Round Up Starting 27 September 2026: Here's What's Happening!

Farooq and Jouri from Mango News Kids

Welcome to this week's news, all summarised with amazing AI. This week, American troops leave Iraq, astronauts break a speed record, scientists spot a brand new penguin, brave climbers save rare trees, and much more. Let's explore!

🌍 Global Politics

US troops leave Iraq after more than two decadesReuters · 30.09.26US troops leave Iraq after more than two decadesThe United States withdrew its remaining forces from bases in Iraq, ending a military presence that began more than two decades ago.
  • 🇮🇶 The final US forces moved out of bases in Iraq after more than 20 years of American military involvement.
  • 🪖 The US led an invasion of Iraq in 2003 and later returned to help fight the group known as Islamic State.
  • 🏛️ Iraq's own forces will now take primary responsibility for the country's security.
  • 🌍 The mission against Islamic State will continue from nearby Jordan, with attention focused on militants in Syria.
  • 🕊️ The withdrawal marks a major change in the balance of power across the Middle East.

🏺 Fun Fact!

Iraq is part of ancient Mesopotamia, where some of the world's first cities and writing systems developed thousands of years ago!

🇬🇧 UK Politics

Five takeaways from Andy Burnham's Labour conference speechBBC · 29.09.26Five takeaways from Andy Burnham's Labour conference speechThe UK's new prime minister gave his first big speech to his party in Liverpool and shared new plans for water, housing and energy.
  • 🇬🇧 Andy Burnham spoke at the Labour Party conference for the first time as prime minister.
  • 🎤 He walked around the stage without a podium, like a TED talk.
  • 💧 He promised a plan that could let the public own water companies again.
  • 👏 The audience gave him 11 standing ovations in just over an hour.
  • 🏠 He spoke warmly about his family and his roots in Liverpool.

👏 Fun Fact!

A standing ovation is when a whole audience stands up to clap. It is one of the biggest compliments a speaker can get!

🤖 Technology

OpenAI unveils AI assistant 'dots' while safety worries delay new modelBBC · 29.09.26OpenAI unveils AI assistant 'dots' while safety worries delay new modelOpenAI showed cartoon style AI helpers called dots, but held back a new model because it did not pass its safety tests.
  • 🤖 OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, revealed new AI helpers called dots.
  • 🎨 Dots look like cute, brightly coloured cartoons that people can name.
  • 📋 They are designed to do jobs for people, like building a website or booking activities.
  • 🛑 The company stopped the launch of a new model because it did not meet its safety rules.
  • 🛡️ It is rare for a big tech company to hold back a product to make it safer first.

💬 Fun Fact!

The word robot comes from a Czech word meaning hard work. It was first used in a play written in 1920!

🧬 Science

Experts have found secret DNA that could unlock a cancer vaccineBBC Science Focus · 27.09.26Experts have found secret DNA that could unlock a cancer vaccineScientists are discovering that hidden parts of our genetic code, called dark DNA, do important jobs inside our cells.
  • 🧬 DNA is the instruction book inside every cell of your body.
  • 🔦 Dark DNA means parts of that book scientists had overlooked for years.
  • 🧩 These parts are now being shown to make tiny proteins that matter.
  • 💉 Some of these proteins could help create vaccines that fight cancer.
  • 🤔 It shows that there is still a lot to learn about how our bodies work.

📏 Fun Fact!

If you stretched out all the DNA in just one of your cells, it would be about two metres long!

👗 Fashion

Paris Fashion Week Cheat Sheet: Spring/Summer 2027Vogue · 28.09.26Paris Fashion Week Cheat Sheet: Spring/Summer 2027Paris Fashion Week began with 68 shows, two new designers and famous brands returning to the runway.
  • 👗 Paris Fashion Week runs from 28 September to 6 October.
  • 🎟️ There are 68 shows and 34 presentations of new clothes.
  • ✨ Two designers, at Courrèges and Carven, are showing their first collections.
  • 🔁 Famous brands like Valentino and Maison Margiela are returning to the Paris calendar.
  • 🌞 The clothes are for next spring and summer, so fashion is always planned ahead.

🗼 Fun Fact!

Paris has been called a fashion capital for over 300 years, since King Louis XIV made French style famous!

🏛️ History & Culture

Archaeologists Just Discovered the Lost City That Preceded ParisPopular Mechanics · 29.09.26Archaeologists Just Discovered the Lost City That Preceded ParisA huge ancient wall found next to Notre Dame may be part of Lutetia, the settlement Julius Caesar wrote about 2,000 years ago.
  • 🏛️ Archaeologists found a wall about 20 metres long under a hospital in Paris.
  • 🪵 It is made of stone and wood, and the wood is more than 2,000 years old.
  • 📜 Julius Caesar wrote about a fort called Lutetia on an island in the Seine River.
  • 🗺️ For centuries, nobody knew exactly where Lutetia had stood.
  • 🔎 This find may finally show where the story of Paris began.

🏝️ Fun Fact!

The island where the wall was found, the Île de la Cité, is also home to Notre Dame Cathedral, which took nearly 200 years to build!

🚀 Space

Crew 13 astronauts reach the space station in record timeSpace.com · 01.10.26Crew 13 astronauts reach the space station in record timeFour astronauts reached the International Space Station just 7 hours and 55 minutes after launch, the fastest trip ever by an American spacecraft.
  • 🚀 The Crew 13 mission launched from Florida on a SpaceX rocket.
  • ⏱️ It docked with the space station in under eight hours, a new American record.
  • 👩‍🚀 The crew includes astronauts from the USA, Canada and Russia.
  • 🌍 The space station was in just the right spot, which made the trip extra short.
  • 🔬 The astronauts will live and do experiments in space for about six months.

⚡ Fun Fact!

The fastest trip ever to the space station took just 3 hours and 3 minutes, by a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2020!

🌳 Environmental

Some of UK's rarest trees are being saved by cliff climbing pensionersBBC · 30.09.26Some of UK's rarest trees are being saved by cliff climbing pensionersVolunteers, including an 85 year old botanist, climb steep cliffs in Somerset to collect seeds from very rare trees.
  • 🌳 Only 10 Fay's whitebeam trees grow in the whole world, all on cliffs in Somerset.
  • 🧗 Volunteers of all ages climb up the gorge to reach them.
  • 👵 One climber, botanist Libby Houston, is 85 years old!
  • 🌰 They collect seeds and keep them safe in a botanic garden as a backup.
  • 🐦 The trees give food and shelter to birds and other animals.

🌱 Fun Fact!

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway stores over a million seed samples deep inside a frozen mountain, just in case!

🐧 Animals

New penguin species named for first time in over 100 yearsBBC Newsround · 29.09.26New penguin species named for first time in over 100 yearsScientists found that gentoo penguins are really four different species, including one never described before.
  • 🐧 The new species is called the southeastern gentoo penguin.
  • 🏝️ It lives on the remote Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean.
  • 👀 It looks almost exactly like other gentoo penguins.
  • 🧬 Scientists only spotted the difference by studying the penguins' genes.
  • 📅 The last new penguin species before this was named in 1921.

🏊 Fun Fact!

Gentoo penguins are the fastest swimming penguins, reaching speeds of about 36 kilometres per hour underwater!

⚽ Sports

Man City lodge appeal against Premier League verdictSky Sports · 02.10.26Man City lodge appeal against Premier League verdictAn independent panel found that Manchester City broke the Premier League's money rules, and the club has now appealed.
  • ⚽ Football leagues have rules about how much money clubs can spend.
  • ⚖️ An independent panel decided Manchester City broke those rules years ago.
  • 🙅 The club says it did nothing wrong.
  • 📝 City has lodged an appeal, which asks a new panel to look at the case again.
  • ⏳ A separate hearing will later decide what punishment, if any, the club gets.

🏆 Fun Fact!

The Premier League began in 1992, and only seven different clubs have ever won it!

📋 This Week's Summary

Amazing Fun Facts You Won't Believe!

Here are some incredible facts about the topics we covered that will blow your mind!

🐧 Penguin Family

With the new gentoo species, scientists now count about 21 kinds of penguins, and almost all of them live south of the equator!

🚀 Speedy Station

The space station zooms around Earth at about 28,000 kilometres per hour, circling the planet 16 times a day.

🧬 Shared Code

Humans share about 60 percent of their DNA with bananas!

🌳 Ancient Trees

Some bristlecone pine trees in California are more than 4,800 years old, older than the pyramids of Egypt.

🏛️ Underground Paris

Beneath Paris there are about 300 kilometres of old tunnels called the catacombs.

✍️ First Writing

People in ancient Mesopotamia developed cuneiform, one of the world's earliest writing systems, more than 5,000 years ago.

🤖 Helpful Machines

The first computer program was written by Ada Lovelace in the 1840s, long before modern computers existed.

⚽ Football Fans

Football is watched by around 3.5 billion fans, making it the most popular sport on Earth.

📝 Quiz Time! Test Your Knowledge

Let's see how much you remember from this week's news! Pick the correct answer for each question.

Question 1 / 10

🇮🇶 What major change happened in Iraq this week?

All Quizzes

Thank You for Reading!

🧠 Stay Curious!

Keep reading news from around the world to learn amazing new things every day!

🤔 Ask Questions!

Wondering about something? Ask a grown up to help you find more information!

📚 Share Knowledge!

Tell your friends and family about the cool facts you learned today!

Check back next week for more exciting news stories from around the world!

All Editions
Back homeContact Us