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VIDEOAnimals
What do you think of this kitten-in-a-cup - is it cute or cruel? Picture: screengrab/Newsflare via Reuters Connect. Copyright: This asset – including all text, audio and imagery – is provided by Newsflare. Reuters Connect has not verified or endorsed the material, which is being made available to professional media customers to facilitate the free flow of global news and information.

Cat carried inside cup in Vietnam

Footage of a sweet little kitten in Vietnam sitting squashed in a see-through cup seems funny at first glance – but is it cute or cruel? SEE THE VIDEO AND TAKE OUR KIDS NEWS POLL

Arts
a a a a a a aa

Yoda question now answered, is

Patient young Padawans have been as Star Wars creator George Lucas ends a decades-long mystery by finally sharing the story behind one iconic character’s very distinctive way of talking

News
KIDS NEWS 2025: reader survey artwork, 4:3 thumbnail plus subs. Picture: Darren Gover

Take the Kids News reader poll!

Welcome back – Term 2, here we come! Here’s a reader poll to help us make Kids News an even better free literacy resource for your classrooms. Tell us what you think by taking the poll HERE!

Arts
Author and illustrator Matt Stanton's drawing for Monster Monday.

Why drawing is a monster cure for boredom

Best-selling children’s author and illustrator Matt Stanton has declared the first day of every working week Monster Monday. Here he explains why drawing monsters is a cure for boredom

Arts
HIGHLY COMMENDED Category 4. Behaviour

Credit name: Alex Kydd/UPY 2019
Nationality: Australia
Image caption: A Fever of Cownose Rays
Country taken: Australia
Location: Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia
Camera make: NikonD810
Lens: Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye Lens
ISO: 320
Aperture: f/9
Shutter: 1/250
Lighting used: Natural light
Housing: Aquatica Digital

Back story printed: 
A rare encounter with a fever of cownose rays on the Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. This was a once in a lifetime encounter with a species that is rarely documented in this region. We unexpectedly came across the rays whilst searching for whale sharks. The rays were spiralling up and down the water column from the surface to 20 meters for a brief moment until they disappeared into the deep. The images were taken whilst freediving to approximately 6 metres. The rays were circling and rubbing together in a behaviour that is still not clearly understood. It may have been possible mating or a social behaviour. The exact species of ray is still debated, it is either Rhinoptera javanica or Rhinoptera neglecta. 

Judge's comments: 
A top down camera angle on the rays has captured the behaviour perfectly.  The balance of all four sides keeps the eye of the viewer contained within the frame.  It's not too tight either, just the right amount of space to admire the spectacle. - Martin Edge

Underwater Photographer of the Year

Five Australian photographers have blitzed the international Underwater Photographer of the Year competition with their incredible pictures of life under the sea