newsademic issue 215 b

8/12/2019 Newsademic Issue 215 b

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23rd January 2014

British English edition

Issue Number 215

Newsademic.comThe informative easy to read introduction to world news

In this issue

Ukraines Euromaidan

protests

NZ mountain gets shorter

CARs new interim leader

Swallow-catching fish

Thailanddeclares state of

emergency

Pyramid building theory

St Anthony fire festival

Ar iel Sharon

Mexicos vigilantes

Worlds most admired people

Famous statue storm

damage

Unchanged Doomsday Clock

Egypts referendum result

No surrender soldier

Who discovered Australia?

Birds surprising migration

Grand Canyonin Antarctica

Death of Alexander the Great

USAs new spying laws

GlossaryCrossword and

Wordsearch Puzzle

Artists impression (not to scale) of the Rosetta spacecraft, its lander, Philae, and Comet 67P (ESA)

A space control room in Darmstadt, insouthern Germany, received a signal justafter six oclock in the evening on 20thJanuary. When it arrived all the con-trollers clapped and cheered. The shortsignal had taken eight hours to travel adistance of 800 million kilometres (497million miles). Its arrival confirmed that,after 31 months of hibernation in deepspace, Rosetta had woken up.

The Rosetta space mission is one ofthe most complicatedever planned. Ro-setta is an unmanned spacecraft. TheEuropean Space Agency (ESA) designed

and built it. Rosetta was launched ontop of a powerful rocket in March 2004,nearly ten years ago. Inside the space-craft is a small lander called Philae. Ifthe ESAs plan works, in eight monthstime this lander will attach itself to aspeeding comet. This has never been

done before.

The comets official name is 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Two Russianastronomers discovered it in 1969. Thecomet is about 4.5 kilometres (2.8 miles)across. The figure 67 is the comets listnumber. These numbers are given by anorganisation in the USA called the Mi-nor Planet Center. This organisation col-lects information on all known asteroidsand comets. The P in the comets name

shows it is a periodic comet.Asteroids are lumps of space rock.Comets are different. They are made

of ice and dust. Comets are often de-scribed as large dirty snowballs. Likethe planets in our Solar System, cometsorbit the Sun. Yet they take far longerto do so. Comets with an orbit of lessthan 200 years are known as periodic,or short-period, comets. Those with or-

bits longer than 200 years are called

long-period comets.

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Short-period comets like 67P arethought to come from a part of theSolar System called the Kuiper belt.This is beyond the orbit of Neptuneand the dwarf planet Pluto. Long-

period comets are believed to origi-nate from a place about 1,000 timesfarther away. This region is known

as the Oort cloud.Comets have a nucleus, or solid

centre. Its mainly made from fro-zen water. Yet the nucleus is alsothought to contain other chemicals.These probably include ammonia,carbon dioxide and methane.

Artists impression of Philae after landing on the

comets surface (ESA)

When in deep space, cometsare completely frozen. As they getnearer to the Sun they start to warmup. Comets then begin to releasedust and gases. These create whatsknown as a coma. This is a cloudyatmosphere around the comets nu-cleus. Comets seem to light up astheir comas absorb heat from theSun. At this time a long tail can beseen trailing behind them.

The ESAs spacecraft is namedafter the Rosetta Stone. This ancientartefact was found in Egypt over200 years ago. Carved on the stoneare three different translations of thesame text. One is in Egyptian hiero-glyphs. Another is Demotic script.(This was an everyday old Egyp-tian language.) The third language isAncient Greek.

In the 1820s, Jean-Franois

Champollion, a French scholar,

studied the Rosetta Stone. It helpedhim to decipher, or work out how toread, Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.The Rosetta Stone is kept in the Brit-ish Museum, in London, the capital

of the UK.The ESA organised a competition

to find a name for Rosettas lander.A teenage girl from Italy won. Shesuggested Philae. There was anisland called Philae in the middleof the River Nile, in Egypt. On thisisland were the ruins of an ancienttemple. In 1815 two obelisks werefound on the island. Obelisks aretall stone monuments. One obelisk

had Egyptian and Ancient Greekwriting on it. So the Philae obeliskalso helped Champollion to decodeEgyptian hieroglyphs.

The Rosetta spacecraft has had a

very long journey. After its launchit completed three huge loops ororbits of the Earth. This helped thespacecraft build up speed. Rosettahas also been around the Sun fivetimes. In 2007 it was near Mars.The following year the spacecraftflew close to a two-kilometre (1.25mile) wide asteroid. Two years later,Rosetta watched as an asteroid 50times bigger sped past. The space-craft sent back pictures and otheruseful information about the twoasteroids.

Rosetta uses solar panels to cre-ate the power it needs from the Sun.

Yet by 2011 the spacecraft was notable to make enough energy to keepoperating. This was because it wastoo far away from the Sun. Then,as part of the ESAs plan, Rosettawas deliberately closed down and

put to sleep. Its alarm clock wasset for ten oclock on 20th January2014. Soon after Rosetta woke upit would start to move towards 67P,as the comet began to travel towards

the Sun.

For the next three months thecontrollers will be switching onand testing all Rosettas equipment.The spacecraft will move towardsthe comet at around 3,500 kilome-

tres (2,175 miles) per hour. In May,as it approaches 67P, it will slowdown. Once close enough Rosetta

will begin to orbit the comet. At thisstage the spacecraft will be about 20kilometres (12.5 miles) above thecomets surface.

As it orbits, Rosetta will photo-graph and map 67Ps surface. Thespacecraft will be looking for anarea on which Philae can land safely.

This may be difficult, as the cometssurface is unlikely to be flat. By thistime Rosetta would have travelled atotal distance of 7.1 billion kilome-tres (4.4 billion miles).

In November, Rosetta will move

much closer to 67P. Then, Philae willbe launched. ESA controllers saythis will be the most difficult part oftheir plan. The comet will be movingquickly and its gravity is very weak.There is a danger of Philae fallingoff. To stop this from happening thelander will fire two harpoonsat thecomet. After Philae lands, big screwson each of its four legs will drill intothe icy surface.

Comets like 67P date back to thebeginning of the Solar System, 4.6billion years ago. This was whenplanets such as the Earth were just

starting to form. So, studying acomets chemicals and gases is likelooking back in time.

Philae has ten special instru-ments on board. These have beendesigned to work out what the cometis made of. Scientists hope that thisinformation will help to answer sev-eral important questions. Three are:where did all the Earths water comefrom, and how and where did life

first begin?


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UKRAINESEUROMAIDAN

Another huge demonstration tookplace in Kiev, Ukraines capital city,on 19th January. Hundreds of thou-

sands of people filled the streets inthe centre of the city. The protesterssaid they were angry about a new

set of rules, or laws. These had beenvoted on and passed by the coun-trys parliament several days before.

Euromaidan in Kiev

For the last two months there

have been many anti-governmentprotests in Kiev. During the week-ends the demonstrations get muchlarger. Some protesters have put up,or erected, tents in a large squarein the centre of the city. Stages and

barriers, or barricades, have been setup. The stages have been used forspeeches and music concerts.

The new laws say that tents andstages can no longer be erected in

public places. Amplifierscannot beused. Any demonstrators wearingmasks or helmets can be arrested.Any protests that include more than

five cars or trucks are banned. Any-one caught breaking these laws willhave to pay a large fine or go to pris-on. The protesters have nicknamedthe new rules dictatorship laws.

The demonstrations started be-cause of a proposed agreement, ordeal, between Ukraine and the Eu-ropean Union (EU). This deal wouldmake it easier for Ukraine and theEUs 28 member countries to trade

with each other. A few days before

the agreement was to be signed Vik-tor Yanukovych, Ukraines presi-dent, made a surprise announce-ment. He declared that a deal wouldnot be made with the EU. Instead

Ukraine would have a differenttrade agreement with Russia.For many years Ukraine was part

of the Russian-led Soviet Union.It became an independent countryin 1991. This was when the SovietUnion began to break up. However,Ukraine still relies on Russia formany things.

Ukraine has two main politi-cal groups. Mr Yanukovych leads

one. He has many supporters. Thelast election was in 2010. Now themajority of the people elected tothe countrys parliament belong toMr Yanukovychs political group.Many of the presidents support-

ers live in eastern Ukraine. Most ofthem are happy for Ukraine to workclosely with Russia.

The other political groups sup-porters come mainly from the west-ern part of the country. These are the

people who have been demonstrat-ing. They want Ukraine to be asso-ciatedwith Europe and not Russia.The protesters are now demandingthat a new election be held.

The protesters call their dem-onstrations Euromaidan. Maidan

Nezalezhnosti is a large open area,or square, in the centre of Kiev.

(Nezalezhnostimeans independenceand maidan is a square.) In the lat-est demonstrations many protest-ers continued to wear masks. Ashelmets are now banned, some putmetal cooking pots on their heads.

Other countries have becomeworried about what is happeningin Ukraine. Russian leaders have

blamed the EU. They accuse EU of-ficials of encouraging Ukrainians to

take part in the demonstrations.

On 22nd January there were bat-tles between some of the protestersand the police. This happened afterthe police tried to remove several

barricades. On the same day Mr

Yanukovych held talks with threeopposition leaders. However, most

think he is unlikely to agree to a newelection.

SHRINKINGMOUNTAIN

Scientists have discovered that the

tallest mountain in New Zealand is

shorter than it used to be. Using GPS

devices and photographs taken fromaircraft they worked out that the

height of Aoraki/Mount Cook is 3,724

metres (12,217 feet). This means the

mountain is 30 metres (98 feet) short-

er than it was about 20 years ago.

Aoraki/Mount Cook in New Zealand

Aoraki/Mount Cook is on NewZealands South Island. It is part ofthe Southern Alps mountain range.The mountain was known as MountCook. Yet nowadays many people

call it Aoraki. This is the mountainsMaori name.

The Maori are the native peopleof New Zealand. They first settledon the countrys two main islandsaround 800 years ago. The Maoriare believed to have originallycome from several Polynesian is-lands. Polynesia is the name usedto describe over 1,000 islands in thecentral and southern Pacific Ocean.

In the past many of the people who


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lived on these Pacific islands wereexpert sailors. They used the starsin the night sky to navigate, or workout which way to travel.

The Maori called the mountain

Aoraki long before the first Europe-ans arrived in New Zealand. A Dutchships captain called Abel Tasman

is believed to be the first personfrom Europe to see the mountain in1642. The Tasman Sea (the sea be-tween New Zealand and Australia)is named after him.

It was not until the early 1800s thatlarge numbers of Europeans movedto New Zealand. Most came from the

UK. In 1840 Maori leaders and of-ficials from the UK signed an agree-ment. This is known as the Treaty ofWaitangi. The treaty officially made

New Zealand part of the British Em-pire. In return the government of the

UK said it would protect the Maoripeoples rights to their lands.

In 1851 a British sea captainnamed the mountain Mount Cook.He chose this name to honour Cap-tain James Cook (1728 1779).Captain Cook was a very good car-tographer, or mapmaker. He wenton long voyages to map areas of theworld that were new to Europeans.

Captain Cooks ship was calledthe Endeavour. During a voyage

between 1767 and 1771 it becamethe first European ship to sail all the

way around New Zealand. Captain

Cook made very accurate maps ofthe countrys two main islands.

Aoraki/Mount Cook has threepeaks. They are called the Low,Middle and High Peaks. In 1991there was a rock fall just below theHigh Peak. A large amount of iceand rock broke away.

The ice cap on top of the moun-tain was not affected by this rockfall. However, the shape of the

mountain just below the ice cap

changed. Because of this change theice cap has eroded, or worn away,quite quickly over the last 20 years.The scientists who recently meas-ured the mountain think this is why

Aoraki/Mount Cook is now shorterthan it used to be. Even though it haslost height the mountain is still thetallest in New Zealand.

NEWCAR LEADER

On 20th January Catherine Samba-Panza was chosen to be the newinterim, or temporary, leader of the

Central African Republic (CAR).She is a former mayor of Bangui,the countrys capital city. Othermembers of the CARs National As-sembly, or parliament, voted for MsSamba-Panza.

CHAD

CAMEROON

REPUBLICOF

CONGO

Bangui

CENTRAL AFRICANREPUBLIC

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICOF CONGO

On the same day senior politi-cians from several European Un-ion (EU) member countries madean announcement. They said theEU would send 500 soldiers to theCAR. Troops from France and the

African Union (AU) are already inthe country. However, these sol-diers are finding it difficult to stopthe fighting between Christian andMuslim groups. When different reli-gious groups attack one another it iscalled sectarian violence.

The CAR used to be a Frenchcolony. Since it became independ-ent in 1960 the country has hadmany problems. At the end of 2012

fighting broke out. A group called

the Slka Coalition seized controlof some northern areas. In the locallanguage Slka means alliance.As they approached the capital city,Francois Bozize, the CARs presi-

dent, fled from the country.

Catherine Samba-Panza, CARs interim leader

About 4.6 million people live inthe CAR. Most are Christian. Yetthose fighting for the Slka wereMuslims. Eventually, Michel Djoto-dia took over as the countrys leader.

He was the commander of the Sl-ka Coalition. Mr Djotodia wantedthe people who had been fightingfor Slka to give up their weapons.Yet most refused to do so. They then

began attacking Christian groups.For several years France kept

around 400 troops in the CAR. They

were based in Bangui. Their job was

to protect the airport and any French

people who lived in the city. Two

months ago, Franois Hollande, the

French president, decided to send an-

other 1,600 soldiers to the CAR. At

the same time, because of the sectar-

ian violence, the AU said it would alsosend more troops. Now there are about

4,400 AU soldiers in the country.

Officials from the United Nations(UN) are worried about the CAR.They fear a humanitarian disaster.Hundreds have been killed. Nearly20% of the population, or about onemillion people, have left their homesto get away from the violence.

Mr Djotodia was the first Muslim

to lead the CAR. On 11th January a


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meeting was held in Chad, a nearbycountry. The meeting was arrangedto discuss the problems in the CAR.Officials from other countries suchas Cameroon and the Republic of

Congo attended. Mr Djotodia wasalso invited. During the meeting theother countries persuaded Mr Djoto-

dia to stand down. They argued thatthe violence in the CAR was unlike-ly to stop while he was in charge.

As part of the arrangement theCARs parliament would choose anew interim leader. Then, once theviolence stops, new elections will

be held.

After she was selected as theCARs new leader Ms Samba-Panzamade a request. She asked Africanand European countries to sendmore peacekeeping soldiers. This,she said, is the only way to end the

sectarian violence.

BIRD-CATCHINGFISH

Researchers in South Africa have re-corded an unusual sight. They man-aged to film fish that can catch birdsflying over the water. Some fishspecies are known to prey on birdsthat land and float on water. But thisis the first time that fish have beenrecorded catching birds in flight.

The fish are called African tiger-fish. They live in many freshwater

lakes and rivers in Africa. Adultmales are around 105 centimetres(41 inches) long. Females are a lit-tle smaller. Tigerfish have a silvercoloured body with thin, black hori-zontal stripes. The fish have verysharp teeth. They are a predatoryspecies. This means they feed onother smaller fish.

In the past some people claimedto have seen African tigerfish leap-

ing out of the water. There have also

been reports of birds disappearing asthey flew over lakes. Yet until nowthere has never been a recording ofa fish catching a flying bird.

Last year the researchers decided

to study some of the tigerfish thatlive in a reservoir, or man-made

lake. They hoped to discover howfar the fish swam and which parts ofthe lake, or habitats, they preferred.

Tigerfish

The researchers managed to put

tracking devices, or radio tags, onsome of the fish. These tags showedthat tigerfish normally preyed onother fish very early in the morningand in the evening. In between thesetimes the fish mostly rested in deep,sheltered parts of the lake.

However, when summer arrivedthe researchers noticed that the tiger-fish did something different. Late inthe morning they swam to the mid-dle of the lake. The fish seemed to

be attracted by flying birds. Thesebirds are barn swallows. Swallows

fly very quickly and feed on insects.

They feed on the wing or in flight.So, as they flew over the lake, the

birds were catching insects.The researchers were surprised

to see a tigerfish suddenly leap outof the water and catch one of theswallows. This, they say, cannot beeasy to do because the swallows arevery fast. The researchers managedto film some of the fish strikes. Inone day it was not unusual for tiger-

fish to catch as many as 20 birds.

Several other species of fresh-water fish are known to catch birds.These include types of catfish, pike,

piranhas, and eels. Yet the birds theycatch are either next to the waters

edge or floating on it. African tiger-fish are the first, and so far only, fishto have been recorded catching fly-

ing birds.

STATEOFEMERGENCYINTHAILAND

Government ministers in Thailandattended a special meeting on 21st

January. Afterwards it was an-nounced that a state of emergency,or emergency rule, had been de-clared. The decree, or special order,relates to Bangkok, the capital city,and some of the surrounding areas.

Emergency rule in this part of Thai-land will last for 60 days.

Anti-government protest in Bangkok

Normally governments will onlydeclare emergency rule if there is avery serious problem. For example,

if a war has started or violence hasbroken out between two opposinggroups. Another reason could benatural disasters such as earthquakes,

powerful storms or serious flooding.Often a government will send mil-

itary forces to the place where there isa state of emergency. When this hap-

pens curfewsare declared and somefreedoms withheld. Large meetingsor demonstrations are banned. Radio,

television and newspaper reports can


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be censored. This continues until thegovernment announces that the stateof emergency is over.

For several months there havebeen large anti-government protests

in Bangkok. Yingluck Shinawatraleads the government. She becameThailands prime minister after her

party, the Pheu Thai Party (PTP),won the last election in 2011. MsYingluck is Thailands first woman

prime minister. Many people sup-port her and the PTP. Yet most ofthem live outside the larger cities.

Thailands prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra

The largest opposition group inthe Thai parliament is the DemocratParty. Most of the anti-government

protesters support this party. Yet theDemocrat Party has not won an elec-tion for 13 years. Suthep Thaugsubanleads the protesters. He used to be amember of the Democrat Party and isa former deputy prime minister.

Ms Yingluck is the youngest sis-

ter of Thaksin Shinawatra. He wasprime minister from 2001 to 2006.Mr Thaksin was deposed by thearmy. After this he left Thailand.Army commanders then ran thecountry for about a year. Mr Thak-sin now lives in exile, in Dubai. Inthe meantime he has been convictedof corruption, or dishonesty, by acourt in Thailand.

Mr Thaksin is very wealthy.

He was a successful businessman

before he became prime minis-ter.. Political parties that weresupported by wealthy people and themilitary nearly always ran Thailand.Mr Thaksin changed this. He set up a

new political party. Mr Thaksin saidhis party would help poorer people,

especially in the countryside.The anti-government protesters

dislike Mr Thaksin. They accuse himof making the political system inThailand corrupt. The leaders of the

protests insist that he is still runningthe country. They say he does this bygiving orders to his younger sister.

At the beginning of December Ms

Yingluck agreed to dissolve, or closedown, the parliament. This was so anew election can take place. It is ex-

pected to be held on 2nd February.However, the Democrat Party has

already said it will refuse to take part.The protest leaders say they do

not want another election. Mostpeople think this is because theDemocrat Party is unlikely to win.Leaders of the protests say Ms Yin-gluck should leave Thailand. Theywant a senior group of people to

be appointed. This unelected groupwould then govern the country.

On 20th January, someone threwa grenade at a group of protesters.Twenty-eight were injured. Govern-ment ministers say they decided to

declare emergency rule to preventfurther violence. Ms Yingluck said

the police and not the army wouldorganise the state of emergency.

NEWPYRAMIDTHEORY

For hundreds of years people have ar-gued about how the largest pyramidsin Egypt were built. Most archaeolo-gists believe they were constructed

by hundreds of thousands of work-

ers. They also say the large stone

blocks, used to build the pyramids,were dragged up very long ramps.

Peter Jones is an engineer fromthe UK. For the past 18 years hiscompany has been working in Egypt.

There, his engineering company hasbeen helping the Egyptian govern-

ment to repair some of the coun-trys oldest pyramids. These includewhats known as the Red Pyramidand the Step Pyramid. These two

pyramids were built around 4,600years ago.

Great Pyramid of Giza

After working on these pyramidsfor many years, Mr Jones becameinterested in how they were con-structed. He believes he now knowsthe answer. Mr Jones says he is surethat the archaeologists are wrong.

The Great Pyramid of Giza isthe largest of all the pyramids. It isthought to have taken 25 years to

build. The outer sides of the pyramidare made from large stone blocks.Each of these blocks weighs about1.5 tonnes. Inside the Great Pyramid

there are several chambers. Passagesor galleries connect these chambers.The floor, sides and ceilings of thechambers and passages are also madefrom large blocks of stone.

Most people think that the wholepyramid is made from these stoneblocks. The blocks were placedin layers, one on top of the other.Ropes were used to pull the heavystone blocks up long ramps. These

ramps were made of earth. As the


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pyramid got taller the ramps had tobe built higher. Archaeologists haveworked out that the Great Pyramid

probably contains around two mil-lion large blocks of stone.

Mr Jones is sure that the Great

Pyramid could not have been built

this way. If it were completed in 25

years the workers would have had to

cut the stone blocks very quickly. Theblocks came from a nearby quarry.

If the whole pyramid were made of

stone blocks, one would have to be

cut every three minutes. Furthermore,

to get to the top of the pyramid the

earth ramp would need to be about

0.8 kilometres (0.5 miles) long. This

means the ramp would have been

about the same size as the pyramid.

Mr Jones believes that stone

blocks were used only around the

outside of the pyramid. The innerpart, he says, is made out of rubble.This rubble contains much smallerstones that are all different shapesand sizes. Unlike stone blocks rub-

ble does not need to be cut. It is alsomuch easier to move.Mr Joness theory is that the pyra-

mids four outer sides, or walls, werebuilt first. Rubble was then piled upinside them. As the sides got highermore rubble was put on the inside.Scaffoldingand ropes were used tolift the stone blocks up the sides ofthe walls. The inner chambers and

passages were buried in rubble after

they had been constructed.Mr Jones believes that around

90% of pyramids are rubble. Soonly 10% are large stone blocks.He describes his theory as buildingfrom the inside out. Whereas most

archaeologists believe the pyramidswere made from the outside in.

FIRE-JUMPINGFESTIVAL

San Bartolom de Pinares is a smalltown in Spain. It is home to about600 people. Each year, on the nightof 17th January, the people who livein the town take part in a special fes-tival. This is the night before SaintAnthonys Day.

In the Christian faith a patronsaint is someone who represents a

country, a city, a group, an activity(such as mining or travelling) ormany other things. Saint Anthony isthe patron saint of animals.

San Bartolom de Pinares isabout 100 kilometres (60 miles)from Madrid, Spains capital city.On the night before Saint AnthonysDay people set up piles of wood insome of the towns streets. These arethen set on fire. Then, one by one,

about 50 people ride horses towards

the flames. The horses and ridersjump over the fires and throughthe smoke and flames. This annualevent is known as the festival of Lu-minarias (or Illuminations).

No one knows when the festi-val was first held. Many people inSan Bartolom de Pinares think it

is at least 500 years old. They saythat around that time a disease, orepidemic, quickly spread throughthe town. This disease killed all thehorses. Every year since this hap-

pened the towns horses have beenridden through fires. The smokeand flames are meant to purify the

horses, keep evil spirits away andprevent another epidemic.

Before the festival takes place thehorses manes and tails are tied up, or

plaited. This is to stop them catchingfire. The riders say that some of the

horses seem scared. Yet they do nothave to jump through the flames. Ifthe horses try to go around the firesthe riders do not stop them.

Luminarias, San Bartolom de Pinares

In recent years there have been

complaints about the festival. Peo-ple who campaign for animal wel-fare say it is cruel. They believe thefestival should be stopped. Thosewho live in the town disagree. Theysay the flames have never hurtany of the horses. The only acci-dents that have happened are whenhorses have slipped on the townscobblestone streets.

The horse riding is normally over

by midnight. Then there is music

NEWSCAST

ECHORECORD Researchers in theUK believe they have discovereda place that has the worlds long-

est echo. An echo happens whensound waves bounce off walls orcliffs. This means that the samesound can be heard again andagain. Each time the sound be-comes fainter until it can no long-er be heard. The researchers wentinside an old underground build-ing or tank. Many years ago itwas used to store fuel. It has thick

walls and no windows or doors.

The enclosed space is about ninemetres (30 feet) wide and thesame length as two football pitch-es. A pistol loaded with blankswas fired near one end of the un-derground room. The loud noiseimmediately started to bounce offthe walls and ceiling. The echoeswent on for 112 seconds, or nearlytwo minutes. Theprevious longest

recorded echo was 15 seconds.


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and a big party. Often this does notend until the Sun rises on Saint An-thonys Day. Some of the bonfiresare used to cook popular locallymade sausages and other foods.

ARIELSHARON

Ariel Sharons funeral was held inIsrael on 13th January. The formerIsraeli general and prime minister,who was 85 years old, died two daysearlier. Sharon spent the last eightyears of his life in a coma.

Many Israelis respected and ad-

mired Sharon. To them he was awar hero and a brave leader. He had

fought for their country since it was

set up in 1948. However, most people

in Arab countries dislike him. They

believe Sharon was a war criminal.

Sharons parents came from

Georgia, which was part of the Rus-sian-led Soviet Union. They movedto Palestine in 1922. Later, this re-gion of the Middle East becamethe state of Israel. Sharon was bornin 1928.

In 1948, with help from the USAand the United Nations (UN), thestate of Israel was set up in Pal-estine. The new state was to be ahomeland for Jewish people. Thou-sands of Jews living in Europemoved there. Many of these peoplehad lost members of their families

and suffered persecution during theSecond World War (1939 1945).

When Israel was set up manyPalestinians were forced to leavetheir land and homes. Most had tomove to refugee camps in nearbycountries. The formation of Israelmeant Jewish people had been giventheir own country. Yet the Palestin-ians were left without one. OtherArab countries disagreed with what

had happened.

Just before Israel became a newnation, Sharon joined a secret, orunderground, group of fighters.In later years this group became theIsraeli Defense Forces (IDF), or Is-

raels army, navy and air force.Wars broke out between Israeland the surrounding Arab countries

in 1948, 1967 and 1973. Israel, sup-ported by the USA, won them all. Itcaptured the West Bank from Jor-dan, the Golan Heights from Syria,and the eastern half of Jerusalem. Italso occupied the Sinai Desert (partof Egypt) but later handed it back.

Ariel Sharon in 2004

Sharon was a senior military com-mander in the 1967 and 1973 wars.The forces Sharon commanded werevery successful in both conflicts.After his successes in 1973 he wasnicknamed The King of Israel. Sha-ron became a general when he wasonly 45 years old. Many Israelis be-

lieve that he has been their countrysgreatest military commander.

When he retired from the armySharon became a politician. In 1982Israel invaded southern Lebanon.Then, Sharon was the governmentminister in charge of the IDF. Afterthe invasion there was a massacreof Palestinian civilians in Leba-non. Other countries criticised Is-rael for what had happened. Many

blamed Sharon.

Sharon was elected as Israelsprime minister in 2001. Within afew years he decided that Israelwould have to make a peace agree-ment with the Palestinians. Sharon

said that, in exchange for peace,some of the land controlled by Israelwould have to be given up. Many

politicians in his party disagreed. In2005 he set up a new political partycalled Kadima.

Sharon became seriously ill atthe beginning of 2006. He had heartfailure and bleeding in the brain.Even though doctors carried outseveral operations, Sharon remained

in a coma for the rest of his life.On 12th January Sharons coffin

was placed outside the Knesset, inJerusalem. An Israeli flag coveredit. The Knesset is the name of Is-raels parliament. The following

day the funeral was held at Sharonsfamily farm. He was buried next tohis wife. She died in 2000.

VIGILANTESINMEXICO

On 20th January officials in Mexicosaid that three senior members of alarge drug gang had been captured.The three men belong to a gang, ordrug cartel, called the Knights Tem-

plar. This drug gang operates in thestate of Michoacn.

Six days before the arrests, the

Mexican government sent hundredsof troops to Michoacn. This was

because fighting had broken outbetween members of the drug carteland armed vigilante groups. Vigilan-tes are ordinary citizens who claimthe police and other security forcesare not protecting them. Vigilantestry to prevent crimes and deterpeo-

ple from breaking the law.For many years Mexico has had

serious problems with drug cartels.


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These gangs make large amounts ofmoney by smuggling illegal drugsinto the USA and other countries. InMexico there are at least eight largedrug cartels. Each operates in a dif-

ferent part of the country.

Protest against drug cartels in Mexico City

The gangs get most of their illegaldrugs from countries in South Amer-ica. Large amounts of these drugs aregrown or produced in Colombia andPeru. They include cocaine, heroin

and cannabis. After arriving in Mex-ico many of the drugs are unlawfullytaken, or smuggled, into the USA. Todo this, the gangs use trucks, boatsand even secret tunnels, which aredug under the border.

The Mexican drug cartels fre-quently fight against each other. Of-ten the violence gets worse after thecapture and arrest of a gang leader.This is because other cartels then tryto take over that gangs territory.

Officials estimate that since 2006around 70,000 people have been

killed in Mexicos drug wars.

Elected officials in different Mexi-can states who try to stop the cartelsare in danger. This is because thedrug gangs threaten to kill them.Abductions, or kidnappings, are an-other frequent crime. Gangs kidnapmembers of wealthy families anddemand money, or a ransom, fortheir return.

In 2006 the president of Mexicosent thousands of soldiers to some

parts of the country. The soldiers

job was to help the police arrest drugcartel members. However, many

people in Mexico believe that somepolice officers are corrupt or dis-honest. These police officers, they

say, will agree to help drug gangs ifgiven money, or bribes.There have been frequent demon-

strations in Mexico City, the coun-trys capital, about the drug cartels.Those taking part in these protestssay the government must do more tostop the drug gangs.

At the beginning of January thou-sands of local people in Michoacn

began to set up vigilante groups.

These groups are armed with gunsand rifles. They call themselvesself-defence groups. People joinedthe vigilante groups because they

were angry. The Knights Templar,the groups leaders say, was takingover many of their towns. The vigi-lantes complained that local policewere doing nothing to stop the gang.

PACIFIC

OCEAN

Gulf of

Mexico

USA

MEXICO

Mexico CityJalisco

Michoacn

Serious fighting has been tak-

ing place between the self-defencegroups and the Knights Templar. Re-cently the Knights Templar has beenfighting against another drug cartel.Called New Generation, this cartel is

based in Jalisco, a nearby state. TheKnights Templar accuses the vigilan-te groups of working with New Gen-eration. However, the self-defencegroups insist that this is not true.

After hundreds of troops were

sent to Michoacn state, government

officials told the vigilantes to giveup their weapons. The groups lead-ers refused. They say they needguns to protect themselves. Theself-defence groups worry about

what might happen in future. Thevigilantes say the drug gang will at-

tack them if the soldiers leave.

WORLDSMOSTADMIRED

The Times is a popular newspaperin the UK. On 11th January it pub-lished the results of an internationalsurvey. The newspaper arranged

the survey to find out who is theworlds most admired person. BillGates, the co-founder and former

boss of the Microsoft Company,came top.

The newspaper asked an inter-

national market research company

called YouGov to do the survey. The

company used the internet and peo-

ples mobile phones. It asked: who do

you personally most admire? Asking

people the same question and collect-

ing the results is often called polling.

The survey company polled peo-ple in 13 countries. These were theUK, France, Germany, Russia, theUSA, Australia, Pakistan, Indone-sia, India, China, Egypt, Nigeria,and Brazil. The total number of an-swers received was around 14,000.The 13 countries were specially

chosen. Their populations, whenadded together, are about half of theworlds total. The country with thelargest population on each continentis also included.

To create the final list the resultsfrom each country were added to-gether. Just over ten percent of those

polled said Bill Gates was the personthey most admired. Barack Obama,the president of the USA, came sec-

ond with around nine percent. The


10/19


Russian president, Vladimir Putin,was third, and Pope Francis fourth.Pope Francis is the leader of the Ro-man Catholic Church.

Bill Gates is one of the worlds

richest people. After being Micro-softs boss for many years, Mr Gatesstepped down in 2008. He said he

wanted to spend more time workingwith a charitable foundation that hehad set up with his wife. This organ-isation, which is called The Bill andMelinda Gates Foundation, helps

poorer people in many parts of theworld. It provides large amounts ofmoney to reduce poverty, find cures

for diseases and improve sanita-tion. The foundation also pays forcomputer-related education. Whenwealthy people give money forgood causes in this way it is knownas philanthropy.

The survey also showed who wasthe most admired person in each ofthe 13 countries. Pope Francis camefirst in several of them includingthe USA, Germany and Brazil. MrGates came sixth in the USA buttop in China. Mr Obama was first inFrance and Indonesia. The Ameri-can president came second in hisown country.

Bill and Melinda Gates (Kjetil Ree)

Apart from Mr Obama and MrPutin the only other world leader inthe top ten was Xi Jinping. He is the

president of China. Warren Buffetwas in eighth place. Like Mr Gates,Mr Buffet is an American. He is

also a philanthropist and one of the

worlds wealthiest people. For over40 years Mr Buffet has run a compa-ny called Berkshire Hathaway. Hiscompany invests money in manyother large companies. Mr Buffet

has become famous for choosing theright companies to invest in and the

best time to do it.

1. Bill Gates 10.10%

2. Barack Obama 9.27%

3. Vladimir Putin 3.84%

4. Pope Francis 3.43%

5. Sachin Tendulkar 3.28%

6. Xi Jinping 2.86%

7. Narendra Modi 2.55%

8. Warren Buffet 2.24%

9. Amitabh Bachchan 2.01%10.Abdul Kalam 1.63%

Source: YouGov

Worlds most admired people

The four other people in the topten are all from India. Sachin Ten-dulkar is a popular former cricket

player, Narendra Modi leads one ofIndias largest political parties, Am-itabh Bachchan is a film actor andAbdul Kalam is an Indian scientist.He was also the countrys president

between 2002 and 2007.

FAMOUSSTATUEDAMAGEDBYSTORM

The stone figure of Christ the Re-

deemer, in Brazil, is one of the mostfamous statues in the world. On 17thJanuary officials said that during the

night, lightning had damaged thestatues right hand. The thumb had

been chipped. Last month anotherlightning strike damaged the mid-dle finger of the same hand and thestatues head.

The statue of Christ the Redeem-er is on top of a mountain calledCorcovado (in Portuguese thismeans hunchback). The mountainoverlooks Rio de Janeiro. This is

one of Brazils largest cities. Most

people in Brazil are Christians whofollow the Roman Catholic faith.The statue is of Jesus Christ with hisarms outstretched. In the Christianfaith Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

The statues design is in a stylethat is called Art Deco. This design

style was very popular in the 1920sand 1930s. It was used for manythings including buildings, jewel-lery and different types of art. Forexample, many of the skyscrapers

built in the 1920s in New York City,in the USA, are Art Deco buildings.

Christ the Redeemerstands on alarge base, or pedestal. Not includ-

ing the base it is 30 metres (98 feet)tall. The statue was built between1922 and 1931. It was made fromsoapstone and reinforced concrete.This type of concrete is extra strong.

Soapstone is a soft rock that can becarved easily. Around two milliontourists visit the statue each year.Most travel by a specially built trainthat goes to the top of the mountain.

In recent times the statue hasbeen struck by lightning four or fivetimes every year. Many people be-lieve that lightning storms over thecity are becoming more frequent.Some officials believe this is be-cause the city has got bigger. As Riode Janeiro has grown, more build-ings and streets have replaced plants

and trees. This makes the air abovethe city warmer. Pollution from cars,

trucks and buses also increases theair temperature. This extra heat, theofficials say, helps to create morelightning storms.

Because soapstone is quite soft itis easily eroded, or worn away. Twoyears ago, the statues face and handswere repaired. Local church leaderslook after the statue. They have asupply, or stock, of the soapstonethat was originally used to make the

statue. Repairs to the statues hand


11/19


and head began on 21st January.The church leaders expect it to costUS$1.8 million (1.1 million).

Around 2,200 years ago a personcalled Philon made a list of what he

thought were the seven wonders ofthe world. He lived in Byzantium,which is now in modern day Tur-

key. His list included large AncientGreek statues and temples. Theonly one of Philons seven won-ders of the world that can still beseen is the Great Pyramid of Giza,in Egypt.

Christ the Redeemer, in Brazil

In 2007 an organisation based inSwitzerland asked people to votefor the new seven wonders of theworld. Rio de Janeiros Christ the

Redeemerwas one of the seven thatwere eventually chosen.

DOOMSDAYCLOCKUNCHANGED

TheBulletin of the Atomic Scientistsis an American online magazine, or

publication. It is well-known for its

Doomsday Clock. Each year theBulletin makes an announcementabout the clocks time. On January14th it said the Doomsday Clockwas still at five minutes to midnight.This means that the clock has notmoved over the last 12 months.

The Doomsday Clock was setup in 1947. It is a symboland not areal clock. At first it was set at sevenminutes before midnight. How near

the clocks hands were to midnight

was meant to represent the likeli-hood of a nuclear war.

A group of American nuclearscientists began writing theBulletinsoon after the Second World War

(1939 1945) ended. Four monthsearlier, American military planeshad dropped atomic bombs on the

Japanese cities of Hiroshima andNagasaki. Japan surrendered a fewdays after the cities were destroyed.

The bombing of the two Japanesecities was the first and, so far, onlytime that atomic, or nuclear, weap-ons have been used in a war. Thescientists who set up the Bulletin

had helped to design these weapons.The scientists believed that

everyone should be told about thedanger of nuclear weapons. Theywanted to explain that these weap-ons could destroy all humanity, or

mankind. This was why they startedtheBulletin.

However, in recent years, theBulletin has included other thingsthat it thinks may be a threat tomankind. These include climatechange and new technologies. Newtechnologies, such as genetic engi-neering and nanotechnology, can domany good things. Curing diseasesand making new types of energy areexamples. Yet, if a man-made virus,or military robots, were to get out ofcontrol, the Bulletin believes theycould also threaten humanity.

Throughout each year scien-tists working for the Bulletin meetwith other experts. They talk aboutthe different threats and chancesof them happening. The Bulletinthen decides whether to move theDoomsday Clocks hands. Theycan go forwards, backwards, or staywhere they are. Moving the handsforwards means the threat is in-creasing. Moving them backwards

means its decreasing. The clock

last changed two years ago. It hadbeen six minutes to midnight. Butthe Bulletin moved it forward byone minute.

From when it was first set up,

the clock has gone backwards orforwards 20 times. Since 1991, the

minute hand has moved forward by12 minutes. One of the main rea-sons for this is that there are stillaround 20,000 nuclear weapons inthe world. Most belong to the USAand Russia.

The closest the DoomsdayClocks hands have come to mid-night was in 1953. Then, they were

only two minutes away. At that timethe USA and the Russian-led SovietUnion were testing many new typesof nuclear weapons.

The farthest the clocks minutehand has been away from midnight is17 minutes. This was when the ColdWar (1947 1991) ended. The ColdWar was not a proper war. The nameis used to describe the time when theRussian-led Soviet Union and theUSA, together with its allies in West-

ern Europe, were enemies.

REFERENDUMRESULTINEGYPT

A referendum, or vote in which alladults could take part, was held inEgypt on 14th and 15th January.The vote was to decide whetherEgyptians agreed to a rewritten, orredrafted, constitution. A countrys

constitution is the laws, or rules, by


12/19


which it is governed. This was thethird constitution referendum inEgypt in the last three years.

At the beginning of 2011 therewere large street protests in Cairo,

the capital of Egypt. Those takingpart demanded that Hosni Mubarakstep down. Mr Mubarak is a former

air force commander. He had beenEgypts president for 30 years. The

protesters accused Mr Mubarakand government ministers of be-ing corrupt and dishonest. Theywanted proper elections to be heldso they could democratically electnew leaders.

The large street demonstrationscontinued for several weeks. AfterMr Mubarak discovered that he nolonger controlled the army and po-lice, he agreed to stand down. Thearmy took over and promised that

elections would be organised. MrMubarak was arrested. He was puton trial for corruption and orderingthe police to shoot at protesters.

Elections for Egypts parlia-ment took place at the end of 2011.The Muslim Brotherhood won farmore seats than any other party.This organisation is both a reli-gious and political group. The fol-lowing year a presidential electionwas held. Mohammed Morsi won.Mr Morsi is also a member of theMuslim Brotherhood.

Soon after Mr Morsi became

president he declared that he wouldhave extra powers. He also an-nounced that a new constitutionwould be written. Most of thosewho worked on the new laws wereMuslim Brotherhood supporters.

Many Egyptians were angrywhen they discovered that the newconstitution included a number ofreligious laws. People began to crit-icise Mr Morsi for not acting for the

whole country. They accused him

of favouring Muslim Brotherhoodsupporters and ignoring everyoneelse. Others complained about theeconomy. They said Mr Morsi andhis ministers were doing nothing to

improve it.

General Sisi

Last June, one year after MrMorsi became president, millions of

people took part in huge street pro-tests in several cities. General Sisi,the leader of the Egyptian army,

then decided to take over. On hisorders Mr Morsi and other seniorMuslim Brotherhood members werearrested. Many Egyptians, espe-cially those who dislike the MuslimBrotherhood, are happy with whatthe army did. Yet others said it waswrong for the army to depose anelected president.

General Sisi suspended the newconstitution, which included the re-ligious laws. He appointed a senior

judge, Adly Mansour, as Egyptstemporary leader. Mr Mansour, the

general said, would arrange for the

constitution to be rewritten. At theend of 2013 General Sisi bannedthe Muslim Brotherhood. Manyyears ago Mr Mubarak had done thesame thing.

The latest constitution has hadthe religious laws removed. It saysthe president can only be elected fortwo four year terms. Islam remainsthe state religion. Yet people mayfollow other religions if they wish.

Men and women are to be equal.

No political party can be based onrace, religion or separate areas ofthe country.

As a protest Muslim Brotherhoodsupporters refused to vote in the ref-

erendum. Of those who did, around98% voted yes to the new constitu-tion. However, the turnout was quitelow. Only 38.6% of adults whocould vote did so. Now the consti-tution has been approved there will

be new elections for a president andparliament.

NOSURRENDER SOLDIERDIES

Hiroo Onoda died in Japan on 16thJanuary. He was 91 years old. Dur-ing the Second World War (1939 1945) Onoda was an officer in theJapanese army. Yet Onoda did not

surrender until 1974, or nearly 30years after the war had ended.

In 1941 Japan launched a surpriseattack on the American naval baseat Pearl Harbour, in Hawaii. Thisattack marked the beginning of theSecond World War in the Pacific.

Hiroo Onoda as a young soldier and in later life,

in Japan

During the next four years Japanese

forces occupied several other Asian

countries such as Malaysia, Burma

(now also known as Myanmar) and

the Philippines. In Burma the fight-

ing was mostly against soldiers from

the UK. In parts of the Philippines

and several Pacific islands there was

fierce fighting between American and

Japanese soldiers. By 1944 Japan was

losing the war. Its leaders eventually


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

SPAIN

SOUTH AFRICA

PORTUGAL

PHILIPPINES

PERU

NEW ZEALAND

THE

NETHERLANDS

MEXICO

JAPAN

ISRAEL

GREECE

GERMANY

EGYPT

ECUADOR

CENTRAL

AFRICAN

REPUBLIC

BRAZIL

AUSTRALIA

surrendered in 1945. This was after

the USA had dropped atomic bombs

on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima

and Nagasaki.

In 1944 Onoda was sent to

Lubang Island in the Philippines.There he met up with a group ofJapanese soldiers. Onoda had been

ordered not to surrender. Soon afterhe arrived American forces capturedthe island. Most of the Japanesesoldiers were killed or surrendered.Onoda and three others managed toescape. Of the four, Onoda was theonly officer. He ordered the otherthree soldiers to follow him. They

went to hide in the mountains in themiddle of the island.

Onodas small group then beganto carry out guerrilla attacks. Theywould shoot at local policemen andfarmers. They also set fire to some of

the farmers crops. After Japan sur-rendered in 1945 leaflets were left

in the forests. Written in Japanese,they said the war was over and thesoldiers should surrender. However,Onoda did not believe that Japancould have lost the war so quickly.

He was sure the leaflets were atrick. From the soldiers hideout in

the mountains, Onoda continued toorganise small attacks.

In 1950, one of the Japanese sol-diers left the group. He stayed in theforest on his own. After six monthshe decided to give himself up. Later,family letters, pictures and Japanesenewspapers were dropped by planefor the other three to find. Yet again

Onoda thought it was a trick. One ofthe Japanese soldiers was shot andkilled by the police in 1954. Anoth-er died in a shootout in 1972. ThenOnoda was the only one left.

In 1974 a Japanese man decidedto go to Lubang Island to look forOnoda. To the surprise of many he

found him after four days. The twomen became friends. Onoda said hewould surrender but only if he wereordered to. Furthermore, the officerwho sent him to the island in 1944

had to give him the surrender order.The former officer was found. Bythis time he was working in a book-shop in Japan.

The former officer travelled toLubang Island in 1974. After meetingOnoda he ordered him to surrender.When Onoda left the forest he wasstill wearing his army uniform. Hewas also carrying his rifle and sword.

While Onoda had been on Lubang

Island, he and his group had killedabout 30 people. However, the Philip-

pine president agreed to pardon him.

Then, 29 years after the war ended,

Onoda returned to Japan. The Japa-

nese government gave him his sol-

diers pay for the time he had spent on

the island. But Onoda was not happy


14/19


living in Japan. He said the country

had changed. Onoda decided to go to

Brazil where his brother lived. There

he worked on a cattle farm.

Onoda returned to Japan in 1984.

He then set up and ran outdoorcamps for younger people. In 1996Onoda returned to Lubang Island.

During his visit he gave US$10,000(6,000) to a local school.

WHODISCOVEREDAUSTRALIA?

Some people believe that a veryold drawing could rewrite Austral-

ian history. The small picture wasdiscovered in a 500-year-old Portu-guese prayer book. The hand drawnimage looks like a kangaroo. Theseanimals are found only in Australia.

Humans are believed to have

first arrived in Australia between48,000 and 42,000 years ago. To-day, the descendants of these peo-

ple are known as Aborigines orIndigenous Australians.

Possible kangaroo drawing in prayer book

(Enluminures Gallery)

Its thought that the first Euro-pean to land on the Australian con-tinent was Willem Janszoon (1570

1630). He was a Dutch explorer.Janszoons ship, called the Duy-

fken, arrived on the north coast ofAustralia in 1606. Then, the partof Europe where Janszoon camefrom was called Holland. Today itis known as the Netherlands. After1606 Australia was called New Hol-

land for many years.

During the late 1500s and the1600s the Dutch, the Spanish andthe Portuguese were great seafar-ing nations. Dutch and Portugueseexplorers sailed around the south-

ern tip of Africa and into the IndianOcean. In later years many shipsfrom these countries followed the

same routes. They collected spicesfrom places like India and Indone-sia. These spices, such as pepper,cinnamon and ginger, were worth alot of money in European cities.

Possible Aborigine drawing in prayer book

(Enluminures Gallery)

A gallery in New York, in the

USA, recently acquired the oldprayer book, which has the pictureof a kangaroo. The gallery is calledLes Enluminures. It specialises inold manuscripts and jewellery. Itsthought that the pocket-sized prayer

book belonged to a Portuguese nun.Experts believe the book was madein Portugal sometime between 1580and 1620.

As well as a kangaroo there isalso a tiny drawing of a man in the

prayer book. He is naked abovethe waist and has leaves in his hair.

Some people think this could be apicture of an Indigenous Australian.

In the past some historians havesaid that the Portuguese probablydiscovered Australia long before theDutch. These historians think thePortuguese may have made a map of

part of Australia around 1522. How-ever, at that time they often kept the

places they had discovered a secret.This was because they did not want

other countries to know about them.

If the picture is of a kangaroo itmay mean that the person who drewit had travelled to Australia. Another

possibility is that the artist spokewith Portuguese sailors who had

seen kangaroos. Some think the tinydrawing shows that the Portuguese

were the first Europeans to reachAustralia. Yet others disagree. Theysay the drawing could be of a dif-ferent animal such as a deer. Kanga-roos have long tails, but in the draw-ing the animals tail is not shown.

In 1770, Captain James Cook(1728 1779) and his crew werethe first Europeans to see and land

on Australias east coast. On behalfof Britain, Captain Cook claimedownership of Eastern Australia. In1788 other ships from Britain ar-rived to set up a new colony. The

place they chose became the city ofSydney. By this time the continentwas called Terra Australis (whichmeans South Land), or Australia.Over the next 100 years the Britishtook over the rest of Australia.

SURPRISINGMIGRATION

Scientists in the UK have been stud-ying the red-necked phalarope. Thistype of bird is only 18 centimetres(seven inches) long. The scientistsmanaged to work out where someof the birds fly to every year. They

were surprised. This is because thesmall birds annual migration is oneof the longest in the world.

During the summer in the north-ern hemisphere red-necked phala-ropes live in wetlands. At this timeof year the birds are found in theArctic regions of Russia, Scandi-navia, Canada, and Alaska, whichis part of the USA. For the muchcolder winter months the birds fly

south to warmer parts of the world.


15/19


The birds breed while they are inthe Arctic. The males incubate, orhatch, the eggs and feed the chicks.When in the Arctic their plumage,or feathers, are whitish on their un-

derside and dark grey above. Theyhave red and white coloured feath-ers around their necks. In winter

months the birds are much whiter.The small birds feed on insects andtiny shrimp-like creatures, whichthey catch in the water.

Red-necked phalarope (Andreas Trepte)

In the summer most red-necked

phalaropes live in northern Russiaand Canada. However, about 50 ofthem breed in the Shetland Islands.These islands are one of the mostnortherly parts of the UK.

The scientists managed to attachtiny lightweight tags, or tracking de-vices, to ten of the Shetland birds.These tags are called geolocators.They are not big enough to transmitGPS signals. Instead the tags track a

birds location, or where it is. Theydo this by recording the times ofsunrise and sunset.

The scientists caught one of thebirds with a geolocator after it re-turned to Shetland. They studied theinformation recorded by its trackingdevice. The scientists were amazedto discover that the bird had flownall the way to Ecuador and Peru, inSouth America, and back again. Thisis a distance of about 25,750 kilome-tres (16,000 miles).

Northern Scandinavia (or the

northern parts of Norway, Sweden

and Finland) is not far from theShetland Islands. The red-necked

phalaropes that spend the summerin this part of the world fly to theArabian Sea for the winter.

Before tagging them, the scien-tists thought the Shetland birds alsoflew to the Arabian Sea. Yet the tagsshow they migrate to the same plac-es that red-necked phalaropes fromnorthern Canada and Alaska go to.This is a far longer journey. Whatsmore, the Shetland birds cross thenorthern Atlantic Ocean. So theyhave to fly against strong winds.

The geolocators showed that the

Shetland birds fly to Iceland andthen onto Greenland. From therethey go to Canada. The birds fol-low the east coast of the USA to

the Caribbean. They then fly acrossCentral America before arrivingon the coasts of Ecuador and Peru.When spring arrives in the north-ern hemisphere the birds return tothe Shetland Islands. One scientist

joked that the Shetland red-neckedphalaropes must be stupid. This isbecause flying to the Arabian Seaand back would be much easier.

ANTARCTICASGRANDCANYON

Last year researchers announcedthat they had found a huge canyonunder the ice in Greenland. Now a

team of scientists say they have dis-covered another one in Antarctica.Like the one in Greenland the Ant-arctic canyon is completely covered

by ice.A canyon is a deep valley, or

gorge. It has very steep sides. Can-yons or gorges covered by ice areoften called subglacial valleys.

Canyons are usually made, overmany millions of years, by a river

slowly eroding the rocks. However,

the deep valley under the Antarcticice sheet was created by ice. Canyonsmade by rivers are shaped like a V.Those formed by ice are U shaped.Running water and not ice made the

subglacial valley in Greenland.

Satellite picture of Antarctica

The most famous canyon in theworld is the Grand Canyon. It is inthe state of Arizona, in the USA.The Grand Canyon was thought to

be one of the longest and deepest of

its kind in the world. It has a lengthof 446 kilometres (227 miles). How-ever, the recently discovered sub-glacial valley in Greenland is muchlonger. Its length is 750 kilometres(466 miles).

In places the Grand Canyon is1.6 kilometres (one mile) deep.The River Colorado flows throughit. Geologists, scientists who studyrocks, believe it has taken the rivernearly two billion years to create thecanyon. The Antarctic subglacialvalley is even deeper. Its greatest

depth is three kilometres (1.9 miles).

In places the bottom is two kilome-tres (1.2 miles) below sea level. Thevalley is up to 24 kilometres (15miles) across and 300 kilometres(186 miles) long.

The scientists have spent threesummer seasons in this part of Ant-arctica. Information from satellites,small aircraft and snowmobiles ledto their discovery. Snowmobilesare vehicles that can travel quickly

across ice and snow. The aircraft


16/19


and snowmobiles carried special ra-dar equipment.

Radar signals can travel throughice. They bounce back after hittingrocks underneath it. The time taken

for the radar signals to return to theaircraft and snowmobiles was re-corded. From this information the

scientists worked out the shape ofthe land deep below the ice.

Part of the subglacial valley inAntarctica contains a large lake. Sothis lake is also under a deep layerof ice. Called Lake Ellsworth, it wasdiscovered in 1996. However, it wasnot known that the lake was part

of a very long and deep subglacialvalley. Lakes deep under the ice arecalled subglacial lakes. Its thoughtthat there are over 300 of these lakesin Antarctica. The water in the lakesdoes not freeze. This is because ofgeothermal heat, which comes up

from the centre of the Earth.

Grand Canyon, in the USA (John Fowler)

A long time ago, all the Earthscontinents used to be one largelandmass. This landmass is knownas Pangaea. Over millions of years

Antarctica broke away from whatwas to eventually become Australia,India, Africa, and South America.This happened around 80 millionyears ago. Antarctica then gradu-ally moved towards the South Pole.This meant it slowly got colderand colder.

Eventually, Antarctica becamecompletely covered in thick ice.However, before this, for many

millions of years, it would have

had a much smaller ice field, oramount of ice. (Today northernRussia and Canada have similarice fields in their Arctic regions.)During this time glaciers, or large

slow moving rivers of ice, wouldhave eroded deep valleys. This,the scientists say, is probably how

Antarcticas Grand Canyon wasformed.

DEATHOFALEXANDERTHEGREAT

The death of Alexander the Greatis a mystery. For many years histo-

rians have wondered how and whyhe died. Now two researchers from

New Zealand believe they knowwhat may have killed him.

Alexander the Great (356 323BCE) was born in Pella, which is

now in northern Greece. Both heand his father, Philip the Second,were kings of Macedonia. Macedo-nia, or Macedon, was a state in thenorthern part of Ancient Greece.

Many people believe that Al-exander was one of the worldsgreatest military commanders. Itsthought that he never lost a battle.In 334 BCE Alexander led a largearmy into what is now modern dayTurkey. His army was made up ofsoldiers from Macedonia and sev-eral other Greek states. Alexander

was never to return to Macedonia.

Alexanders army conqueredEgypt. There, the Macedonian lead-er founded the city of Alexandria.Alexander then travelled eastwardsacross the Middle East. He defeatedother larger forces including the Per-sians. Alexanders army eventuallyreached the Himalayan Mountains.Seven years after they left Macedo-nia, many of Alexanders soldierswanted to go back. By this time Al-

exander had created a huge empire.

It stretched from the MediterraneanSea to where Pakistan is today.

In 323 BCE Alexander arrivedback in Babylon. This was where heplanned to build his capital city. To-

day the ancient ruins of Babylon areabout 85 kilometres (53 miles) fromBaghdad, the capital of Iraq. After a

feast, or large party, Alexander sud-denly became very sick. Ancientrecords say he was unable to walkor speak. The beating of his heart,or his heart rate, slowed down. After

being ill for 12 days Alexander died.He was 32 years old.

Alexander had been wounded

several times. He was also known todrink a lot of alcohol. Some histo-rians think his injuries and drinkingwere the cause of his death. Others

believe he died of a disease such asmalaria or typhoid. A virus carried

by mosquitoes causes malaria. Ty-phoid comes from eating or drink-ing something infected with a typeof bacteria. However, many are surethat the famous military leader wasdeliberately poisoned.

Roman mosaic of Alexander the Great

One of the two researchers is anexpert on toxicology, or the study of

poisons. He says that it is unlikelythat Alexander was given a commontype of poison such as arsenic. Ifthis had happened Alexander wouldhave died soon after becoming ill.

The researchers think Alexanderdied from white hellebore poison-ing. White hellebore is a type of

plant. It comes from many of the


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places that Alexanders army con-quered. The plant grows to a heightof 1.5 metres (five feet). The ancientGreeks knew about white hellebore.They believed that evil spirits and

demons could get inside a personsbody. Small amounts, or doses, ofliquid made from white hellebore

were supposed to get rid of them.Drinking a little of this liquid wouldcause vomiting and sneezing.

The researchers say that, beforehe died, Alexanders symptomsmatch white hellebore poisoning.They think a large bowlful of the

poison could have been sweetened.

Then, when he was drunk, Alexan-der swallowed all of it. After Alex-anders death his empire was divid-ed between his generals.

NEWSPYINGRULESINTHEUSA

On 18th January Barack Obama, thepresident of the USA, made an im-portant speech, or address. Duringthe speech he talked about new rulesthat government spying organisa-tions, or agencies, would now haveto follow.

Seven months ago a man calledEdward Snowden passed secret in-formation to two newspapers. Thenewspapers were The WashingtonPost, from the USA, and The Guard-ian, from the UK.

Mr Snowden had worked for anAmerican organisation called the

National Security Agency (NSA). Hesuddenly left his job and travelled toHong Kong, in China. There he toldthe newspapers that the NSA had

been secretly collecting certain typesof intelligence. This included the tel-ephone records of millions of people

both in the USA and other countries.The NSA, Mr Snowden ex-

plained, also collected details on

how people used the internet. Alarge amount of information, suchas the records of millions of tel-ephone calls, is often called meta-data. People like Mr Snowden who

take the risk of making secret infor-mation public are called leakers or

whistleblowers. Mr Snowden isnow living in Russia.

Mr Snowden told the newspapersthat American spies were secretlylistening to mobile phone conversa-tions made by leaders from 35 coun-tries. The spies were also readingthese leaders text messages. Secretlylistening to, and recording, peoples

private phone calls is called surveil-lance. It is also known as spying,monitoring, bugging, eavesdropping,and wiretapping. Angela Merkel, thechancellor of Germany, and Brazils

president, Dilma Rousseff, were twoof the people whose mobile phoneswere monitored.

Barack Obama, president of the USA

When they heard the news aboutwhat the NSA was doing many peo-

ple complained. The bosses of the

NSA and other spy agencies wereangry with Mr Snowden. They saidhe should not have leaked the secretinformation. If Mr Snowden returnsto the USA he will be arrested.

In 2001 an Islamic militantgroup, called al-Qaeda, carried outa number of terrorist attacks in theUSA. The government of the USAwas worried that more similar at-tacks were being planned. It wanted

to catch the people who organised

them. To do this the governmentgave the NSA permission to secretlycollect and record different typesof communications.

The bosses of the NSA insist that

collecting and searching metadatahas prevented other terrorist attacks.However, they are unable to give

any details. This, they explain, isbecause their work is secret. ManyAmericans have said that they donot believe the NSA bosses.

Mr Obama explained that tele-

phone metadata records would still be

collected. However, it would not be

kept on databases run by government

agencies such as the NSA. Insteada new organisation will be set up to

look after it. The NSA will be able to

search this metadata. Yet it must get

permission from a judge. This means

the NSA will have to tell the judge

why it wants to do the search.

Mr Obama also talked abouteavesdropping on mobile phonecalls. He promised that Americanspy organisations would stop listen-ing to mobile calls made by leadersof friendly countries, or allies.

During his speech Mr Obamapraised the NSA and other Ameri-can intelligence agencies. Becauseit is secret, he said, most people donot see or appreciate the importantwork they do.

Newsademic.com

Editor:Rebecca Watson

Acknowledgements:

News story photographs by gettyimages

For further details about Newsademic

and subscription prices visit

www.newsademic.com

Newsademic 2014


18/19


ISSUE215GLOSSARYPUZZLE

INSTRUCTIONS:Complete the crossword. The answers arehighlighted 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

ACROSS 2Noun The merciless killing of a large number of people 6Noun A long period of unconsciousness, usually caused

by disease or injury

7Noun (Plural) The signs of an illness or medical condition 9Noun Useful information that has been gathered about an

enemy11Noun (Plural) Regulations that requires people to remain

indoors at certain times, typically at night15Noun Deep sleep-like state that lasts for a long time16Noun A member of a small, unofficial army who fights by

making surprise attacks18Noun A type of engineering that develops microscopic

tools and machines by controlling the arrangement ofseparate atoms

19Noun Something that has a special meaning orrepresents an idea

20Noun (Plural) Old documents, papers or books, usuallywritten by hand

DOWN 1Noun Got or obtained something so you now own it 3Verb To recognise and like the qualities in something or

somebody

4Adjective Related to the heat inside the Earth 5Noun (Plural) Pieces of electrical equipment that make a

persons voice or music much louder 8Noun Wooden planks and metal poles, used while

building, repairing, or cleaning tall buildings10Noun A chemical element that is poisonous to humans

and animals12Noun The systems for taking waste products and dirty

water away from buildings to protect peoples health13Noun (Plural) Heavy spears fired from a gun to attach

ropes to something, used to catch whales14Verb To make clean by removing anything that may cause

harm or illness17Noun Controlled what may be reported in the news and

newspapers and what books and magazines can be sold.

1 2 3 4

5

6 7

8

9 10

11

12

13 14

15

16

17

18

19

20


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ISSUE215GLOSSARYPUZZLECONTINUED

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.

MISSING WORD ANSWER =

ISS

UE214ANSWERS

If you wish to earn additional Demics

log in to www.newsademic.com, go tothe Prize Competitions area and submit

the missing word. Puzzle entries must

be submitted by 10 pm on 5th February

2014 (GMT/UTC).*

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*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

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O A Y R L I Y D S T A P N I H A E A

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I S X L U C C F S R G W X H F R R R

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