Explosion & Earthquake - Breaking News

An oil refinery is a place where people make petrol and oil from crude oil. Many illegal oil refineries are in Nigeria. Many people work at these refineries. Nigeria does not have a lot of work.

Workers steal crude oil from official pipes. They clean the oil. They work in the bush in the Niger Delta.

Workers camp in the bush for many weeks. They work at night. Then, they sell the oil on the black market. It makes the water and air very dirty. It is very dangerous work.

Last Friday, one illegal oil refinery explodes. More than 100 people die. Their bodies burn. Their families can’t recognize them.

A strong earthquake hits Bosnia last week. Its magnitude is 5.7. A magnitude is a number which shows how strong an earthquake is. The strongest earthquake is a number 10.

The epicenter is about 40 kilometers away from Mostar. It takes place five kilometers underground. People feel it in cities as far as 400 kilometers away.

People in Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro feel it, too. One person dies and two people are hurt. The earthquake breaks houses and roads.

Earthquakes happen often in this area. In the next days, scientists expect that smaller earthquakes will happen.

Difficult words: earthquake (an event when the ground moves, and it breaks houses and roads), epicenter (the point on the earth’s ground over an earthquake), expect (to think that something will happen).

Socks and the new French president

People in France vote for a new president. A shop sells special socks. The faces of eight candidates are on the socks.

The shop predicts the president. 29% of customers buy socks with the face of Eric Zemmour. He has strong opinions about immigration and Islam. President Emmanuel Macron is next. 24% of customers buy socks with his face.

It is for fun. Nobody really knows who will win.

The socks are in many places. People from all around the world buy them. President Macron is the most popular in Germany. Zemmour socks sell best in Canada.

Difficult words: candidate (a person who people vote for as a leader), predict (to say what will probably happen in the future), immigration (when people come to live to another country).

Problems with bottled water

Some people in the world have safe water to drink. Around 800 million people have no safe water to drink. Some people can normally buy water in a plastic bottle. Bottled water is the most popular drink in the US.

This water is not better than water from a tap. It is much more expensive. It is much worse for the natural world.

Companies need three liters of water to make one liter of bottled water. They also must burn oil to make the bottles. Bottled water needs much more energy than water from a tap.

Difficult words: bottled (in a bottle), popular (something that many people like), tap (a device through which water comes in homes).

UK farmers have problems

Farmers in the UK have big problems. Energy is too expensive. They can’t grow vegetables.

One farmer grows cucumbers in England. He delivers cucumbers to the biggest UK supermarkets. Now his greenhouses are empty. He doesn’t have money for gas. It is too cold for his cucumbers.

Last year, it costs 25 pence to grow one cucumber. This year, the price doubles. Experts say that the price can be even 70 pence for one cucumber.

Other farmers have problems, too. For example, they grow peppers or tomatoes. Prices are getting higher for them. It happens because workers get more money. Another reason is that fertilizer is more expensive.