Our top story is out of the Eastern European nation of Serbia. A couple weeks ago, Serbians experienced two mass shootings in two days, including their first-ever school shooting. The people protested, and the government asked all citizens to disarm which means handing in their weapons and ammo. In the first three days, Serbian citizens voluntarily turned in 6,000 guns and 300 rounds of ammunition.

Ryan Willard 01:04

Is this the first time a country has asked citizens to hand over their guns?

Pamela Kirkland 01:08

This is not the first time. In the 1990s the Australian Government passed gun reform laws after a mass shooting. The UK followed suit and in the early 2000s, Germany raised the legal age to buy a gun. All these reforms led to a decrease in gun violence and suicide and the end of mass shootings in those nations.

Ryan Willard 01:30

In other European News, thousands of people have fled their homes due to floods in Italy. More than 20 rivers have overflowed their banks and hundreds of landslides were reported after six months’ worth of rain fell in 36 hours. Flooded roadways and no electricity mean it has been difficult to get help into the flooded areas. In music news, The Weeknd, the Canadian popstar, famous for songs like 'Blinding Lights' and 'Die for You' is changing his name to The Wednesday. Nope, but that was a good guess, he is changing it back to his birth name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye. His upcoming record could be his last as The Weeknd. Earlier this year, Guinness World Record named him the most popular musical artist in the world because he has a whopping 111 million streams on Spotify every month. Wow.

Pamela Kirkland 02:23

Speaking of World Records, a professor at the University of South Florida has broken the record for the longest time spent living underwater. Professor Dettori has been living 30 feet below the surface in a lagoon in Key Largo, Florida since March 1st. That's 83 days on May 23rd. And he's not stopping. He says he'll stay in his underwater lodge for 100 days. Scientists are studying how underwater pressure affects him. His day-to-day life involves waking up early, exercising, eating a lot of protein, and teaching classes. He says the number one thing he misses is the sun.

Ryan Willard 03:07

I would have missed the sun too. But at least fish can swim up to his window and say hi, that's pretty cool, too.

Pamela Kirkland 03:13

Definitely. In other scientific news, a month ago, a large fireball was spotted in the sky over northern Maine. But so far, no one has found the meteorite itself. And that means there's still a chance to claim the $25,000 prize being offered by the Maine mineral and gem Museum. The first person or people who bring in a piece of the meteorite that weighs at least two pounds will win the money and museum representative say there have been a lot of meteor wrongs. No meteorites, yet.

Ryan Willard 03:55

Pamela, when you were a kid, what was the best day in school?

Pamela Kirkland 03:59

Oh, probably a movie day. I loved when my teacher showed us a movie with a roll on the TV.

Ryan Willard 04:06

Exactly. That's my favorite too. But one Florida teacher is under investigation for showing a movie to her students. Fifth grade teacher Jenna Barbie was teaching her students about Earth scientists and showed them the Disney film 'Strange World' which features a gay character. Every student had signed a permission slip from their parents to watch PG films but one parent who is also on the school board reported Barbie to the Florida Department of Education, 2022. Florida law they don't say gay law prevents teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ topics in kindergarten through third-grade classes. That law was recently expanded all the way to 12th grade so the teacher is now under investigation to see if she broke the law. Barbie has already resigned from the school but the Department of Education could decide to take away her teaching license for showing a Disney movie in class. This is an outrage.

Pamela Kirkland 04:59

In a bit of happy news, the world's oldest dog turned 31. Bobi from Portugal broke the record for oldest dog earlier this year and is still going strong. Bobi's family threw him a birthday party and over 100 people attended what birthday treats were on offer for Bobi. Since Bobi only eats human food, he got an extra portion on his special day. His family says he's lived so long because of the calm, peaceful environment at home.

Ryan Willard 05:31

Next up, a piece of news I am super excited about there's a new Muppet on Sesame Street, and he's Filipino. TJ is the first Filipino Muppet and was designed by Filipino American animator Bobby Pontius TJs first segment was all about confidence believing in yourself and others to go yo gamers listen up. The new Nintendo-released Legends of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom sold an astonishing 10 million games in the first three days after it launched. That makes it the fastest-selling Nintendo game ever and could make it 2020 three most popular game.

Pamela Kirkland 06:10

Zelda fans really showed up, but fans of TikTok might be in for trouble. Last week, Montana became the first state to completely ban Tiktok. The ban will go into effect on January 1, 2024. But TikTok is probably going to challenge the law within the appeal. The new law won't affect individuals. Instead, it will be illegal to offer TikTok on marketplaces, like Apple's App Store or the Google Play Store. Other states are considering similar moves because of fears that US user data will be made available to the Chinese government by tick tock, which is owned by a Chinese company. Other social media apps and sites could be seeing additional regulation soon in tomorrow's episode, we'll talk about new social media bills being debated by Congress. That was Ten Things You Need to Know.

Ryan Willard 07:12

Check out tomorrow’s episode, where we’ll cover National Pet Month AND new Social Media laws.

Pamela Kirkland 07:16

I'm Pamela Kirkland.

Ryan Willard 07:18

And I'm Ryan Willard. Thanks for listening to The Ten News.

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