Kids News - World News Articles

Biologists have long believed the common ancestor of all primates was a small, deliberate animal which used its grasping hands and feet to scamper along thin branches foraging for fruits and insects. They theorized that the leaping skills came later, after the proto-primate evolved into two distinct groups — wet-nosed primates like lemurs and dry nosed primates that include monkeys, apes, and humans. However, the discovery of a perfectly preserved 52-million-year-old fossil seems to suggest that the first primate might have been leading an impressively acrobatic lifestyle, leaping from one tree to another....

Hurricane Maria, which tore through Puerto Rico in late September, knocked down 95 percent of the island’s cell towers and electric poles. While cellular telephone and utility companies have been frantically trying to restore the services, approximately 80% of Puerto Rico still has no wireless service or electricity....

Earlier this year, National Geographic released a list of the world’s 21 most beautiful beaches. High among them, especially for sea-shell lovers, is Shell Beach. Located in the Shark Bay World Heritage Area in Western Australia, it is home to a 37-mile (60 km) stretch of white cockle shells....

Festivals, most associated with religion, are an essential part of the Indian culture. There is rarely a week that goes by without some celebration. However, few are as widely observed as Diwali. Also known as Deepavali (row of lights), the joyous five-day ritual is the biggest and most anticipated of all Indian celebrations....

Thanks to hardworking firefighters and tamer winds, the devastating fires that have been ravaging parts of Northern California since October 8 finally appear to be under control. While some of the 100,000 evacuees are now being allowed back home, with 217,000 acres burned and more than 5,700 structures destroyed, many are returning to charred remains....

Wildfires are a common occurrence in California from early spring to late autumn due to the dry, windy, and hot weather conditions. However, the Golden State has never experienced anything as devastating as the fires that are currently burning through parts of Northern California. Though it has been four days since the first flames ignited, firefighters still have no control over the blazes that extend all the way from Napa to Mendocino County....

Aston Martin, the maker of James Bond’s preferred cars, may soon have another offering for the British secret service agent – a luxury submarine. However, this underwater craft is not reserved exclusively for Bond, but available to anyone that can afford its hefty $4 million cost....

Columbus Day has been a fixture on American calendars since 1937, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared October 12 a federal holiday to honor the Italian explorer who “discovered” the Americas in 1492. However, the holiday, whose date has since been changed to the second Monday of October, has always been somewhat controversial. Many people believe that Christopher Columbus should not be given credit for “discovering” the continent, since Native Americans had already been residing there for generations....

In most countries being able to drive is a fundamental right, afforded to anyone that is of legal age. However, this is not the case in Saudi Arabia. In this ultraconservative Islamic nation, women are not allowed to do many things that females worldwide take for granted, including getting behind the wheel. Though there is no official law in place, local authorities consistently turn down license requests from women, effectively resulting in a defacto ban. Those who defy the unwritten rule often end up losing their jobs and even risk getting arrested and jailed....