:00:00. > :00:12.Hi guys, I have everything you need to know this Thursday. On today's
:00:13. > :00:20.show: How some birds may be smarter than you might think. Why millions
:00:21. > :00:23.of Britain's pets are getting seriously overweight.
:00:24. > :00:26.First then, do you think you could outsmart this bird? Well, according
:00:27. > :00:30.to scientists New Caledonian crows are as good at solving puzzles as
:00:31. > :00:33.seven-year-old kids. Crows are the only creatures to use tools, apart
:00:34. > :00:36.from primates like apes and humans, and new research shows they can work
:00:37. > :00:41.out complicated logic puzzles too. Check this out.
:00:42. > :00:44.They're known for being pretty savvy but now scientists reckon that crows
:00:45. > :00:54.can be as good at solving puzzles as seven-year old kids. These
:00:55. > :00:57.particular crows are very good at tool use, but all members of the
:00:58. > :01:05.crow family, the ones you see in your family is -- the ones you see
:01:06. > :01:09.in your garden, are intelligent. In a series of tests, the crows had to
:01:10. > :01:14.work out what to do to get treats. One of the tests where the crows did
:01:15. > :01:17.well was this one. They were given a range of tubes with different
:01:18. > :01:22.amounts of water in and a pile of rocks next to it. As you can see,
:01:23. > :01:26.pretty soon they got the hang of it. So how does it work? It's all to do
:01:27. > :01:29.with a scientific principle called displacement. If you drop a rock in
:01:30. > :01:33.the water it sinks to the bottom, pushing some of the liquid out of
:01:34. > :01:37.the way and raising the level of the water. The birds not only used this
:01:38. > :01:41.tactic to get at food floating on the water, they also worked out
:01:42. > :01:44.which items would float or not and knew which tube had the most water
:01:45. > :01:47.in it. We did almost exactly the same is that gives children between
:01:48. > :01:49.four and ten and we found that while children over eight were much better
:01:50. > :01:54.than the crows, children between five and seven performed about the
:01:55. > :02:01.same level as the crows. They were just as good in the apparatus. The
:02:02. > :02:07.children did it just as well but the crows could not do it. So sometimes
:02:08. > :02:11.children and animals can perform as well as each other, but they might
:02:12. > :02:15.learn in different ways. Although they weren't as good in some of the
:02:16. > :02:19.more complicated tasks, crows seem to me to be the birds "in the know".
:02:20. > :02:23.Next, what happens when two of the most powerful men in the world meet
:02:24. > :02:26.for the first time? Well, a lot of cameras start flashing, as you'll
:02:27. > :02:29.see right now! The President of America, Barack Obama, met with the
:02:30. > :02:33.leader of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope, at the Vatican today. And
:02:34. > :02:36.it seems they got on very well! President Obama, who's on a
:02:37. > :02:39.week-long tour of Europe, told an Italian newspaper that he admires
:02:40. > :02:42.the Pope's commitment to fighting global poverty, but he did admit
:02:43. > :02:45.they don't agree on everything. It's BBC's School Report News Day
:02:46. > :02:49.today, and thousands of you up and down the country have been taking
:02:50. > :02:52.part. Ricky and Leah have been working with school reporters today
:02:53. > :03:01.in London. What have you guys been up to today? Welcome to the hub of
:03:02. > :03:05.the BBC in central London. This has been taken over by BBC School
:03:06. > :03:15.reporters. Every corridor and meeting room has children wearing
:03:16. > :03:20.their school ties. Thousands of children are sharing their stories
:03:21. > :03:26.on radio, online and on TV. What have you been doing? Me and my
:03:27. > :03:30.friend have been in the radio broadcasting remaking our bulletin
:03:31. > :03:34.about stories we think matter. You chose the stories and put together
:03:35. > :03:44.your own radio show, amazing. We have also been on the set of the One
:03:45. > :03:55.Show. It was amazing to get our story on telly. We had a special
:03:56. > :04:09.guest judge. You can see the whole thing at 7pm. Respirator button --
:04:10. > :04:13.press the red button. Next, has your pooch got a paunch,
:04:14. > :04:17.or does your bunny have a belly? If so, they may be prime candidates for
:04:18. > :04:19.the Pet Fit Club weight loss competition which launches today.
:04:20. > :04:22.Animal charity the PDSA, which provides veterinary care for pets,
:04:23. > :04:26.says that millions of pets across the UK are far too fat, because
:04:27. > :04:29.their owners are sharing their own eating habits. Foods like takeaways,
:04:30. > :04:31.biscuits and chips are all making dogs, cats and even rabbits
:04:32. > :04:34.dangerously overweight, which can lead to major health problems and
:04:35. > :04:38.severely shorten their lives. The annual contest aims to find the best
:04:39. > :04:40.pet slimmers and entrance is open now.
:04:41. > :04:43.Make sure you head online to our new-look website, and check out both
:04:44. > :04:48.our special programmes from this week. Yesterday's front line
:04:49. > :04:51.Families, as well as the report on the uncertain future for kids living
:04:52. > :05:00.in Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul. That's all from me,
:05:01. > :05:02.Newsround's back just before 7pm.