:00:00. > :00:08.It's Wednesday morning, you're live with CBBC. I'm Leah with today's top
:00:09. > :00:12.stories from Newsround. England's women win the Ashes Down Under. And
:00:13. > :00:19.Viking warriors take over a town in Scotland... Sort of.
:00:20. > :00:24.First, a big education report out this morning says a quarter of young
:00:25. > :00:27.people in poorer countries can't read a single sentence. That's
:00:28. > :00:31.millions of children who can't read or write. The United Nations is now
:00:32. > :00:35.calling on the world's governments to give these kids the chance to go
:00:36. > :00:47.to school. Nel's been looking into it. This girl is 12 and lives in
:00:48. > :00:51.Lahore in Pakistan. She has been studying at this school for the past
:00:52. > :00:58.three years, but doesn't know how much longer she'll be here.
:00:59. > :01:02.TRANSLATION: My father doesn't want me to learn. He thinks it's not a
:01:03. > :01:07.good thing for girls to study. I have to fight him every day to come
:01:08. > :01:11.to school. That's because in Pakistan, girls are treated very
:01:12. > :01:14.differently to boys, and poor children are treated very
:01:15. > :01:17.differently to rich ones. In the latest report on education around
:01:18. > :01:24.the world, the United Nations found that in the Pakistani area of Sindh,
:01:25. > :01:29.only one in every five girls can do basic maths sums. For boys it is
:01:30. > :01:33.over half. TRANSLATION: Dad doesn't have enough
:01:34. > :01:38.money to send us to school. He thinks we should be working. My mum
:01:39. > :01:42.saves to pay our school fees. School buildings are old and there's not a
:01:43. > :01:45.lot of money for repairs. The teachers can sometimes be badly
:01:46. > :01:49.trained. It all might seem a world away from kids in the UK and their
:01:50. > :01:55.experiences are going to school. I've come to a girls school in
:01:56. > :01:59.Manchester. I'm here to study a gold dust map to meet a girl who studies
:02:00. > :02:07.in the UK. She understands how different school life can be in the
:02:08. > :02:12.two countries. The education here is much better. Just the opportunities
:02:13. > :02:16.you can have and the facilities. Here, there's a swimming pool and
:02:17. > :02:20.the library and I can do different clubs. It's very free and I've got a
:02:21. > :02:25.lot of opportunities and choices. I can kind of do whatever I like. How
:02:26. > :02:29.different do you think your education would be if you are living
:02:30. > :02:32.in Pakistan? I think you'd have to travel a long way to school,
:02:33. > :02:42.probably on foot, because he wouldn't be able to afford a car.
:02:43. > :02:44.Then when you get to school the education is not very good. Then
:02:45. > :02:46.when you come home there probably wouldn't be any electricity.
:02:47. > :02:50.Although life is very different, both girls have the same dreams for
:02:51. > :02:54.the future. I really want to have the education to get a good job and
:02:55. > :02:59.support my family. My dream has always been to be a doctor. Father
:03:00. > :03:02.doesn't think I can do it but I want a job, that's all. In America,
:03:03. > :03:06.President Barack Obama went on telly last night for a big speech to set
:03:07. > :03:09.out his priorities for the next 12 months. In his Union Address, he
:03:10. > :03:12.told millions of Americans that inequality in the country had
:03:13. > :03:15.deepened. He wants to give opportunity to more families and
:03:16. > :03:18.tackle pay differences at work between men and women. The president
:03:19. > :03:22.is looking to improve his ratings with voters, which have been at
:03:23. > :03:25.their lowest since he got the top job five years ago. Staying with
:03:26. > :03:27.America, more arctic weather has caused chaos in the Midwest, with
:03:28. > :03:33.schools closing, airlines cancelling flights and emergency crews working
:03:34. > :03:37.to dig out major roadways. Many motorists trying to travel spun off
:03:38. > :03:40.the road or slid into snow banks. In Ohio, high winds created "snow
:03:41. > :03:46.rollers", which are coils of snow whipped up by the 40mph gusts. In
:03:47. > :03:50.the normally warm Southern states, a state of emergency has been declared
:03:51. > :03:55.as they prepare for a severe winter storm too. To warmer places and just
:03:56. > :03:59.an hour or so ago, England retained the Women's Ashes in Australia. They
:04:00. > :04:02.needed to win the first Twenty20 match to win the series. England won
:04:03. > :04:05.by nine wickets, with captain Charlotte Edwards hitting the
:04:06. > :04:10.winning runs to finish a brilliant innings of 92 not out. The men play
:04:11. > :04:15.their first Twenty20 in Hobart after 8am this morning. A big night in the
:04:16. > :04:18.Premier League saw Liverpool smash their local rivals Everton 4-0 in
:04:19. > :04:21.the Merseyside derby. Reds captain Steven Gerrard scored after 20
:04:22. > :04:25.minutes and Daniel Sturridge followed up with two more before
:04:26. > :04:29.half-time. Man United also won last night, but Arsenal were held to a
:04:30. > :04:33.draw. Last up, just enough time to show you some amazing pictures of
:04:34. > :04:36.people dressed as Vikings! It was the Up Helly Aa festival in
:04:37. > :04:38.Scotland's Shetland Islands. Every year local people carry torches
:04:39. > :04:41.through the town of Lerwick to celebrate the islands' Viking
:04:42. > :04:45.heritage, before throwing their torches onto a pretend Viking ship
:04:46. > :04:48.to make a big fire. Head to the website to check out more pictures.
:04:49. > :04:51.That's all from me, Newsround's back in about half an hour with loads
:04:52. > :04:56.more. See you then.