10/01/2018 Newsround

Morning - I'm Ricky,

and this is Newsround.

First to the US, where flash floods

and mudslides have caused loads

of damage in southern California.

Rescue teams are trying to help

people after heavy rains

turned roads into rivers.

Witnesses have described large

rocks, the size of small cars,

rolling down hills, blocking roads

and destroying houses.

Police say more than 100 people have

been taken to hospital.

At least 13 people have died.

Gay people can get married

everywhere in the UK apart

from in Northern Ireland.

Two women or two men have been able

to marry in England,

Scotland and Wales since 2014.

Martin's been speaking

to Northern Ireland, to find out

what people there think.

We're all just people

and we should have equal rights,

no matter who we are.

These kids set up this group

so there would be somewhere

for people who are gay and straight

to chat about things

that affect them.

And one big issue that comes up

again and again is gay marriage,

which isn't allowed in Northern

Ireland.

I think it's old-fashioned and a bit

slow of the people making the laws.

It's unfair, because when I'm older

and I do truly love someone

and want to get married, it just

means that I can't really do that.

If I could sit in front of people

that have the decision to change

this, I would tell them,

"What are you doing?"

Right now I shouldn't even be

here discussing why gay

marriage isn't a thing,

because it should

already be a thing here.

There's like a lot of people

in our area who don't actually know

that gay marriage still isn't legal

in Northern Ireland.

Eventually it will change.

I think we're just putting it off.

But obviously it's going to happen.

'S

For Alice, there is another reason

why it's important to her that gay

people should be able to marry.

Her uncle is gay and lives

in the Republic of Ireland,

where gay marriage is allowed,

after moving from Northern Ireland.

How was it knowing that you couldn't

get married even if you wanted

to in Northern Ireland?

What it does do is it

tells you that you're not

the same as everybody else -

you're not allowed the same

freedoms as everybody else.

And a lot of other people

in Northern Ireland want

the laws to change.

In a recent poll, over two thirds

of people here said they think gay

marriage should be allowed.

The biggest political party

here is called the DUP.

And I'm just outside

their headquarters in Belfast.

The DUP don't believe in gay

marriage, and that's a big reason

why it hasn't happened

in Northern Ireland -

unlike England, Wales and Scotland.

Now we wanted to speak

to someone from the DUP,

but no one wanted to be interviewed.

But someone who would

speak to us was John.

He is a Christian.

He thinks that gay marriage is

against what his religion teaches.

In the Bible I believe that marriage

is something that we didn't create -

it's something that was given to us

as a gift by God.

I think God suggests that

marriage is something

between a man and a woman.

I think it's important that

all people are treated well,

all people are treated with dignity,

all people are respected,

no matter their creed,

colour or sexual orientation.

And I think that is fair.

John - who we just heard from -

is from a big Christian group that

wants the ban on gay marriage

to continue in Northern Ireland.

Next to football, and Manchester

City came from behind

to beat Bristol City

in their League Cup

semi-final first leg match.

The Championship side took the lead

from the penalty spot

through Bobby Reid

at the Etihad Stadium.

Kevin de Bruyne then

equalised for the unbeaten

Premier League leaders,

followed by substitute

Aguero's late winner.

It means Manchester City take a 2-1

lead into their second match.

They're hard to see, but you can

probably find them in your

bathroom at home -

I'm talking about microbeads.

The UK has just banned them -

but what exactly are they?

Here's Ayshah.

Microbeads are a tiny

balls of plastic smaller

than five millimetres -

roughly the size of a grain of sand.

They're used in some shower gels,

face washes and toothpaste to help

add that extra scrub.

But now the UK has banned making

products containing them.

Why?

They say trillions of microbeads end

up in the world's oceans,

lakes and rivers, and that harms

the sea life who eat them

or breathe them in by mistake.

Just one shower can lead

to 100,000 plastic particles

going into the ocean.

Many companies have already

taken steps to remove

microbeads from their stuff.

And although making things with them

has now been banned,

microbeads won't be removed

from shops completely

until later this year.

Environmental campaigners hope

a worldwide ban will soon follow.

Now for something you

don't see every day.

This is the Sahara desert -

but not as you may know it.

Instead it's covered in snow.

It's only the third time in 40 years

that they've seen snowfall.

It didn't last long though -

it all melted away soon after these

pictures were taken.

Police patrolling the streets

in the US state of Florida

caught something pretty

unusual on camera.

Yep, a skateboarding dog.

He's doing nothing wrong,

but the police were clearly

impressed with his skills.

They filmed the pooch,

and then posted the video online.

He's got some serious skills.

Just enough time left to tell

you to head to Newsround online,

where you can see the amazing

wildlife photos which are part

of a national competition.

Plus, the London Underground

is 155 years old.

Take a look at the very first

tunnels created for the trains

underneath England's capital city.

That's it from us.

Have a great day at school.

Hayley's back with more Newsround

stories this afternoon.