Counting the Votes

Hello, Newslings! · 0:00

Today, we're talking elections all around the world, and a train with no driver?

Hey, Newslings! It's Friday, November 6th, 2026. Ready to explore the big wide world? Let's go!

Here's the plan for today. Story one, a big vote in the United States, and who won control of Congress. Story two, a train with no driver. And story three, Brazil's president wins again, after a second vote called a runoff. Plus, a boy who lets people feel birdsong. Let's go!

The big vote · 0:41

Story one. On November 3rd, people all across the United States voted. You're probably getting tired of hearing about it, but let's go over it once again, just to learn about some of the results. It was a midterm election. Midterm means the middle of the term. It happens halfway through a president's four-year term.

So who are people voting for? Mostly, the Democrats or Republican representatives in Congress. Congress is the group that makes the country's laws, and it has two parts. The House of Representatives has 435 members, and all of their seats were on the ballot this year. A ballot is the list you mark when you vote. The Senate has 100 members, and this time, 35 of those seats were on the ballot. Plus, 36 states chose a new governor, the leader of a state.

Picture it: millions of grown-ups filling in little boxes on long paper ballots, or tapping a screen, or mailing in their ballot, and then waiting, and waiting, to see what happened.

Have you ever voted on something? Maybe your family's pet's name, or with your friends, what game to play at recess? Then you know how it works. The person or thing that gets the most votes wins.

Here's what we know so far. The Democrats won more than half the seats in the House. That means they'll be in charge there. And in the Senate, the Democrats have more than the 50 seats they need to be in control there, too. Before this vote, the Republicans had more seats in both, so that's a big change.

Some races are still being counted, and that's normal. Some votes are mailed in, and every one has to be counted. Counting can take days, or sometimes even weeks.

Why does this matter to you? Well, the people in Congress make the country's laws, and laws can change your everyday life. When people vote to elect the opposite party that was in power before the vote, that usually means they are unhappy and want a change. And these results on November 3rd indicate that people really wanted a change.

So here's the big idea. In an election, every vote gets counted. Even the slower ones to come in.

Sound It Out · 3:10

Here's today's Sound It Out word. Ballot. Let's clap it. Bal... lut. Two beats. And it starts with the letter B, just like ball.

The train with no driver · 3:24

Story two. Let's go to Sydney, a big city in Australia. On October 30th, at 4:31 in the morning, a new train set off on an old railway line. And here's the "no way" part. It had no driver.

It's the Southwest Metro. A metro is a city train that comes often. At busy times, there's a new one every four minutes.

The old railway line there was about 130 years old. In September 2024, it closed, so workers could rebuild it for the new driverless trains. That took about two years.

Picture the new stations: glass doors all along the edge of the platform, and new lifts, so more people can get to the trains.

How do you get to school? By bus, by car, or a bike, or on your own two feet? Maybe it'll be a driverless train soon.

Some trips on the new line are now more than 20 minutes shorter, and the new line has more room. For every two people who fit on the old line, about three fit now.

Before it opened, the government warned there might be a few "teething issues." That means small problems at the start, like when a baby gets its first teeth. Even trains have to grow up.

Why does this matter to you? Faster, roomier trains help people get where they're going: to school, to work, and to see friends. A new driverless train in Sydney means the technology is advancing, and maybe will reach your city one day soon.

Brazil's second vote · 5:16

Story three. Now, back to elections again. Remember Brazil's big vote, back in October? Well, there's an answer to what happened. On October 25th, Brazil re-elected its president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Most people just call him Lula.

It took two votes. In the first one, on October 4th, nobody got more than half of all the votes. So the top two had a second vote, with just the two of them on the ballot. That's called a runoff. Think of it like a tie-breaker at the end of a game.

And here's the surprise. In that first vote, his rival, a senator named Flávio Bolsonaro, got more votes than Lula. But in the runoff, Lula came out ahead. He got just over half the votes.

Two days later, on October 27th, Lula turned 81 years old. Can you imagine winning an election, and then blowing out 81 birthday candles? This will be his fourth time as Brazil's president. His new term starts on January 5th, in the new year. Brazil's presidents used to start on January 1st.

Flávio Bolsonaro first said he would try to cancel the result. Then, a few days after the vote, he left Brazil and flew to Miami, in the United States. Brazil's top court is looking into whether he took money in ways that break the law. He says he didn't do anything wrong. But the day before he left, the court had told him to hand back his passport. That's the little book you need to travel to the other countries. Meanwhile, the head of Brazil's top election court said Lula had won, and that he trusted how the vote was run.

Kids Who Rock: Juan Sebastián · 7:07

Now it's time for our Kids Who Rock story. Meet Juan Sebastián Ávila Pérez, from Neiva, in Colombia. He loves watching birds.

On a recent birdwatching trip, he met a person who was blind, who could name birds just by their songs. That made Juan Sebastián wonder: what about people who can't hear the songs at all?

So he built a machine you can carry, called Wings of Inclusion. It picks up a bird's song, and turns it into a pattern of vibrations. A vibration is a little buzz, like a phone shaking in your hand. Each kind of bird gets its own buzz pattern, so people who are deaf can feel the birds singing.

Can you imagine feeling a bird sing, right in your hand?

At 14, he won third place in his age group at the International Young Eco-Hero Awards. About 500 projects from around the world took part.

He met someone who knows birds by their songs, and then built something for someone who can't hear the songs at all. That's a kid who rocks!

Whoa Fact: The first green star · 8:19

Whoa Fact time! Have you ever seen a green star? Stars can look red, orange, yellow, white, or a bit blue. But green? Never, until now.

Scientists at the University of Warwick, in England, found what they call the first known green star in our galaxy. They shared it on October 15th.

It's a white dwarf. That's what's left when a star like our Sun reaches the end of its life: a super-squished, leftover star.

And why green? This star pulled in bits of rock from around it, and now there's a little sodium in its air. Sodium is part of table salt, and that sodium soaks up yellow, orange, and red light. So if you could see it with your own eyes, what's left over would look green.

The scientist who led the work, Dr. Mark Hollands, said, "Imagine standing on a planet and looking up at a green star." Whoa!

Joke time · 9:26

Here's a joke for election week. Why did the scarecrow win the election? Hmm, any guesses? It's because he was outstanding... in his field!

Mystery Sound number 5 · 9:44

It's time for our Mystery Sound. On Tuesday, you heard this sound...

Did you guess it? It was... a deck of cards, being shuffled! Did you get it right? Okay, here's a new one. Listen closely.

Hmm... What do you think it was? Tell your family your guess, or write it down, and I'll tell you the answer on Sunday.

[Mystery Sound number 5 plays here. The answer is on Sunday.]

Today's Big Question · 10:38

Want to see Sydney's new metro, and the green star? They're on our website, newslings.xyz, with today's pictures, the quiz, and our friendly reading coach.

That's it for today, Newslings. Let's do a quick look back. Story one, a big vote in the United States, where the Democrats won the House and the Senate. Story two, Sydney's new train with no driver. And story three, Brazil's president, Lula, wins a runoff.

Here's your big question. If your class held an election, what's one thing you'd want everyone to vote on? Talk about it with your family.

And here's something new in the app. Open your Word Jar, and tap on any word. You'll hear it, and see what the definition is, so you can learn exactly what it means.

Stay curious, and I'll talk to you on Sunday, November 8th.

▶ Listen and read alongThe app highlights every word as it's said