23/01/2014

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:00:14. > :00:25.Plus, the moving heads that'll mess with your mind. This is Newsround.

:00:26. > :00:28.But first, today marks an exciting landmark in the countdown to another

:00:29. > :00:32.major sporting event right here in the UK. It's exactly six months

:00:33. > :00:35.until the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and

:00:36. > :00:38.for the last few months the Queen's Baton has been travelling round the

:00:39. > :00:41.world to the many different countries that are invited to

:00:42. > :00:50.compete. Here's Nel with more on it's epic journey.

:00:51. > :00:58.Travelling through 70 Commonwealth relations, the Queens Batten covers

:00:59. > :01:01.190,000 kilometres in 288 days. The BBC has been following the amazing

:01:02. > :01:07.journey since it left Buckingham Palace and it will be.

:01:08. > :01:11.The whole point is to build up to the Commonwealth games and it is the

:01:12. > :01:17.invitation to the athletes to come and conflict Pete. Sports stars

:01:18. > :01:23.across the Commonwealth have come out in the thousand to join

:01:24. > :01:27.celebrations. The Batten is making its way across the Indian Ocean.

:01:28. > :01:34.This 14 old summer has qualified for the games. She carried the Batten.

:01:35. > :01:38.I was really excited and looking forward to it and pro to represent

:01:39. > :01:45.my country and the crowd was cheering and going wild. The

:01:46. > :01:50.Commonwealth nations and the territories make up one third of the

:01:51. > :01:57.population of the world. We are making our way so through Africa.

:01:58. > :01:59.From here it heads through the Americas and Europe before heading

:02:00. > :02:04.back to the UK in the opening ceremony.

:02:05. > :02:07.As the adventure of the Batten as the summer, so begins the journey

:02:08. > :02:12.from sporting hopefuls across the globe. In other news more than

:02:13. > :02:16.fifteen hundred jobs in the armed forces are being cut.

:02:17. > :02:19.It's the final stage of Government plans to reduce the number of

:02:20. > :02:22.regular soldiers from around 100,000 to just over 80,000 in the next

:02:23. > :02:28.three years. The opposition Labour Party say the cuts risk Britain's

:02:29. > :02:32.safety and security. The Government say they're needed to save money

:02:33. > :02:34.They hope to make up for the cuts by recruiting more part-time

:02:35. > :02:37.reservists. And the Queen's new great-granddaughter finally has a

:02:38. > :02:41.name. Six days after she was born her mum - Olympic equestrian star

:02:42. > :02:44.Zara Phillips, and dad - rugby star dad Mike Tindall - have announced

:02:45. > :02:49.she'll be known as Mia Grace. Buckingham Palace confirmed the news

:02:50. > :02:53.in the last hour. Mia is 16th in line to the British throne.

:02:54. > :02:57.Now those Commonwealth Games in Glasgow aren't the only big sporting

:02:58. > :03:00.event on the way in 2014. Next month the Sochi Winter Olympics will see

:03:01. > :03:04.some of the world's best athletes compete in some of the craziest

:03:05. > :03:10.sports going. And there's none crazier than sledge hockey.

:03:11. > :03:13.Sledge hockey is the Paralympic version of ice hockey. It's fast,

:03:14. > :03:25.physical, and downright crazy, so not really for the faint hearted.

:03:26. > :03:30.Sledge hockey is probably the best sport you've never tried of even

:03:31. > :03:35.heard of. It is fast and full contact.

:03:36. > :03:38.Since its debut at the 1994 Winter Games, sledge hockey has quickly

:03:39. > :03:41.become one of the star attractions for spectators. So let's skate

:03:42. > :03:44.through some of the rules. The main differences between ice hockey and

:03:45. > :03:47.sledge hockey is in the equipment players use. Specially designed

:03:48. > :03:50.sledges are fitted with one or two blades to move themselves across the

:03:51. > :03:55.ice. They have two playing sticks, which are used for pushing - and to

:03:56. > :03:59.control and shoot the puck. The game has three periods, each 15 minutes

:04:00. > :04:03.in length. 15 players make up a team with five outfield players and one

:04:04. > :04:10.goalie allowed on the ice at any one time.

:04:11. > :04:28.Right, enough watching. Time for me to give it a go? And I quickly find

:04:29. > :04:32.out its a lot harder than it looks. The British team failed to qualify

:04:33. > :04:36.for this year's Winter Games, but if you think sledge hockey is as cool

:04:37. > :04:39.as the ice it's played on you'll still be able to catch the world's

:04:40. > :04:53.best players compete for gold in Sochi.

:04:54. > :04:56.And finally to the crazy statues that'll mess with your eyes. Chinese

:04:57. > :04:59.artist Li Hongbo made these sculptures from thousands of sheets

:05:00. > :05:01.of paper. They appear firm at first but transform into all kinds of

:05:02. > :05:02.weird and