Scotland gets pandas

Two giant pandas are arriving in Edinburgh this weekend from the Chinese province of Sichuan.
Tian Tian and Yang Guang will be living in a special enclosure in Edinburgh Zoo. Zoo officials hope they will produce a baby panda, but it is very hard to get pandas to breed. The pair have been lent to the zoo for ten years, but will not be officially on show for two weeks.
The pair will be visible on the internet, with two special cameras monitoring what they are doing. There will also be a special booking system at the zoo to cope with the crowds of people who will want to see them.

Biggest strike for years hits the UK

Around two million people went on strike this Wednesday in the UK. They were protesting about changes to their pension schemes which will mean they have to retire later and pay more money into their retirement fund.
The staff all work in the "public sector" which means their jobs are paid for by the state. Lots of teachers and headteachers were on strike, and thousands of schools were closed. Some hospital appointments were cancelled and rubbish was not collected in some areas.
There was a huge row after the strike when TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who likes to be controversial, joked that strikers "should be shot". So far there have been 21,000 complaints about what he said.

UK winter not cold enough

It has officially been one of the warmest Novembers on record. Most people are happy with this, but there are problems.
One problem is that it is not cold enough for outdoor ice rinks. Rinks in Manchester, London and the South of England have had to turn people away because the surface of the ice was melting. The problem was made worse because it was very windy, which was blowing water away before it could freeze on the ice.

No women on sports list

Every year the public service broadcaster in the UK runs a competition called Sports Personality of the Year. Sports writers are asked to name sportsmen and women who have done good things each year and a short list is put together by the BBC.
Viewers then vote on who the winner should be.
This year there is an outcry because no women are on the short list. This is not because no British women have done anything good in sport. Women have won world titles this year in taekwondo, various swimming events, rowing and the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon event as well as team sports.