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Top stories of the year
Update by news editor   26-06-2012

Your favourite news stories

The top ten most-read Daily What News stories of this school year

It is nearly time for the holidays but before we go, here is a round-up of some of your favourite Daily What News stories from the past school year.

Since last August, we have had over 100,000 visitors to the DWN website. Most of our readers are from Scotland, but we have had visits from people in 151 other countries around the world too.

Over four-and-a-half thousand people in the USA have read our stories, along with 591 Australians, 187 Italians, and forty-six people in China. We have even had online visits from six people in Mongolia, three people in Barbados, and one person in Cameroon.

If you are going somewhere exotic for your summer holidays make sure you visit the Daily What News site while you are there so that country can appear in our statistics round-up next year!

Here are your top ten most-read stories of this school year:

1. Emeli Sande wins top award
Aberdeen singer-songwriter seen as star most likely to hit the big time in 2012 Read

2. Glow in the dark cats
Genetically modified cats shine light on disease. Read

3. Dog beats girl at snakes and ladders
Video clip of schoolgirl and pet playing board game is internet hit. Read

4. Panda-monium!
Very Important Pandas arrive in style at Edinburgh zoo. Read

5. Little Mix make X Factor history
Girl group win singing contest with 48.3% of public vote. Read

6. Fans try to save Rangers
Historic Glasgow club could close for good without solution to money problems. Read

7. Shark attack victim saved by onlookers
Swimmer's leg bitten off after he ignored warnings. Read

8. Zombie invasion
Look out - the centre of Scotland's biggest city is about to be taken over by zombies! Read

9. Strikes close schools
Thousands of children have an extra day off school. Read

10. Maggots, mould and dead mice
Have a look inside the smelliest kitchen in Scotland. Read

Join us again in August for more news stories, quizzes, factfiles, discussions and fun!

 

Click here to try our news headline quiz

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Your favourite news stories

The top-ten most commented-on discussion threads on our Glow forum

Every story that is published on the Daily What News has a question that you can discuss on our forum on Glow.

Some of the discussions are very lively and many of our readers make thought-provoking points. Most often, readers like to post short and simple comments about their opinions on the stories.  The Daily What News team reads all of your comments and we really enjoy hearing about what you think.

Here are the top-ten most commented-on questions from this school year, along with some of the best posts.

1. Do you think it's right to trap and kill grey squirrels? Discuss

Ben: It is ok to kill grey squirrels because they attack and give diseases to red squirrels and red squirrels are more rare.

Jenny: I think they should trap grey squirrels but not kill them because I think trapping them might help the red squirrels survive, but it's not fair to kill the grey ones because every living being deserves to live.

2. What do you think should happen to stray dogs? Discuss

Abigail: I think that if a dog is stray you should care for it because it's not the dogs fault, so just because somebody didnt want it, it doesn't mean that it should die.

Jenny: I think people should think about how much money they will spend on the dog before they get one and if someone finds a stray dog then they should report it to the SSPCA, then they can take it from there.

3. What do you think of the spending cuts? Discuss

Ruaraidh: I think we should cut back on military spending by becoming a neutral country and just defend our own borders instead of getting into wars that our not ours eg Afghanistan. I think we also need to start exporting products more to get our economy going and bringing more money into Britain. I also think we should put laws on banks to ensure that they only hand out loans to people that can definitely pay them back. Finally, I think the government to stop paying benefits to people who don't work. This is encorouging people not to work because they get loads of benefits such as: tax-free housing, free bus passes and ultimetly a pay check for doing no work. I think that this would help people and Britain get out of debt and recession.

4. Are beavers good or bad for the environment? Discuss

Class 1D2, Stirling High School: Beavers are good for the environment because they positively impact on forestry, fishing and farming.

Jennifer: I think beavers are sometimes good for the environment because they build dams and can help some animals, but they can be bad because they kill trees by gnawing on them.

5. How important is it to remember the sinking of the Titanic? Discuss

Marran and Rhionna: Very important! There were so many people who died on that dreadful night. Relations of the people who died on the Titanic will never forget that ship.

James: I have family in Ireland and we think it's quite important to remember the people who died, so my family and I are going to visit museum in Belfast.

6. Would you go swimming in Scotland's beaches? Discuss

Katie: No, because the water is really dirty. I wish Scottish beaches could be cleaner.

Jonathan: I live near the beach so I often cycle down on my bike and nearly every time I see people dropping litter. Anyone caught dropping it on the beach should be fined!

7. Is txting gud 4 u? Discuss

Olivia: Texting is good for because you learn new words and it helps you with your spelling.

8. Should dolphins be treated like humans? Discuss

Niamh: I think that dolphins should not be given human rights because they are not humans. If they give dolphins human rights there will be people all over the world wanting all animal and birds to have human rights too. I think if they give any animal human rights it should be to monkeys because they are the closest animal to a human.

India: I think dolphins should be treated like human because they are as clever as some humans, or even more clever!

9. What do you think of the glow-in-the-dark cats? Discuss

Jennifer: I agree it is an awesome idea but it would be strange if you woke up and saw your glow-in-the-dark cat on the sofa!

10. Should Little Mix have won the X Factor? Discuss

Hannah: Little Mix were the best group in the whole thing, so I think that they should have won.

Elidh: Little Mix were terrible. They sounded like a rat choking.

Join us again in August for more news stories, quizzes, factfiles, discussions and fun!

 

Click here to try our news headline quiz

Lesson ideas and suggestions

Join the Daily What News Facebook group

Watch us LIVE on Glow TV