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The Little Explorer

Saturday 17 October 2026 · No. 2

Top Story The Strait of Hormuz

Fewer Ships Get Through a Narrow Sea

A narrow sea beside Iran is still very busy and very tricky.

📍 Strait of Hormuz · Iran, Oman

A strait is a narrow strip of sea between two pieces of land. The Strait of Hormuz is beside a country called Iran. Big ships carry oil through it.

Last week we asked: would more ships get through, or fewer? The answer is fewer. A company that tracks oil said about two thirds as much oil got through this week as usual.

It linked this to more military action by Iran nearby. UK officials said ships have been attacked there. When less oil gets out, oil costs more. This week one barrel cost about $108.

For grown-ups: sources

World The Pacific Islands

Island Countries Plan for a Big Meeting

Fiji and Tuvalu helped get ready for a climate summit.

Islands in the Sea
Island countries are surrounded by ocean.

Fiji and Tuvalu are island countries in the Pacific Ocean. A group met in a city called Nadi, in Fiji, from October 5 to 8.

They were getting ready for a big climate meeting called COP31. It is a meeting about how to look after our planet’s weather.

COP31 will be held in a city called Antalya, in Türkiye, from November 9 to 20. Tuvalu’s representative warned that a goal to stop the planet from warming too much is in danger.

🗺️ Where in the world?

📍 Nadi · Fiji, Tuvalu
For grown-ups: sources

United States Voting

Grown-Ups Will Vote for Congress

Election Day is November 3.

SEATS TO VOTE FOR Number of seats

All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats.

Congress is the group of people who make laws for the United States. It has two parts. One is called the House. The other is called the Senate.

On November 3, grown-ups will vote for all 435 people in the House. They will also vote for 35 of the 100 people in the Senate.

A vote is a way to choose who will speak for you. The winners decide which party leads each part of Congress.

🗺️ Where in the world?

📍 United States
For grown-ups: sources

Science & Tech Space

A Planet With a Lopsided Sky

A space telescope helped scientists see the uneven edge of a faraway planet’s air.

WASP-17b is a very hot planet far, far away. It is about 1,300 light-years from Earth. A light-year is how far light travels in a whole year.

Scientists used a space telescope called Webb. They measured how far the planet’s air stretches out at many points around its edge.

The edge is lopsided. The air reaches farther on the evening side of the planet. The morning side is cooler. Winds carry heat from the sunny side to the dark side.

For grown-ups: sources

In brief

More news

  • Saudi Arabia: The football league moved three games, including one for Cristiano Ronaldo’s team.
  • Austria: Scientists in Vienna built a clock that fixes itself.

New words

Words from this issue

Strait
A narrow strip of sea between two pieces of land. Today: Ships squeeze through the Strait of Hormuz.
Planet
A big round world that goes around a star. Today: WASP-17b is a planet far from Earth.
Vote
A way to choose something, like a leader. Today: Grown-ups will vote for Congress on November 3.

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