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2025-05-13 05.13.2025

Rocky Rockies, Stocks Soar, Climate Change Finding, Jockey Trouble, Driverless Trucks & Weight, What?

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The school year is winding down, but learning doesn't have to. IXL is an online platform helping millions of students ace their academics. 75 scientific studies back up the boost they'll get in math, science, reading and social studies. And spring is the perfect time to give it a try. Kids get instant feedback and explanations. Parents get reports showing what's working and where more help is needed. It's a win-win. And for a limited time, Kid News listeners can get 20% off when they sign up at ixl.com slash Kid News. Check out the monthly and annual memberships at ixl.com slash Kid News. Good morning and welcome to Kid News. I'm Tori. Today is Tuesday, May 13, 2025. And we begin with the bad news bears of baseball. And this year it's not the Chicago White Sox, which just last season set a modern-day record by losing 121 games. This time, a shadow hangs over at the Colorado Rockies, who started the year with an abysmal seven wins and 33 losses. According to the Wall Street Journal, at the pace they're currently on, they would drop 137 games. Even the infamous 1899 Cleveland Spiders, the team widely considered to be the worst ever assembled, only lost 134. Saturday's game was particularly bad, a 21-0 drubbing by the Padres. Maybe they can turn it around, but the team's general manager is done hoping. Just minutes after that game, he fired longtime manager Bud Black. President Trump is on the first big foreign policy trip of his second term. He flew to the Middle East yesterday with stop number one today in the scorching Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. Tomorrow, he heads to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Before leaving the White House, he announced a trade breakthrough with China, with both parties agreeing to lower their tariffs by 115% for 90 days. The stock market soared on the news. The Dow closed the day up more than 1,000 points, while the Nasdaq jumped almost 800. A single group of people may be responsible for most of our global warming, according to a stunning new claim. A recent study in the journal Nature Climate Change blames the richest 10% of the world's population for an astonishing two-thirds of climate warming. The reason is largely bigger homes, more cars, private planes, and owning businesses and other investments that give off an abundance of carbon emissions. The poorest half of the world population accounted for only one-tenth of the problem, according to the research. The authors of the study point out that the wealthy can make choices that those of lesser means cannot, and recycling electric cars and other measures to save the planet can't solve the problem if the affluent continue wasteful practices. He won the Kentucky Derby a week and a half ago. Now he's been banned from racing for two days and facing a stiff fine. Jockey Junior Alvarado is in trouble for using the whip on his horse more times than permitted by the rules. Under horse racing integrity and safety regulations, jockeys are allowed to strike their horse six times in a race. Alvarado used the whip on sovereignty eight times, and this was his second offense in the last six months, so his fine was doubled to $62,000, which is 20% of his winnings from the Derby. Alvarado will also not be allowed to race on the 29th and 30th of this month. Under the rules, he can appeal his punishment. The next time you see a giant tractor trailer on the road, you may look up at the cab to find no one inside, at least if you're around some parts of Texas. The autonomous trucking firm Aurora has announced self-driving commercial service between Houston and Dallas. The trucks are equipped with sensors that can see the length of four football fields. The company has been testing its vehicles safely so far, and while driverless big rigs may seem scary to some, developers claim that the technology will actually make roads safer and aid a critical sector of the economy that often can't find enough drivers. Other trucking companies plan to launch driverless service modeled after Auroras later this year. Just ahead, surprising news about how much time it takes to beef up your biceps, but first, our kid news quiz. Who's got the worst record in baseball this year? The Colorado Rockies. According to a new study, the richest 10% of the population is responsible for two-thirds of what? What's remarkable about some big rigs driving between Dallas and Houston? They might be driverless. Why was the winning jockey of the Kentucky Derby, Junior Alvarado, fined after the event? He whipped his horse too many times during the race. In today's kid news kicker, does extra time equal extra muscle when it comes to pumping iron? According to new findings published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, fitness buffs may want to throw in the towel earlier than they're used to. The study found that after just 30 minutes, there are diminishing returns from lifting weights. In fact, short bursts of workouts appear to be as effective as extensive training sessions So long as participants lift a challenging workload, just two solid 30-minute sessions a week were deemed to be optimal. The key is to exercise major muscle groups and be consistent in your commitment. Before we go, shout-outs for some of our fabulous kid news teachers, Mrs. V and the Lone Tree Leopard at Lone Tree in Antioch, California, Mrs. Oman and the Roslyn Rockets at Roslyn School in Roslyn, Pennsylvania, and Ms. Holt and her Tigers at Tillicom in Lakewood, Washington.