RTCPODS - China English Podcast Hub

Good morning and welcome to Kid News! I'm Kim. Today is Wednesday, February 19, 2025. And we begin with a colony of eager beavers saving taxpayers more than a million dollars. Politicians in the Czech Republic wanted to build a dam south of Prague to protect some native river fish and create a wetland. The project was approved but then stalled out during land negotiations. While humans argued and dithered for years, the local beaver population got down to business and basically built something equally as effective and twice as big practically overnight. A spokesperson for the country's Nature Conservation Agency says the critters, which are inherently excellent engineers, saved his countrymen the equivalent of 1.3 million U.S. dollars. It's full service, he told The Guardian. Beavers are absolutely fantastic. They do a brilliant job. Impressive. That's the adjective meteorologists are using to describe the ongoing mind-blowing cold gripping the U.S. In fact, by tomorrow, USA Today reports as much as 87 percent of the country will wake to temperatures below freezing. Juxtapose that with Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the southern hemisphere, which just recorded its hottest day in at least a decade. According to CBS News, the Mercury hit 111 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, which was about 145 degrees warmer than Bismarck, North Dakota, on the very same day. The latest Marvel movie is thumbing its nose at poor reviews. Captain America Brave New World was a runaway hit at the box office over the long holiday weekend, raking in $192 million globally. It is the biggest opening of 2025 to date. To call that a surprise would be an understatement. Not only did many critics pan the film, but early moviegoers did too. Brave New World received a B-minus cinema score from audiences, the worst grade given to any title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This morning, Marvel is no doubt laughing all the way to the bank. Travis Kelsey has some decisions to make, and the Chiefs aren't giving him much time to make them. According to The Athletic, the Kansas City tight end has just one month to tell the team whether he's staying for another season or calling it a career. Super Bowl 59 was not a good outing for the future Hall of Famer and capped off a year that wasn't great either. I know everybody wants to know whether or not I'm playing next year, he said on his New Heights podcast last week, and right now I'm just kicking everything down the road. That road will hit a fork on March 14. For those who can't shake It's a Small World after disembarking the Disney ride, brace yourselves. The song is getting longer. Richard and Robert Sherman wrote the two-verse ditty six decades ago and before they passed penned a third, which, if you'll pardon my singing, goes like this. Mother Earth unites us in heart and mind, and the love we give makes us humankind through our vast, wondrous land when we stand hand in hand. It's a small world after all. Park goers will hear the extended cut starting July 17. The Sherman brothers were also the musical force behind Chim Chim Tree and supercalifragilistic expialidocious in Mary Poppins, as well as songs in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Tom Sawyer, The Slipper and the Rose, The Story of Cinderella, and The Magic of Lassie. And he may live in a pineapple under the sea, but he'll soon help you get your letters from point A to point B. The U.S. post office announced this week that it's releasing new forever stamps honoring both Spongebob Squarepants and the classic 1947 book Goodnight Moon. An exact date hasn't been announced, but the new designs will be available sometime this year. Still to come, a new ad campaign for New Zealand gets attention, but not necessarily the good kind. But first, we want to shout out Grant Reckler of Lloyd Harbor, New York, who's turning 10 today. We know you're skiing right now, Grant, so we're not sure when you'll hear this, but when you do, know that your mom, dad, brother Ashton and our team at Kid News wish you happy moguls and a very happy birthday. Now today's Kid News Quiz. How much did a bunch of beavers save Czech taxpayers? About $1.3 million dollars. But South American City just had its hottest day in a decade. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil hit 111 degrees on Monday, 145 degrees hotter than it was in Bismarck, North Dakota. Which poorly reviewed Marvel movie is making a mountain of money at the box office? Captain America Brave New World. And does Travis Kelsey have to let the Chiefs know if he's returning or retiring? By March 14th, according to The Athletic. In today's Kid News Kicker, everyone must go. That's New Zealand's latest tourism ad campaign. And it's not landing well. The intent was to get tourists, especially Australians, to visit their South Pacific neighbor. But critics aren't having it. They say it sounds more like New Zealanders should leave, which is actually a real problem. Residents have been ditching the country in record numbers because of a soft economy. Others liken it to an everything must go clearance bin ad, while some point to potty humor and a frantic plea for a bathroom break. As one New Zealander posted, it's just embarrassing that this got past the first review. Did they get AI to do it? The campaign is supposed to run for a month. A big thank you to the Reckler family of Lloyd Harbor on Long Island in New York for sponsoring today's quiz. Happy birthday to Grant Reckler and hello to his brother Ashton. And shout outs for our Kid News Classrooms, Mrs. Tanner and Mrs. Weitengruber who love their Panthers at Birch Run North in Birch Run, Michigan, Ms. Lisio and her Ravens at Ravenwood in Kansas City, Missouri, and to California for Ms. Pineda and her Lynx at Lynnhaven in San Jose, and Ms. Roland and her Leopards at CP Lightfoot in Rancho Cucamonga. Thanks for listening. We'd like to make one more appeal to fill out our quick two-minute survey available on our website. It'll help shape the future of our podcast. Have a great day and we'll see you back here for more Kid News tomorrow morning.