18/12/2013 Newsround

Hi, I'm Ayshah with Newsround. First today, we are talking about money

getting a make over. Plastic English banknotes that can survive a spin in

the washing machine will be brought into circulation in 2016. Countries

including Australia, New Zealand and Mexico already use them. The Bank of

England says the new notes stay cleaner and are more secure than

cotton paper ones. Next, to one of the biggest criminal thefts Britain

has seen in the past century - the Great Train Robbery. A gang stole

millions of pounds from a train carrying post to London. One of the

those involved, Ronnie Biggs, died today. He became infamous after

going on the run from police for more than 30 years. 1963. At this

time, lots of letters, parcels and money were transported around the

country by rail. One of these mail trains, heading to London from

Glasgow, was stopped by a criminal gang in Buckinghamshire. They

escaped with 120 bags of cash, totalling more than ?2.5 million - a

whopping ?40 million in today's money. The train driver, Jack Mills,

was badly hurt and never fully recovered. One of the gang members

was this man - Ronnie Biggs. He was convicted and sentenced to 30 years

in prison. But in 1965 he escaped from Wandsworth Prison by climbing

over the wall. He fled to France, then Australia, before ending up in

Brazil. In 1974, he was arrested. But then he had a son and, under

Brazilian law, was protected from being sent back to Britain. I don't

regret the fact that I was involved in the train robbery. As a matter of

fact, I am quite pleased with the idea I was involved with it. Why? It

has given me a little place in history. Many people, including the

family of the injured train driver, didn't believe Biggs should have

been famous or have made money out of his crime. In 2001, as his health

worsened, he flew back home to the UK to get medical help and was taken

back to prison. Ronnie Biggs was released from jail in 2009 after

becoming seriously ill. Trains don't carry large amounts of cash any

more, so a serious crime like the Great Train Robbery is unlikely to

ever happen again. Next year, it is 100 years since the start of World

War I. Millions of people died in the conflict. But in the midst of

the battles, in 1914, German and Allied soldiers stopped fighting and

played a special football match, all in the spirit of Christmas. This

week, Martin went back to the scene with some young footballers. Take a

look. World War I affected nearly everybody in Britain. Men and boys

from the country were sent to fight in the harshest conditions

imaginable. Many never returned. One of the most amazing stories to come

out of the conflict was the Christmas truce. Where German and

British soldiers climbed out of the trenches into no man's land and

shook hands, said -- sang carols and played football. I am in Belgium, in

the town of Ypres. They have come to celebrate the truce by playing in a

football tournament and discover what life was like the soldiers. The

trenches ran across the Western front for around 500 miles. It

divided the German and allied forces in France Belgium. We are at the

German support line and these trenches date from 1917. This is a

bunker, designed to withstand shelling. It is hard to imagine

because we have got such good lives to what it must have been like. Why

do you think it is important the children to understand what happened

in 1914? They need to understand that at the worst moments, humanity

can shine through. We are lucky in this day and age that we have so

much. Living in a trench, it is horrible to think about. This

British cemetery has 950 soldiers buried here. Every night since the

war, local people have gathered for Last Post. It is a memorial with the

names of the British troops never found. For the footballers taking

part, the weekend has taught them that while they open presents on

Christmas day, with their families, take some time to remember those who

fought in the First World War. There is a lot more about Ypres online. We