Special Edition - Iran explained

0:00Attention, kids of Australia, here's your chance to run the country. Announcing PM for a day, a brand new Squizz Kids competition where we ask you, our fabulous audience, if you were Prime Minister for a day, what would you do to make Australia a better place to live? The winner will win a trip to Canberra for a private tour of Parliament House, a chance to visit question time and receive a personal tour of Government House by the Governor-General herself. You might even cross paths with the actual PM while you're there. All you need to do is send a video to squizzkidsatthesquizz.com.au, telling us the one thing you would do to make our country better if you were PM for a day. But hurry, you've only gotten to March 13 to get your entry in. Check out our website squizzkids.com.au for terms and conditions and details on how to enter. Squizz Kids! It's your daily news fix, fun, free, fresh.

1:04Hello and welcome to this special edition of Squizz Kids, the daily news podcast Just for Kids. I'm Bryce Corbett. We're committed here at Squizz Kids to keeping you informed about what's happening in the world around you, and when something big happens, we'll interrupt normal programming to bring you a special edition, just like this one. Because some events, such as the one that happened in the country of Iran over the weekend, are so big they need a little extra time to explain. So let's start with what's happened. The lowdown. If you've been anywhere near a TV or radio or internet connection in the last 24 hours, you've probably heard that the United States and Israel launched strikes on a country called Iran over the weekend. In plain speak, that means that they launched rockets with bombs attached, mostly from ships in nearby waters surrounding Iran. And as a result, Iran has retaliated, sending rockets of its own into the country of Israel,

2:06and into other countries of the Middle East, including those where the United States has military bases. Why? President Donald Trump and leaders of the UK and Australia have all said that the attacks were launched to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The most destructive sort of bomb in the world. The most significant detail of yesterday's airstrikes is the killing of Iran's supreme leader, a man by the name of Ayatollah Hamani. He's been in power in Iran for 36 years, running the country as something called a Theocracy. As to say, the country is run by a group of men who say that they've been put in power by God. Australia and the United States and the United Kingdom, and most other so-called Westerns countries, are examples of democracies, where the government is put in place by the people who live there. For almost 50 years now, life in Iran has been pretty strict.

3:07Women and girls don't have the same rights as men and boys. Lots of people are not free to practice their religion, and the media is tightly controlled by the government. Recently, when Iranian people were protesting in the streets to try to overthrow the Ayatollah, the internet was even shut down to try to control them. When news of the Ayatollah's death was confirmed at the weekend, many Iranians celebrated in the streets of the capital city of Iran, Tehran. Many others celebrated in other cities around the world. Many others still were angry. So what happens now? It's a good question, and one that won't be answered for a while yet. But the eyes of the world will be on the Middle East to see what the ripple effect of this huge news will be. Importantly, it's vital for you to know that it's all happening a long way away. Whether you're a squizz kid listening in Australia, in the US or in the UK, Iran is a long way from where you are, and there's no need for you to worry.

4:08Sometimes when big things like this happen, and the news coverage is everywhere, it can feel like it's something that's going on around the corner, but it's not. Your day-to-day life will not be affected. That's not to say there won't be an impact on your life at all, or the lives of your mums and dads, because Iran sits in a part of the world that produces a lot of oil, and oil is used to make petrol or gas, so there could be a spike in petrol or gas prices. Grocery prices at the supermarket could be affected too, because it will now be more expensive for trucks to transport all the food we'd like to eat, because, well, more expensive petrol and gas. Lots of international flights were also cancelled over the weekend, as the airspace above countries like Iran, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates were closed. And that meant lots of people trying to get to Australia for next weekend's Melbourne Grand Prix, for example, and athletes trying to get to Milan for the Paralympics, and countless

5:08thousands of other people who were trying to travel around the world to see friends and family or start holidays had their travel interrupted. Everything you see in this world of ours is interconnected. The other way, the Iranian conflict could impact you is if you find yourself online, coming across content related to it. Just be careful. Sometimes algorithms will serve up content that your brains are not yet mature enough to process. The same goes for misinformation, which always spikes at times like this. So be careful if you're online, not to automatically believe every piece of content that you come across. Remember, to have your newshound skills at the ready, your internet detective magnifying glass in hand, and stop, think, and check. And remember, most of all, if you have any questions or feel at all worried, speak to an adult in your life. And you know, and someone you trust.

6:10Because sometimes just talking about things can make you feel less worried about them. Of course, even when big events like this take place, the planet keeps turning and life still goes on. And so it was over the weekend. There was footy, of course, with the NRL's 2026 season getting off to a cracking start in Las Vegas, with victories for the Newcastle nights, and in a nail-biting finish for the Canterbury Bulldogs II. And in Perth in Western Australia, the Women's Asian Cup got off to an equally gripping start with the Matilda's beating the Philippines' 1-0 in their first pool match. There was music and celebration over the weekend, too, with the Brit Awards taking place in the city of Manchester in England. The Brits are the big music awards in the United Kingdom, recognising some of the world's best pop artists. Harry Styles, Jewelieper and Huntrix all performed. As Olivia Dean scooped the pool, continuing a winning streak that started at the Grammys a couple of weeks ago.

7:10Olivia took home four Brits, including for Best Song, Best Album and Best Artist. Shout out. Speaking of life going on, today and tomorrow are special days for these Squizz Kids celebrating a birthday. Ryan from Forest Lake, Kenzie and Luca from West Aubrey, Arnold from North Ride, Arnold from Gubby Gubby Country, Margaret from Woodford and Archer from Wogglewoga. And belated birthday shout outs go to Parker, Maya and George from South Australia and Hunter and Danica from Rose Bay. Classroom shout outs will resume on Wednesday. And to the teachers and parents out there, to keep up to date with everything going on at Squizz Kids, make sure you've signed up to our newsletters via our website squizzkids.com.au. Well, that's all we have time for today. Thanks for listening to this special edition of Squizz Kids. We'll be back again tomorrow with a Squizz Kids shortcut to Women's Football, as the Women's Asian Cup unfolds across the country.

8:13It's an absolute cracker. Make sure you tune in. In the meantime, get out there and have a most excellent day over and out.