Children and the cost of conflict - Explained in 60 seconds

About 16 million children were born into conflict in 2015, Children in Need says. Children bear much of the brunt of global conflict, particularly in places like Syria. (BBC news)

Children are among the most unprotected people, so they're the most innocent victims of stupidity. In the 21st century and after so many great things achieved by humanity, how can war still be faced as a solution?

Battle of Britain: Flypast for 75th anniversary of 'Hardest Day'

Aircraft including 18 Spitfires and six Hurricanes have flown over south-east England to mark 75 years since the Battle of Britain's "Hardest Day".

The event recalled 18 August 1940, when Bromley's Biggin Hill and other South East military bases came under attack from the German Luftwaffe.

It became known as the "hardest day" as both sides recorded their greatest loss of aircraft during the battle.

The Battle of Britain lasted throughout the summer of 1940.

The special commemoration honoured the pilots engaged in the 1940 battle

The day was marked with three flight formations

Marking the 75th anniversary of the 'Hardest Day'

Live updates

The Luftwaffe flew 850 sorties, involving 2,200 aircrew, while the RAF resisted with 927 sorties, involving 600 aircrew. The RAF and German Air Force lost 136 aircraft in one day.

The special commemoration, staged from the former RAF airfield at Biggin Hill, now a commercial airport, honours the pilots, engineers, armourers, operations staff and ground crews who faced attack that day.

Battle of Britain

July to October 1940

1,023

aircraft lost by RAF

1,887

aircraft lost by Luftwaffe

• 3,000 aircrew served with RAF Fighter Command
• 20% were from the British Dominions and occupied European or neutral countries
• 544 RAF Fighter Command pilots were killed
• 2,500 Luftwaffe aircrew were killed

Source: RAF

More than 3,000 spectators went to Biggin Hill to see the aircraft including squadron leader Tony Pickering who flew on the "Hardest Day".

He said: "I don't think I was ever afraid. You've got to make sure you don't get too enthusiastic. You couldn't take on the German air force by yourself.

"It's lovely to see these aircraft. Beautifully designed aircraft and there's no doubt about it. The people who made them... they did a good job."

The day was marked with three flight formations, which took off from the airport at 13:00 BST:

• Grice flight: Eight aircraft will head south and west to fly over Surrey and West Sussex to the Solent, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and return via Dunsfold
• Mortimer flight: Eight aircraft will head over Eynsford, Chelsfield, Detling, Farningham, Downe and RAF Kenley
• Hamlyn flight: Eight aircraft will fly over Sevenoaks, Yalding, Ashford and the former RAF Hawkinge, with a special salute over the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-Le-Ferne on the white cliffs of Dover

On 10 July, aircraft including Hurricanes and Typhoons took part in a flypast over Buckingham Palace as part of the 75th anniversary. (BBC NEWS)

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Nagasaki atomic bomb marked in Japan 70 years on

Nagasaki

               Before the bomb                After the bomb

Nagasaki survivor: 'Skin like a rag'

A survivor of the Nagasaki bombing has been telling his story at a ceremony to mark its 70th anniversary.

Sumiteru Taniguchi, now 86, was out on his bike working as a postman when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city.

At least 70,000 people died in the attack, which came three days after another bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

Memorial services have been taking place to commemorate the day.

From BBC News

Hiroshima remembered as lanterns light up the night

Residents in the Japanese city of Hiroshima are commemorating the 70th anniversary of the first atomic bomb being dropped by a US aircraft.

People across the country observed a minute's silence at the exact time an American aircraft dropped the bomb in 1945.

As dusk fell in Hiroshima, the ceremonies culminated with the release of thousands of colourful paper lanterns on the Motoyasu river. (BBC News)

The tram that survived the Hiroshima bomb

One of the few remaining trams which survived the Hiroshima bomb has been restored to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the attack.

It has been repainted its original colours - blue and grey - and has video testimony from survivors on board.

After the blast, the city's tram system was back up and running in only three days. (BBC News)

Tetsushi Yonezawa was one of only 14 people to live after being within 750m of the hypocentre of the explosion that took place nearly 70 years ago

Now in their 70s and 80s, the survivors have given a unique insight into what happened on that day for a new ITV documentary, The Day They Dropped The Bomb, some of them speaking for the first time on British television.

Tetsushi Yonezawa, is one of only 14 people to live after being within 750m of the hypocentre of the explosion, 

Now 80, Tetsushi recalled how he was an 11-year-old, packed on a tram with his mother when the bomb hit.

All other passengers on the tram died but Tetsushi and his mother survived because they were wedged in by other travellers whose bodies protected them from the blast.

He said: 'My mother and I were surrounded by people so we were uninjured. I knocked my head and got shards of glass in my hair but at that time I didn't notice them.' 

Takashi Tanemori, 76,  was a seven-year-old who was running around and playing with his friends

when his life changed forever.

The bomb was the first atomic weapon and wiped out the historic city when it struck Hiroshima on August, 6, 1945, leaving the famous mushroom cloud (pictured)

'The whole of Hiroshima has been annihilated' was how communications operative Yoshie Oka communicated the events to the army. A survivor is pictured surveying remains his home town

From

Why some Americans want the Confederate battle flag taken down

Lots of people across America are campaigning for a flag to be taken down because they say it could be viewed as a racist symbol.

People have been protesting against the use of the Confederate battle flag and want it taken down.

The Confederate battle flag is flown in front of some official buildings in parts of the US.

It's not the country's national flag, but was used by some states during America's civil war 150 years ago.

The Confederate battle flag is in the news because it was used by the man the authorities think killed nine black people in a racist attack in South Carolina.

Now campaigners there and in some other states say the flag should no longer be flown.

You can find out more about protests claiming black people aren't treated as fairly as white people in the US in Ricky's Newsround Special on Growing Up Black in America.

This is the official American flag. Campaigners say there's no need for the Confederate battle flag to be flown.

What is the Confederate battle flag?

About 150 years ago a group of states in the south of the USA broke away from the rest of the country because they wanted to keep slavery going.They used the Confederate flag as their symbol in the war that followed.They lost that war and slavery was ended.

A symbol of history or racism?

Many people in the USA think the flag is a symbol of racism because the states which created it wanted the slavery of black people to keep going.

Some online shops have stopped selling the flag.

Politicians now say that it's time to put the Confederate battle flag away.

President Obama says that it only "belongs in a museum".

But other people, particularly some of those who live in the south of the USA, say that the flag isn't racist, but is part of their history. (BBC)

VE Day: Veterans join Queen at VE Day service and parade

The Queen has joined around 1,000 veterans and their families in a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey to mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day.

The Archbishop of Canterbury said the veterans had ensured "victory over the greatest darkness of the 20th Century".

Crowds gathered to watch a military parade passing through Westminster towards Buckingham Palace.

It was followed by a fly-past of World War Two aircraft.

The Red Arrows and World War Two aircraft flew over Horse Guards Parade

The Queen watched as a wreath was laid at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior

The Queen attended the service with the Duke of Edinburgh

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From BBC News

Bergen-Belsen liberated 70 years ago

British troops liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany - where around 70,000 people died during the Holocaust - 70 years ago.

The 15-year-old Anne Frank - made famous by her diary - was among the thousands to die there from typhus, just a few months before the camp was liberated.

Graham Satchell has been speaking Gena Turgel, one of the few remaining survivors rescued from the camp.

From BBC News

Bergen-Belsen began as a prison camp for captured prisoners of war. It was not like Auschwitz where numerous gas chambers killed thousands everyday. But Bergen-Belsen was no less cruel or horrifying. Most died at Bergen-Belsen from being shot, hung, starved to death, or killed by disease. This camp did not fit the standard organization of a concentration camp. It had several camps that segregated the prisoners. Camp officials even traded important prisoners, including Jews, in exchange for money from different governments. Bergen-Belsen was unique in many ways, but it was still a camp where thousands suffered and died under the harsh hand of Nazi leadership.

In the winter of 1944-1945, the situation at Bergen-Belsen deteriorates. There is little or no food and the sanitary conditions are dreadful. Many of the prisoners become ill.

 . Margot and Anne Frank come down with typhus. They both die just a few weeks before the camp is liberated.

 .Janny Brilleslijper witnesses their deaths: "First Margot had fallen out of bed onto the stone floor. She couldn't get up anymore. Anne died a day later."

From http://isurvived.org/Bergen-Belsen_liberation.html

Islamic State 'destroys ancient statues in Iraq'

How further can this go? How will the future generations face the destruction of such important historic art? Who will they blame?

There has been strong condemnation of the destruction of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in Iraq.

Officials say Islamic State fighters have demolished, looted and bulldozed the city, which dates back to the 13th Century BC.

Jihadi militants have previously released videos of themselves destroying artefacts and statues of great archaeological importance in the city of Mosul.
 

IS says ancient shrines and statues are "false idols"

Archaeologists and officials have expressed outrage about the bulldozing of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud by Islamic State militants in Iraq.

IS began demolishing the site, which was founded in the 13th Century BC, on Thursday, according to Iraqi officials.

The head of the UN's cultural agency condemned the "systematic" destruction in Iraq as a "war crime".

IS, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, says shrines and statues are "false idols" that have to be smashed.

"They are erasing our history," said Iraqi archaeologist Lamia al-Gailani.

Nimrud (pictured) lies just south-east of Mosul, which IS controls

Remarkable bas-reliefs, ivories and sculptures have been discovered in Nimrud

Some Nimrud artefacts have been moved - such as these statues now housed in Baghdad

Nimrud lies on the Tigris river, about 30km (18 miles) south-east of Mosul, which IS controls.

Many of the artefacts found there have been moved to museums in Baghdad and overseas, but many remain on site.

BBC Middle East correspondent Jim Muir says the attempt to destroy Nimrud is already being compared with the Taliban's demolition of theBamiyan Buddha rock sculptures in Afghanistan in 2001.

As well as destroying artefacts, Islamic State also trades in them - and the trade is one of its key sources of revenue.

'Levelled'

IS "assaulted the historic city of Nimrud and bulldozed it with heavy vehicles," the tourism and antiquities ministry said on Thursday.

It said the militants continued to "defy the will of the world and the feelings of humanity", calling for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss how to protect cultural heritage in Iraq.

Nimrud covers a large area, and it is not yet clear whether it has been totally destroyed, our correspondent says.

But a local tribal source told Reuters news agency: "Islamic State members came to the Nimrud archaeological city and looted the valuables in it and then they proceeded to level the site to the ground.

"There used to be statues and walls as well as a castle that Islamic State has destroyed completely."

From BBC News

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70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp

On the 27th January 1945, the soviet troops discovered horrific scenes  at one of the many Nazi death camps and one of the most feared - Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland

It was where, in occupied Poland between 1940-45, Nazi Germany murdered one million men, women and children simply for being Jews.

This photograph was taken at Auschwitz-Birkenau by Alexander Vorontsov, a Soviet photographer who accompanied the soldiers of the Red Army when they liberated the camp on 27 January 1945. 

Auschwitz concentration camp was a network of German Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II. It consisted of Auschwitz I (the original camp), Auschwitz II–Birkenau (a combination concentration/extermination camp),Auschwitz III–Monowitz (a labor camp to staff an IG Farben factory), and 45 satellite camps.Auschwitz I was first constructed to hold Polish political prisoners, who began to arrive in May 1940. The first extermination of prisoners took place in September 1941, and Auschwitz II–Birkenau went on to become a major site of the Nazi "Final Solution to the Jewish question". From early 1942 until late 1944, transport trains delivered Jews to the camp's gas chambers from all over German-occupied Europe, where they were killed with the pesticide Zyklon B. At least 1.1 million prisoners died at Auschwitz, around 90 percent of them Jewish; approximately 1 in 6 Jews killed in the Holocaust died at the camp. Others deported to Auschwitz included 150,000 Poles, 23,000 Romani and Sinti, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war, 400 Jehovah's Witnesses,homosexuals, and tens of thousands of people of diverse nationalities. Many of those not killed in the gas chambers died of starvation, forced labor, infectious diseases, individual executions, and medical experiments.

In the course of the war, the camp was staffed by 6,500 to 7,000 members of the German Schutzstaffel (SS), approximately 15 percent of whom were later convicted of war crimes. Some, including camp commandant Rudolf Höss, were executed. The Allied Powers refused to believe early reports of the atrocities at the camp, and their failure to bomb the camp or its railways remains controversial. One hundred and forty-four prisoners are known to have escaped from Auschwitz successfully, and on October 7, 1944, two Sonderkommando units—prisoners assigned to staff the gas chambers—launched a brief, unsuccessful uprising.

As Soviet troops approached Auschwitz in January 1945, most of its population was evacuated and sent on  a death march. The prisoners remaining at the camp were liberated on January 27, 1945, a day now commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In the following decades, survivors such as Primo Levi, Viktor Frankl, and Elie Wiesel wrote memoirs of their experiences in Auschwitz, and the camp became a dominant symbol of the Holocaust. In 1947, Poland founded a museum on the site of Auschwitz I and II, and in 1979, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
in Wikipedia

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100 years on from the 1914 Christmas Truce

100 years ago this Christmas, a special event took place during World War One.

It became known as the Christmas Truce.

On Christmas day in 1914, British and German soldiers who were fighting against each other in the war, laid down their weapons and sang carols, shared food and played a football match together.

A century later, many people all over the world have come together to mark the occasion in different ways.

On Wednesday night, soldiers from Britain and Germany have joined forces to recreate the Christmas Truce in a friendly football match.

Last week, the Duke of Cambridge and England football manager Roy Hodgson helped to unveil a new monument, designed by a schoolboy, to remember the Christmas Truce.

Uefa has marked the 100-year anniversary of the Christmas Day Truce 1914 football match with a memorial, created by Designwerk.

Unveiled in a ceremony in a village near Ypres in, the memorial was revealed by federation president Michel Platini, accompanied by royalty and dignitaries from both the UK and Germany.

The memorial was based on the look of an old exploded shell dug up from the actual site of the football match.

Produced by sculpture company MDM, the monument is made from steel with a rust effect, at the top of which is a replica of a period leather football.

Platini said: "This remembrance ceremony pays homage to the soldiers who, a century ago, expressed their humanity by coming together to play football, thereby opening an important chapter in the construction of European unity and serving as an example for today's young people to follow."

The memorial sculpture sits on a stone platform with two cracks extending from its base, which turn gradually into representations of two war trenches.

From CBBCnewsround and The drum http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/12/11/uefa-unveils-special-memorial-christmas-day-truce-1914-football-match

Engineer secretly saved London from World War Two floods

An engineer secretly saved London from drowning more than 100 times during World War Two.

Sir Thomas Pierson Frank secretly fixed flood defences along the Thames which had been damaged by intense bombing raids.

Gustav Milne, an archaeologist from the Museum of London, and Clive Cockerton from the Institution of Civil Engineers describe what he did.

Footage courtesy of Pathe and the Institution of Civil Engineers.

A disused Second World War bunker large enough to accommodate up to 8,000 people is being let by Transport for London.

The deep-level air-raid shelter lies 100 feet below ground in south London, and is one of eight built beneath the capital during the war.

Newsnight's Stephen Smith arranged a viewing.

From BBC News

Why are Israel and the Palestinians fighting over Gaza?

Israelis and Arabs have been fighting over Gaza on and off, for decades. It's part of the wider Arab Israeli conflict.

After World War II and the Holocaust in which six million Jewish people were killed, more Jewish people wanted their own country. They were given a large part of Palestine, which they considered their traditional home but the Arabs who already lived there and in neighbouring countries felt that was unfair and didn't accept the new country.On 14th May 1947, David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared "the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel," a state independent upon the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine.

                                   David Ben-Gurion

In 1948, the two sides went to war. When it ended, Gaza was controlled by Egypt and another area, the West Bank, by Jordan. They contained thousands of Palestinians who fled what was now the new Jewish home, Israel.

Israel's recognition

But then, in 1967, after another war, Israel occupied these Palestinian areas and Israeli troops stayed there for years. Israelis hoped they might exchange the land they won for Arab countries recognising Israel's right to exist and an end to the fighting.

Israel finally left Gaza in 2005 but soon after, a group called Hamas won elections and took control there. Much of the world calls Hamas a terrorist organisation. It refuses to recognise Israel as a country and wants Palestinians to be able to return to their old home - and will use violence to achieve its aims.Since then, Israel has held Gaza under a blockade, which means it controls its borders and limits who can get in and out.

Life in Gaza

Life for the many of the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip is difficult.Israel controls its coastline and all the entry and exit crossings into Israel. There is another crossing point into Egypt. There is no working airport. Because access is so restricted, not many goods get into or out of Gaza. Food is allowed in, but aid agencies say families are not eating as much meat or fresh vegetables and fruit as they used to. There are often power cuts.Large numbers of people are unemployed because businesses can get very few of their products out of Gaza to sell, and people don't have much money to buy things.

Palestinian refugees

During the 1948 and 1967 wars hundreds of thousands of Palestinians left, or were forced out of, their homes and moved to neighbouring countries to become refugees.

More than 4.6 million Palestinians are refugees and their descendants, many living in camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. They get help from the United Nations.Israel controls its coastline and all the entry and exit crossings into Israel. There is another crossing point into Egypt. There is no working airport. Because access is so restricted, not many goods get into or out of Gaza. Food is allowed in, but aid agencies say families are not eating as much meat or fresh vegetables and fruit as they used to. There are often power cuts.Large numbers of people are unemployed because businesses can get very few of their products out of Gaza to sell, and people don't have much money to buy things.

Violence in Gaza

Though the Palestinians don't have an army, rockets are regularly fired from Gaza into Israel. Israelis living in border towns are used to having to take shelter and adapting their lives to deal with the rockets.

In the years since Israel withdrew its troops in 2005, Gaza has seen several Israeli offensives. Israel says these were aimed at putting a stop to rocket fire.

• In 2008, Israel sent soldiers into Gaza. An estimated 1,300 people, many of them civilians, were killed in Gaza before a ceasefire was declared; 13 Israeli soldiers also died.
• In 2012, at least 167 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed during an Israeli operation. After eight days a ceasefire was declared with both sides promising to stop attacks.
• Most recently in July 2014, Palestinian authorities said over 200 people were killed by Israeli air strikes and many more injured. Israel says more than 1,100 rockets were fired from Gaza, seriously injuring at least four Israelis, with one Israeli man killed.

Peace Process

Other countries, particularly America, have worked hard to settle the fighting between the Arabs and Israelis but so far nothing has worked. Many people want Gaza and the West Bank to be turned into a new country - Palestine. Israel won't agree to this unless it feels safe - and Hamas accepts its right to exist. The other sticking points are what will happen to Israelis who've settled in the West Bank, who will run Jerusalem and what will happen to the Palestinian refugees.

from CBBC newsround