12/01/2014 Newsround

Hi, I'm Martin, live with your Sunday morning Newsround. On the way

today: The big problems in the air in China.

And how do astronauts get their Christmas presents?

First, Manchester United fans will be waking up happy this morning

after the team won 2-0 against Swansea yesterday. After three

defeats in a row, things were looking a bit worrying but goals

from Antonio Valencia and Danny Welbeck sealed the Reds' first

victory of the New Year. Elsewhere, Chelsea travelled to Hull and won

2-0 whilst Sam Allardyce's struggling West Ham got a

much-needed win over Cardiff to get them out of the bottom three.

Next to China, and the big problem facing its major cities. It's smog.

Lots of people in China regularly wear facemasks as recent estimates

suggest that half a million people die early every year because of

conditions related to air pollution. The Chinese government plan to spend

?180 billion on a massive clean-up. Jenny's been looking at how this

affects children there, and what's being done about it.

Imagine having to wear a face mask, like this, just to go to school?

It's part of daily life for many children in China, like these twin

girls from Beijing. The masks protect them from the air they

breathe in. There are good days in China but take a look at one of the

many bad ones. A thick grey smog, containing gasses and particles

linked to asthma and heart trouble, covers the streets. The pollution,

according to one study, is even shortening people's lives.

You can't actually see some of the most damaging pollution. It's called

PM 2.5 and involves particles that are microscopically small. This

matters because the particles are small enough, not just to get into

the lungs, but also into the bloodstream. This kind of pollution

is measured by the cubic metre of air. The World Health Organisation

sets a maximum limit of 25 of these particles in this space. It says we

shouldn't breathe more of them within 24 hours. But a level of 200

is routinely reached in many Chinese cities.

The Government is trying to tackle the problem by closing coal-burning

power stations which are the biggest source of pollution. They're also

trying to limit traffic and officials say they're confident they

can clean up. But in some cases smog has forced entire cities to close

down. The International School of Beijing have taken matters into

their own hands by sealing off their playground inside this massive

inflatable dome, where the children play breathing filtered air. The

Chinese government is banking on green technology for the future but

pollution will be a reality there for years to come.

Thousands of people in the American state of West Virginia are being

told not to drink their tap water after a huge chemical spill in a

river there. Around 300,000 people been affected and many schools and

businesses closed after a chemical leaked from a storage tank into the

public water treatment system. Officials say they're unsure about

how dangerous the spill is. And the flooding problem is not

going away. The Environment Agency is warning communities in the South

East of England to be prepared for even more of it this week from

ground water and rivers. After recent heavy rain, river levels are

continuing to rise. Now, Christmas might be a distant

memory for you guys but not for astronauts at the International

Space Station. Christmas presents for the six astronauts, as well as

food and equipment, were sent by NASA on Thursday on the spacecraft

Cygnus and is due to arrive later this morning.

All cyclists are advised to wear helmets when they get on their bike.

Yours might look a little bit like this. But now a new helmet has been

designed and the inside of it is made out of paper. Inventor Anirudha

Surabhi studied woodpeckers when he was trying to come up with a new

design as their heads take a lot of impact when it pecks. He noticed

woodpeckers have a soft structure between their beak and skull and he

decided to recreate this within a helmet using paper. Here's how it

works. That is one layer of honeycomb cells

and that is the second layer. You end up with tiny airbags. When you

crash the pop and go all the way to the bottom without cracking.

The Australian Open gets underway late tonight, UK time, with Andy

Murray hoping his match fitness will allow him to go all the way in the

Grand Slam after making a return from back surgery. Murray will play

Go Soeda, who is ranked outside the top 100, in the first round on

Tuesday, and defending champion Novak Djokovic says Murray could

still be a threat. I'm sure he had a big problem with

his back and had the surgery but we practised and played a little bit

and he is striking the ball really well. It will take a little bit of

time to get into matchplay mode but I'm sure he will be just fine.

Over on the Newsround website, we've been asking you what you think about

the new series of The Voice, which hit our TV screens last night with

two new judges, Kylie Minogue and Ricky Wilson.

Thanks for those comments, guys, and keep them coming in. And while

you're over on the website, check out our quizzes on new coaches Kylie

and Ricky Wilson. That's all from me. We're back at

1:55pm.