Monday, 14 November, 2022
World leaders meet in Bali; Big Ben bongs again; Kangaroos win, Wallabies lose; and meet the gloopy ravioli fish.
LINKS
Big Ben stats: https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/big-ben/facts-figures/great-bell/
Big Ben video: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-63600578
Gloopy ravioli fish – aka deep sea batfish https://www.sciencealert.com/a-host-of-bizarre-creatures-has-been-found-at-the-bottom-of-the-ocean
Mr Bathysaurus – scary fish https://twitter.com/FishGuyKai/status/1586978777443184642
Tripod fish https://twitter.com/BushBlitz2/status/1582175852535521281
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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If you happened to be in Bali today, trying to enjoy a family holiday like many thousands of Aussie families do every year, you might find the road to Seminyak or the beach at Nusa Dua a little more congested than usual.
And that’s because 20 of the world’s leaders and their sizeable entourages will be holding a big meeting there today called the G20.
You know how the school council works at your school, right? How school and house captains get together and nut out problems together?
That’s the principle of these big meetings of international leaders.
G20 is short for Group of 20 … and that means leaders from a group of 20 different countries getting together to nut out some of the biggest problems the world currently faces.
Our own Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be there – joined by the likes of US President Joe Biden, new British PM Rishi Sunak, France’s Emmanuel Macron, India’s Narendra Modi, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Ukraine’s president Vlodymyr Zelensky – who’ll join via video call on account of the war that’s still raging in his country – and of course host of the meeting, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo .. to name a few.
All eyes today will be on a meeting that is expected to take place between US President Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping. Why is that such a big deal? Because the US is the number one superpower in the world right now, and China is fast rising to challenge it for the number one spot. So, yeah: there’s a bit of tension ..
So what are they meeting to discuss? Topics on the table will include the war in Ukraine, the state of the world economy – oh and the small matter of global warming.
It’s not as if anyone expects there will be solutions to any of these big problems after one meeting: but getting together around a table, and discussing issues and working out together how best to cooperate to address them is an important part of the problem solving process – whether you’re two kids in a playground or leaders of 20 of the world’s biggest countries.
Let’s hope they’ve all got their listening ears on ..
SPIN THE GLOBE
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Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a news story from wherever it stops. And today we’ve landed in England, in London, where Big Ben has got his bong back.
Big Ben is the name of a bell that sits inside a very famous clock tower that is part of Britain’s Houses of Parliament building complex. If you’ve ever been to London – or seen tourist photos of the place – chances are you’ve seen it.
For the last five years Big Ben has been silent – as refurbishment work has been undertaken to restore the old bell and the clock tower it sits atop.
But yesterday, on the occasion of Remembrance Sunday, Big Ben bonged again.
I’ve stuck a link to video inside the Big Ben belfry … belfry is the name of the part of a clock tower in which the bells live. Here’s a couple of fun facts: the Big Ben bell weighs 13.7 tonnes – which is about the same as two elephants – and it sounds the musical note E when it is struck.
SPORT TIME
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And what a weekend in sport it was … starting with the rugby league world cup in England – and the Kangaroos are into the final after just beating a determined New Zealand on Saturday morning. The 16-14 score line told the story of a game that yo-yo’ed for the full 80 minutes. The Aussies will now meet Samoa in the final next weekend after the Islanders just scraped their way to victory over England in their semi final – winning by a single point 27-26.
It was a single point that was the undoing of the Wallabies in Italy on Saturday as the boys in green and gold lost to the Italians – going down by an agonising 27-28 in Florence. It’s the first time in 39 years that the Wallabies have lost to Italy – with all sorts of questions flying yesterday about the decisions made before and during the game by the Aussie coach. Oh dear ..
No such disappointment for New Zealand’s womens’ rugby team at the weekend – after the Black Ferns were crowned winners of the women’s rugby world cup after beating England 34-31 – breaking England’s 30-game winning streak in front of a wildly celebrating home crowd at Auckland’s Eden Park. Go you good things!
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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We talk a lot on the podcast about missions into outer space to discover new worlds and alien life forms – but down here on Earth, we’re also going to the deepest parts of the ocean and discovering weird new species.
A bunch of scientists from Museums Victoria recently took a boat trip out into the middle of the Indian Ocean – off the coast of Western Australia – and discovered a whole host of exciting, never before-seen species of marine life.
Like the six species of flying fish that had never before been recorded, or the tripod fish that walks on stilts along the bottom of the sea, or the truly terrifying Bathysaurus – or deep sea lizard fish as it’s otherwise known – with its razor sharp teeth and wide-ugly mouth.
Thankfully, they also across a deep sea batfish – which looks like a gloopy piece of ravioli with a tail and legs – with two adorable bug eyes – that scampers across the seabed searching for food.
I’ve stuck links in today’s episode notes to photos of these amazing discoveries. Enjoy …
THE SQUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What is the name of the big bell inside the clock tower of London’s Houses of Parliament?
- Who did the Wallabies lose to on Saturday for the first time in 39 years?
- Which two rugby league teams will meet in the grand final of the World Cup next weekend?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s November 14 … 40 days until Xmas … now that IS close … it’s also a birthday for King Charles – his very first as the King – as well as a birthday for my mum … happy birthday Mum!
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today…
Phoenix from Pyrmont, Evie from Kingston, Alejandro from Abbotsford, Elahni from South Australia, Olivia from Sydney, Theo from Maroubra, Indinicka (pronounced In-duh-knee-ka) from Yeppoon, Henry from Cronulla, Reece from Floraville, Sarghi from Cannon Hill, Harry from Canberra and Kawana presently travelling in Cambodia!
Belated birthday shout outs go to Hayden from Quirindi, Jack from Townsville, Lerita listening in Albania and Jeffrey listening over in Ohio – USA.
And today’s classroom shoutouts go to … class 3A at Oakhill Drive Public School in Castle Hill, class 3L and Mrs Laing at Epping West Public School,
class 3/6NS with Miss S & Miss Jrays at Marayong Public School, class 5W at Oxford Falls Primary School and happy birthday to their teacher Ms Watson, the students at Cannon Hill State School and happy birthday to Ms
Fernandaz, class 3J at Ivanhoe Primary School and happy birthday to Ms Harford for today and to Mrs Kittler who celebrated on Friday.
And finally – a big shout out to Harley and all the kids in Year 6 MP4 and MP5 at Greenslopes State School .. It was great visiting you on Friday – and I hope you have an awesome time at camp this week!
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Big Ben
- Italy
- Australia + Samoa