Squiz Kids acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands on which we podcast, the Turrbal and Combermary people.
Squiz Kids! It's your daily news fix.
Fun. Free. Fresh. Hello and welcome to Squiz Kids Today, your fresh take on what's happening in the world around you.
I'm Bryce Corbett. It's Monday, June 23.
In Squiz Kids today, winter solstice with a bang, rewilding Rwanda's rhinos, nudie swim in Hobart and labubu craze hits fever pitch. That's what's making news, kid style.
Did Saturday feel like a really short day?
Did you have a sinking suspicion that the sun rose and fell a little more quickly than usual?
Well, that's because it was the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, or the day of the year with the least amount of daylight.
It marks the middle point of the year for us, seasonally speaking, meaning from here until summer, the days will get the teensiest bit longer every day as the weather turns the teensiest bit warmer.
In outer space terms, the winter solstice is when the South Pole is tilted at its most acute angle away from the sun, hence the general chilliness.
Conversely, which is a fancy way of saying on the opposite side of things, the North Pole is pointing directly at the sun at this time of year, meaning they have a summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and the longest day of the year.
And to mark the winter solstice here in Australia, Mother Nature nature really turned on the winter chill, with record -breaking low temperatures, flurries of snow, dustings of frost, and all -round brrr conditions across the south and east of the country.
Meanwhile, the summer solstice lived up to expectations in the northern hemisphere.
Record crowds gathered at Stonehenge in England to watch the sun rise, as the longest day of the year there coincided with the hottest day of the year in 33 degree temperatures.
Paris was heaving too, with record crowds for the annual Fête de la Musique, where bands and DJs and musicians play on footpaths and town squares all over the city.
And across the United States, Americans are bracing themselves for a week of sweltering temperatures, and something called a heat dome settles over the continent.
And you're going to see and hear lots of news around today about the United States dropping bombs on nuclear enrichment facilities in the country of Iran.
It's a significant development as tensions in the Middle East increase and of course it will now dominate the news all week.
There's no doubt about that.
But just remember it's all happening a long way away from us and while it's definitely concerning there's nothing for us to worry about right now on our island down here on the other side of the earth.
Spin the globe. Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a news story from wherever it stops.
And today we've landed in Rwanda, a mountainous country in northwestern Africa, famous for gorillas and now famous for re -wilding rhinos.
Wait, what does re -wilding mean?
Let me explain. A conservation group in South Africa has been breeding southern white rhinos on a farm The southern white rhino is an endangered species and now that they're fully grown and need more space these rhinos are being transported across the African continent to national parks in different countries including Rwanda from captivity to the wild rewilding Some 70 rhinos were bundled up in individual crates craned onto trucks deposited into planes and flown north from South Africa to Rwanda where they have been trucked into their new home a national park which has a patrol of sniffer dogs
keeping poachers away.
Poachers are people who illegally hunt animals.
It's hoped the rhinos will now flourish in their new home.
And with a recent bunch of re -wilding rhinos having already had 11 baby rhinos, things are looking pretty good.
Pop Culture Corner They're small, they're furry, they have nine sharp teeth and a cheeky grin, and the world is losing its mind over them.
I'm talking about La Boo Boos, the latest plush toy craze that has flooded social media and seen crowds queue for hours in front of shopping centres to get their hands on one.
Designed in Hong Kong, created in China, the La Boo Boo has shown up on the belts of NBA players, pop stars and celebrities, fueling a pop culture frenzy that rivals The Beanie Babies, Tamagotchi and even Pokémon. It's all part of what's called the Blind Box Toy Market.
So called because you buy the box without knowing exactly which Labubu is inside it.
And get this, sales of Labubu around the world have topped out at 21 billion Aussie Dollars so far.
My oh my Believe it or not So we know from the lowdown that the winter solstice has brought some crazy cold weather to us here in Australia The sort of weather that makes you want to rug up in your warmest clothes and slippers and stay snug inside side.
Which is why 3 ,000 people woke at dawn in Hobart on Saturday, took off all their clothes and went swimming in the freezing waters of the Derwent River.
In what organisers say is the biggest nudie swim the state has ever seen, 3 ,000 brave souls stripped down to their birthday suits and plunged into the icy waters to celebrate the winter solstice and to mark the end of an arts festival in Tasmania called Dark Mofo.
People who did the swim felt that they felt energised by it.
Personally, there aren't enough blankets or enough cups of warm milo in the world to make me do that.
It's a big day for us at Squiz Kids today, as we set off later this morning for our Squiz Kids Q &A with the Governor -General, Sam Mostyn.
A huge thanks to all of the kids who sent in hundreds of questions for the GG.
You are all so clever.
We've whittled it down to a handful that we'll be asking her when she takes the Q &A hot seat in a couple of hours from now.
The special podcast will drop next Tuesday, July 1.
Mark your diaries, you won't want to miss it.
Time for the quiz. This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you've been listening.
Question number one.
True or false. The winter solstice occurs when the South Pole is at its furthest point from the sun. It is true.
Question number two.
Which country in Africa, starting with R, have more than 70 rhinos bred on a farm been sent to live in?
Yeah, well done if you said Rwanda.
Question number three.
Name the plush toy that is sending shoppers into a frenzy around the globe.
Yeah, that's right, it's the La Boo Boo.
Shout out. It's Monday, June 23.
And this morning we'll see the final tie -breaking championship winning game played in the NBA as the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder face off to see who will hold the trophy aloft this year.
Plus, it's a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today and tomorrow.
Declan from Oran Park, David from Ashmont, Tohi from Canberra, Oliver from Templestowe, Eve from Blackheath, Aaron from Newcastle, James from Orange, Sidak from Forest Lake, Elsie from Indooroopilly, Trevor from Boulwara, Leo from Scarborough, Geoffrey from Kensington and Rosie, who's currently road tripping around the Northern Territory.
And belated birthday shoutouts today go to Danille from Cherrybrook, Leah from Gippsland and Nick from Manlyvale.
Today's classroom shoutouts go to Class 4S with Ms Bartlett at St Clement of Rome Primary School in Bulleen, Class 6E with Ms Crawley at Blackburn Lake Primary School and Class F3 Flower with Ms Marsa at the Aleph Bafasi School in St Ives.
Don't forget, if you've got a birthday coming up and you want a shout -out, or if you're after a classroom shout -out, drop us a line at squizkids at thesquiz .com .au or fill out the form on our website.
Well, that's all we have time for.
Thanks for listening to Squiz Kids today.
We'll be back again tomorrow with a special Squiz the World episode as we hop into the Squiz Kids Superfast Supersonic Jetliner to pay a virtual visit to the country of Cuba.
Time to get your salsa on, people.
In the meantime, get out there and have a most excellent day.
Over and out.
