274 a newsademic

8/16/2019 274 a Newsademic

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April 28, 2016

American English edition

Issue Number 274

In this issue

Chernobyl remembered

Cylon’s followers found?

Beavers in Sweden’s capital

city

President reelected in Chad

Plastic-eating bacteria

Paris agreement signing

Koh-i-Noor diamond decisionTwo-day week in Venezuela

Studying silver ants

Monkey mystery in Central

America

Mitsubishi fuel economy

tests

Volcano and Maya

Copernicus satellite

constellation

Jerusalem church repairs

Switching polio vaccines

Other Shakespeare theater

Ring of Fire earthquakes

Environmental awards

Glossary Crossword and

Wordsearch Puzzle

Crowds protesting against Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, in Brasilia, Brazil’s capital city (Agência Brasil Fotografias)

Brazil is the biggest country in SouthAmerica. Its name comes from a typeof tree called Brazilwood. The countryis home to 200 million people. It is theworld’s fifth largest country by land areaand population size. For over 300 yearsBrazil was controlled by Portugal. Bra-zilians speak Portuguese. Spanish is spo-ken in nearly every other South Ameri-can country.

Brazil became a republic with anelected president 125 years ago. Today,Dilma Rousseff is the country’s presi-

dent. She is a member of the Workers’Party. This is one of the largest politi-cal parties in Brazil. Ms. Rousseff is thecountry’s first woman president. Shewon the presidential election in 2010.Ms. Rousseff was reelected for a secondfour-year term in 2014.

In Brazil the president is the head of

the government and head of state. This

is similar to the U.S. Politicians in Bra-zil are elected to the country’s NationalCongress (or parliament). Like manyother countries, Brazil’s Congress hastwo houses or chambers. The upperhouse is known as the Senate. The lowerhouse is the Chamber of Deputies.

An important vote was held in the low-er house on April 17. It was to decide ifMs. Rousseff should be impeached. Pres-

idents can be impeached, or removed, formisconduct, dishonesty and criminal ac-

tivity. Ms. Rousseff is accused of alteringsome of the country’s economic figures.She did this before the last election. Bymaking the figures look much better, Ms.Rousseff increased her chances of win-ning. Ms. Rousseff does not deny chang-ing the figures. She claims that previous

presidents have done something similar.Members of the lower house voted to im-

peach Ms. Rousseff by 367 to 137.

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April 28, 2016 Newsademic.com™ – American English edition page 2

The impeachment vote has add-ed to Brazil’s many problems. Notlong ago, the country was one of theworld’s fastest growing economies.

Not any more. Now the opposite is

happening. Last year the economyshrank, by 3.8%. The country is

now experiencing its worst reces-

sion for 25 years. Inflation is goingup. This is when prices increase, butthe value of a country’s currencyfalls. Unemployment, or the numberof people without jobs, is rising.

The problems are not all eco-nomic. The Zika virus has spreadto many parts of Brazil and there

is a huge corruption scandal. Some people believe that as many as two-thirds of the country’s politicianshave been accepting unlawful pay-ments, or bribes. That’s not all. Infour months’ time the opening cer-

emony of the 2016 Olympic Gameswill take place in Rio de Janeiro.This is one of Brazil’s biggest cities.The games last for 16 days. Work onsome of the games’ buildings andfacilities is yet to be completed.

A mosquito called Aedes aegypticarries the Zika virus. About fivemonths ago the virus seemed to be-gin to spread very quickly in Brazil.

Now, it has reached most countriesin South America. Medical expertsare sure that the Zika virus and adisease, or disorder, called micro-

cephaly, are connected.

Microcephaly is a birth defect.People most at risk from the virusare expectant mothers. If a womangets the virus while pregnant, herchild may have the disorder. New-

born babies with microcephalyhave small heads and less devel-oped brains. Some babies with thedisorder die at a young age. Othersgrow up with smaller heads, butseem to be unaffected. However,

as they get older, many suffer from

learning troubles, speech difficul-ties and health problems. There isno cure for microcephaly.

Many people, including pregnantwomen, who get the Zika virus do

not become ill. The symptoms ofthose who are unwell appear about12 days after the mosquito bitesthem. They can include: high tem-

peratures, skin rashes, headaches, joint and muscle pains, as well as alack of energy. Symptoms are usu-ally mild. They last for between twoand seven days. There are no treat-ments or vaccines for Zika. The bestway to stop the spread of the virus

is to control the mosquito numbers.In the past, about 200 babies were

born with microcephaly in Brazileach year. In recent months over

4,000 have been born with the dis-ease. Women are now advised not to

become pregnant.The corruption scandal began

over 12 months ago. It is centered ona large Brazilian oil company calledPetrobras. This is a state-run com-

pany, so the government controls it.For many years the government hasgiven some of its supporters seniorwell-paid jobs at Petrobras.

Lawyers and the police have been investigating the scandal.They believe that construction and

engineering firms paid governmentsupporters working at Petrobraslarge sums of money. The total,

over the last ten to 15 years, was$2 billion. The lawyers say thatthese people kept some of themoney. Yet most was given to theWorkers’ Party. Many people fromPetrobras and the Workers’ Partyhave been arrested. Politiciansfrom several other parties have also

been accused of accepting some ofthe money.

The Workers’ Party has led the

country for 14 years. As president,

Ms. Rousseff took over from LuizInacio Lula da Silva (better knownas Lula). He was Brazil’s presidentfor eight years. When Lula came tothe end of his allowed term, he en-

dorsed Ms. Rousseff. She had never been an elected politician before.

Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff (Agência Brasil)

Lula is also being investigatedfor dishonesty. Ms. Rousseff workedclosely with him. For five years shewas his energy minister. Between

2003 and 2010, Ms. Rousseff wasin charge of the meetings that sen-ior Petrobras bosses attended. Ms.Rousseff is now a very unpopularleader. Surveys say that 90% ofthe people want her to resign. They

blame her for the country’s econom-ic problems. Most Brazilians areangry about the corruption scandal.

In a few weeks the Senate willvote on Ms. Rousseff’s impeach-ment. Then, she will have to stepdown to face a Senate trial. This willlast for six months. Therefore the tri-

al will be held during the Olympics.

One of two senior politicians is ex- pected to take over from Ms. Rouss-eff if the Senate impeaches her. Yet

both men are being investigated as part of the corruption scandal.

There is a special ceremony onthe first day of the Olympics. Tra-ditionally, the host country’s headof state declares that the games are“open” during the ceremony. ManyBrazilians are now wondering who

is going to do this.


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CHERNOBYL ANNIVERSARY

Chernobyl is in Ukraine. On April26, Petro Poroshenko, the presidentof Ukraine, led a memorial service

in the town. Similar ceremoniestook place in Belarus and Russia.

On this day in 1986, or exactly 30years ago, a reactor at the nuclear

power station in Chernobyl ex- ploded. There was a large radiationleak. It was the world’s worst evernuclear accident.

Memorial outside the Chernobyl nuclear plant

The town of Chernobyl is closeto Ukraine’s border with Belarus.Thirty years ago, Ukraine and Be-larus were within the Russian-ledSoviet Union. Soon after the reactorexploded, 350,000 people from thesurrounding area were evacuated.Everyone in Pripyat was orderedto leave. Now, this city is a “ghosttown”. Even though Pripyat’s build-ings still stand, nobody lives orworks there.

Radioactive material continuesto be dangerous for a very long time.

Today, there is a 19 mile (30-kilo-meter) exclusion area, or “no-go”zone, around the nuclear powerstation. Experts say that vegetablesgrown near the plant will be unsafeto eat for the next 1,000 years. Partof the exclusion area is in Belarus.Wild animals now live in the no-go zone. They include: elk, wild

boar, wolves, roe deer, rabbits andmany types of birds. It is not known

how badly they are affected by the

radiation. The reason why so manyanimals live there is because thereare no humans.

After the accident, helicoptersdropped sand and lead onto the

damaged nuclear reactor. Then, itwas quickly covered or buried in

thick concrete. A roof was built overit. The concrete “sarcophagus”, orstone coffin, has been decaying formany years. Three years ago, partof the roof collapsed. Radioactivitystill leaks from the reactor.

Work began on a new protectivecover in 2010. It’s called the NewSafe Confinement (NSC). The work

is being organized by two Frenchcompanies. The NSC is an enor-mous cover, or shield, made fromsteel. It is 354 feet (108 meters) highand 530 feet (162 meters) long. It isdangerous to work above the old

concrete sarcophagus. Therefore thesteel cover is being built close by. Itis on a set of rails. The work is to becompleted next year. The structurewill then be moved, on the rails, sothat it covers the damaged reactor.

The Chernobyl New Safe Confinement (NSC)

The NSC is the biggest movablestructure in the world. Large enoughto cover the Statue of Liberty, in

New York City, or Saint Paul’s Ca-thedral, in London, the shield will bethree times as heavy as Paris’ EiffelTower. The steel cover is expectedto stop radiation leaking from thesite for 100 years. The cost of the

building work is €2.18 billion ($2.5

billion). Around 28 governments

and international organizations haveagreed to help to pay for it. TheEuropean Union (EU) is one of themain contributors.

Thirty-one people died during

or within a few months of the ac-cident. All were the nuclear plant’s

staff or emergency workers. In thedays and weeks after the disaster,radiation spread to many other partsof Europe. Radiation can causecancers and other illnesses. Thereare disagreements about how many

people were affected by the acci-dent. Some believe that there were9,000 radiation-related deaths in

the Soviet Union and 93,000 acrossEurope. Others think that thesenumbers were much lower.

Mr. Poroshenko spoke at the cer-emony in Chernobyl. He said that

all who died must be rememberedand the people who still suffer fromill health looked after.

C YLON SUPPORTERS DISCOVERED?

Archaeologists are researchers whostudy human prehistory and his-tory. They do this by investigatingthe remains of old buildings anddigging up, or excavating, humanremains and artifacts. Archaeolo-gists in Greece have announced thediscovery of two ancient graves.

They contain the skeletons of 80

young men.Unusually, 34 of the skeletons areshackled together with iron chains.The archaeologists found two oldvases in the graves. These sug-gest that the skeletons are about2,600 years old. Because of thedate and the chains, the archae-ologists think that the men mighthave been followers of Cylon. Atthat time, he was a well-known

Greek Olympic athlete.


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Ancient Greece is often calledthe “birthplace of western civiliza-tion”. The term western civilizationdescribes the modern-day culture ofWestern Europe and North America.

The Ancient Greek civilization be-gan around 800 BCE, or roughly

2,800 years ago. In 148 BCE the Ro-mans defeated a large Greek army.Many historians use this date as the“end” of Ancient Greece. However,the Romans copied Greek art and

buildings and worshiped Greek gods.Ancient Greece was not one

country. It was made up of manycity-states. Athens, Sparta, Olym-

pia, and Corinth are examples.These city-states often foughtagainst each other. They also joinedforces to fight common enemies.The Olympic Games began in An-

cient Greece in 776 BCE. They took place in Olympia every four years.The games were a religious andathletic festival. Competitors camefrom different city-states.

Shackled skeletons uncovered in Phaleron near Athens, in Greece (Greek Ministry of Culture)

Many people argue that the an-cient city of Athens was the world’sfirst democracy. This type of rule orgovernment began in Athens around2,500 years ago. (The Ancient Greekword “demokratia” means “rule bythe people”.) Male Athenians whowere over 18 years of age could“vote” for their rulers. However,women and the thousands of slaves

who lived in the city could not.

Cylon and a group of his supporters tried to seize, or take controlof, Athens in 632 BCE. They werenot successful. Cylon came from awealthy family. Then, dictators, or

“strongmen” ruled the city. Afterfailing to take the city, Cylon and

his supporters took refuge in a temple on the Acropolis.

The Acropolis in Athens

In Ancient Greek the word“acropolis” means “upper city”.

Many cities built by the AncientGreeks and Romans had an acropo-lis. Often they were fortresses, orcitadels. The most famous one isin Athens. This large rocky hill isnear the center of the city. Its correctname is the Acropolis of Athens. Yetmost people call it the Acropolis.Today, it is known for its ancientruined temples.

The people who ruled Athensmade Cylon an offer. They saidthat if he and his supporters surren-dered, they could live. One ancient

historian says that Cylon tied a long

rope around a statue of Athena, animportant Greek goddess. Then, hewalked through the city holding theother end of the rope. Cylon hopedthat this would give him the goddess’

protection. Yet, the rope snapped.The people of Athens thought thiswas a sign from the gods. All of Cy-lon’s followers were killed.

It seems that Cylon and his brother escaped. What happened to

them is not known. Plutarch wrote

the story about the statue and therope. Most historians say that it isunlikely to be true. Plutarch waswriting about 600 years later. Hero-dotus and Thucydides are two other

well-known Greek historians. Theylived around 200 years after theevent. Neither mentions the ropeand the statue.

The archaeologists suspect thatthe skeletons were some of Cylon’sfollowers. They were found at a

place called Phaleron. This is aboutfive miles (eight kilometers) fromthe center of Athens. Several An-cient Greek historians think that the

bones are unlikely to be the remainsof Cylon’s supporters.

S TOCKHOLM’S BEAVERS

Beavers have returned to Stock-holm, Sweden’s capital city. Someofficials worry that they may now

become a nuisance. The animalsgnaw at the base of trees to makethem topple, or fall, over. Recently,one beaver bit a man on the leg. Hewas standing at a bus stop on theoutskirts of the city.

There are two beaver species: theAmerican beaver and the Eurasian

beaver. As their names imply, Amer-ican beavers live in North Americaand Eurasian beavers are found in

Europe and Asia. In the past, both

species nearly went extinct. Beaverswere hunted for their fur, or pelts.Hundreds of years ago some body

parts from beavers were used tomake medicines and perfumes. Hatsand coats made from beaver peltswere popular.

Beavers are the world’s second biggest rodent. There are manytypes of rodent. These animals in-clude rats and mice. The biggest ro-

dent is the capybara. Found in South


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America, it is like a giant guinea pig.A fully-grown beavers is about 3.5feet (one meter) long. This includesits paddle-shaped tail. The animalsare covered in thick, dark brown

fur. Beavers are semi-aquatic. Theyspend a similar amount of time on

land and in the water. They live in ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers inwooded areas.

The animals are very goodswimmers. Beavers have webbedfeet. They can stay under waterwithout breathing for about 15 min-utes. Beavers have transparent, orsee-through, eyelids. These are like

goggles. The animals can thereforesee under water with their eyesclosed. Beavers eat tree bark, woodand some water plants, such as lil-ies and pondweed. The animals will

slap the water’s surface with theirflat tails. This makes a loud noise.They do this to alert other beaversto possible dangers.

Eurasia beaver

Beavers are nocturnal. Theywork and look for food at night.

Beavers are well known for mak-ing dams and lodges in the middleof ponds. A lodge is the name fora beaver’s home. Beavers have twolarge front teeth. They use them tochew through the trunks of smallertrees. The wood is then used withmud to make dams and lodges.Beavers will dam small rivers orstreams. Their dams then create a

pond or a site for their lodge. Lodg-

es have underwater entrances.

The animals live in colonies, orlarge groups. Beavers are monoga-mous. This means that males and fe-males stay together, or mate for life.Young beavers are called kits. They

remain with their parents for abouttwo years. During this time they

help to build and repair the damsand lodges.

Beaver dam

In Sweden, beavers had beenhunted to extinction by the end ofthe 1800s. In the 1920s and 1930s

they were reintroduced. About 80 beavers were brought from Norway.This re-introduction has been verysuccessful. Today, there are around130,000 beavers in Sweden.

Stockholm is home to about910,000 people. The city has manycanals and waterways. Some peoplecall it the “Venice of the north”. Thecentral part of the city is made up of14 islands. Now, there are ten lodgesaround Stockholm. The last time

beavers were seen in the city wasover 200 years ago. The animals are

popular with local residents.

However, because they gnawthrough trees, beavers can cause

problems. Fallen trees have blockedroads. There is a danger that treesweakened by beavers could fall on

people. Several years ago, in anoth-er part of Sweden, a beaver causeda serious power outage. It chewedthrough a large electricity cable. Ifthe beaver population in and aroundStockholm gets too big, some may

have to be culled, or killed.

CHAD ELECTION

An organization called the electoralcommission arranges all the elec-tions in Chad. It is also responsible

for counting the votes. On April21, the head of the commission an-

nounced the results of the country’srecent presidential election. He de-clared that Idriss Déby had won.Mr. Déby has run Chad for 26 years.This was his fifth election victory.

Nowadays, presidential electionsin Chad are held every five years.People voted on April 10. Chad isa landlocked country. It is not close

to any seas or oceans and does nothave a coastline. Chad is one of Af-rica’s largest nations. It is home toabout 14 million people. The coun-try is sparsely populated. Therefore

collecting and counting all the votestakes a long time.

Most people who live in north-ern Chad follow the Islamic faith.Many in the south are Christians.Others have local African beliefs.Hundreds of years ago, people fromthe north frequently captured thosewho lived in the south. These peo-

ple were then sold as slaves. Frenchsoldiers arrived in the south at thestart of the 1900s. Local peoplewelcomed them. This was becausethe French stopped the northern-

ers’ slave raids. By 1913 Francehad taken over the whole area. It

became part of what was known asFrench Equatorial Africa.

Officials from France startedgrowing cotton in the south. Dur-ing this time, many local people de-cided to become Christians. Francewas quickly defeated by Germany atthe beginning of the Second WorldWar (1939 – 1945). However, manyFrench soldiers in other parts of theworld continued to fight against the

Axis powers (Germany, Italy and


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Japan). These soldiers were knownas Free France, or Free French Forc-es. At least 15,000 soldiers fromChad fought for Free France.

In 1960 the French government

agreed that Chad could becomean independent nation. Around

this time, French Equatorial Af-rica became five separate countries:Chad, the Central African Republic(C.A.R.), the Republic of Congo,Gabon, and (most of) Cameroon.After independence warring factions frequently fought against each otherin Chad. Some leaders were assassi-nated, or killed. Mr. Déby took con-

trol of the country in 1990. He is aMuslim and a former army general.

Chad’s president, Idriss Déby

Chad has three main regions.The north is part of the Sahara De-sert. The south is mainly savanna, orgrassland. In between is part of anarea known as the Sahel. The Sahel

stretches from the Atlantic Ocean inthe west to the Red Sea in the east. Itseparates the Sahara Desert from the

places that have much more rainfallfarther south. The Sahel is dry, butthere is some rainfall and grassland.Sahel is an Arabic word. It means“coast” or “shore”.

In a local language “chad” meanslake. Thousands of years ago a hugelake covered much of this part of

Africa. Today, Lake Chad is much

smaller. It is shallow with many mud banks, small islands and marshy ar-eas. Several rivers flow into the lake.It has no outlet to the sea. The lakeis in Chad’s Southwest. It forms part

of the border between Chad, Nige-ria, Niger, and Cameroon. About 68

million people get their fresh waterfrom Lake Chad.

Mr. Déby got about 62% of thevotes. Twelve others stood in theelection. Saleh Kebzabo came sec-

ond with 13%. He complained thatthe election was unfair. The AfricanUnion (U.N.) sent officials to ob-serve the voting and how the voteswere counted. They said that therewere some problems, yet the resultwas correct.

France still has military forcesin North Africa. Most are based inChad. Countries like France andthe U.S. are supportive of Mr. Débyand his government. Recently, therehave been attacks by Islamic mili-tant groups in nearby countries such

as Mali. Soldiers from Chad have

worked with French troops to defeatthese groups.

PLASTIC-EATING BACTERIA

In today’s world many things aremade from plastic. It is used for bot-tles and other containers. Food com-

panies make use of plastic packag-ing. Many shops give away or sell

plastic bags. Discarded plastic is

now a big environmental problem.Unlike organic material such as

plants or dead animal bodies, plasticdoes not decompose easily.Some plastic containers and bags

are recycled. Yet many are thrownaway. In the ground, plastic will rot,

but it takes many years to do so.Recent studies say that around eightmillion tons of plastic are dumpedin the seas and oceans every year.

In the Pacific and Atlantic, cir-cular ocean currents have createdhuge areas of floating plastic. The

biggest is in the northern PacificOcean. It is called the “Great Pa-

cific garbage patch”. Plastic in thesea slowly breaks up into smallerand smaller pieces. These tiny bitscan harm fish, seabirds, and marinemammals. Thinking that it’s food,

fish and seabirds eat tiny pieces of plastic. These get stuck in the ani-mals’ stomachs. At least one millionseabirds are thought to die from eat-ing plastic every year.

Polyethylene terephthalate(P.E.T.) is one of the most com-monly used plastics. A team of sci-entists in Britain invented it in 1941.P.E.T. was produced in the U.S. inlarge quantities about ten years later.

Nowadays, most bottles that containwater and non-alcoholic drinks aremade from P.E.T.. It is lightweight,

strong, clear and inexpensive tomake. The molecules that make up

P.E.T. are bonded closely together.This means that they are difficult toseparate. It is known that some rarefungi can break down P.E.T..

There are trillions of types of bacteria. These tiny organisms areone of the world’s smallest and old-est lifeforms. Bacteria are almosteverywhere. They exist in the deep-est oceans and at the top of the high-est mountains. Many help to break

down, or degrade, organic matter.


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As it decomposes, this matter is re-cycled into soil or sediment.

It was thought that no bacteriacould degrade, or “eat”, P.E.T..However, recently, a team of scien-

tists in Japan have found one thatcan. It’s called Ideonella sakaien-sis 201-F6. The scientists searchedhundreds of places where plasticgarbage had been dumped. Theydiscovered the bacterium in one ofthem. There, it was using P.E.T. asa food source.

Plastic waste (Stiv Wilson, 5Gyres Institute)

The bacteria break plastic up intoseparate parts. These do not damage,or pollute, the environment. In tests,it took the bacteria about six weeksto degrade some P.E.T. plastic. P.E.T.has existed for only 70 years. So the

bacteria have evolved, or “learned”,to break it down in a short period.The scientists suspect that this typeof bacterium is able to quickly adaptto eat different kinds of food.

The scientists’ tests were done ata temperature of 30°C (86°F). The

bacteria “ate” some thinner plastic

film within six weeks. Yet they haddifficulty with plastic bottles. Theseare made from a stronger type ofP.E.T.. Therefore this bacteriumcannot be used to break down plas-tic on a large scale. However, as a

plastic-eating bacterium has beenfound, it may be possible to developothers with larger “appetites”.

In the future, it may be possible tospray “hungry” plastic-eating bacte-

ria on garbage dumps and floating

garbage islands. Other researcherssay that this might cause problems.Some plastics contain toxic, or poi-sonous, chemicals. If this plasticis broken down, the toxins are re-

leased into the ground or seawater.P.E.T. is 100% recyclable. Some people therefore believe that thereis a simpler solution. If all P.E.T.in the world was recycled and nonethrown away, it would not cause en-vironmental problems.

EARTH DAY SIGNING

Earth Day is celebrated on April22. It takes place every year. Thefirst Earth Day was organized byan American politician. It beganin the U.S. in 1970. Then, teachersorganized activities across the coun-

try. The idea was to educate peopleabout the environment. By 1990,Earth Day had become an interna-tional event.

Special events on Earth Day areheld in over 190 countries. Theseare meant to make everyone awareof the importance of protectingthe environment. The Earth Day

Network (EDN) coordinates theevents. It claims to have 50,000

partners (people or environmentalorganizations) around the world.

Nowadays, over one billion people

take part in Earth Day activities

each year.This year the EDN began a new

five-year campaign on Earth Day.It wants people to plant 7.8 billiontrees by 2020. This year will markEarth Day’s 50th anniversary. Treesabsorb carbon dioxide (CO

2) from

the atmosphere. Much of this extraCO

2 has come from burning fos-

sil fuels: oil natural gas and coal. Nearly all scientists agree that this

additional CO2 is causing average

world land and sea temperatures torise and the climate to change.

Trees take in other harmful gasesas well as CO

2. Nitrous oxides and

sulfur dioxide are examples. In ad-

dition, trees’ leaves and bark traptiny harmful particles in the air.

These come from the exhausts ofcars, trucks and buses. Big construc-tion, or building, sites create hugeamounts of tiny dust particles. Treesalso capture these particles. Some

people describe trees as filters. Theyhelp to clean the air.

At the end of last year leadersand officials from most countriesmet in Paris, the capital of France.

This two-week “climate change”meeting was organized by theUnited Nations (U.N.). These meet-ings take place each year. However,at the end of the Paris meeting animportant agreement was signed.Known as the Paris Agreement, itis meant to stop or slow climatechange. A total of 196 nations at-tended the meeting. All agreed to re-duce the amount of greenhouse gas-

es that they produce. These gases,


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such as CO2 and methane, trap heat

in the upper atmosphere.Industrialization first began in

Britain and several other Europeancountries around 200 years ago.

This was the large-scale manu-facture of iron and steel. Huge

amounts of coal were burned tocreate the necessary heat. Largefactories making many other itemswere set up. These also used coal.Over time, industrialization spreadto many other countries.

In later years, the need for elec-tric power meant that large coal-

burning power stations were built.

In most places, oil and natural gasare now used to make electricity in-stead of coal. Scientists believe thataverage world temperatures haverisen by about 1ºC since industriali-

zation started. The Paris Agreementis meant to make sure that this risedoes not exceed 2ºC.

When many countries make anagreement, their governments haveto sign it within a certain time. TheU.N. chose April 22, (Earth Day)2016 as the first possible sign-ing date. The last is in 12 months’time, or April 21, 2017. Many na-

tions wanted to sign on Earth Day.The U.N. therefore decided to holda special Paris Agreement signingceremony on April 22. It took placeat the U.N.’s headquarters in NewYork City, in the U.S.

Of the 196 countries, 175 signedthe agreement on this day. They in-cluded the U.S. and China. Togeth-er, these two nations produce 38%of all the world’s greenhouse gas

emissions.

K OH-I-NOOR DIAMOND

For over 60 years India has frequent-ly demanded that Britain return afamous diamond. It is called the

Koh-i-Noor. On April 18, a seniorofficial from the Indian government

made a surprising announcement.He said that India should stop ask-ing for the diamond to be sent back.The British, the official explained,had not stolen the Koh-i-Noor over160 years ago.

In Persian, Koh-i-Noor means“mountain of light”. Diamondsand other gemstones are measured

in units called carats. A carat is0.007 ounces (0.2 grams). Whendiamonds are first dug up, they arecalled “rough” diamonds. Expertsstudy the rough diamond to look for

flaws. They also look at the shapeof the rough diamond to decide how

best to cut and polish it.The Koh-i-Noor was originally

186 carats. In 1852 it was recut toimprove its shape. Now, the dia-mond is 105.6 carats. It’s about thesize of a hen’s egg. Nobody knowsthe diamond’s value. However, ex-

perts believe that it is worth at least$145 million. The Koh-i-Noor is setinto a crown used by Britain’s royalfamily. Traditionally, the queenconsort’s crown displays the Koh-i-

Noor. This person is the king’s wife.The last person to wear this crown

was Queen Elizabeth the Second’smother. Also called Elizabeth, shewas known as the Queen Mother.She died in 2002, aged 101. TheQueen Mother was married to QueenElizabeth’s father, King George theSixth (1895 – 1952).

The early history of the Koh-i- Noor is not known. It is thought tohave been dug up in a diamond minein Southeast India 800 years ago.

Yet some people think it is far older.

Between the early 1500s and mid-1800s, Mughal emperors ruled mostof the area that is now Pakistan, In-dia and Bangladesh. They originallycame from Central Asia. For many

years, the diamond belonged tothese emperors. In 1739 the shah (orking) of Persia (modern-day Iran)successfully invaded part of theMughal Empire. He seized the dia-mond and named it the Koh-i-Noor.

Queen consort’s crown, the Koh-i-Noor is in the

centre of the cross at the front of the crown

Sometime later, the shah was as-sassinated. The diamond was taken

by one of the shah’s generals. Later,this man became Afghanistan’sruler. The diamond was passeddown to his successors. By the early1800s, the British had taken controlof large areas of the Indian subcon-

tinent (modern-day Pakistan, India,

Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka). Theseareas were run by a British organi-zation called the East India Com-

pany. It had a large army. Most ofthe organization’s soldiers were lo-cal Hindus and Muslims. They wereknown as sepoys.

In 1809 the ruler of Afghani-stan was overthrown. Taking thediamond, he managed to escape. Hewent to the Indian city of Lahore,

which is now in Pakistan. From


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there, a maharaja, or prince, calledRanjit Singh ruled the Sikh Empire.The deposed Afghan ruler agreed togive the diamond to the Sikh ruler ingratitude for his hospitality.

Several years later, the East In-dia Company fought three wars

against the Sikh Empire. WhenRanjit Singh died his five-year-oldson became the new ruler. In 1849a treaty was signed with the British.It was agreed that the East IndianCompany would take over muchof the Sikh Empire. In addition,the diamond was to be sent back toBritain. There, it would be given to

Queen Victoria (1819 – 1901). Afterits arrival, Prince Albert, the queen’shusband, had the diamond recut toimprove its “sparkle”.

The governments of India, Paki-

stan, Iran, and Afghanistan all claimto be the Koh-i-Noor’s rightfulowner. Each wants the diamond to

be returned to their country. ManyIndians were unhappy about the an-nouncement by the senior govern-ment official. They insist that thediamond was stolen and that it be-longs to India.

VENEZUELA’S ELECTRICITY SHORTAGE

On April 28, Venezuela’s vice-pres-ident declared that civil servantswould now work only on Mondays

and Tuesdays. Civil servants aregovernment workers. In Venezuela2.8 million people work for the gov-ernment. All have been given threedays off to save electricity.

Hugo Chávez died of cancerthree years ago. He had been Ven-ezuela’s president for 14 years.Chávez was a controversial leader.He often described the way in whichhe ran the country as a “socialist

revolution”. Chávez arranged for the

government to take control of the oiland electricity companies and sev-eral large food businesses. He saidthat most of the money these organi-zations make must be used to help

the country’s poorer people.Before his death Chávez de-

clared that he wanted Nicolas Ma-duro to succeed him. One monthafter the former president died, anelection was held. Mr. Maduro won.After he became president, Mr. Ma-duro announced that he would runthe country in the same way thatChávez did. Mr. Maduro is nowvery unpopular. Venezuela has se-

rious economic problems. Thesecaused difficulties when Chávez ledthe country. Yet in recent times theyhave become far worse.

Venezuela is very dependent

on oil. It has the largest proven, orknown, oil supplies in the world. OfVenezuela’s total economy around95% of the money it makes comesfrom oil. About 12 months ago the

price of oil began to fall. This was because, worldwide, more oil was being produced than needed. Thecurrent low oil price means thatVenezuela makes far less money.

Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s president

Inflation in Venezuela is nowwell over 300%. This is probablythe highest inflation rate in theworld. Inflation is when a cur-rency loses value and the cost ofthings increase. Governments thatkeep printing more and more bank-

notes usually cause it. The more

banknotes there are in a countrythe less they are worth.

The high inflation makes it dif-ficult for business leaders to buyAmerican dollars. They need dollars

to buy the things that are importedinto Venezuela. There are shortages

of many items in the shops. Theseinclude: flour, milk, butter, sugar,and even toilet paper. Recently, thecountry’s biggest beer maker an-nounced that it would stop makingthe drink. This is because it cannot

buy the barley it needs from othercountries. Barley is a cereal crop. Itis mainly used for brewing and as a

feed for farm animals.

Guri hydroelectric dam in Venezuela

Another problem is govern-ment price fixing. Normally thereis a “market price” for goods. Yetif the price is fixed below this priceit causes shortages. At first, more

people buy the goods because theyare inexpensive. Yet companies stopmaking them, as they will lose mon-

ey. The goods soon run out and there

are no more. This is what has happened to toilet paper in Venezuela.

Nearly all Venezuela’s electric-ity comes from hydroelectric power

plants. To make this power severallarge dams have been built on rivers.The dams create huge lakes. Waterflowing through parts of the dam ro-tates large turbines. This movementgenerates electricity. Unfortunately,there is a very bad drought in this

part of South America. The Guri


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Dam is the third largest hydroelec-tric dam in the world. Normally, itmakes about two-thirds of all Ven-ezuela’s electricity. Yet now the lake

behind the dam is almost dry.

The government has announcedseveral electricity-saving orders.

Shopping malls have been told toclose early. All clocks have beenmoved forward by 30 minutes. Thismeans that there is an extra half anhour of daylight in the evenings.Parts of Venezuela have power out-ages for at least four hours every day.

Venezuela’s next presidentialelection is not until 2019. Opposi-

tion groups are trying to collect vot-ers’ signatures. They want what’sknown as a recall referendum. Ifsuccessful, these groups plan to re-move President Maduro after three

years of his six-year term.

SAHARAN SILVER ANTS

Saharan silver ants are unusual crea-tures. Scientists from a university inBelgium have been studying them.These ants are found in parts of theSahara Desert. They live in some ofthe world’s hottest places. The sci-entists have discovered how the antssurvive in daytime temperatures ashigh as 128ºF (53ºC).So far, more than 12,000 ant spe-

cies have been recorded. Ants are

very strong. Many lift things thatare 20 times heavier than their own

bodies. (If a person was able todo this, they could pick up a bigcar.) Ants are social insects. Theylive in large groups called colo-nies. Some colonies have millionsof ants. These insects don’t haveears. Their feet “listen” by sensingvibrations in the ground. Ants haveno lungs. They take in oxygen via

tiny holes in their bodies. Carbon

dioxide is expelled through thesame openings.

There are different kinds of ant:queens, males or drones, and sol-diers and workers. Each colony

has at least one queen. Males matewith the queen. Usually, they die

soon afterwards. A queen can laymillions of eggs. Some ant specieshave one queen in the colony. Oth-ers have many. Workers and soldiersare sterile females. Soldiers defendthe queen and the colony. They alsosearch for food. Workers look afterthe eggs and build and repair the nest.

Saharan silver ants (P. Landmann / Willot)

Saharan silver ants make theirnests under the ground. Here, it ismuch cooler. Lizards eat the ants.Yet these lizards hide away duringthe heat of the day. This is whenthe ants are most active. They havelonger legs than other ant species. Sotheir bodies are farther away fromthe very hot sand. What’s more, out-side the nest, the ants do everythingat top speed. Moving fast helps them

stay cool. All ants have six legs. Sa-

haran silver ants run around on four.The insects hold their two front legsup off the ground. This protectsthem from the burning sand.

The ants feed on the bodies ofother animals or insects that havedied. These bodies, or bits of them,are dragged back to the nest. Manytypes of ants leave a chemical trail

behind them. The insects then fol-low it back to their nest. Saharan

silver ants don’t do this. They

navigate by the Sun. Every so often,the ants stop and spin round. Theydo this to record the position of theSun in the sky. From these “record-ings”, the ants can work out the most

direct route back to the nest.Saharan silver ants are covered in

tiny “glittery” hairs. The scientistsstudied these under high-poweredmicroscopes. They discovered thatthe hairs are like long thin prisms.Thus a cross-section is a triangularshape and not circular. In addition,the hairs have long grooves on theirthree sides. When sunlight hits thehairs, most light is reflected away.

The hairs therefore help to lower theants’ body temperature.

As an experiment, using tinyscalpel blades, the scientists man-aged to shave several ants. Then,they recorded the ants’ temperature

under bright sunlight. Because ofthe shape of the hairs and grooves,light bounces off the “base” of thetriangle. This is why the hairs are sil-ver, or mirror-like. The “hairy” antswere several degrees cooler than theshaved ones. The scientists’ discov-ery of how the hairs work could bereplicated. When designs found innature, or the natural world, are cop-ied, it is known as “biomimicry”, or“bioinspiration”.

MONKEY MYSTERY

The Panama Canal connects theAtlantic and Pacific Oceans. Thisman-made waterway crosses theisthmus that connects North andSouth America. The canal openedabout 100 years ago. Currently, itis being widened. This is so moreand wider ships can pass through it.Recently, workers dug up, or uncov-ered, seven teeth from an ancient

monkey. The teeth are at least 21


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million years old. This date has sur- prised many scientists.

Monkeys are primates. These aremammals that have hands, hand-like feet, and forward facing eyes.

As well as monkeys they include:lemurs, bush babies, tarsiers, mar-

mosets, apes, and even humans.There are about 190 primate spe-cies. Nearly all live in trees.

Orang-utans, gorillas and chim- panzees are apes. Apes and mon-keys are different. Apes don’t havetails and are usually bigger thanmonkeys. However, there are fewmonkey species that don’t have

tails. Apes use their hands and armsto swing through the trees. A fewtypes of monkeys do this. Yet mostrun along tree branches. Monkeysare very social. They live in groups

called “troops”.

Central American spider monkey (John Hopkins)

Monkeys are divided into twotypes. These are Old World Mon-keys and New World Monkeys. Old

World Monkeys live in Asia and Af-rica. New World Monkeys are foundin South and Central America. Thereare no apes in these places. There areabout 95 Old World monkey speciesand 80 New World species. NewWorld monkeys tend to be smallerthan Old World ones.

The Earth’s crust is like a huge jigsaw. It is made up of huge piecescalled plates. These plates float on

the very hot liquid rock deep be-

low the surface. They move slowlyat a speed of about 0.8 inches (twocentimeters) each year. Africa andSouth America used to be joinedtogether. They began to drift apart

650 million years ago. Even today,the shapes of South America’s east

coast and the west coast of Africalook as if they “fit together”.

Isthmus of Panama (Google maps)

What’s called the Isthmus ofPanama rose from the sea around 3.5million years ago. It finally joined

North America and South America.

Before this a number of unconnect-ed volcanic islands probably sepa-rated North and South America. Thenew isthmus or land bridge meantthat animals (and plants) from thenorth moved south and those fromthe south traveled north. This isknown as the Great American In-terchange. Over many thousands ofyears, animals like deer, horses andsaber-toothed cats moved south.Creatures such as armadillos andground sloths went north.

Scientists believe that monkeys

arrived in South America from Afri-

ca between 40 and 30 million yearsago. This date comes from monkeyfossils found in South America. Bythis time, South America and Africahad “drifted” apart. Scientists thinkthat some monkeys (accidentally)crossed the ocean on rafts formedfrom floating vegetation. This ishow plants are known to reach iso-lated islands. Within ten millionyears, monkeys had spread to all

parts of South America.

Today, certain types of monkeyare found in Central America. TheCentral American spider monkey isan example. The 21 million-year-oldmonkey teeth found in Panama were

a surprise. They show that monkeysfrom South America reached what’s

now Central America long beforethe Isthmus of Panama existed. Atthat time, the sea separating Northand South America was about 100miles (160 kilometers) wide. There-fore, like crossing the Atlantic, themonkeys may have floated on sometype of vegetation.

No wild monkeys live in North

America. There are thick forests,or jungles, in Central America. Yetnorthern parts of Mexico and thesouthern U.S. are dry, tree-less anddesert-like. This probably explains

why monkeys that were part of theGreat American Interchange nevermoved north of Mexico.

FUEL ECONOMY TESTS

Tetsuro Aikawa is the president ofthe Japanese car-making company,Mitsubishi Motors. On April 22, hedeclared that some company work-ers had incorrectly recorded fueleconomy tests. These show howmuch fuel cars use to travel a cer-tain distance. The president admit-

ted that this dishonest activity first

started 25 years ago.A car’s fuel efficiency is impor-

tant. When people buy a car, mostwant to know what its fuel efficien-cy is. By not recording this informa-tion correctly, Mitsubishi Motors’customers were given wrong infor-mation. Hundreds of thousands ofMitsubishi cars have been sold inJapan in recent years. Many of theirowners might now demand compen-

sation from the company.


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Another problem is governmenttax. In Japan, car owners pay lesstax if their cars use less fuel. Mit-subishi’s false recordings mean thatmany owners should have been pay-

ing more tax to the government. Thismeans that the government may ask

for compensation as well.

Mitsubishi Motors headquarters in Japan

The Mitsubishi group of compa-nies is well known in Japan and oth-er parts of the world. Mitsubishi was

founded in 1870. It soon becameinvolved in many industries. Thesetypes of big companies are knownas conglomerates. Before, and dur-ing, the Second World War (1939

– 1945) Mitsubishi made militaryequipment such as planes, tanksand ships. After Japan surrendered,American forces occupied the coun-try. American leaders decided to

break up the big Japanese conglom-erates. As well as Mitsubishi theseincluded Sumitomo and Mitsui.

Today, there are many Mitsubishi

companies based in Japan. They share

the name, but work independently.Each has its own bosses. Some haveinformal arrangements with eachother. For example, one MitsubishiCompany may agree to lend anothermoney. Some own shares in each oth-er. Now, the three biggest Mitsubishicompanies are: the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Corporationand Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi is the

largest bank in Japan.

Mitsubishi Motors was formedin 1970. It is Japan’s sixth biggestcar making company. Another Mit-subishi company makes trucks and

buses. Daimler now owns this com-

pany. Daimler is a large Germanautomaker. In recent years Mitsubi-

shi Motors has made small cars foranother auto company called Nis-san. It was workers at Nissan whorealized that the fuel use recordingswere wrong.

Government officials in Japanhave told the Mitsubishi Motors

bosses to investigate what happened. The company’s president in-

sists that he knew nothing about thefalse fuel economy tests.

Last year it was discovered thatGermany’s Volkswagen Companywas making false claims about

its cars. Volkswagen was falsify-ing emissions tests. These showhow much air pollution a car cre-ates. Volkswagen installed specialsoftware in some of its cars. Thismade it look as if their engines were

producing less pollution. Many ofthese Volkswagen cars were sold inthe U.S. Recently, the company hasagreed to buy back all of these cars.This will cost billions of dollars.

One Japanese government offi-cial has suggested that Mitsubishimay have to do the same as Volk-

swagen. Yet, Mitsubishi Motorsis a far smaller company with less

money. Some people worry that thefuel economy scandal may forceMitsubishi Motors to close down.

VOLCANO AND MAYA

The Maya civilization was in Cen-tral America. Some historians be-lieve it began over 4,000 years ago.The Maya seem to have been at their

most powerful around 500 CE, or

1,500 years ago. Afterwards theircivilization declined.

Nobody knows what happened tothe Maya. Some ideas are wars,drought or disease. A combination

of all three is possible. Research-ers from the Netherlands have re-

cently suggested another idea. They believe that the Maya decline wascaused by a big volcanic eruption inCentral America.

The Maya lived in areas that arenow southern Mexico, Guatemala,Belize, and parts of Honduras andEl Salvador. The Spanish took overthese areas in the 1500s. By this time

the old Maya cities were lost in the jungles. Yet the Maya never disap- peared completely. Many peoplewho live in these countries are theirdescendants. Some still speak Mayan

languages and follow Maya customs.

El Chichón volcano in Mexico

The Maya constructed impres-sive stone buildings. These includ-ed: temples, palaces, observatories,and pyramids. All were built with-

out the use of metal tools. The Mayawere good at farming. They had toclear thick rainforest, or jungle, togrow their crops. In this part of theworld there is little ground water, orrivers. The Maya dug undergroundtanks, or reservoirs. These were de-signed to store rainwater.

The Maya had an impressiveknowledge of the planets, thestars and how the Sun seems to

move across the sky. They used a


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

VIETNAMVENEZUELA

USA

UK

U K R A

I N E

TANZANIA

S W E D E N

Svalbard

SLOVAKIA

RUSSIA

Puerto Rico

PERU

PANAMA

PAKISTAN

NORWAY

MEXICO

JAPAN

ISRAEL

INDIA

GREECE

FRENCH GUIANA

ECUADOR

CHAD CAMBODIA

BRAZIL

BELGIUMBELARUS

complicated calendar. It markedtime in cycles, called baktuns. Each

baktun was roughly 394 years long.The Maya created a system of writ-ing that used symbols called glyphs.

By the time of the Spanish, theknowledge of this writing had died

out. Today, many ancient glyphshave been deciphered, or decoded.Therefore experts are able to under-stand what most of them mean.

Maya temple, Chichen Itza (Keith Pomakis)

There was no one all-powerful

Maya king. Cities had their ownrulers. They were similar to the

city-states in Ancient Greece. Sur-rounding towns, villages and farmssupported each Maya city. The Mayamade beautiful fabrics, or clothes,

pottery and musical instruments.

Some of the biggest cities were calledPalenque, Tikal, and Chichen Itza.

After the Maya declined, their citieswere abandoned. They became cov-ered in trees and jungle vegetation.

Ice cores from Greenland andAntarctica show that there was ahuge volcanic eruption somewherein the world around 540 CE. Icecores can be used to date ancientevents such as volcanic eruptions.

To get an ice core, scientists drilllong hollow pipes into thick ice.When pulled up, the pipes containlong tube-shaped pieces of ice.

Big eruptions throw large

amounts of volcanic ash high intothe atmosphere. This can spread allaround the world. Eventually, the

ash and dust falls to the ground. InGreenland and Antarctica, it createsa thin layer on top of the snow. Thisis buried by more snow. The ash lay-ers show up in ice cores. Scientists

can work out the date of the layerfrom how deep it is in the ice.The Dutch researchers found vol-

canic ash under the ground wherethe Maya lived. It seems to havefallen around 1,500 years ago. Theresearchers believe it came from avolcano that is now in Mexico. It’scalled El Chichón. This volcanolast erupted in 1982. This was a sur-

prise. Many people thought that the

volcano was dormant, or inactive.This was because it had not eruptedfor over 600 years. The 1982 erup-tion killed 2,000 people. Today, the

volcano’s 985 feet (300-meter) deepcrater contains a green acidic lake.

The researches believe that theeruption 1,500 years ago was far


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bigger than the one in 1982. Theysay that more work is neededto prove that the older eruptionhad a devastating effect on theMaya.

SATELLITE CONSTELLATION

On April 25, the ESA (EuropeanSpace Agency) launched a satellitecalled Sentinel-1B. The satellitewas sent into space on top of a Rus-sian-made Soyuz rocket. The rocketlifted off from the ESA’s spaceportin French Guiana.

Artist’s impression of Sentinel-1B (ESA)

There are a number of Sentinelsatellites. (A sentinel is a soldieror guard. Their job is to stand andwatch.) Some have already beenlaunched. Others will be sent intospace in the future. The satellitesare part of a system for monitoringthe Earth known as the Copernicus

program. It’s named after a well-known astronomer called Coperni-

cus (1473 – 1543). In his lifetime

people believed that the Sun wentaround the Earth. They also thoughtthat the Earth was at the center ofthe Universe. Copernicus was thefirst person to publish a book sayingthat the planets, including the Earth,went around the Sun.

The Copernicus program collectsdata about the Earth in several ways.One is from satellite images and re-cordings. Sensors on the ground, in

the air and on the sea collect other

valuable information. Many organi-zations are able to use this data. Forexample, it can help with mappingand managing: urban areas; agricul-ture; forestry; fisheries; transport;

tourism; health; security; climatechange; sea ice; fresh water supplies; natural disasters; and humani-tarian problems.

Sentinel picture of fields in France, sunflower cropsin orange and maize (or corn) in yellow (ESA)

Sentinel-1A launched in 2014.The two satellites are designed to

work together. They are now orbitingthe Earth 180 degrees apart. The sat-ellites create a complete map of theEarth’s surface every six days. Theycan do this in light or dark and evenif large areas are covered in clouds.

During the last two years, Sen-tinel-1A has helped experts recordthe Earth’s melting ice sheets andice caps. The satellite has monitoredicebergs. Sentinel-1A has even re-corded movements in the land afterearthquakes and erupting volcanoes.It has counted fish cages in the Med-

iterranean Sea, tracked ships sail-

ing across the oceans and detectedoil spills, or slicks. Images taken

by Sentinel-1A show that less riceis being produced in the MekongRiver Delta this year. This is prob-ably because of drier weather. TheMekong River Delta is in Vietnam.It is one of the largest rice-growingareas in the world.

Two hours after its radar wasswitched on, Sentinel-1B recorded

its first image. It was of the Barents

Sea. The image included the Sval- bard archipelago, or group of islands.These islands are a part of Norway.

Four Sentinel satellites are inorbit: 1A, 2A, 3A, and now 1B.

Eventually, each of the “As” willhave a twin or partner. These are

the “Bs”. Two or more satellitesworking together are known as aconstellation. Therefore, Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B are the Coper-nicus program’s first satellite con-stellation.

FAMOUS CHURCH RENOVATION

The Church of the Holy Sepulcheris in the old city of Jerusalem, in Is-rael. Parts of the building are 1,700years old. Over time, the church wasenlarged. It is now a maze of differ-

ent chapels, shrines and altars. The building needs repairs. These shouldhave been done many years ago.The way in which the church is runmeans that there are frequent disa-greements. After years of talks, itwas recently announced that repairwork would start in the middle ofMay.

In the Christian religion, JesusChrist is the Son of God. He proba-

bly lived in what are now Israel andthe West Bank about 2,000 yearsago. Christians believe that Jesus

was crucified or killed for his be-

liefs. Their teachings say that threedays later he was resurrected andwent to heaven.

The Church of the Holy Sepul-cher is also called the Church of theResurrection. A sepulcher is a smallroom cut into the rock or built ofstone. It is where a body is placedor buried. Christians believe thatthe church is built on the site whereJesus was crucified, buried and

resurrected. Therefore the ancient


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building is one of the most impor-tant religious sites for followers ofthe Christian faith. Thousands ofChristian pilgrims visit the Churchof the Holy Sepulcher every year.

Six different Christian groupslook after the church. They are: Ro-

man Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Ar-menian Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox,Egyptian Coptic, and Ethiopian Or-thodox. What’s more, traditionally,a local Muslim family keeps thekeys to the building.

The different religious groupswere given permission to look afterthe church a long time ago. What’s

now Israel was a part of the OttomanEmpire for hundreds of years. Thisempire was centered on Turkey. Thenever-ending arguments between thegroups that looked after the church

annoyed the Ottomans. In 1853 theydrew up a special arrangement. It’sknown as the “status quo” agree-ment. Status quo is a Latin phrase. Itmeans the “current state of affairs”.To keep the status quo means to keepthings the way they are.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem

Under the status quo agreementthe church was divided between thereligious groups. Altars, shrines andeven steps, flagstones and tiles werelisted as the responsibility of onegroup or another.

The status quo has not stoppedall the arguments. One example isa workman’s wooden ladder on awindow ledge above the main door.

It’s been there for over 100 years.

This is because one set of monksis responsible for the window andanother for the ledge. Neither groupwill allow the other to take the lad-der down. Nowadays, it’s known as

the Immovable Ladder.Sometimes the monks fight

against each other. In one incidentCoptic monks and Ethiopians beganhitting each other with their fists.It was a hot day. One Coptic monkmoved his chair, so it would be inthe shade. This angered the Ethiopi-ans. The chair was just inside theirarea. After the fight, 11 monks need-ed hospital treatment.

The renovation work will takeeight months and cost $3.4 million.The three main religious groups,Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox,and Armenian Orthodox, will share

the cost. Each has chosen their own building experts to help with therenovations. The church will beopen to visitors while the work iscarried out.

POLIO VACCINE SWITCH

Polio is an infectious disease. Thevirus that causes it can spread from

person to person. Many years ago polio was common, especially in poor countries. In recent years, theWorld Health Organization (WHO)has organized mass vaccination pro-

grams. Nowadays, very few peopleget the disease.There are three types, or strains, of

polio. Medical experts call them type1, type 2 and type 3. A single vac-cine is given for all three. However,nobody has had type 2 polio for 17years. Doctors are sure that this strainno longer exists. Now, a new vaccinehas been made, which prevents justtype 1 and 3. Medical experts say that

it is safer and more effective.

The switch from the “old” vac-cine to the “new” has just begun. Itis happening in 155 countries. The

plan is to complete the changeoverwithin 14 days. This is a compli-

cated process. The new vaccinesmust be distributed and old ones

destroyed. The operation is beingmonitored, or checked, by thou-sands of health workers. High tem-

peratures are needed to destroy theold vaccines. If any of them enterthe water supply, they could spreadthe disease. Some old vaccines will

be kept, just in case type 2 reap- pears in the future.

Young children being given a polio vaccine insouthern Pakistan (UNICEF)

Edward Jenner (1749 – 1823)was the first person to realize thatvaccinations could prevent certaindisease. He was a British scientist.Then, a disease called smallpoxwas common. Most people whogot this disease recovered. Around30% died. In those days, women

often worked with cows. They

were known as milkmaids. Jennernoticed that milkmaids did not getsmallpox. However, they did get adisease called cowpox, which wasmuch less dangerous. Jenner didn’tknow about the body’s immune sys-tem. Yet he suspected that a bodythat had “learned” how to overcomecowpox could fight off smallpox.Jenner deliberately infected some

people with cowpox. This seemed

to stop them catching smallpox.


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Shakespeare is one of the world’smost famous playwrights, not muchis known about him. He was born inthe town of Stratford-upon-Avon.Local records show that Shake-

speare had a wife and three youngchildren by the time he was 20.

He seems to have left his family inStratford and moved elsewhere.

What Shakespeare did next is notknown. Then, at the age of 27, he isthought to have started working asan actor in London. He also began towrite. In 1594 Shakespeare helpedto set up a new theater company.Five years later he and some friends

built the Globe Theater. Eventually,Shakespeare returned to Stratford-upon-Avon where he died. He was

buried in one of the town’s churches.Some people find it hard to be-

lieve that the man from Stratfordwrote the plays. They argue thathe had little education. What’smore, many of the plays are set inother countries. In those days onlywealthy people traveled to these

places. Many words in the plays areused in law, medicine and science.How did the man from Stratfordlearn about these subjects?

One theory is that a man calledEdward de Vere wrote the plays.He was the 17th Earl of Oxford.De Vere was well educated. He also

traveled to different parts of Eu-rope. De Vere was a member of the

royal court. Then, Queen Elizabeththe First was England’s monarch.In those days people like de Verecould not publish plays or books us-ing their own name. He may havechosen the name Shakespeare todisguise his own.

Most Shakespeare historians saythat the “Earl of Oxford” theory isvery unlikely. They insist that the

person who wrote the plays came

from Stratford-upon-Avon.

RING OF FIRE EARTHQUAKES

Two earthquakes struck southern Ja- pan on April 14 and 16. On the dayof the second one, another power-

ful quake hit Ecuador. This SouthAmerican country is on the opposite

side of the Pacific Ocean. Expertssaid that these earthquakes were notdirectly connected. However, allthree occurred on what’s known asthe Ring of Fire.

Japan is made up of four mainislands: Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu,and Hokkaido. The country has fre-quent earth tremors. The two recentearthquakes struck the island of Ky-ushu. Their epicentres were beneaththe city of Kumamoto. The secondwas the larger of the two. It had amagnitude of 7.0.

The two earthquakes damagedhouses, roads and bridges. Morethat 40,000 people were evacuated

from the their homes. The violent

shaking caused several large land-slides. Some of these buried housesand villages. The water supply forKumamoto was cut. Shinzō Abe,Japan’s prime minister, sent 15,000soldiers to the area. There, manyhelped to search for people buried

by landslides. A few days after thesecond earthquake, local officialssaid that at least 50 people werekilled. Some are still missing. Over

3,000 were injured. Nearly 100

buildings were destroyed and 1,000 badly damaged.

The Earth’s crust is made up ofhuge pieces called tectonic plates,or plates. Deep below the crust is

a layer of very hot liquid rock.This is called the mantle. The plates float on the mantle. Theedge of one plate can slide overor under another. These edges canalso move apart or push into eachother. Any sudden movements cancause earthquakes.

Japan is on what scientists callthe “Ring of Fire”. This is a horse-shoe-shaped line, or boundary. It

runs around the edge of the PacificOcean. The Ring of Fire marks anumber of plate boundaries. Here,tectonic plates meet and bump into

each other. Earthquakes and erupt-ing volcanoes are not uncommonin countries that are on, or closeto, this boundary.

Earthquake damaged home in Equador (Agencia de Noticias ANDES)

The most powerful earthquakeever recorded took place in Chile

in 1960. Its magnitude was 9.2.Chile is also on the Ring ofFire. Ecuador’s earthquake wasa magnitude 7.8. Its epicenterwas close to the coastal townof Muisne. This town is hometo about 6,000 people. It is a

popular destination for both localand foreign tourists. Muisne isapproximately 110 miles (170 kilo-meters) from Quito, the country’s

capital city. Many buildings in the


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capital shook when the earth-quake struck.

Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s presi-dent, was in Italy when the earth-quake hit. He cut short his visit and

flew back to his country. Soon afterarriving, the president declared a

state of emergency. He sent 10,000soldiers and 3,500 police officersto the worst affected areas. Many

people were trapped in collapsed buildings. Several other countriessent rescue workers to help.

The earthquake killed at least650 people. Nearly 30,000 were in-

jured. Thousands of buildings were

destroyed or very badly damaged.The disaster was the worst to hitEcuador since a similar size quakestruck in 1949. Mr. Correa said thatthe damage would cost billions of

dollars to repair.

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS

A special prize giving ceremony washeld in the U.S. on April 18. It took

place in San Francisco, in Califor-nia. The six winners of this year’sGoldman Environmental Prize were

presented with their awards.Goldman Environmental Prizes

are awarded every year. Nobel Prizesare given for Chemistry, Literature,Physics, Medicine, and Peace. These

prizes are prestigious awards. Some

people call the Goldman Environ-mental Prizes the “Green Nobels”.

The Goldman Prizes areawarded to one person fromsix different geographical areas.These are: Africa, Asia, Europe,

North America, South and CentralAmerica, and Islands and Island

Nations. Each of the six win-ners receives a prize of $170,000.They can decide how to spend

the money.

The awards are usually givento individuals who have taken a

personal risk to protect the en-vironment in which they live.The organization that awards

the prizes describes them as“environmental heroes”.

2016 Goldman Environmental Prize winners

The awards were first made in1990. Since then they have becomean annual event. Richard Gold-man and his wife Rhoda set up theawards. Mr. Goldman was a suc-

cessful businessman. He and hiswife decided to become philanthro-

pists. These people use their moneyto help others and fund good causes.Mrs. Goldman died in 1996. Mr.Goldman passed away six years ago.

Nowadays, an international jury, or panel, selects the prize-winners.Environmental organizations fromaround the world send their recom-mendations to the panel.

Edward Loure from Tanzaniawon the African prize. He led acampaign to make sure that local

communities, or groups of native

people, were given land ownership.This means that their land cannot besold to individuals. Instead, it will

pass to future generations.Leng Ouch won the Asian prize.

He is from Cambodia. Mr. Ouch tooka job as a laborer in his country’s for-ests. There, large areas of trees are

being cut down, or felled, unlawful-ly. Mr. Ouch gathered information onthese illegal activities as well as gov-

ernment corruption, or dishonesty.

He then passed all the information tothe authorities. Mr. Ouch says thathe will use his prize money to helpto protect Cambodia’s forests.

Zuzana Caputová from Slovakia

was awarded the European prize. Sheis a lawyer. Ms. Caputová managed to

get a large waste dump closed down.It was close to where she lives. Thedump was badly managed. It was poi-soning the local air, land and water.

The prize for North America wasgiven to Destiny Watford from theU.S. She inspired local people tostop a large garbage-burning incin-erator from being built close to her

old high school.Máxima Acuña from Peru won

the Central and South Americanaward. She is a farmer from Peru’shighlands. Ms. Acuña refused togive up her land. If she had, it would

have been used by one of the world’slargest mining companies. The com-

pany wanted to mine for gold andcopper. It would have drained fournearby lakes and turned one into a

place to dump waste.The Islands and Island Nations

prize was awarded to Luis JorgeRivera Herrera of Puerto Rico. Hemanaged to set up a nature reserveon the country’s coast. It took 16years. The reserve is one of thefew places where leatherback seaturtles come ashore to lay their

eggs.

Newsademic.comEditor: Rebecca Watson

American Editor: Chris Tarn

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ISSUE 274

GLOSSARY PUZZLE

INSTRUCTIONS: 1 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.2 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

20

ACROSS

5 Noun Two or more things joining or mixing together, or

happening at the same time 6 Adjective Causing a lot of harm or damage

7 Adjective Unable to breed

8 Noun Plural Groups, with different ideas, within a larger

group

13 Verb Approved of, or recommended someone or

something

15 Adjective Describes something that is admired and

respected

17 Noun A type of knife with a sharp blade used by doctors

18 Noun Something, usually money, given to make up for

loss, suffering, or injury

19 Noun Plural Shaking movements 20 Verb Moved people away from a dangerous place

DOWN

1 Verb Got rid of

2 Noun Plural Walls and towers built to stop a place beingattacked or captured

3 Noun A reduction in a country s trade or prosperity

4 Verb Brought back to life

9 Noun Plural People or organizations that promise to pay

or donate a sum of money

10 Noun Narrow strip of land (with sea or water on either

side) that connects two larger areas of land

11 Noun Keeping a person or something from escaping or

moving away

12 Noun Welcoming strangers or guests and looking after

them well

14 Verb Shared or supplied 16 Noun Disgraceful and shocking event


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ISSUE 274

GLOSSARY PUZZLE CONTINUED

INSTRUCTIONS: 3 Find 19 of the 20crossword answers in the word search.

Words can go vertically, horizontally,

diagonally and back to front. 4 After

finding the 19 words write down the

20th (or missing) word under the puzzle.

MISSING WORD ANSWER =

I S S

U E 2 7 3 A N S WE R S

If you wish to earn additional Demics

please email the missing word answer

to: [email protected]

Puzzle entries need to be submitted by

10pm on May 11, 2016 (GMT/UTC).*

I N T R U D E R

* 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 logged in users – correctly. Demics earnedcan be used by Family and IndividualSubscribers in the Newsademic

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