Newsademic Issue 212 b

7/27/2019 Newsademic Issue 212 b

1/19

12th December 2013

British English edition

Issue Number 212

Newsademic.comThe informative easy to read introduction to world news

In this issue

Lootingin Argentina

Red Sea to Dead Sea

Aggressive mimicry

Latvian leader resigns

ADIZs in the East China Sea

Human evolution mystery

Euromaidenin Ukraine

Copenhagen WheelsFrench troops arrive in

Central African Republic

Early wildebeest migration

Worlds biggest floating

platform

Protests in Thailand

Stonehengemusic?

Destroying Syrias chemical

weapons

PISA tests

Canada claims North Pole

Prehistoric toilet

Moon plants

WTOs Bali Package

GlossaryCrossword and

Wordsearch Puzzle

People arriving at the stadium, in Johannesburg, in South Africa, for the memorial service for Nelson Mandela

On 10th December tens of thousands ofpeople went to a large football stadiumnear Johannesburg, in South Africa.Leaders and former leaders of nearly100 countries were among them. All hadcome to take part in a national memorialservice for Nelson Mandela.

Mandela died at his home, in Johan-nesburg, on 5th December. South Africasformer and first black president was 95

years old. He had been ill for some time.Within a few hours Jacob Zuma, SouthAfricas current president, spoke on livetelevision. He told his fellow South Af-

ricans that their former leader was dead.The news quickly travelled all aroundthe world. In many countries televisionand radio programmes were interrupted.Special news bulletins about the death ofMandela were broadcast.

During and after the time that Mande-

la was South Africas president he visited

many countries. Everybody welcomedhim. Many said he was an amazingman. Others often declared that Man-dela changed the world. Hundreds ofstreets and buildings in Europe, Africa,Asia, and North and South America have

been named after him.Mandela went from prison to presi-

dent. He was greatly admired for his cour-

age and beliefs. To many he was an icon

of freedom and an example of the powerof forgiveness. Yet Mandela will prob-

ably best be remembered for the ending of

apartheid in South Africa and thereconcili-

ationbetween black and white people.

Mandela was born in 1918. He wasa member of the Xhosa tribe, or clan. Inlater years, as a mark of respect, many

people called him Madiba. This was hisXhosa clan name. His real name was Roli-hlahla Mandela. In the Xhosa language,

Rolihlahla can mean troublemaker.

TH E M A N W H O C H A N G E D T H E W O R L D

LEVEL UP!

Use

ONLINE EXTRA

Newsademic.com

TO JOIN VISITWWW.NEWSADEMIC.COM


2/19

12th Decenber 2013 Newsademic.comBritish English edition page 2

When Mandela was born SouthAfrica was a British colony. Hewent to the local church school.Then, foreign teachers would givestudents British names. They found

these easier to say. Mandelas teach-er called him Nelson. When he wasolder Mandela went to university.

He decided to train to become alawyer. In his youth Mandela liked

boxing and long distance running.

Nelson Mandela

Eight years before Mandela was

born the British government haddecided to let the Afrikaners runSouth Africa. Many Afrikaners aredescended from settlers. These peo-

ple moved to South Africa from theNetherlands and what is now Ger-many around 300 years ago.

In 1913 the new South Africangovernment passed a land owner-ship law. The Afrikaners were onlya small part of the population. Yetthe new law meant they ownedabout 80% of all the land.

In 1948 the governing National

Party introduced apartheid. This wasa system that separated white and

black people. Apartheid in the Afri-kaans language means apartness.

Under apartheid most blackSouth Africans were not allowed tolive and work in areas set aside forwhite people. They could only do soif they had been given a special pass.A black person found in a whitesonly area without a pass would be

arrested. Black people could not go

to certain hospitals and schools, asthese were only for whites. Apart-heid also meant that black peoplecouldnt vote in elections.

The African National Congress

(ANC) was set up in 1912. At first itwas called the South African NativeNational Congress. The organisa-

tion changed its name to the ANCin 1923. The ANC was founded by

people who were angry about theunfairness of what was happeningin South Africa.

Mandela joined the ANC whenhe was a young man. In 1960 thegovernment banned the organisa-

tion. Around this time South Africabecame an independent country. Af-ter the ban ANC members began ar-ranging acts of resistance against theauthorities. Some, including Man-dela, said violence should be used to

overthrow the government. Then, hethought violence was necessary. Thiswas because peaceful protests hadfailed to change the apartheid laws.

Many ANC members were ar-rested. In 1962 the police caughtMandela. Two years later a courtfound him guilty of sabotage andtrying to overthrow the government.The judge sentenced him to life im-

prisonment.During the 27 years he was in

prison Mandela became a symbol ofthe struggle against apartheid. Thegovernments of many other countries

disagreed with the apartheid regime.Most refused to trade with South Af-rica or talk with its government.

In 1989, F W de Klerk became thecountrys president. He decided towork with the ANC to end apartheid.The following year Mr de Klerk ar-ranged for Mandela and other ANC

prisoners to be released. Mandelaand Mr de Klerk then worked to-gether to change the way in which

South Africa was governed. In 1993

they were jointly awarded the NobelPeace Prize. This prize is awardedevery year. It is given to a person,

people or organisation that is judgedto have made the greatest contribu-

tion to world peace.In 1994 the first presidential elec-tion in which black people were al-

lowed to vote was held in South Afri-

ca. Mandela won easily. In 1999, after

his five-year term ended, he decided

to retire and not stand for re-election.

After being released from prisonMandela said that any type of pro-test should be peaceful. He alwaysrecommended reconciliation where

there are differences between racesor political groups. He also criticised

people who took part in, or encour-aged others to join, violent protests.

National leaders, from all around

the world, travelled to South Af-

rica for the memorial service at the

football stadium. Perhaps the big-

gest cheer from the crowd was when

Barack Obama, the president of the

USA, arrived. President Zuma and

other members of the ANC made

speeches. Mr Obama and Ban-Ki

moon, the leader, or secretary-gener-

al, of the United Nations (UN) also

spoke. Mr Obama said that it took a

man like Mandela to liberate not just

the prisoner, but the jailer as well and

that Mandela had a life like no other.

The following day Mandelas

body was taken through the streets of

Pretoria, one of South Africas maincities. Crowds sang and cheered as

his coffin, covered by a South African

flag, was driven past. The coffin was

taken to the Union Buildings. There

thousands of people queued to walk

past it. The Union Buildings were

where Mandela took the oath to be-

come president nearly 20 years ago.

Madiba will be buried near his home

village, in the south eastern part of

the country, on 15th December.


3/19


LOOTINGINARGENTINA

Serious looting has broken out inArgentina. In 19 out of the coun-trys 23 provinces local police of-

ficers have been on strike. Lootingis when crowds of people break intostores. They then take things with-

out paying for them. Looters oftendamage shops and even set some ofthem on fire.

Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner

The trouble began on 3rd De-

cember in Crdoba, Argentinassecond largest city. The day before,local police officers decided to goon strike, or refuse to work. Theywere complaining about their pay. Asthere were no police in the city some

people decided to start looting. Af-ter a few days, Crdobas governoragreed to double police wages.

However, while the police wereon strike many stores were brokeninto. Hundreds of shops were dam-aged. Two people were killed andover 100 injured. The governor

claimed that most of the looters

were criminal gangs.Argentina has many economic

problems. Although the govern-ment has not admitted it, inflationin the country is thought to be about30%. This is one of the highestinflation rates in the world. Infla-tion is when a currency loses valueand the cost of things increase.Governments that keep printingmore and more banknotes usu-

ally cause it. The more banknotes

there are in a country the less theyare worth.

The police claimed that they wereunable to live on the money theywere being paid. They demanded a

pay rise that would match the infla-tion. After the governor of Crdobaagreed to double their pay, police inother provinces went on strike. Theytoo began demanding higher wages.When this happens the new strikesare often called copycat strikes.

In many cities, owners decidedto close their shops. Banks also shutand public buses stopped running.Some shop owners used weapons to

protect their stores. They threatenedto shoot anyone who tried to breakin. Crowds, or mobs, took advan-tage of the police strikes. In some

places there were riots. In one partof Buenos Aires, the capital city, alarge supermarket was looted andset on fire.

Border police and national policehave not been striking. The govern-ment sent members of these forcesto places where the local policerefused to work. Troops have also

been sent to some cities.To stop the strikes other prov-

ince governors said their policeforces would get more money. Thenmany health workers began joining

copycat strikes. They believe thatif police pay increases their wagesshould also rise.

Cristina Fernndez de Kirchneris Argentinas president. She wasfirst elected in 2007 and re-electedfor another four years in 2011. Sincethe last election, because of the eco-nomic problems, Ms de Kirchnerhas become an unpopular leader.

Between 1976 and 1983 Argen-tina was a dictatorship. Militarycommanders ran the country. RalAlfonsn officially became the coun-

trys president on 10th December

1983. He was democratically elect-ed. So 10th December this year wasthe 30th anniversary of the end ofArgentinas military dictatorship.

A large celebration was held in the

centre of Buenos Aires. However,some people said it should havebeen postponed because of the loot-ing problems.

REDSEATODEADSEA

Officials from Israel, Jordan andthe Palestinian Authority (PA)signed an agreement on 9th De-

cember. The signing took place atthe headquarters of the World Bankin Washington DC, the capital ofthe USA.

MediterraneanSea

Sea ofGalilee

DeadSea

RedSea

Pip

eli

ne JORDAN

Amman

Jo

rdan

Riv

er

GazaStrip

West

Bank

EGYPT

SYRIA

ISRAEL

Aqaba

The World Bank is part of theUnited Nations (UN), but it operatesas a separate organisation. One of its

jobs is to help to provide money topay for large projects in less wealthycountries. As part of the agreementthe World Bank will help to pay fora project that will link the Red Seato the Dead Sea. It will also produceextra drinking water for Israel, Jor-

dan and the PA.


4/19


The Dead Sea is a large lake be-tween Jordan, Israel and the WestBank, which is part of the PA. Theshore around the lake is about 422metres (1,384 feet) below the level

of the sea. This shoreline is the low-est land on the Earth. The Dead Seais 377 metres (1,237 feet) deep.

The Dead Sea is also one of theworlds saltiest areas of water. Itsso salty that when people bathein it they float much higher in thewater than in a swimming pool orthe sea. The large amount of salt inthe water means that no fish live inthe lake. This is why it is called the

Dead Sea.The River Jordan flows into the

lake. Yet no water flows out. TheDead Sea does not have an outlet tothe sea. The water level of the lakehas been going down for the last 40

years. Experts say that during thistime the Dead Sea has shrunk byroughly 30%. The main reason isthat very little water from the RiverJordan now flows into it. Israel,Syria and Jordan use the river for ir-rigation, or watering crops, and as asupply of drinking water.

The Red Sea to Dead Sea projectwas first discussed around 20 yearsago. Yet there have been argumentsabout what it should do and whowould pay for it. The agreementstates that a large plant will be built

at Aqaba, in Jordan. This city is on

the Red Sea. The plant will turn sea-water into drinking water. This pro-cess is called desalination.

Getting fresh water from seawa-ter produces a lot of brine. This iswater that is much saltier than thesea. Normally, desalination plants

pump brine back into the sea. As partof the project a pipeline will be builtfrom Aqaba to the Dead Sea. Thiswill be 177 kilometres (110 miles)

long. After being pumped along the

pipeline, brine from the desalinationplant will flow into the Dead Sea.

Both Israel and Jordan will usedrinking water from the desalination

plant. Israel has agreed to supply ex-

tra drinking water to the West Bankand Amman, the capital of Jordan.This water will come from a fresh-

water lake called the Sea of Galilee.The River Jordan connects this laketo the Dead Sea.

Dead Sea

Not everyone is happy about the

new project. Some environmental-ists worry that the brine from the

plant at Aqaba could change theecologyof the Dead Sea. Yet peoplewho are part of the project say carewill be taken to make sure this doesnot happen.

AGGRESSIVEMIMICRY

The orchid mantis is a rare insect.It is able to make itself look like aflower. For over 100 years scien-tists have suspected that this type

of mantis does this to catch otherinsects. A group of researchers re-cently travelled to Malaysia to findout if this was true.

There are many types of mantis.These insects often have very goodcamouflage. Their different coloursmake them difficult to see. The in-sects have similar colours to theirhabitats, or the places where theylive. It is not unusual for certain

types of insects to hide in this way.

Another example is the stick insect.Also known as stick bugs, they arefound in many parts of the world.They are very difficult to spot, aswhen they stay still they look just

like small sticks, or twigs.There are many insects that areable to copy, or mimic, their sur-

roundings. They usually do this for

one of two reasons. One reason is

that it helps them to hide from other

creatures that hunt and kill, or prey

on, them. The other is so the insects

on which they feed cannot see them.

When their prey gets close, the insects

can ambushor suddenly grab them.

Orchid mantises have four walk-ing legs, which look like flower pet-als. They also have a pair of frontlegs. These are usually folded up.They use their front legs to grab andcatch their prey. Orchid mantises

feed on other insects including but-terflies. They are able to stay verystill while making themselves looklike an orchid flower.

Orchid Mantis

Other types of insects will hide

in flowers. They do this because theinsects they feed on are attractedto flowers. The ones hiding in theflowers catch the insects that landon them. So it is the flowers and notthe insects that attract the insects

prey. The orchid mantis is differ-ent. It can sit on a leaf and makeitself look like a separate orchidflower. Flying insects are attractedto the flower-like mantis. The man-

tis is therefore attracting its prey by


5/19


looking like a flower. This type ofbehaviour, which is known as ag-gressivemimicry, is unusual.

In Malaysia, the group of re-searchers managed to find some

orchid mantises. They discoveredthat the insects colours matched13 different types of wild flowers.

The researchers watched as insectsflew close to the flower-like orchidmantises. Each time, if the flyinginsect was close enough, the man-tises grabbed it. This was the firsttime orchid mantises had been seencatching their prey.

The researchers were surprised.

They said the orchid mantis seemedto attract more insects than realflowers do. Whats more they arevery good at catching the ones thatget too close.

PRIMEMINISTERINLATVIARESIGNS

At the end of November ValdisDombrovskis, the prime ministerof Latvia, announced that he haddecided to resign, or step down. Hesaid that he was unable to lead thecountry. This, he explained, was

because many people were angryabout a recent accident.

Supermarket in Riga after roof collapse

The accident happened at a super-

market in Riga, the capital city. With-

out warning part of the roof of the su-

permarket collapsed. Rescue workers

rushed to the building. Another part

of the roof fell in while the rescue

teams tried to free those who were

trapped. Fifty-four people, including

three rescue workers, were killed.

Another 30 were badly injured.

Valdis Dombrovskis

Latvia is one of three small Euro-pean countries that are often calledthe Baltic States. The other two areEstonia and Lithuania. All three wereoccupied by Russia in 1945, at the

end of the Second World War. Theythen became part of the Russian-ledSoviet Union. From 1945 until 1991the communist leaders in charge ofRussia controlled the Baltic States.All three became independent coun-tries in 1991. This was soon after theSoviet Union began to break up.

After becoming independent,Latvians were able to elect theirown leaders. The countrys parlia-ment, known as the Saeima, has 100seats. Elections are held every fouryears. Usually the leader of the par-

ty with the most seats in the Saeima

becomes the prime minister. Latviaalso has a president, who is elected

by the members of parliament. Thepresident is head of state but has fewpowers. The prime minister makesmost of the important decisions.

Mr Dombrovskis became primeminister in 2009. Five years earlierLatvia joined the European Union(EU). The country has had manyeconomic problems. They began

in 2008. The banks had difficulties

and many companies were forced toclose. The number of people with-out jobs increased. Latvia had to askthe European Union (EU) and theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF)

for help.Most people think Mr Dombrovs-kis has been a good prime minister.He has solved many of the countryseconomic problems. Latvia nowhas one of the EUs fastest growingeconomies. At the beginning of nextyear it will start to use the euro as itscurrency. Mr Dombrovskis greatlyreduced, or cut, government spend-ing. This was done to save money.

One of the government organisa-tions Mr Dombrovskis cut, or closeddown, was in charge of new build-ing work. The supermarket where

the accident happened was built in2011. Some people believe it was

badly constructed. Many blame thedisaster on the closure of this organ-isation. This is because its job wasto check new buildings. They saythe organisation would have madesure the supermarket was construct-ed correctly. The roof collapse wasthe worst accident in Latvia since it

became an independent country.As Mr Dombrovskis has resigned,

the president will now have to selecta new prime minister. The next elec-

tion for the Latvian parliament willbe held in about ten months time.

EASTCHINASEAADIZS

On 3rd December the governmentof South Korea declared that it hadextended part of its Air DefenceIdentification Zone (ADIZ). Theannouncement followed a similarone made by China at the end of No-vember. Then, China suddenly saidits East China Sea ADIZ had been

extended. Chinas announcement


6/19


angered the governments of SouthKorea and Japan.

Many countries have their ownADIZs. These are part of their air-space. The zones can be over both

land and sea. Aircraft that want tofly through them are supposed to letthe country know when they plan

to do this. This includes passengerplanes. Countries are then able toidentify any aircraft in their airspace.If there are unidentified planes in itsADIZ a country might think it isabout to be attacked. If this happensit is not unusual for fighter jets toquickly take off and fly close to the

unidentified aircraft.Chinas extended East China

Sea ADIZ overlaps a large area ofJapans airspace. South KoreasADIZ extension means it overlapsan area of Chinese and Japanese

airspace. Most people believe thatChina enlarged its ADIZ because ofa disagreement with Japan. In recentmonths the two countries have beenarguing about a group of small is-lands in the East China Sea.

The group of islands are quiteclose to China and near Taiwan.They are a long way from Japansmain islands. However, the islandgroup is not too far from Okinawa.This is one of Japans most south-erly islands. The Japanese call thegroup of islands the Senkaku Is-

lands. In China they are known as

Diaoyu. People call them Tiaoyutaiin Taiwan. All three countries insistthat they belong to them.

No one lives on the islands. Somepeople even describe them as eightlarge rocks. Yet they are important.Whichever country controls the is-lands also owns a large area of thesurrounding seas. These waters con-tain many fish. There may also belarge supplies of oil and gas under

the seabed close by.

The new South Korean ADIZ in-cludes the Socotra Rock. (In SouthKorea this rock is called leodo.)This is not an island but a largesubmerged rock. It is only 4.6 me-

tres (15 feet) below sea level. Inthe past China and South Koreahave argued about who owns this

underwater rock.

Beijing

TAIWAN

JAPANCHINA

SOUTHKOREA

Okinawa

EastChinaSea Senkaku (Japan)

Islands

Diaoyu (China)

Tiaoyutai (Taiwan)

ADIZs in East China Sea

The USA has agreements, or

treaties, with Japan and South Ko-rea. It also has military air basesin both countries. If either of thesecountries were ever attacked theagreement says that the USA wouldsupport them.

Soon after China said that it hadenlarged its ADIZ two large Ameri-can air force planes deliberatelyflew into it. They did this withoutany warning. The two bombers,called B52s, flew through the ADIZfor just over two hours. The pilotsreported that no Chinese jet fighters

had flown close to them. Chinese of-ficials said that they had monitoredthe American planes.

Both Japan and South Korea haveordered their airline companies toignore the new Chinese ADIZ. Thismeans the companies should not tellChinese officials when their passen-ger planes would be flying throughthe zone. Yet the government of theUSA has said that American airline

companies should not ignore it.

Joe Biden, the American vicepresident, visited Japan on 3rd De-cember. Over the next five dayshe also travelled to South Koreaand Beijing, the capital of China.

He spoke with the leader of eachcountry. Mr Biden fears that theoverlapping ADIZs might cause an

accident. A military aircraft firing atan unidentified passenger plane bymistake is an example.

HUMANEVOLUTIONQUESTION

Scientists in Germany have man-

aged to extract ancient DNA froma leg bone. The bone, which wasfound in a cave in Spain, is hundredsof thousands of years old. The scien-tists expected to discover that it wasfrom an early Neanderthal, a type of

ancient human. Yet their DNA studygave an unexpected result.

Scientists working in The Pit of Bones

Most researchers think groupsof early humans, or hominids, leftAfrica about 400,000 years ago.

They moved into the Middle East.Its thought that these early humanssplit into two different types roughly300,000 years ago. They are called

Neanderthals and Denisovans. Theplaces where ancient bones havebeen found suggest that the hominidsmoved in different directions. The

Neanderthals moved west into Eu-rope and the Denisovans went east.

The name Neanderthal comes

from an area in Germany. This is


7/19


where some of the first Neanderthalbones were found over 150 years ago.The Denisovans were only discov-ered within the last few years. DNAwas extracted from an ancient finger

bone and some teeth. It showed thatthey came from a hominid that wasdifferent from Neanderthals. The

bone and teeth are 80,000 years old.They were found in a cave calledDenisova, in eastern Russia.

Ancient hominid skull from The Pit of Bones

Homo sapiens, or modern hu-mans, are also believed to have comefrom Africa. Groups are thought tohave begun moving into the MiddleEast and other parts of the world be-tween 70,000 and 60,000 years ago.

Recent DNA studies have shownthat Homo sapiens interbred with

both Neanderthals and Denisovans.Yet by about 30,000 years ago boththese groups had died out. It is notknown why. Some researchers sus-

pect it may have had something todo with climate change or that theywere unable to compete for foodwith modern humans.

The cave in Spain where the an-cient leg bone was found is calledSima de los Huesos (The Pit ofBones). This pit-like cave is 13 me-tres (43 feet) deep. The bones of 28ancient hominids have been foundat the bottom of the cave. Some re-

searchers believe the bodies were

thrown into the cave as a type ofburial. Others think floods washedthem into it.

The DNA tests show the legbone is around 400,000 years old.

Before this the earliest ancient hu-man DNA ever taken came from

bones that date back only 100,000years. Normally DNA can only beextracted from very old bones whenthey have been frozen. Its thoughtthat the cool air in the cave helped to

preserve the leg bone DNA.The scientists were surprised to

find that the DNA was more likeDenisovans than Neanderthals.

So far the only known Denisovanbones were discovered 6,440 kilo-metres (4,000 miles) away in theeastern part of Russia. No Deniso-vans bones have ever been found in

Spain or other parts of Europe.The scientists say their discovery

suggests that some theories abouthuman evolution may be wrong.The DNA results, they explain,mean the story of human evolutionis probably more complicated than

previously thought.

UKRAINEANDTHEEU

Viktor Yanukovych, the presidentof Ukraine, took part in a numberof discussions on 10th December.The day before and the two previous

weekends there had been huge streetprotests in Kiev, the countrys capi-tal city. Mr Yanukovych said thathe wanted to find a way of endingthe demonstrations.

The protesters are angry abouta proposed agreement betweenUkraine and the European Union(EU). The agreement was to besigned at the end of November. Itwould make it easier for Ukraine

and the EUs 28 member countries

to trade and work with each other.A few days before meeting withEU officials to finalise the agree-ment, Mr Yanukovych suddenly an-nounced that he would not sign it.

Euromaidan demonstration in Kiev

Mr Yanukovych explained that

Ukraine needed to work with Rus-sia. For many years Ukraine was

part of the Russian-led Soviet Un-ion. It became an independent coun-ty in 1991. This was when the SovietUnion began to break up. However,

Ukraine still relies on Russia formany things. Most of the oil andgas the country needs comes fromRussian companies. Ukraine growslarge amounts of wheat. Russia buysmuch of it. The ancestors of many

people who live in eastern Ukrainecame from Russia.

Ukraine has two main politi-cal groups. Mr Yanukovych leadsone. Many of his supporters livein eastern Ukraine. Most are pro-Russia. The other political groupssupporters mainly come from west-

ern Ukraine. They are anti-Russia.

These are the people who have beendemonstrating. They want Ukraineto work more with Europe and lesswith Russia. The protesters also ac-cuse Mr Yanukovychs governmentof being dishonest and corrupt.

The demonstrators believe thatRussias leaders told Mr Yanuko-vych not to sign the EU agreement.Vladimir Putin, the Russian presi-dent, insists this is not true. How-

ever, Russia wants Ukraine to join


8/19


its own trading area, or zone. This iscalled the Customs Union. Belarusand Kazakhstan are in this tradingzone. Both are former members ofthe Soviet Union.

Over 500,000 people have taken

part in some of the Kiev protests.

There have also been smaller demon-

strations in other cities. The protest-

ers call the demonstrations Euro-

maidan. Maidan Nezalezhnosti is a

large open area, or square, in the cen-

tre of Kiev. (Nezalezhnostimeans in-

dependence and maidanis a square.)

During the demonstrations some pro-testers managed to enter several gov-

ernment buildings. The police have

made many arrests. They have also

tried to break up some of the protests.

On 8th December some protest-ers toppled, or pushed over, a statueof Lenin. Soon after the RussianRevolution in 1917 Vladimir Lenin(1870 1924) became Russias firstcommunist leader. Many Soviet Un-

ion member countries had statues of

Lenin in their larger cities. Yet afterthey became independent nationsmost removed them. People said thestatues reminded them of being un-der communist control.

Mr Yanukovych met with Cath-erine Ashton, or Baroness Ashton.She is the EUs head of foreign af-

fairs. He also took part in a discus-sion with three former presidentsof Ukraine. Their talks were shownon television. Afterwards Mr Yanu-kovych said government officialswould visit the EUs headquartersin Brussels, Belgiums capital city.There they would take part in more

talks about the EU agreement.

COPENHAGENWHEEL

A new type of bicycle wheel is now

being sold in the USA. Called theCopenhagen Wheel it is able to storekinetic energy. This energy is thenused to help the cyclist go uphill orgo faster. Kinetic energy is the energyof motion. All moving objects havekinetic energy. The energy stored bythe new wheel comes from pedalling,

braking and going downhill.The person who invented the

wheel works at a university in theUSA. Several years ago the mayorof Copenhagen asked him to try tosolve a problem. Copenhagen is the

capital city of Denmark. It is also

where the name of the wheel comesfrom. The mayor wanted more peo-

ple to ride bicycles in his city.The inventor did some research.

He found that many people liked toride bikes but they didnt want tocycle to work. The main reason wasthat they dont want to arrive hotandperspiring.

Nowadays, in some countries suchas China, electric bikes are popular.

These have an electric motor and a

number of controls. Electric bikescan also be pedalled. Most are quiteheavy. Many people who enjoy rid-ing bicycles do not like them. This is

because electric bikes are like small

mopeds or motorbikes. The inventordecided that he needed to find a way

that gave cyclists extra power.Copenhagen Wheels are being

made in three sizes. They have beendesigned to replace the rear wheelof normal bicycles. The wheels havea large red disc. Inside the disc area rechargeable battery and severalelectronic devices. The wheels haveno controls, buttons or wires. Sen-

sors inside the disc track how hardthe rider has to pedal. The disc canadd extra power, so pedalling be-comes easier. The energy the batterygenerates is about four times more

than a person needs to ride a bike.

Copenhagen Wheel (Superpedestrian)

A bicycle fitted with a Copenha-gen Wheel will have a top speed ofabout 32 kilometres (20 miles) perhour. It should be able to travel for48 kilometres (30 miles) before the

battery needs recharging. The batterycan last for longer if the rider does alot of braking and downhill cycling.

The sensors can be adjusted. Forexample, riders can set times anddistances when extra power is need-ed. These adjustments are madefrom a smartphone app.

A company called Superpedes-trian, which is based in the city ofBoston, is selling the new wheels.

They cost US$700 (430).

NEWSCAST

BUILDINGPUZZLE Rubiks Cubes

are the worlds best-selling puzzle

game. The cubes have six sides.

Six different coloured square stick-ers cover each one. A person needs

to keep turning the lines, or rows,

of the cube. The puzzle is complete

when the stickers on each side

are all the same colour. A Spanish

designer has turned a building in

Austria into a giant Rubiks Cube.

Instead of coloured stickers the

building is covered in large square

shaped lights. They change colour

when rows of a real Rubiks Cube(connected to a computer) are

moved. People trying to solve the

giant cube say its difficult. This

is because only two sides of the

building can be seen at one time.


9/19


FRENCHTROOPSINCAR

Recently there have been reports ofserious violence in the Central Af-rican Republic (CAR). The reports

say that armed groups have killedhundreds of people. On 4th Decem-ber the United Nations (UN) held a

meeting to discuss what was hap-pening in the CAR. It gave permis-sion to French and African Union(AU) troops to use weapons to pro-tect civilians in the country.

Franois Hollande, president of France

France has kept about 400 troopsin the CAR for many months. Theyare based in Bangui, the capital city.Their job has been to protect the air-

port and any French people who livein the city. After the UN announce-ment Franois Hollande, the presi-dent of France, said he had decidedto send 1,600 more French troops tothe CAR. These troops are based inother North African countries, suchas Cameroon.

The CAR, like many other coun-

tries in North and West Africa, usedto be a colony of France. Eventhough these countries became inde-

pendent nations in the early 1960s,France still has military bases insome of them. Last January Mr Hol-lande sent thousands of troops toMali. This country is another formerFrench colony. There they helpedto defeat several Islamic militantgroups. Around 2,800 French troops

are still in Mali.

Since it became an independ-ent country the CAR has had many

problems. At the end of last yearfighting broke out. A group calledthe Slka Coalition seized control

of some northern areas. In the locallanguage Slka means alliance.

As they approached the capital city,Francois Bozize, the CARs presi-dent, left the country.

Eventually Michel Djotodia tookover. He was the leader of Slka.He wanted the groups that had beenfighting for the Slka Coalition togive up their weapons. Yet most re-fused to do so. These groups have

now been attacking towns and cit-ies. Another armed group, whichsupports Mr Bozize, recently at-tacked Bangui.

Many of these armed groups are

Muslims. Now fighting seems tohave broken out between Islamicand Christian groups. Around 10%of the population, or 400,000 peo-

ple, have left their homes to getaway from the fighting.

CHAD

CAMEROON

REPUBLICOF

CONGO

Bangui

CENTRAL AFRICANREPUBLIC

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICOF CONGO

There have been around 2,500soldiers from different Africancountries in the CAR for over ayear. These soldiers are part of anAU peacekeeping force. After theUN vote the AU said it too wouldsend more troops to the CAR. Afterthey arrived some of the French andAU troops moved to other parts ofthe country to protect local people.

On 9th December two French

soldiers were shot and killed near

the airport in Bangui. The govern-ments of the USA and the UK saidthey would send some large militarytransport planes. These will be usedto fly more AU soldiers from other

African countries to the CAR.Ban Ki-moon is the secretary-

general, or leader, of the UN. Hesays that he is worried about whatis happening in the CAR. Mr Banhopes that the UN will eventually beable to set up a much larger peace-keeping operation in the country.

WILDEBEESTEARLYMIGRATION

Wildlife officials in Kenya have saidthat tens of thousands of wildebeesthave begun returning from Tanza-nia. Their early return to Kenya isunusual. The officials say they have

never seen it happen at this time ofyear before.

Wildebeest are also called gnus.In the Dutch language wildebeestmeans wild beast or wild cattle.An adult wildebeest is about 1.4metres (4.5 feet) tall at the shoulder.They can weigh as much as 272 kil-ograms (600 pounds). The animalshave short, sharp curved horns.

Wildebeest are only found in the

southern and eastern parts of Africa.

Their habitats, or places where they

live, are grassy plains and areas of

open woodland. The animals live in

very large herds. Wildebeest are ac-tive during the day and night. They

spend much of their time eating grass.

In Tanzania and Kenya the animals

are famous for their migration. Each

year, wildebeest move northwards

from the Serengeti National Park, in

Tanzania, to the Maasai Mara Game

Reserve, in Kenya. This migration

normally happens in May or June.

Usually the migrating herds

are made up of at least 1.5 million


10/19


wildebeest. Often other animals,such as zebra and gazelles, travelalongside them. Some people de-scribe this annual migration as oneof the most unforgettable sights in

the world. Many visitors travel tothis part of Africa to watch it.

Herd of wildebeest

Other animals hunt and kill, orprey on, wildebeest. These includelions, cheetahs, hyenas, and wilddogs. This is probably why wilde-

beest travel in such big herds. Ani-

mals that feed on them find it easierto catch and kill wildebeest if theyare on their own and not part of aherd. During their migration wilde-

beest have to cross the River Mara.This river is home to many croco-diles. They too prey on wildebeest.

The weather explains why wilde-beest travel between the Serengetiand the Maasai Mara. The two plac-es have different amounts of rain. Italso rains at different times of theyear. When it rains the grass growsquickly and it is much greener. The

animals therefore move from one

place to the other for the better grass.Wildebeest usually move from

Kenya to Tanzania in September.They then stay in Tanzania until April

before going back to Kenya. Dur-ing this time the females give birthto hundreds of thousands of calves.The calves only take a few minutesto learn to walk. After several daysthey can run with the herd.

Officials in Kenya say that many

of the returning wildebeest look very

thin. A lack of rain in Tanzania thisyear may mean there is not enoughgrass for them. The officials say this

probably explains why the animalshave started returning to Kenya four

months early.

WORLDSBIGGESTFLOATINGPLATFORM

On 4th December a shipbuildingcompany in South Korea launchedthe hull of Prelude FLNG. A hullis the main part, or body, of a ship.Some people have described the

hull as the worlds biggest vessel,or large boat. But its really partof a huge floating platform. FLNGstands for Floating Liquefied Natu-ral Gas.

Prelude is being built for the

Royal Dutch Shell Company. Thiscompany, which is based in both the

Netherlands and the UK, is one ofthe largest oil and gas companies inthe world. Preludes hull is 488 me-tres (1,600 feet) long and 74 metres(243 feet) wide. When finished itwill be as tall as a 60-storey build-ing. The construction work is ex-

pected to cost about US$12 billion(7.3 billion).

Artists impression of Prelude FLNG

When finished, other ships willtow, or pull, the floating platform toAustralia. There it will be moored orparked about 200 kilometres (124miles) off the countrys western

coast. The platform is expected to

stay in the same place for about 25years. It has been designed to with-stand the most powerful storms, orcyclones. Royal Dutch Shell hopesthat the operation to move the plat-

form will have been completed by2017. It will then start to pump upnatural gas from large gas fields

deep below the seabed.Like oil, natural gas is a fos-

sil fuel. Many countries burn it inpower stations to make electricity.It is also used for cooking and heat-ing. However, the gas is not as easyto transport as oil. This is because ittakes up more space. Currently most

gas is moved from the place whereits found to where its neededthrough very long pipelines.

Two of the biggest producers ofLNG are Qatar and Indonesia. Chill-ing the gas to very low temperatures

turns it into a liquid. The liquid gas,or LNG, can then be loaded intotanker-like ships. This means it can

be transported around the world inthe same way as oil.

Royal Dutch Shell says that trans-porting gas from the undersea gasfields through pipelines would be toodifficult. It would also be very ex-

pensive. Prelude FLNG has thereforebeen specially designed. It will beable to extract the gas from under theseabed and turn it into LNG. Shipswill then be able to come alongside

it. After being filled the ships will

take the LNG to other countries.Several international companies

are now planning to get oil andgas from places that many peoplethought were inaccessible. PreludeFLNG is an example of this.

The price of oil and gas contin-ues to go up. This is mainly becausecountries such as China and Indiaare using more. In these places gasis used in factories and burnt to

make electricity. In future, much


11/19


of Preludes LNG will probably besold to China.

Royal Dutch Shell says it is al-ready planning to build anotherfloating gas platform. This one will

be even larger than Prelude.

DEMONSTRATIONSINTHAILAND

Yingluck Shinawatra, the prime

minister of Thailand, announced the

dissolution of the countrys House

of Representatives on 9th Decem-

ber. The House of Representatives is

Thailands lower house of parliament.

Dissolution means the parliament willclose and a new election will be held.

Anti-government demonstrators in Thailand

Ms Yinglucks announcementcame after large anti-government

protests. These demonstrations firstbegan at the beginning of November.The protesters tried to enter severalgovernment buildings in Bangkok,the capital city. At first the policeset up barriers to stop this from hap-

pening. Yet on 3rd December thepolice took them down. The protest-ers could then enter the buildings ifthey wished to.

The King of Thailands birthday

was two days later. Its thought that

the police removed the barriers so

there would not be any trouble on this

day. The kings birthday is a national

holiday. Usually tens of thousands of

people take part in celebrations, which

are held in larger towns and cities.

King Bhumibol is the worldslongest reigning monarch. The kingis admired by nearly everyone inThailand. He is very popular andheld in great respect. King Bhu-

mibol has ruled Thailand for 67years. However, recently he has notbeen well. For the last few years

he has often stayed in a hospital.There a special medical team looksafter him.

Thailand is a constitutional mon-archy. This means the king is the headof the country, but he does not gov-ern it. The countrys elected primeminister and his or her government

make all the important decisions.Ms Yingluck is Thailands first

woman prime minister. She is theleader of the Pheu Thai Party (PTP).Her party got most of the seats in thelower house of parliament at the last

election. This was held in 2011.Ms Yingluck is the youngest sis-

ter of Thaksin Shinawatra, a formerprime minister. He led the countryfrom 2001 to 2006. Then he was de-

posed by the military. When the mili-tary takes over a country in this wayit is known as a coup dtat, or coup(pronounced coo). Since Thailandfirst became a democracy in 1932there have been nearly 20 attemptedor successful military coups.

After Mr Thaksin was deposedhe left Thailand. The military ran

the country for about a year. It then

arranged for new elections to beheld. Mr Thaksin now lives in ex-ile, in Dubai. In the meantime hehas been convicted of corruption, ordishonesty, by a court in Thailand.

Before Mr Thaksin became primeminister he was a very wealthy busi-nessman. Political parties that weresupported by wealthy people andthe military nearly always ran Thai-land. Mr Thaksin changed this. He

set up a new political party. He said

his party would help poorer people,especially in rural areas in the northof the country.

The anti-government protestersdislike Mr Thaksin. They accuse

him of making the political systemin Thailand corrupt. The leaders ofthe protests claim he is still runningthe country. They think he gives or-ders to his younger sister. The anti-government protesters support theDemocrat Party. Yet this party hasnot won an election for 13 years.Leaders of the protests claim thatMs Yingluck and her brother givemoney to people in the countryside

so they will vote for them.The protest leaders were de-

manding that the House of Repre-sentatives be closed. On the day be-

fore the dissolution announcement,Democrat Party members of parlia-ment walked out.

Yingluck Shinawatra

The protest leaders do not wantanother election. Most people thinkthis is because they know the Dem-

ocrat Party cannot win. Leaders ofthe protests say Ms Yingluck shouldleave Thailand. They want a seniorgroup of people to be appointed.This unelected group would thengovern the country.

Ms Yingluck is unlikely to agreeto the protesters demands. Many

people therefore expect the demon-strations to continue. The new elec-tion will be held at the beginning of

February.


12/19


ROCKMUSICTHEORY

Two researchers have recently ex-plained their new idea, or theory,about Stonehenge. They believe

they may have discovered why cer-tain stones were used to build partof the ancient monument. Called

bluestones, the researchers think thestones were used because they makemusical sounds.

Stonehenge

Archaeologists have always been

puzzled about the bluestones at Stone-

henge. This is because they probably

came from a place over 385 kilome-

tres (240 miles) away. Its not known

why the people who built Stonehenge

wanted to use them. Transporting the

stones over such a long distance must

have been very difficult.

Stonehenge is in the UK. It is oneof the most famous ancient monu-ments in the world. Archaeologists

believe it was built over a long time.They suspect that the site was usedfor many hundreds of years beforeany stones were erected, or put up.

The whole structure took severalhundred years to complete. The firststones were erected around BCE2,500. This is about the same timethat most experts believe the GreatPyramid of Giza, in Egypt, was built.

Stonehenge had a large outercircle of standing stones. This wasmade from upright stones with lin-tels, or horizontal stones, on top ofthem. Inside was a circle of blue-

stones. These were smaller than the

outer circle of stones. They had nohorizontal stones on top.

In the centre of Stonehenge therewas a group of much taller stoneswith lintels. These formed a horse-

shoe shape. Within this, also inthe shape of a horseshoe, was an-other group of smaller bluestones.

The taller stones are called sarsenstones. The stones in the outer circleare also sarsen stones. These stones

probably came from a quarryabout40 kilometres (25 miles) away. Itsthought that the bluestones were thefirst to be erected.

Many people think that Stone-

henge is one of the wonders of theancient world. There are many ide-as, or theories, about how and whyit was built.

A few people think it was a placewhere animals or even humans weresacrificed. Others say the monu-

ment was where a persons bodywas taken after they died. Their

bodies were then burnt, or cremated.Another idea is that people travelledto Stonehenge if they were ill or hadsomething wrong with them.

How Stonehenge may have looked

However, most people suspectthat Stonehenge was used as a typeof calendar. Some of the stonesline up with the places on the ho-rizon where the Sun rises on Mid-summers Day and sets at midwin-ter. The stone circle could thereforehave been a way of tracking how theSun appears to travel across the sky

during different seasons.

The researchers went to the placewhere the bluestones are thought tohave come from. There they hit thestones with hammers. The research-ers discovered that certain stones

made different sounds. For exam-ple, some made a sound a bit like a

bell, others were similar to a smalldrum and several produced deepgong-like noises.

Archaeologists think that Stone-henge used to have about 80 blue-stones. Around half remain. Eachweighs between two and four tonnes.The researchers got permissionto test some of them. When these

bluestones were struck they mademusical sounds. When hit the sarsenstones do not make these noises.

The sounds the bluestones madecould be heard from far away. The

researchers suspect the stones wereplayed like a huge musical instru-ment. If so the bluestones must have

been special. This might help toexplain why they were transportedfrom so far away.

DESTROYINGSYRIASCHEMICALWEAPONS

Last September the USA and Rus-sia agreed on a plan to remove allof Syrias chemical weapons. Theywould then be taken to anothercountry and destroyed. However,

no country has offered to do this.All the weapons are supposedto be destroyed by the middle ofnext year.

Military officials in the USA saythat changes, or modifications, arenow being made to an Americannavy cargo ship. The ship is calledthe MV Cape Ray (MV stands formotor vessel). The modificationsmean the weapons will now be de-

stroyed on the ship.


13/19


This map shows countries to which news stories refer in this issue. Visit www.newsademic.com for more detailed world maps.

USA

UK

UKRAINE

THAILAND

TANZANIA

SYRIA

SPAIN

SOUTH AFRICA

SINGAPORE

RUSSIA

MALAYSIA

LATVIA

KENYA

JAPAN

INDONESIA

Hong Kong

Greenland

FRANCE

DENMARK

CHINA

CENTRALAFRICANREPUBLIC

CANADA

BELGIUM

AUSTRIA

AUSTRALIA

ARGENTINA

ALBANIA

SOUTHKOREA

Shanghai

Fighting began in Syria over twoand a half years ago. It started afterthe government ordered the army touse weapons to stop street protestsin several towns. The demonstrators

were complaining about the coun-trys president, Bashar al-Assad, hisgovernment and the police force.

Mr al-Assad and his family havecontrolled Syria for over 40 years.

At least 100,000 people have beenkilled in the war. Millions of Syrianshave moved to Turkey, Jordan, Leba-non, and Iraq to get away from thefighting. Most of these people arenow living in refugee camps.

The war is being fought by theSyrian army and a number of rebelopposition groups. Not all the rebelgroups work with each other. How-ever, all oppose Mr al-Assad andhis government. Yet many people

in Syria support the Syrian govern-ment and its army. Like Mr al-Assad

they say the rebels are terrorists whowant to destroy their country.

Traditionally Russia has support-ed Mr al-Assad and his family. Sev-eral Arab nations, such as Qatar and

Saudi Arabia, have been giving therebels weapons and money. Since the

war began other countries, includingthe USA, the UK and France, havedeclared that they want the rebels towin. Russian leaders say helping therebels will make the problem worse.

Before the war began it wasknown that Syria had chemicalweapons. These include highly poi-sonous, or toxic, gases, which are

very dangerous. They can kill thou-sands of people very quickly. Thetoxic gases can be put inside artil-lery shells or rockets. They can also

be dropped from planes and fitted to

both short- and long-range missiles.Using chemical weapons is againstinternational law.

At the end of August a chemicalattack took place. It happened in a

part of Damascus, Syrias capitalcity. Then, the rebels controlled this

part of the city. Some say at least

1,400 people died. Many were wom-en and children. Soon afterwards theleaders of the USA and France de-clared that they might attack severalSyrian army bases. This, they said,would be a punishment for usingchemical weapons.

Working with Russia, Syriaagreed that all of its chemical weap-ons should be destroyed. Inspec-tors from an organisation called the

OPCW (Organisation for the Prohi-bition of Chemical Weapons) wentto Syria. The inspectors now knowwhere all these weapons are being

stored. They have also deliberatelydamaged certain factories. This isso more chemical weapons cannot

be made.


14/19


The plan was for the chemi-cal weapons to be taken to anothercountry to be destroyed. But nocountries have said they would bewilling to do this. Albania is one of

the few countries that has the righttype of equipment. However, mostpeople in Albania did not want the

weapons to be taken to their coun-try. Thousands took part in dem-onstrations. The prime minister ofAlbania, Edi Rama, said his countrywould refuse to accept them.

MV Cape Ray

The MV Cape Ray will be fittedwith special equipment. Using otherchemicals and water, the poisons inthe weapons will be turned into aharmless liquid. American militaryofficials say that none of this liquidwill be dumped, or tipped into, thesea. The ship is expected to collectthe weapons from Syria within thenext few months.

PISATESTS

The results of the most recent PISAtests were announced on 3rd Decem-

ber. PISA stands for Programme forInternational Student Assessment.The tests are meant to measure howwell students are doing at school indifferent countries and cities. The

best performing students were fromAsian countries.

PISA tests are done by an organi-sation called the OECD (Organisa-

tion for Economic Co-operation and

Development). This organisationwas set up over 60 years ago. It has34 member countries. The OECDsheadquarters are in Paris, the capitalof France. Its members meet to dis-

cuss and find solutions to problems,which can occur in democraticcountries. The organisation also car-

ries out surveys and studies.The first PISA tests were in 2000.

Since then they have been completedevery three years. The most recenttests were done last year. Around500,000 15-year-old students didtests in maths, science and reading.The 2012 PISA tests had an empha-

sison maths. The tests are done onpaper and last for about two hours.

Students from schools in 65 dif-ferent countries took the tests. Theschools were in countries in Europe,

North and South America, Asia,

and Australia. Tunisia was the onlycountry in Africa that was included.In China only schools in three cit-ies, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Ma-cau, did the tests. When the nextPISA tests are done in 2015 schoolsthroughout China will take part.

In the science and reading testsShanghai and Hong Kong came firstand second. In the maths test Shang-hai came top and Hong Kong third.

Singapore, a city-state in Asia, camesecond. Other Asian nations also didvery well. In maths Taiwan, SouthKorea, Macau, and Japan were allin the top seven. At number eight,

Liechtenstein was the highest rankedEuropean country for maths. The UK

came 26th and the USA 36th. Thecountries at the bottom for mathswere Qatar, Indonesia and Peru.

Experts believe PISA maths testsshow that Asian students are sev-eral years ahead of students in other

parts of the world.As part of the tests the amount of

money governments spend on each

student is recorded. In some coun-tries this amount does not seem tomake much difference. For exam-

ple, much less money is spent onstudents in Vietnam than in many

other countries. Yet in the mathstests Vietnam, another Asian coun-try, came 17th.

Many governments make use ofPISA results. Some use them as away of deciding if their countrysschools and ways of teaching needto change.

However, not everyone agreeswith PISA tests. For instance, someteachers argue that Asian studentsspend too much time learning how

MATHS

1 Shanghai, China

2 Singapore

3 Hong Kong, China

4 Taiwan

5 South Korea

6 Macau, China

7 Japan

8 Liechtenstein

9 Switzerland

10Netherlands

SCIENCES

Shanghai, ChinaHong Kong, China

Singapore

Japan

Finland

Estonia

South Korea

Vietnam

Poland

Liechtenstein

READING

Shanghai, ChinaHong Kong, China

Singapore

Japan

South Korea

Finland

Taiwan

Canada

Ireland

PolandSource: OECD

PISA test results 2012


15/19


to answer test questions. This, theysay, means students are not taughthow subjects can be used when theyleave school.

Classroom in China

Many Asian students spend morehours studying each day than stu-dents do in other parts of the world.

Students in Chinese cities and coun-tries like South Korea often go toextra classes in the evenings. This isknown as cramming. In schools inShanghai, Hong Kong and Macau,students spend nearly all their time

studying maths, science, Chineseand English. Much less time is spentlearning other subjects.

CANADASARCTICCLAIM

Government officials from Canadasent an application to the United

Nations (UN) on 6th December. Theapplication was to register Cana-das claim that it owns large partsof the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.The Arctic Ocean area includes the

North Pole.

However, other countries alsoclaim that this part of the Arctic Ocean

belongs to them. Countries with Arc-

tic regions include Russia, Finland,

Denmark, Norway, Canada, and the

USA. Denmark is an Arctic nation, as

Greenland is one of its territories.

The UN has an internationalrule. Its called the Convention onthe Law of the Sea. The law statesthat countries own the seabed within

370 kilometres (230 miles or 200

nautical miles) of their coastlines.It also says they own the continen-tal shelves that are connected to, orextend from, their coasts. These areareas where the sea is shallower.

During ice ages, thousands of yearsago, continental shelves were dry

land. Some are narrow. Yet othersextend from coastlines for hundredsof kilometres.

In the past Russia has also saidthat it owns the area of sea and icearound the North Pole. In 2007,Russia sent a submarine under theice to try to find out if Russias con-tinental shelf extended far out into

the Arctic Sea. The submarinersplaced a Russian flag made of metalon the seabed at the North Pole.This annoyed Canada, the USA,and Denmark.

PACIFIC OCEAN

ATLANTIC OCEAN

ARCTIC

OCEAN

RUSSI

North Pole

CANADA

Alaska(USA)

Greenland(DENMARK)

NORWAY

EllesmereIsland

In the past Arctic nations havenot always been interested in what

happened in the Arctic Ocean.However, this has changed in re-cent years. Rising world tempera-tures have meant the Arctic sea icehas been shrinking. Now, duringthe summer months, ships are ableto travel along Arctic routes to thenorth of Canada and Russia. Before,these were blocked by ice through-out the year.

Its now known that there are

valuable resources under the Arctic

seabed. These include oil and gas.Some studies have shown thatroughly 15% of the oil and 30% ofthe gas in the world, which is yet to

be discovered, is under the Arctic

Ocean. If these oil and gas fields arefound it will be necessary to decide

which country owns them.Near the North Pole there is a

shallow area of sea. It is called theLomonosov Ridge. This ridge islike an undersea chain, or range, ofmountains. Both Canada and Rus-sia want to prove that the Lomono-sov Ridge joins their continentalshelves. If it does they may legally

own the surrounding area. The Ca-nadian application claims that theridge is connected to Ellesmere Is-land. This is the most northerly partof Canada.

Both Canada and Russia plan todo a lot more scientific work in theArctic. This includes creating accu-rate maps of the sea floor. As muchof the ocean is covered in ice this will

be difficult. Some predict that it willtake both countries at least five yearsto do this. Until detailed maps are

produced the UN is unlikely to makeany decisions about the ownership ofthe Arctic Ocean seabed.

GIANTPREHISTORICTOILET

Palaeontologists, or scientists who

study fossils, say they have recentlyfound large amounts of fossiliseddung (or poo) in Argentina. Some

people have described the discoveryas the worlds largest prehistoric toi-let. The scientists believe that it wascreated about 240 million years ago.

The prehistoric toilet, or latrine,is much older than anything similarthat has been found before. Previ-ously, the earliest known latrine was

about 20 million years old.


16/19


Humans are not the only crea-tures that use communal latrines.Other mammals are known to act ina similar way. These include lemurs,meerkats and spider monkeys. Large

herbivores, or plant-eating animals,such as horses, elephants and rhinoswill also use communal latrines.

Humans use communal toilets tostop sanitationproblems such as thespread of disease. Animals may do itfor similar reasons. Their dung cancontain harmful bugs, or parasites.The animals know not to drop theirdung in the places where they eat.Some animals use communal toi-

lets to mark out their own areas, orterritories. So the latrines are like asignal. They warn other animals notto enter the area.

The scientists found several largeareas where there were many fossil-

ised lumps of dung (known as co-prolites). These areas are about 900square metres (9,690 square feet) insize. Within each there were around94 coprolites per square metre. Notall are the same shape and some aredifferent colours.

Fossilised Dinodontosaurus skeleton

Scientists can find out many

things from coprolites. By break-

ing them open they can record

parts of fossilised ancient plants. It

may also be possible to find the re-

mains of parasites that lived in the

creatures stomachs.

Finding fossilised dung is unu-sual. This is because it can be eas-

ily washed away by rain. Dung also

biodegrades, or rots, very quickly.The prehistoric toilet is very well

preserved. This was because it wassuddenly covered in a thick layer ofash from a nearby volcano.

The scientists know which crea-ture produced all the dung. Theyfound many of their bones nearby.

Called Dinodontosaurus they wereabout 2.4 metres (eight feet) long.These plant-eating creatures arethought to have been similar tomodern day rhinos.

Dinodontosauruslived during theTriassic Period, or between 250 and200 million years ago. This was at

the beginning of what many peoplecall the Age of the Dinosaurs.

MOONPLANTS

Scientists working at NASA (Na-

tional Aeronautics and Space Ad-ministration) have announced plansfor a new experiment. Seedlings, orseeds, of three types of plants will

be put in a sealed container, or can-ister. The canister will be put on thesurface of the Moon to see if the

plants grow.The scientists want to find out

if humans can live and work on theMoon. From previous space flightsits known that humans can visit theMoon. Yet it is not known if peoplecould safely stay on the Moon, or

on other planets such as Mars, formany months or years.

The Moon has no atmosphere.So it is not shielded, or protected,from radiation from the Sun. Likehumans the seeds of plants carry ge-netic material. This can be damaged

by radiation. Gravity on the Moon ismuch less than it is on the Earth. Sothe experiment will test what effectthe radiation and reduced gravity

has on plants.

Like humans, plants need food,water and air to survive. On theEarth plants must be able to get thechemicals they need to grow and behealthy. They do not eat like ani-

mals. Instead, they make their ownfood by a process called photosyn-thesis. To do this, they need carbon

dioxide and water. Plants also needlight energy. The plants can turnthese substances into starches andsugars. These are stored in the plantand used when needed.

Basil plants

Plants get carbon dioxide fromthe air around them. Carbon diox-ide enters plants through tiny holesin their leaves. Water comes fromthe soil in which plants grow. Theirroots absorb it. The light energy

plants use comes from sunlight.For healthy growth plants also needsome nutrients. Two of the most im-

portant are chemicals called potas-sium and nitrogen. As these dissolvein water in the soil the plants rootsabsorb them.

The canister containing the seeds

will be specially designed. Theplants will get carbon dioxide fromthe air inside it. A type of filter pa-

per will be used instead of soil. Thiswill contain the nutrients the plantsneed. Soon after the canister landson the Moon water will be automati-cally added to the filter paper. The

plants will get the light energy fromthe Sun.

After a few days the seeds should

start to grow. The canister will contain


17/19


enough carbon dioxide and water

for about ten days of growth. During

this time the plants will be carefully

monitored. The results will be com-

pared with the same plants growing

in similar canisters on the Earth.The three plants used in the ex-periment will be a type of cress,

basil and turnips. Basil is often usedin cooking. The first plant-growingtest will happen in 2015. Otherswill follow. The scientists say thatif plants can grow in these contain-ers on the Moon then humans mightalso be able to live there.

WORLDTRADEAGREEMENT

The World Trade Organization(WTO) held a large conference, ormeeting, between 3rd and 7th De-

cember. The meeting took place onthe island of Bali, which is part ofIndonesia. At the end of the meetingan agreement was signed. This wasthe first WTO agreement that hasever been signed by all the organi-sations members.

WTO conference in Bali

The WTO has 159 membercountries. Ministers or senior offi-cials from each country attended themeeting in Bali. The WTO is basedin Geneva, in Switzerland. A direc-tor-general leads the organisation.The WTOs current leader, RobertoAzevdo, is from Brazil.

The WTO was set up in 1995.

It acts as a referee when countries

argue about trading, or buying andselling things, with each other. Italso tries to get its member countriesto get rid of subsidies and importtariffs. Some people describe these

two things as trade barriers.

For example, some crops andfoods are cheaper to grow in poor-er countries than in richer ones. Ifricher countries bought these crops,workers in the poorer ones could

earn more money. This would im-prove their lives. These workerscould then buy some of the thingsmade in richer countries. This typeof trading, called free trade, is whatthe WTO wants all its members to

do. However, free trade means thereare no trade barriers.

One of the main barriers to freetrade is subsidies. Some richercountries give money (subsidies) tomany of their own farmers. Thesefarmers are therefore paid to growcertain food crops. Often they growtoo much. Some of the extra food isthen sold cheaply to other countries.This is called dumping. It meansfood crops (or other items) beingsold in other countries for a pricethat is less than the cost of produc-

ing them. When this happens poorer

countries may not be able to sellwhat they grow. This is because thedumping price is even lower thantheir selling price.

Getting rid of farm subsidies insome countries has been difficult. Ifthere were no subsidies some farmswould have to close. In several plac-es, such as France and South Ko-rea, there have been large farmers

protests when governments tried to

reduce subsidies.

The other main trade barrier isimport tariffs. Some governments

put an extra tax, or tariff, on certainthings when they are brought intotheir country. This means people

in the country have to pay more tobuy them.Import tariffs are often used to

protect workers. For instance, acountry might have many peopleworking in shoemaking factories.The country may therefore not wantless expensive shoes to be importedfrom other places. If they are, thecountrys own shoemaking facto-ries might have to close. This is

because people will be less likelyto buy their more expensive shoes.If the government puts a tariff onimported shoes it will make them

cost more.Most think that free trade is a good

thing. Yet not everyone agrees. Thesepeople say that free trade can be adisadvantage for less wealthy coun-tries. They say free trade will justmake richer countries even richer.

The WTO agreement that hasjust been signed has been named theBali Package. It has not removedall subsidies and import tariffs. In-stead the agreement will improvewhats known as trade facilitation.This means all countries must now

make it quicker and easier to tradewith each other.

Newsademic.comEditor:Rebecca Watson

Acknowledgements:

News story photographs by gettyimages

For further details about Newsademic

and subscription prices visit

www.newsademic.com

Newsademic 2013


18/19


ISSUE212GLOSSARYPUZZLE

INSTRUCTIONS:Complete the crossword. The answers are

highlighted in orange in the news stories. There are 25

words highlighted and you need 20 of them to complete the

crossword.Once you have solved the crossword go to

the word search on the next page

1 2 3 4 5

6

7 8

9

10 11 12 13

14

15

16 17

18

19

ACROSS

4Verb To remove or take something out

6Adjective Describes something that is used by a group ofpeople or animals

7Verb Stopped something from happening for a short period 9Verb To attack suddenly from a place of hiding10Verb Killed an animal or person as an offering to a god

or gods12Noun (Plural) Substances that provide nourishment

needed for life and growth14Verb Sweating17Noun The systems for taking waste products and dirty

water away from buildings to protect peoples health18Noun The act of copying or imitating something19Noun Coloured patterns, on skin, fur or clothes, that

make an animal, plant or person difficult to see becausethey blend into the surroundings

DOWN

1Noun Relationship between all living things and where

they live 2Noun Special importance 3Noun A very famous person or thing that people look up

to because they represent a set of beliefs or a way of life 5Noun The act of working out or judging if something is

correct 7Adjective Impossible or very difficult to reach 8Noun The act of becoming friendly again after fighting

or arguing11Adjective Displaying forceful, attacking behaviour13Noun (Plural) Money given as part of the cost of

something15Noun The act of deliberately destroying something or

damaging it on purpose16Noun (Plural) Government taxes on imports or exports


19/19


ISSUE212GLOSSARYPUZZLECONTINUED

INSTRUCTIONS:Find 19 of the 20crossword answers in the word search.

Words can go vertically, horizontally,

diagonally and back to front. After

finding the 19 words write down the

20th (or missing) word under the puzzle.

N O I T A I L I C N O C E R N D S A

U O X C L V Z S A C R I F I C E D G

T C I Q O X S T E E B S S P E L T G

R J T T Y N Z G U K U E D Y C A T R

I C K R A J A L M B I G Y E J C N E

E H I X A T Z P S Z P A H P O O A S

N N Y S O W I I N E R L X M Z V S S

T K F B A N D N R T D F M P E Y S I

S G A W K I P S A E O U C C W P E V

Q S H Y E S P Y T S N O K P W L S E

B E F S W I R P T A A M T S N M S U

R K K F R S U X L C C A H Y H Y M E

M V A I I R O P U E N C I R N O E Q

G Q N Y R R I E M N D J K C F K N H

P G Q E F G A L I X R W U I K P T S

E X T R A C T T H U E M Y M A F E Z

W N D I Z N Y G O L O C E I J B J P

I N A C C E S S I B L E A M B U S H

MISSING WORD ANSWER =

ISS

UE211ANSWERS

A T R O C I T I E S J S X A Q W H E

S V O B I L A T E R A L S S A B I N

S L I C U K N U P N D E S O P E D C

A E U A B D V G C S F E N Y F S B A

S U D N T T C T J D W A S R L H K P

S L D F R I I I Q N I P M O F S G S

I Y E Z S O O W Z M N S W X P T I U

N B G V N Q X N A T G B P K R X W L

A A D S E R U T A N G I S E C J E A

T E E L E P E R I Q W O R H R S P T

I Z R M F Q X T P Q Z R M R H S A E

O N D D L I U E T O I L E T R I E S

N J Y J H C O O R B H S Q I E H F D

F R T C E V B R C O N C E N T R I C

S K R S I V H Y C A R I P S N O C C

R Q R S P Z M N K I W E H C K U Z A

G E O U R P F N G U A F P B C N U C

P R O L I F E R A T I O N J C N Z A

If you wish to earn additional Demics log

in to www.newsademic.com, go to thePrize Competitions area and submit the

missing word. Puzzle entries must be

submitted by 10 pm on 25th December

2013 (GMT/UTC).*

C U B I C L E

*Only applies to those who have purchased aNewsademic Individual or Family Subscription

Demics are tokens that Individualand Family Subscribers can earn.They are awarded for answering thisGlossary Puzzle and/or the DailyNews question accessible by loggedin users correctly. Demics earnedcan be used by Family and IndividualSubscribers in the Newsademic

online store.

GET EXTRA

DEMICS*

T1

O I L E T R I E S2

A3

V I A T I O N C4

D5

N U

E C6

C E7

B

P8

R O L I F E R A T I O N I

O N I C9

O N C E N T R I C

S S O A L

E10

X P O S E D N P S11

V12

E

D I A13

S S A S S I N A14

T I O N

R U G T S

A B15

I L A T E R A L N R O D16

C R A A O R R

Y O T T C R17

E P E L

O P18

E R S E C U T I N G D

C R T G

H E I E

D19

I S P E R S E D

S

Newsademic Issue 212 b

Documents

Transcript of Newsademic Issue 212 b