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Good morning and welcome to Kid News. I'm Kim. Today is Thursday, April 2, 2026. And we begin with

the crew of Artemis 2 orbiting Earth on the first day of their history-making moon mission.

The three Americans and one Canadian launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 6.35 p.m. Eastern

time yesterday after a brief delay to resolve some technical issues. Spectators cheered as the

towering orange and white rocket blasted off launchpad 39B.

As we've reported, the astronauts will not land on the moon but will travel around it,

and NASA's first return to the lunar orbit in more than 50 years.

According to the New York Times, a special stowaway is on board.

It's a toy named Rise, or so-called moon mascot and

zero gravity indicator, custom designed by eight-year-old Lucas Yee of Mountain View, California,

as part of a NASA-sponsored contest.

President Trump spoke to the American people from the White House last night, asserting the war with Iran was nearing completion and that the U.S. is winning militarily.

In the 19-minute primetime address, he did not give any clues, however, as to how or when the war would end, and said the U.S. will continue to fight hard over the next few weeks. Mr. Trump said the

economic pain from high oil and gas prices people are feeling is short term, but did not say

whether the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world's oil is transported, would reopen.

According to Reuters, roughly two-thirds of Americans would like to see the war end quickly.

Last week, we told you about oral exams being used by teachers to combat the influence of AI.

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