philippines complained that its research ship near the Scarborough Shoal was stopped by a Chinese ship. China says that the research ship was illegally in the area since the shoal belongs to China.

This isn’t the first time the two countries have argued over the shoal, and it’s not the only area in the South China Sea that the two countries have ownership disputes about. In fact, there are other countries that border the South China Sea that also have ongoing disputes about islands in the South China Sea. The disputes are not just about the islands. There are also arguments about what part of the “water body” belongs to which country. There is an international law defined by the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea that says that countries own a 200 mile (320km) zone around their coasts. Not all countries agree with this Law. China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam all border the South China Sea and have overlapping areas of the water body they claim as theirs. Now why would countries want to fight over water? The seabed contains oil, minerals, and natural gas, which add to the country’s wealth. The waters also have fish which is a valuable resource. In addition, there are important shipping routes through the South China Sea. Continue reading →

The International Pillow Fight Day was held on April 7. Thousands of people gathered in over a hundred cities with their pillows and had a fight. This was the fifth year this festival was held. It was started by a group called the “Urban Playground Movement”. The group tries to organize events that get people out into public areas for some fun. Here is a video of people having a pillow fight in London, UK.

On March 22, some soldiers in Mali overthrew the government of the country and took over. Mali’s leader was President Amadou Toumani Touré. These soldiers had been very frustrated with the country’s government because they felt the government had not provided the country’s soldiers with the equipment needed to fight off a group, called Tuareg, in northern Mali. Many Malian soldiers were dying because the Tuareg rebels had better weapons and equipment. However, while these soldiers were busy taking over as the new leaders of the country, the Tuareg rebels gained a stronger control over northern Mali and have since taken over a few towns, including the famous Timbuktu. On April 5, they claimed northern Mali to now be their independent land. They also declared an end to fighting.

Touré himself was part of the Malian Army and had forced the president of Mali to step down in 1991. He led the country for about a year until elections were held, and then stepped down. After that, Touré stood for elections in 2002 and won. He had been the president of Mali for the last decade. Mali was going to have the next presidential elections at the end of this month, and Touré had said that he would not take part in the elections.

The Tuareg people have lived in the Sahara desert area for thousands of years. They are nomads, and so they travel around. The area where they live is spread across several countries including Mali, Niger, Libya, Algeria, and Burkina Faso (see map). The Tuareg people have staged several rebellions in Mali (and other countries), wanting to form their own nation. They speak the language Tamasheq. The Tuareg people are nicknamed the “Blue People” because they often wear blue-colored clothing which leaves a bit of the blue color on their skin. Continue reading →

On March 31, Monterosso, a 5-year old British racehorse, won the Dubai World Cup, a horse race held annually in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Dubai World Cup was started in 1996, and is known as the “richest” horse race since it gives out the largest prize money in horse racing (US$10 million). Dubai is famous for many things, one of them being the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. The building goes up over half a mile into the sky! It is 828m (2,716ft) high. The Hollywood movie “Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol” had a scene of the actor Tom Cruise climbing the Burj Khalifa. Here is a video of the shooting of the scene.

Google introduced a futuristic project the company is working on called “Project Glass”. It’s glasses you would wear with a little screen, camera, and microphone that will project maps, weather, information about what you are looking at, communication with people, and lots more.