Newsademic Issue 210 b

8/12/2019 Newsademic Issue 210 b

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14th November 2013

British English edition

Issue Number 210

Newsademic.comThe informative easy to read introduction to world news

In this issue

Plenary meeting in China

Desert farming results

Courts temple ruling

Garden Bridge plans

Opening of Tutankhamuns

new tomb

Venezuela, price controls

Drone strike in PakistanHygienicfood wrapping

Japans robot exhibition

Freezing hot water

explained?

M23 rebels surrender

Twitter IPO

Forbidden Citys ice road

Indias mission to Mars

BigApples new mayor

Wallace commemorated

WasArafat poisoned?Ancient platypus

Germany, looted art

discovery

GlossaryCrossword and

Wordsearch Puzzle

Weather satellite picture of Typhoon Haiyan just before it struck the Philippines (EUMETSAT)

On 12th November Benigno Aquino,the president of the Philippines, de-clared a state of national calamity. Hisannouncement came three days after asuper typhoon struck part of the coun-try. President Aquino said that millionsof people, who had been affected by thestorm, needed help. In some places, thedestruction was so great that only a few

buildings remain standing.

Typhoons are very powerful tropicalstorms that occur in the western PacificOcean. They bring strong winds, veryheavy rainfall and can affect large areas.

Similar storms in the Atlantic and easternPacific Ocean are known as hurricanes.In the Indian Ocean these types of stormsare called cyclones.

Soon after these tropical storms firstform they are given a name. The officialname of the storm that struck the Phil-

ippines on 8th November was Typhoon

Haiyan. However, in the Philippines itwas called Yolanda.

The Philippines is an archipelago, orgroup, of around 7,000 islands. It hastwo main, or larger, islands: Luzon in thenorth and Mindanao in the south. Thereare many small islands in between. Thisis where the typhoon struck. It is not unu-sual for as many as 20 typhoons to hit thePhilippines each year.

Similar to hurricanes there are fivecategories of typhoons and cyclones.These depend on the storms wind

speeds. Category 1 is the least powerfuland 5 the most. Weather experts oftengive two wind speeds for these storms.One is sustained and the other gusts.Sustained winds are those that constantly

blow for at least ten minutes. Gusts lastfor about 60 seconds.

Just before Typhoon Haiyan struck the

Philippine island of Leyte, the storms

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wind speeds were recorded. Its sus-tained winds were blowing at 235kilometres (145 miles) per hour. Thegusts were as high as 315 kilometres(195 miles) per hour. This meant

that it was a Category 5, or super, ty-phoon. Its believed to be one of themost powerful storms ever recorded

to hit land, or make landfall.Once typhoons make landfall they

gradually weaken. However, thosethat strike the Philippines sometimes

pick up strength again. This happensafter they cross the country and reachthe South China Sea. Then, it is notunusual for them to strike southern

China or Vietnam. This is what Ty-phoon Haiyan did. Three days aftercrossing the Philippines the stormmade landfall near to the border be-tween China and northern Vietnam.Yet, by this time it had weakened to a

Category 1 storm.Weather experts correctly pre-

dicted that Typhoon Haiyan wouldstrike the Philippines between Lu-zon and Mindano. Four days beforethe storm arrived government offi-cials issued a warning. People livingon the islands of Leyte and Samar,and four other central islands, weretold to leave their homes. Around700,000 did so. They either movedto higher ground or to evacuationcentres. These are churches, schoolsand larger government buildings.

One of the places worst affected

was Tacloban. This is the biggest cityon Leyte. It is home to about 250,000

people. Tacloban is on the coast. Aswell as the wind and rain it was hit

by whats known as a storm surge.When typhoons make landfall theycan create storm surges. These arehuge waves of water that are pushedinland by their powerful winds.

The storm surge that hit Taclobanwas about five metres (45 feet) high.

Many people who had decided to

shelter in their homes were unableto escape from the huge waves.Most of the citys buildings weredestroyed. Boats and two large shipswere swept inland.

In the surrounding villages andtowns only a few buildings are stillstanding. The winds blew downhundreds of thousands of trees. Carswere overturned and roads blocked

by fallen power lines and piles ofdebris. The typhoon brought hugeamounts of rain. This caused seriousflooding and many landslides.

VIETNAM

PHILIPPINES

PACIFICOCEAN

PathofTyphoonHaiyan

SouthChinaSea Luzon

Mindanao

In the days following the typhoonthe government sent soldiers, ex-tra police and medical teams to theworst affected areas. The local hospi-tals have all been destroyed. There islittle food and clean drinking water,and no electricity. Many now worryabout the spread of disease. Someof those who died have been buried

in mass graves. Yet many bodies re-main trapped under piles of debris.

Nobody knows how many peo-ple were killed. Four days after thestorm, government officials said itwas about 2,000. However, mostthink the final number, which maynot be known for many weeks, will

be much higher. Some believe over10,000 people died.

The United Nations (UN) esti-

mates that 11 million people have

been affected by the typhoon. Itsays around 673,000 have lost theirhomes. Furthermore, tens of thou-sands of farms have been badlydamaged. Thousands of square kilo-

metres of rice crops were ruined.Large coconut and banana planta-tions have been destroyed.

Many other countries have of-fered to help. Both Philippine andAmerican military planes beganflying supplies of food, water andmedicines to the airport at Tacloban.American navy ships and helicop-ters arrived on 14th November.

Countries, such as Australia, Japan

and South Korea, have sent medicalteams as well as money. Items beingsent include water purificationkits,tents, blankets, food, and medicalequipment. Indonesia has suppliedmilitary planes, helicopters and elec-

tricity generators. As well as moneyand emergency shelters the UK hasalso sent a navy ship.

The UN has launched an emergen-cy appeal. It wants to raise US$300million (186 million). This moneywill be used to help those who nowhave nowhere to live.

Some people have criticised Presi-

dent Aquino and his government.

They said that the rescue operations

have been badly managed. Aid, they

claim, took far too long to reach the

many people who lost their homes.

However, others disagree. They say

that because of the size of the ty-phoon, and the problems reaching so

many different islands, organising the

distribution of aid was very difficult.

Some scientists suspect that cli-mate change may be increasing thefrequency and strength of these pow-erful storms. President Aquino is surethat this is true. In the days followingthe calamity he said that his countrywould need to prepare for more su-

per typhoons in the future.


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THIRDPLENARYMEETINGINCHINA

An important meeting took place inChina between 9th and 12th Novem-

ber. Xi Jinping, the countrys presi-dent, and all the members of ChinasCentral Committee attended it.

The meeting was held in private. Ittook place in a large hotel in Beijing,Chinas capital city. The 376 peoplewho took part are senior members ofthe Communist Party. All stayed inthe hotel during the four days. Mem-

bers of the public were not allowedto enter the building.

Mao Zedong became the leaderof the Chinese Communist Party in1945. As its leader, Chairman Mao(as he was known) ruled China fornearly 30 years. After he died in1977 the Communist Party organ-

ised the way by which future leadersof China would be selected.

Xi Jingping, president of China

Mr Xi officially became Chinas

new president last March. He tookover from Hu Jintao. Other seniormembers of the Communist Partyalso took up their new positions atthe same time. In China the presidentis appointed for a ten-year term. MrXi will therefore be Chinas leaderuntil 2023.

The Communist Party is the only

political party in China. No other

parties are allowed. Senior members

of the Communist Party choose the

countrys leaders. Therefore, unlike

in many other countries, Chinas lead-

ers are not democratically elected.

The meeting in Beijing was offi-cially called the Third Plenary Ses-

sion of the 18th Central Committee.This is the third time that the Cen-tral Committee has met since Mr Xi

became president. Many people saythat this third meeting is very im-

portant. This is because it is whenthe countrys economy is discussed.So, traditionally, the Third PlenarySession is when the new leadershipdecides on its economic plans forthe next five or ten years.

In 1978 Deng Xiaoping was Chi-nas president. It was at the ThirdPlenary Session in 1978 that Dengmade a very important decision.He decided to abandon ChairmanMaos plans and run the economy

in a different way. This was the startof China opening up to the restof the world and it becoming aneconomic superpower.

Today many people describe Chi-na as being the factory of the world.The country now has the worldssecond largest economy. The biggestis the USA. However, many people

believe that China will overtake theUSA within the next few years.

In China the Communist Partyruns most of the larger companiesand banks. No one can own or buy

and sell land. It all belongs to the

government. Farmers lease or rentthe land they use. Some people pre-dict that the Third Plenary Sessionwill make changes to government-run companies. It may also intro-duce some type of land ownership.

Currently most things made inChina are exported to other coun-tries. Some say that the countrysleaders now need to develop Chi-nas own domestic market. They

also believe that more competition

between companies in China shouldbe allowed.

Normally no major announce-ments are made at the end of ThirdPlenary Sessions. Government-runnewspapers report on the decisionsthat have been made. However,these reports are not usually writtenuntil several weeks later.

DESERTFARMING

A desert farm project in Qatarhas just managed to grow a similaramount of vegetables as a farm inEurope. Surprisingly, it managedto do this by only using seawaterand sunlight.

The desert farm is apilotor testsite. It has been set up by an or-

ganisation called the Sahara Forest

NEWSCAST

DESK DISCOVERY A man in theUSA recently bought a secondhand desk. It had been advertised

on an internet site for US$200(125). When it arrived he dis-covered that the desk was too bigto go through his office doorway.To get it through the door he andhis wife took it apart. When theydid this they found a plastic bag

behind one of the filing cabinets.It was full of US$100 banknotes.Counting the money they were

surprised to discover that the bag

contained US$98,000 (61,300).The couple contacted the websiteto find out who the owner was. Ithad belonged to an elderly lady.They telephoned her to explainwhat they had found and arrangedto return the money. The elderlylady explained that she had inher-ited the money sometime ago buthad forgotten where she put it.


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Project (SFP). The SFP is experi-menting in how people can use whatthe world has enough of, to makethe things that they need. It is work-ing out ways to produce fresh water,

food, energy and vegetation usingdesert areas, carbon dioxide, saltwater and sunlight.

Sahara Forest Project test site in Qatar (SFP)

The SFP set up its pilot site, orfacility, in Qatar about 12 monthsago. The facility has a greenhousewith a growing area of around 600

square metres (6,460 square feet).At one end of the greenhouse issomething that looks a bit like acurtain. Above the curtain is a pipethat has seawater flowing throughit. The pipe has holes in it. So smallamounts of seawater trickle, or run,down the curtain.

The desert wind blows throughthe curtain. It creates moist airfor the plants growing inside thegreenhouse. There are a number oflarger pipes at the other end of thegreenhouse. These contain colder

seawater. Some of the moisture in

the air inside the greenhouse thencondenses on the cold pipes. Thiscondensation (which is fresh water)can then be used to water the plants.

The site also produces its ownelectricity. Specially shaped mirrorsshine sunlight onto pipes that con-tain a fluid. This heated fluid boilswater that creates steam. The steamthen turns a turbine, which makeselectricity. The electricity runs the

plants pumps and control systems.

It can also be used to power a de-salination unit. This turns salt waterinto fresh water.

Inside the greenhouse, threecrops of different vegetables were

grown in one year. In total, over the12 months, about 75 kilograms (165pounds) of vegetables were harvest-ed from one square metre (11 squarefeet). The vegetables included cu-cumbers, tomatoes and peppers.

The people running the pilot pro-ject were amazed to see that plantsbegan to grow around the outside ofthe greenhouse. The plants could dothis because some of the cool, moist

air was leaking out. Those in chargeplanted barley and a type of let-tuce in these areas. Both seemed togrow well.

The SFP is now building a largergrowing facility. This one, whichis in Jordan, will be about 20 times

bigger. The SFP believes that in fu-ture these types of farms will be setup in many countries that have largedesert areas.

TEMPLERULING

The International Court of Justice(ICJ) gave its verdict on land thatis close to the Preah Vihear tem-

ple. It declared that the 4.6 squarekilometre (two square mile) area ofland belongs to Cambodia and not

Thailand. The Thai government, thecourt said, must now withdraw anysoldiers or police officers from theland near the temple.

The ICJ is sometimes calledthe World Court. It is the mostsenior court within the United Na-tions (UN). The ICJ is based inThe Hague, a city in the Nether-lands. Its job is to settle legal argu-ments among member countries of

the UN.

Today the Preah Vihear tem-ple is a ruin. Historians believe itwas built during the 11th and 12thcenturies. Thailand and Cambodiahave been arguing for nearly 100

years over which country the templeis in.

In 1962 both countries took thecase to the ICJ. It ruled that the tem-

ple was in Cambodia. Members ofthe court studied old maps and re-cords. These had been made manyyears ago. Then Cambodia was

part of a colony of France that wasknown as Indochina. It includedCambodia, Laos and Vietnam. At

that time Thailand was called Siam.Many people in Thailand insisted

that the courts ruling was wrong.They said the temple was very diffi-cult to get to from Cambodia. This is

because on the Cambodian side thereis a steep cliff. The only easy access,they argued, was from Thailand. In2003 Cambodia built a road from thenearest town, through the jungle, tothe temple. However, the ICJ onlyruled on the temple. It did not saywho owned the surrounding land.

Preah Vihear temple

In 2008 Cambodia applied for thetemple to be a World Heritage Site.These are sites chosen and supported

by a part of the UN. It supplies moneyto help look after and protect WorldHeritage Sites. The prime minister ofThailand at the time wanted it to bea joint request to the UN. However,after a delay, he agreed to support

Cambodias application.


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Trouble started when the UNannounced that Cambodias WorldHeritage application had been suc-cessful. The news led to demon-strations in Bangkok, the capital

of Thailand. The protesters wereangry, as they believed the UN hadsided with Cambodia in the argu-

ment over which country the templewas in. Soon afterwards both coun-tries began to send troops to this partof their border.

MYANMAR

THAILAND

CAMBODIA

VIETNAM

LAOS

Preah Viheartemple

Since 2009 there have been sev-

eral shooting incidents near the tem-ple. One at the beginning of 2011lasted for four days. Twenty-eight

people were killed. Hun Sen, theprime minister of Cambodia, askedthe UN to intervene. Yet the shoot-ing incidents continued.

Eventually, both sides agreed towithdraw their troops from the area.The prime minister of Cambodiathen asked the ICJ to make a rul-ing on the surrounding land. Afterthe courts decision was announcedYingluck Shinawatra, the Thai

prime minister, said that everyonein Thailand should accept the ICJsruling.

GARDENBRIDGE

Plans have been made for a newbridge to be built in London, thecapital of the UK. The bridge willcross the River Thames. However, it

will not be built for cars or trains.

Instead it will be like a long gar-den. People will be able to walkthrough the garden to get from oneside of the river to the other.

Like other big cities that have

been built on rivers, London hasmany bridges. Yet there are only afew crossing points just for pedes-

trians. The new Garden Bridge willbe in the centre of the city. It will be367 metres (1,200 feet) long.

The sides of the bridge will notbe straight. They will be curved inseveral places. These parts of the

bridge will be wider. At its widestpoint it will be around 30 metres

(100 feet) across. The edges will bejagged. This is so people will have

better views of Londons buildingson both sides of the river. There willalso be many seats or park bencheswhere people can sit and relax.

The garden or park will have ar-eas of grass, wild flowers and trees.The plants and trees will be spe-cially selected so that their colourschange with the season. Some fruittrees will also be planted. The de-signers say that soon after it is com-

pleted the bridge will become hometo many birds and insects.

Artists impression of the Garden Bridge (Arup)

Several paths will run throughthe park. The bridge will hold atleast 1,000 tonnes of soil. Its twolarge bridge supports, or piers, will

be hollow and filled with earth. Thepiers will therefore be similar to gi-ant plant pots in which the roots of

the larger trees can grow.

Unlike some other big cities Lon-don has many large parks. However,most people think that the GardenBridge is a good idea. The buildingand planting work is expected to

cost about 150 million (179 mil-lion). The planners hope that it will

be completed by 2017.Some people say that the Garden

Bridge will be like New York CitysHigh Line. This is a former rail-way. It goes through part of the city,above the level of the streets. TheHigh Line was built in the 1930s.Trains stopped using it about 30years ago. Some of the railway line

has been knocked down. However,in recent years one section, which isabout 1.6 kilometres (one mile) inlength, has been turned into a long,narrow park.

TUTANKHAMUNSNEWTOMB

Officials in Egypt say they planto open a replica, or copy, of Tu-tankhamuns tomb in November.Work started on the copy about fouryears ago. Officials say the replica isneeded as the original tomb and itswall paintings are being damaged.

Howard Carter (1874 1939),a British archaeologist, discoveredTutankhamuns tomb in 1922. Hehad been paid to do archaeologicalexploration in Egypts Valley of the

Kings by a wealthy British man,Lord Carnarvon.

The Valley of the Kings is closeto the River Nile. It was the burial

place for many ancient pharaohsand important families. However,nearly all the tombs in the val-ley were broken into hundreds,or even thousands, of years ago.The people who break into tombsto steal what is inside are called

grave robbers.


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Historians say an Egyptian man,who worked for Carter, first noticedthe entrance to the tomb. The mans

job was to carry water for Carter andthe other archaeologists working in

the Valley of the Kings.Tutankhamun is also known asKing Tut. He became king, or phar-

aoh, of Egypt when he was onlyaround eight years old. He died inBCE 1324, at the age of 19.

Mystery has always surroundedTutankhamuns death. Three-dimen-sional (3D) scans of his mummyshowed a hole in the back of hisskull. Some historians believe this is

evidence that he was murdered. Oth-ers think he died of malaria. A recentstudy found that he had many inju-ries on the left side of his body. Theseinclude a broken pelvisand several

broken ribs. Some believe these inju-

ries show that he died after being hitby the wheel of a speeding chariot.

Tutankhamuns funeral mask

Even though Tutankhamun wasnot one of Egypts most powerful orlong-lived pharaohs, he is probablythe most famous. This is becausegrave robbers never found his tomb.

So when Carter opened it, the tomb

still contained thousands of valuableitems, or artefacts. Inside Tutankha-muns sarcophagus, or stone cof-fin, was a mask made of gold. Tu-tankhamuns funeral mask has now

become a symbol of ancient Egypt.

Wall paintings in Tutankhamuns tomb

The tomb has four rooms. Allwere cut out of the rock. However,only the walls in one room weredecorated with paintings. This wasthe room that contained the phar-

aohs sarcophagus.The tomb was sealed, or closed,

for over 3,300 years. When it wasopened the humidity and air insideit changed. Whats more thousandsof visitors, over many years, have

brought dust and fungi into the tomb.Changes in the air have caused the

plaster on the walls to crumble andpaint to peel away.

While working in the Valley ofthe Kings, Carter lived in a largemud-brick house. His house, whichis now a museum, is about 800 me-

tres (0.5 miles) from the Valley of

the Kings. The replica tomb hasbeen built close to the house. It isexactly the same size and shape asthe original tomb. The wall paint-ings have been copied.

After the new tomb opens visi-tors will have a choice. They caneither visit the real or replica tomb.However, in future, to stop furtherdamage, the original tomb will

probably have to be closed to all

visitors.

PRICECONTROLSINVENEZUELA

Thousands of people in Venezuelahave been queuing outside electricalshops. They are hoping to buy items

for much lower prices. This is be-cause the countrys president, Nico-las Maduro, has ordered the shops

to reduce the amounts they charge.Many items, such as televisions,cameras and washing machines, arenow being sold at less than half price.

Mr Maduro accuses the shopowners of deliberately increasingtheir prices to make lots of money.Some electrical store owners have

been arrested. On 9th Novembersoldiers were sent to several electri-cal shops to control the crowds.

Two days later, speaking on livetelevision, Mr Maduro declaredthat other stores would be forced to

lower their prices if they are mak-ing too much money. These, he said,included shops that sell food, cloth-ing, shoes, toys, and cars. If a gov-ernment decides to set prices in thisway it is known as price controls.

Venezuela is very dependenton oil. It has the largest proven, orknown, oil supplies in the world. OfVenezuelas total economy around95% of the money it makes comesfrom oil. Yet the country has manyeconomic problems. Inflation inVenezuela is now at 54%. This isone of the highest inflation rates

anywhere in the world. Inflation iswhen a currency loses value andthe cost of things increase. Govern-ments that keep printing more andmore banknotes usually cause it.The more banknotes there are in acountry the less they are worth.

The previous president, Hugo

Chvez, ran Venezuela for many

years. He died of cancer last March.

Before his death Chvez said

he wanted Mr Maduro to be his


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successor. Chvez often described the

way in which he ran the country as a

socialist revolution. He arranged for

the government to take control of the

oil, electricity and large food compa-

nies. He said most of the money thatthese businesses made should be used

to help less wealthy people.

Chvezs critics argue that heruined Venezuelas economy. Theyclaim that government-run compa-nies are badly managed and ineffi-cient. Nowadays there are frequent

blackouts, or electricity power cuts,and it is not unusual for some foodshops to be empty. In recent months

there have been shortages of itemssuch as milk and toilet paper.

Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela

Many of the things Venezuela

needs are imported from other coun-

tries. Businessmen usually have to pay

for these items in American dollars.

The government has set the exchange

rate at 6.3 bolvares (the Venezuelan

currency) to one American dollar. Yet

it restricts the number of dollars that

can be exchanged. This means there

is now a black market or an unof-ficial exchange rate. This is about 60

bolvares to one American dollar.

To buy the items that they sell intheir shops many businessmen saythey have to use the black marketto get dollars. This, they explain, iswhy their shop prices are so high.However, Mr Maduro accuses themof exchanging money at the govern-ment rate and then calculating their

prices at the black market rate.

Because of the high inflationmany people in Venezuela are tryingto exchange their money for dollars.They know their currency is nowworth less and less, but dollars do

not lose their value. Mr Maduro hasthreatened to arrest anyone selling

dollars on the black market.Mr Maduro insists that business

people are causing the countryseconomic problems. Yet others saythat Mr Maduro and Venezuelaslast president are to blame.

DRONESTRIKEINPAKISTAN

Hakimullah Mehsud was killed byan American drone attack on 1st

November. The attack took placein Waziristan, in Pakistan. This isa mountainous area near the border

with Afghanistan. Mehsud was theleader of the Pakistani Taliban.

Drones are unmanned small air-craft that are remotely controlled. Inrecent years the USA has launchedmany drone attacks on places inPakistan that are close to its borderwith Afghanistan. The latest droneattack angered Nawaz Sharif, Pa-kistans prime minister. This is be-cause Mr Sharif had recently beentrying to arrange peace talks withthe Pakistani Taliban.

The USA has been fighting a war in

Afghanistan since 2001. This was just

after an Islamic militant group calledal-Qaeda carried out attacks, using

passenger aircraft, in New York City

and Washington DC. At that time the

Taliban controlled Afghanistan. It al-

lowed al-Qaeda to operate its training

camps in the country. The USA de-

manded that the Taliban hand over the

al-Qaeda leaders. When the Taliban

refused the USA invaded Afghanistan.

Soon after the invasion, the Tali-

ban and al-Qaeda fighters withdrew

to the mountainous areas along theborder with Pakistan. But they havenot been defeated.

A few years later several otherNATO (North Atlantic Treaty Or-

ganization) member countriesagreed to send troops to Afghani-stan. They decided to do this to

help the USA and the new Afghangovernment in their fight against theTaliban and al-Qaeda.

The USA has complained that thegovernment of Pakistan is not doingenough to stop the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters on its side of the bor-der. The leaders of Pakistan say this

is not true. The part of Pakistan nextto its border with Afghanistan is of-ten called the tribal areas. Militantgroups in these areas, which agreewith the Taliban and al-Qaeda, areknown as the Pakistani Taliban.

American drone

The American, NATO and Af-ghan troops cannot cross the borderinto Pakistan. Instead the USA has

been using drones to attack the Tali-ban commanders and their camps in

the tribal areas. Many people in Pa-kistan are angry about these dronestrikes. This is because some ofthem have killed innocent people.

Even though the Taliban from Af-ghanistan and the Pakistani Talibanhave similar ideas they are differentgroups. The Pakistani Taliban wantsto set up a separate state in Paki-stan. Within this state everybodywould have to follow very strict

Islamic laws.


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Mehsud is believed to have ar-ranged many attacks in Afghanistanand Pakistan. He is also thought to

be the person who organised a carbombing in New York City in 2010.

After this the USA offered a rewardof US$5 million (3 million) to any-one who helped to capture him.

Recently Mehsud announced thathe would be willing to take part in

peace talks. However, he said hewould only do so if the Americandrone strikes stopped.

Seven days after the drone attackthe Pakistani Taliban announced thatMullah Fazlullah was their new lead-

er. Now, because of Mehsuds death,the commanders of the Pakistani Tal-iban are unlikely to hold peace talkswith Mr Sharifs government.

NEWFOODWRAPPING

Scientists working for two compa-nies have developed a new technol-ogy. One of the companies is anAmerican owned pharmaceutical, ordrug making, business. The other isa plastics firm, based in the UK. Thecompanies believe their new inven-tion could have many uses.

Mouldy bread

The two companies have man-aged to produce a special plastic,which contains certain types ofchemicals. They call their new plas-tic D2P. The chemicals can preventthe growth of bacteria and fungi.

Therefore, foods such as bread and

cheese would last much longer ifthey were wrapped in bags madefrom D2P. Whats more the chemi-cals in the plastic do not contami-natethe food.

Bread, for example, normallystarts to go mouldy and stale afterabout ten days. The spores of a typeof fungus in the bread cause this tohappen. A different fungus is found

on cheese. The new plastic, the twocompanies say, will reduce both ofthese fungi. They also believe theD2P plastic will be able to controlthe fungus that causes fruit and veg-etables to rot.

As well as fungus, D2P can stopcertain bacteria from growing. TheseincludeE. coli, Salmonella andLis-teria. It is dangerous to eat foodthat contains these bacteria. This is

because they can cause serious food

poisoning. People with this type ofillness have to be taken to hospitalfor special medical treatment.

Nowadays, in many countries,a lot of food is wasted. Millions

of tonnes are thrown away everymonth. This is usually because thefood has become rotten or mouldy.

In some countries its thought thatabout 40% of the bread people buyis never eaten.

The two companies say that theyhave been speaking with severalfood businesses and supermarketsabout their new plastic. Packagingmade from D2P could have their

brand names and other informationprinted on it.

The companies believe that thenew plastic might be useful in manyother ways. For instance, hand rails,door handles and pipes could be

made from it. These, the companiessay, should help to reduce the spreadof bacteria. If credit cards and plas-tic banknotes were made from D2Pthey too would be more hygienic.

The two companies are now or-ganising more tests. They hope to

put similar chemicals in man-madefibres that are used to make clothesand shoes. These would reducethe bacteria that can cause them tosmell.

ROBOTSHOW

The International Robot Exhibition(iREX) was held in Tokyo, the capi-tal of Japan, between 6th and 9th

November. This event takes placeevery two years. The first iREX wasin 1973, so this years exhibitionwas its 20th anniversary.

iREX is the worlds largest ro-botics trade show. Nowadays over330 companies from Japan and

other countries take part. They use

NEWSCAST

LUCKYDUCKA woman driving inthe UK was concerned when hercar hit a mallard duck. She stopped

to see what had happened. Therewere many feathers in the road

but the bird could not be seen. Thewoman thought that it must havemanaged to escape. Three dayslater she noticed that her dog wassniffing around her car. Openingthe bonnet she was surprised tosee the mallard trapped in part ofthe car engine. As it was still alive

the woman immediately drove to

a nearby vet. Yet the vets wereunable to free the bird. They wentacross the road to a garage to askfor help. Mechanics at the garagethen carefully removed some ofthe engine parts. They eventuallymanaged to free the duck. Thevets are now looking after the

bird before it is released back intothe wild.


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the show to demonstrate their latestrobotic technologies.

The exhibition is made up of sev-eral zones. Some are for industrialrobots. These are the types that are

used in large factories. They cando tasks such as assembling carsand electronic devices. Another

zone is for what are known as ser-vice robots. These are designed tohelp people.

Muscle suit demonstration

Japan is more advanced in build-

ing robots than any other country. Itspopulation is now ageing quickly.This means in years to come therewill a greater number of elderly

people. Today around 25% of the128 million people who live in Ja-

pan are over 65 years of age.Many of the service robots on

display were made to help elderlypeople and those who look after, orcare for, them. One new technologyhas been designed to help peoplelift heavy weights. Nicknamed amuscle suit it looks like a type of

backpack. The suit is powered bycompressed air.

A carer or nurse wearing a mus-cle suit would easily be able to lift anelderly person out of bed or out of a

bath. The suit can be used in placeswhere there is a lot of water. This is

because it does not use electricity.Other robotic devices designed

to help elderly people were a walk-ing stick and walking cart. The

walking stick is for people with bad

eyesight. It acts like a guide dog.There are not many of these dogsin Japan. Also, in most apartment

blocks, there are rules that say petsare not allowed.

The walking stick is like a longupright handle attached to a smallcart with wheels. The user holds

the handle and follows the deviceas it moves forward. Sensors detecthazardssuch as walls or holes in theground. The walking stick will thensafely take the user around them.

The walking cart helps peoplewho cannot walk very well. It lookslike a small shopping cart. It has a

motor for going uphill and brakesfor travelling back down. Bothswitch on and off automatically.

Another popular robot at theshow was a nail painter. This is arobotic arm that can put nail polish

on fingernails. It is even able to dodifferent coloured patterns.

HOTWATERMYSTERYEXPLAINED?

Over 2,500 years ago, Aristotle, aGreek philosopher, noticed some-thing unusual about water. If bowlsof hot and cold water are put outsidein very cold, or subzero, weather,the bowl of hot water is the firstto turn to ice. In recent years someresearchers have tried to work outwhy this happens. Now two scien-

tists from Singapore believe theyknow the answer.

Water is important. Yet mostpeople do not realise that it is veryunusual. Around 70% of the Earthis covered in seas, oceans and lakes.Up to 60% of an adult human bodyis water. Water is common, colour-less, tasteless and odourless orhas no smell. It has three differentforms: steam (a gas), water (a liq-

uid) and ice (a solid).

Water is different to most other liq-

uids. These liquids take up a smaller

space when they freeze. They then ex-

pand, or take up a bigger area, when

they melt. Water does the opposite.

It expands when it turns to ice. So aglass bottle full of water will crack if

it freezes. Water also boils at a much

higher temperature than other liquids.

Another unusual thing about water is

that its solid form (ice) will float on its

liquid form (water). This is because

ice is less dense than water. Further-

more, water can dissolve more sub-

stancesthan any other liquid.

Hot water freezing faster than

cold water is known as the Mpem-ba effect. It is named after a stu-dent from Tanzania. In 1963 ErastoMpemba was taking part in a cook-ery lesson at school. His class wasmaking ice cream. Mpemba noticed

that a hot ice cream mix froze morequickly than one that was cold.

A few days later a professorcame to the school to give a physicslecture. After the lecture Mpembaasked the professor a question. Why

does hot water freeze before coldwater? The teachers and other stu-dents laughed. However, the profes-sor did some tests and discovered itwas true. He and Mpemba then pub-lished the results of the experimentsthey did together.

Water is made up of molecules.Each molecule has two hydrogenatoms and one larger oxygen atom.This is why it is called H

2O. A type

of chemical bond connects these


10/19


atoms. When a hydrogen atom inone molecule gets close to an oxy-gen atom in another it connects withit. This bond, which is known as ahydrogen bond, is stronger than the

chemical bonds.The scientists claim that theMpemba effect comes from how

these hydrogen bonds react withthe other bonds, in each water mol-ecule. When heated, the hydrogen

bonds cause the other bonds tobecome shorter and store energy.When placed in a freezer theseshorter bonds release their energymuch faster than the same bonds in

cold water. This, the scientists say,explains why hot water will turn toice quicker than cold water.

One example of the Mpemba ef-fect is to throw boiling water intothe air in subzero weather. It quickly

turns to snow or ice. This does nothappen with cold water. The Mpem-

ba effect also means that pouringhot water on a frozen path or carwindscreen may be unwise.

M23 SURRENDER

On 5th November leaders of a mili-tant rebel group in the eastern partof the Democratic Republic of Con-go (DRC) made an announcement.They said they had decided to sur-render. Their surrender means that

many years of fighting in this partof Africa have finally ended.

The DRC is one of Africas larg-est countries. It has huge mineralresources including gold and dia-monds. Nearly all the people livingin the country are very poor. This is

because for most of the last 40 yearsthere has been serious fighting in theDRC. Its estimated that over fivemillion people died in the country

during a five-year war that ended in

2003. The United Nations (UN) fi-nally helped to end this war, whichalso involved several other countries.

Since 2003 the UN has keptthousands of peacekeeping soldiers

in the DRC. Many were close toGoma. This is the largest city in theeastern part of the country. Most of

the UN peacekeepers are from In-dia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

TANZANIA

UGANDA

BURUNDI

RWANDA

DEMOCRATICREPUBLICOF CONGO

Kinshasa

Goma

The rebels who have surren-

dered are known as the March 23Movement, or M23. They used to

be part of the DRCs army. Severalyears ago they mutinied. The M23claimed that the DRCs army com-manders had not kept to previousagreements such as a promise to paythem more money.

The rebels then began to attacktowns and villages in the eastern

part of the DRC. Hundreds of thou-sands of people were forced to leavetheir homes. About 18 months agothe M23 attacked Goma.

As the rebels approached, the

DRC soldiers quickly withdrew. UNpeacekeepers, close to Goma, didnothing to stop the rebel fighters.Some said this was the right thing todo. Yet others argued that the peace-keepers were supposed to be sup-

porting the DRCs army. They saidthe UN force should have stoppedthe rebels from taking the city.

After capturing Goma the M23leaders said that they planned to take

over other parts of the DRC including

Kinshasa, the capital. The rebelswere eventually persuaded to leaveGoma after talks were held. Four Af-rican countries, Tanzania, Uganda,Rwanda and the DRC, attended the

talks. The UN and the DRC have ac-cused Uganda and Rwanda of help-ing the M23. The leaders of both

countries say this is not true.About one year ago the DRC

made many changes to its army. Sol-diers were paid on time and given

better equipment. New commanderswere appointed. The UN decidedthat its force would also change.A new commander from Brazil ar-

rived. Instead of peacekeeping hewas ordered to attack the M23.Around 3,000 specially trained sol-diers from other African countries,such as South Africa and Tanzania,

joined the UN force.

In recent months the DRCsarmy, with help from the UN, hasrecaptured most parts of the countryheld by the M23. Local people havewelcomed the arrival of the DRCsarmy and UN force.

Just before the rebels surren-dered they only occupied a smallarea of land close to the border withRwanda. Two days after their sur-render announcement the leaders ofthe M23 handed themselves over toofficials in Uganda. Both the DRCand the UN accuse these men of

war crimes. They insist that Uganda

sends the M23 leaders back to theDRC so they can be put on trial.

TWITTERSHARESALE

On 6th November, after severalyears of planning, the Twitter Com-

pany held or organised an initialpublic offering (IPO). An IPO is alsocalled a stock market launch or flo-

tation. This is when a company sells


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its shares (also known as stocks) tothe public for the first time.

Buying shares in a company is away of owning part of it. However,if you buy some of the companys

shares, it doesnt mean you get to saywhat happens in the business. Yet ifthe company does well and makes a

lot of money, the value of its shares islikely to go up. You can then sell theshares to someone else, if you wantto, and make a profit. The share pricecan also go down, especially if thecompany is doing badly.

Shares in companies cost verydifferent amounts. Normally a com-

pany that organises an IPO will gethelp from one or several invest-ment banks. These banks will try towork out what the whole companyis worth. Once they have this figurethey calculate what the initial priceof its shares should be. Workingout the value of a company such as

Twitter is difficult. The investmentbanks studied the company and havetried to predict how much money itis likely to make in future.

Twitter is based in the USA.Four people set the company upeight years ago. Twitter is whatsknown as a microblogging service.Some people have described it asthe SMS of the internet. Peoplewho register can send or post short

messages (known as tweets). The

company says that at least 200 mil-lion people post around 500 millionmessages every day. Each messagecannot be longer that 140 characters.Those who have registered can post

messages. Other registered and non-registered people can read them.

Companies sell shares to raisemoney. This money is normallyused to grow the business, pay offdebts or take over other companies.Share prices are listed on a stockmarket, or stock exchange. Othercompanies and individuals can buyand sell (or trade) shares listed onstock markets. These share prices

often change daily. This can dependon how many people want to buyor sell them. The bosses of Twit-ter decided to list their companysshares on the New York Stock

Exchange (NYSE).The investment banks decided

to set the price of the IPO at US$26(16.25) per share. Around 10% ofthe companys shares were sold.The others belong to the owners,employees and business peoplewho have already invested in thecompany. The IPO was for 70 mil-lion shares. So the share sale raisedUS$1.82 billion (1.14 billion).

Twitter was an unusual stockmarket flotation. This is becausemost companies do not hold an IPO

until they make money, or a profit.So far Twitter has never done this.

During July, August and Septemberthe companys sales were US$168.6million (105 million). Yet in thesame three months it lost US$64.6million (40.4 million). Many peo-

ple believe that Twitter is unlikely tomake a profit until at least 2015. Sothose who bought the shares believethe company will make large profitsin future.

Twitter makes nearly all of its

money from advertising. To make

a profit Twitter will need to greatlyincrease its sales. This means it will

probably have to increase the ad-vertising on its website and withinthe messages people post. However,

some worry that if the companystweets include too much advertisingpeople might decide to stop using

the service.On the day of the IPO Twitters

share price went up to around US$45(28). At this price the whole com-

pany is worth about US$27 billion(16.9 billion).

FORBIDDENCITYSSTONEBLOCKS

A team of three people have pro-duced a study about the ForbiddenCity, in China. Many of the Cityswooden buildings were constructed

on foundations made from huge

blocks of stone. Their study showshow these large, heavy stones mighthave been transported.

One of the Forbidden Citys buildings

The Forbidden City is in the cen-tre of Beijing, Chinas capital. Itwas constructed between 1406 and1420. The City covers a large areaand includes almost 1,000 buildings.Its thought that around one millionworkers were needed to construct it.

The Forbidden City was the homeof Chinas rulers. Chinese emperors,from the Ming Dynasty to the endof the Qing Dynasty, lived in the

palace. This is a period of about 500


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years. Today the Forbidden City isa museum.

One of the team who wrote thereport is a professor of engineer-ing at an American university. On a

visit to the Forbidden City he wasinterested in the stone foundations.Many of these were made from

huge blocks of stone. Its knownthat these stone blocks came froma quarry that is around 70 kilome-tres (43 miles) away. The professorwondered how the stones had beentaken from the quarry to the Forbid-den City.

Nobody knows who invented the

wheel. However, its known thatwheels were being used in Chinaat least 3,000 years ago. Thereforemany people presume that the stone

blocks were put on wooden cartsthat were then pulled to Beijing. The

professor was not so sure. Some ofthe blocks, he thought, must have

been too heavy to be transported onwooden carts.

Another member of the teamwas a Chinese engineer. He studieda number of ancient Chinese docu-ments about the Forbidden City. Hewanted to find out if anything had

been written down about the con-struction of the palace. He foundsome writings that said a carvedstone block, weighing 120 tonnes,had been taken to the Forbidden

City in 1557. The text described

how the block was used to repairone of the larger buildings. It alsomentioned that the stone arrived onan ice path.

The team now believe that an iceroad was made from the quarry tothe city. Beijing gets very cold in thewinter months, so this would have

been when the stone was transported.The team think that the workers

put the stone block on large wooden

sledges. The workers probably dug

wells along the length of the path-way. During very cold weather,water from these wells was pouredon the road and left to freeze. Extrawater was then put on the frozen ice.

This would have made it even easierto pull the sledges.The engineers calculated that a

group of 50 men would have beenneeded to drag the 120 tonne blockalong the ice road. It would havetaken them about four weeks to pullit to the palace. The engineers be-lieve the heavy stone blocks used to

build the Forbidden City were prob-ably transported in a similar way.

INDIASMARSMISSION

On 5th November a rocket liftedoff from the island of Sriharikota,

in southern India. The space rocketlaunch was part of Indias Mars Or-

biter Mission (MOM). This is an un-manned spacecraft, or space probe.

The Indian Space Research Or-ganisation (ISRO) has organisedthe space mission. It is also knownas Mangalyaan. This means Marscraft in the Hindi language. The

probe is expected to reach Mars inSeptember next year after travelling772 million kilometres (480 millionmiles). The spacecraft will then startto orbit the planet.

Mangalyaan will study Mars

atmosphere. It will also take pic-tures of the planet as well as its twomoons, Phobos and Deimos. The

probe carries specially designedequipment. This can map Mars sur-face and show where certain miner-als may be found.

In the past there have been 40

different space missions to Mars.

Of these 23, or more than half, have

failed. If Mangalyaan is successful,

the ISRO will be the fourth space

organisation, or space agency, to get

to Mars. So far only NASA, from

the USA, the Russian FederalSpace

Agency and the ESA, from the Euro-

pean Union (EU), have succeeded. In-

dia would therefore be the first Asiancountry to reach the Red Planet.

Today Asian countries are be-

coming much more interested inspace. These include China, India,Japan and South Korea. Some havedescribed this as the Asian SpaceRace. The name comes from theold rivalrybetween the USA and theRussian-led Soviet Union.

Artists impression of the Mars Orbiter Mission

The 1950s and 1960s were theheight of what became known asthe Cold War. Then, the USA,together with its allies in WesternEurope, and the Soviet Union wereenemies. Both Russia and the USAwanted to prove to the rest of theworld that they had the best spacetechnology. This became known asthe Space Race. The race endedwhen an American astronaut, NeilArmstrong, was the first person to

walk on the Moon in 1969.Of the four Asian countries China

is the only one to have sent astro-nauts into space. Currently it is build-ing a space station. All except SouthKorea have launched unmannedspacecraft that have travelled to theMoon. South Korea has plans to dothis within the next few years.

ISRO officials say that the costof the Mangalyaan space mission

is about US$73 million (45.6


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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.

VIETNAM

VENEZUELA

USA

UK

THAILAND

SINGAPORE

QATAR

PHILIPPINES

PAKISTAN

JAPANISRAEL

INDONESIA

INDIA

GERMANY

EGYPT

DEMOCRATICREPUBLICOF CONGO

CHINA

CAMBODIA

BRAZIL

AUSTRALIA

AFGHANISTAN

million). This is very inexpensivefor this type of mission. Whatsmore the spacecraft only took 15months to build. Some people sus-

pect that the MOM was arranged

quickly because India wanted to getto Mars before China. Japan andChina have sent missions to Mars

in the past. Both failed. Two yearsago Chinas Mars space probe wasto be carried into space on a Rus-sian rocket. Yet the rocket malfunc-tioned, or went wrong, soon afterits launch.

Over 1.2 billion people live in In-dia. Around 700 million of these are

said to be very poor. Many youngchildren suffer from illnesses be-cause they do not get enough to eat.Some people in India have thereforesaid it is wrong for their country tospend so much on space missions.

This money, they argue, should beused to help poorer people.

Others disagree. They say theISRO has launched many usefulIndian satellites. These are used forthings such as communications andweather forecasting. In future, if it is

successful, other countries will paythe ISRO large amounts of money

to take their satellites into space.

NEWYORKCITYSNEWMAYOR

An election for the new mayor ofNew York City was held on 5th No-vember. Bill de Blasio won. He willtake over from Michael Bloomberg

who has been the citys mayor forthe last 12 years.

The first buildings or settlementof what was to become New Yorkwere put up in the 1620s. At that timethe Dutch controlled the area. Then

it was called New Amsterdam, afterthe capital city of the Netherlands.

By 1664 it had been taken over bythe English. They renamed it NewYork after the Duke of York. Later,as James the Second, he became theKing of England.

Today New York is the largestcity in the USA. It is home to about

8.4 million people. Nicknamed theBig Apple it is one of the mostfamous cities in the world. Eachyear at least 50 million people, fromother parts of the USA and differentcountries, visit the city.

The first mayor of New York wasappointed in 1665. Nearly 170 yearslater, in 1834, the first election was

held to choose the citys mayor.Mr Bloomberg was first elected

as New Yorks mayor in 2001. Thesemayoral elections are held everyfour years. Mr Bloomberg is a very

wealthy man. He is the founder ofa company called Bloomberg. Thiscompany provides special computer


14/19


terminalsto banks and other financebusinesses. These computers displayimportant financial information.

Mr Bloomberg has been electedas New York Citys mayor three

times. The last election was in 2009.The rules used to say that a personcould be mayor for a maximum of

three four-year terms. However, thishas recently been changed to twoterms. As Mr Bloomberg had beenthe mayor for three terms he did nottake part in the recent election.

Bill de Blasio, New York Citys new mayor

During his time as mayor MrBloomberg has tried to get moretech companies to set up in the city.He has changed how schools are runand introduced a new bicycle-sharingrental scheme. Since Mr Bloomberghas been mayor the amount of crimein the city has continued to fall. Per-haps he is best known for trying tomake New Yorkers, or people wholive in the city, healthier. Smok-ing is now banned in most places.Mr Bloomberg also set restrictionson the sale of super-sized sugary

drinks from takeaway restaurants,cinemas and sports stadiums.

There are two main political par-

ties in the USA, the Republicans and

the Democrats. When he first became

mayor Mr Bloomberg was the Repub-

lican candidate. Yet in 2007 he an-

nounced that he was now independ-

ent. This means he was no longer

associatedwith any political party.

Mr de Blasio was the Demo-

crat candidate in the election. The

election result means that New YorkCity will have a Democrat mayorfor the first time in 20 years.

Mr de Blasio won by a landslide.When a person wins an election by

a large number of votes it is oftencalled a landslide. Nearly 74% ofthe people who took part in the elec-

tion voted for him. The Republicancandidate, Joe Lhota, got 25% ofthe votes.

Mr de Blasio will officially takeover from Mr Bloomberg on 1stJanuary 2014. Before the electionhe said that wealthier New Yorkersshould pay higher taxes. He also

wants to set up all-day kindergar-tens for very young children.

WALLACE100

On 7th November a number of talks,

exhibitions and lectures took place inseveral different countries. All were

part of an event called Wallace100.They were organised to commemo-ratethe work of Alfred Russel Wal-lace (1823 1913). He died on 7th

November, 100 years ago.Most people have heard of

Charles Darwin (1809 1882) andhis famous theory of evolution.Darwins theory is that specieschange and adapt to the places andsurroundings in which they live.He said they did this by a process

he called natural selection, and thatonly the fittest survive.

However, few people know any-thing about Wallace. Like Darwin hewas a British scientist. Wallace cameup with a similar theory of evolution

by natural selection around the sametime as, if not before, Darwin.

One of Wallaces main interestswas insects, especially beetles and

butterflies. Between 1848 and 1853

Wallace lived in Brazil. There he

collected thousands of specimensof insects and birds. He made a liv-ing by sending these back to theUK where they were sold. In 1854Wallace went to Singapore and then

spent eight years in different parts ofSouth East Asia, such as Malaysia

and Indonesia. There he also col-lected specimens.

When Wallace was in South EastAsia he and Darwin wrote letters toeach other. It was not unusual forDarwin to ask Wallace to send himcertain specimens. While studyingthe wildlife in this part of the worldWallace began forming his own

ideas about evolution. He wrote hisideas and thoughts down in a num-

ber of long essays.

Alfred Russel Wallace

In 1858 Wallace sent one of hisessays about evolution to Darwin.Darwin was surprised. This was be-cause Wallaces ideas about evolu-

tion were almost exactly the sameas his own. Two weeks later Darwin

presented Wallaces essay with hisown writings to a scientific soci-ety in the UK. The ideas of Wallaceand Darwin were then published bythe society.

Darwins famous book On theOrigin of Species was printed oneyear later, in 1859. Most peoplethink this book was the first text

about evolution. Yet this is not true.


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The first was Wallaces essay andDarwins writings that were pub-lished by the scientific society.

Wallace returned to the UK in1862. By this time Darwin had be-come well known. Darwin alwaysaccepted that Wallaces ideas werevery similar to his own. Yet, becauseof the publication of On the Originof Species, Darwin became famous

while few people knew of Wallacesideas. Wallace did not seem to mind.Later he wrote his own book aboutevolution. This even included theword Darwinism in the title.

There are many monuments toDarwin. Yet until 7th Novemberthere was none of Wallace. As partof Wallace100 the first ever statue ofthe scientist was unveiledat the Nat-ural History Museum, in London, the

capital of the UK. Other Wallace100

events were held in Indonesia, theUSA, Taiwan and Singapore.

Recently a new species, or type,of wasp was discovered in Indone-sia. It is only one millimetre (0.04

inches) long. The tiny wasp laysits eggs inside spiders and otherinsects. In honour of Wallace the

new wasp has been given the nameWallaceaphytis.

WASARAFATPOISONED?

On 6th November a group of sci-entists from Switzerland published

a report about Yassar Arafat. Itsaid tests done on his body suggestthat he might have been poisoned.Suha Arafat, Arafats widow, isa citizen of France. She claimsthe report shows that her husband

was assassinated.

For many years Arafat (1929 2004) was the leader of the PalestineLiberation Organization (PLO). ThePLO was set up to create an inde-

pendent Palestinian state, or nation.Many Palestinians believe that Ara-fat was a freedom fighter. Yet mostIsraelis say he was a terrorist. Arafatwas also accused of keeping moneythat was given by other countries tohelp Palestinian people.

The problems between the Pales-tinians and Israelis first began over60 years ago. In 1948 the USA and

the United Nations (UN) helped toset up a new Jewish state, or coun-try, in an area of the Middle Eastknown as Palestine. Called Israel,many Jewish people from Europeand other parts of the world went tolive in the new country.

At that time many Palestinians,who lived in the area that became Is-rael, were forced to leave their landand homes. Most had to move to

refugee camps in nearby countries.

After the set up of Israel, Jewish peo-ple had their own country. Yet manyPalestinians were left without one.

Nearby Arab countries were an-gry about what had happened. They

supported Arafat and the PLO. Theset up of a new Jewish state led toseveral wars between Israel and thesurrounding Arab nations. Israel,supported by the USA, won themeasily. It captured the Golan Heightsfrom Syria and the West Bank, in-cluding the eastern half of Jerusa-lem, from Jordan. Today most Pal-estinians live in the West Bank andGaza Strip. Parts of the West Bank

are still occupied by Israel.

Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton (president of the USA)

and Yassar Arafat at the signing of the OsloAccords in Washington DC, in 1994

In 1993 Arafat agreed to take partin peace talks with Israeli leaders.These were held in Oslo, the capi-tal of Norway. A peace agreement,known as the Oslo Accords, wassigned the following year. As partof the agreement the PalestinianAuthority (PA) was set up. This in-

cluded the Gaza Strip and the WestBank. Even though the PA was nota country, its formation allowed thePalestinians to govern themselves.

Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin wereawarded the Nobel Peace Prize in1994. Then Rabin was the primeminister of Israel. Yet some militantPalestinians were angry about whatArafat had done. They believed itwas wrong to take part in any peace

talks with Israel.

NEWSCAST

UNFAIRCONTEST Have you everplayed rock-paper-scissors? Sci-entists in Japan have made a ro-

bot that wins every time. In thegame two people quickly hold outone of their hands in one of threedifferent shapes. They do this atexactly the same time. A fist is arock, a flat hand paper, and twofingers scissors. Paper beats rock:rock beats scissors: scissors beats

paper. The reason the robot is sosuccessful is that it cheats. Rather

than guessing what a person will

do it recognises the shape theirhand begins to form. It does thisin one thousandth of a second.The robot then selects whicheverone beats the persons choice. Asit is so quick it looks as if the robotis making its selection at the sametime. The robot is called Janken,which is the Japanese name forthe game.


16/19


Arafat lived in a compound inRamallah, a city in the West Bank.In 2004 he suddenly became ill.He was flown to France for spe-cial medical treatment. He died a

few days later, aged 75. It was an-nounced that he had a heart prob-lem. However, some people did not

believe this. They suspected that hehad been poisoned.

Mediterranean Sea

GolanHeights

Gaza Strip

West Bank

EGYPT

SAUDIARAB IA

JORDAN

SYRIA

LEBANON

ISRAEL

Jerusalem

Last year Arafats body was tak-en out of his tomb in Ramallah fora short time. Some samples weretaken. Groups of scientists fromFrance, Russia and Switzerlandwere given the samples to test forany poison. The French and Rus-sia scientists have yet to announcetheir results.

The Swiss scientists said that the

samples contained a lot of poloni-um. This is a radioactive substance.If there are high levels of poloniuminside the body it can quickly kill a

person. Polonium is hard to detect.It could have been put in Arafatsfood without him noticing. TheSwiss scientists are not sure that theformer PLO leader was poisoned.Yet the amount of polonium in thesamples, they say, was too much to

have been absorbed accidentally.

After the scientists report manyPalestinians accused Israel of poi-soning Arafat. Israel denies that ithad anything to do with his death.Some people say that if Arafat was

poisoned its more likely that he waskilled by a group of Palestinians

who disagreed with him.

GIANTPLATYPUS

Researchers in Australia have beenstudying a fossilised tooth. It is be-lieved to be between five and 15million years old. The researchers

say it came from a giant platypus.Before the discovery of the tooth noone knew that this type of creaturehad ever existed.

The researchers believe that theancient giant platypus was a meat-

eater, or carnivore. It probably atefrogs, fish, turtles, crabs, and shrimps.It was about one metre (three feet) inlength. This means it was twice aslong as the modern day platypus.

The platypus is only found ineastern parts of Australia and the is-land of Tasmania. It lives along rivervalleys and is a very good swimmer.The platypus is an unusual creature.Its body and tail are beaver-like andit is covered in waterproof fur. Yetit has a bill like a duck and webbedfeet. The animal spends much of the

time in water but makes its nest in

underground burrows. These are dugin the riverbank above the level ofthe water. It eats worms, insects andfreshwater shrimps. The platypusname comes from an Ancient Greekword that means flat-footed.

The platypus is a mammal, but it is

different from almost all other mam-

mals. Mammals give birth to their

young. However, the platypus doesnt

do this. Its young hatch from eggs

that have been laid by the females.

Only one other species of mammal

does a similar thing. These are types

of anteaters called echidnas. They too

come from Australia. Mammals that

lay eggs are called monotremes.

Another unusual thing about theplatypus is that it is one of the fewmammals that produce venom, or a

type of poison. Adult males have asharp spur on the ankles of their

back legs. These spurs produce atype of venom. This venom is notlife threatening to humans.

The fossilised tooth was foundin a desert area. Millions of yearsago this part of Australia was very

different. Then it had much morerain and there were rivers, lakesand forests.

The giant platypus has been giv-en the name Obdurodon tharalkoos-child. In Greek, obdurodon means

lasting tooth. Tharalkooschildcomes from an indigenous, or na-tive, Australian story about the crea-tion of the world. In it a rat and aduck mate with each other and a

platypus is born.

Platypus

Giant mammals were once com-mon in Australia. Together they areknown as megafauna. Many fossilsof these giant creatures have beendiscovered in the country. They of-ten look like very large versions ofanimals that exist today. For exam-

ple, fossils have been found of giantwombats, giant kangaroos, whichwere three metres (ten feet) tall, as

well as giant koalas.


17/19


Nobody knows why all the Aus-tralian megafauna died out. One ideais that early humans hunted these

big animals to extinction. Yet manyscientists think the more likely rea-

son was either a sudden or gradualchange in the climate.

STOLENARTDISCOVEREDINGERMANY

On 3rd November a magazine inGermany reported that about 1,500missing paintings had been dis-covered. They were found in a flat in

the German city of Munich. Its be-lieved that the pictures were seizedor stolen just before or during theSecond World War (1939 1945).

Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci

Adolf Hitler became the Ger-man leader in 1933. Several yearslater he decided that all modern artwas un-German. This includedmodern music and films. The Nazis

believed that modern art, such asimpressionist and cubist paintings,was degenerate.

Before the war started a group ofart experts were ordered to take all

the modern art pictures from German

art galleries. They were also told toforce owners of modern paintings,especially Jewish people, to sell themfor very low prices. The art expertswere supposed to sell these paint-

ings in other countries. The moneyfrom the sales would then be used tobuild a classical art museum in Hit-

lers home town of Linz, in Austria.In 1938 a law was passed that madeit legal to take these paintings fromGerman art galleries.

During the war German forces

occupied many European countries.

A group of Nazi officials then stole,

or looted, many paintings from these

countries. One of these pictures wasLeonardo da VincisLady with an Er-

mine. It was looted from Poland. (An

ermine is also called a stoat. In winter

the animals brown fur turns white.)

In 1943 the USA and the UK

set up the Monuments, Fine Arts,and Archives program (MFAA).The people who worked for it wereknown as Monuments Men. Their

job was to protect historic buildingsin Europe from war damage. Theywere also told to find paintingslooted by the Nazis and to try toreturn them to their owners. Manywell-known paintings were discov-ered hidden in a salt mine in Austriasoon after the war ended. TheLady

with an Erminepicture was found ina senior Nazi officials home when

he was arrested in 1945. The picture

was then returned to Poland.German officials admitted that

they had found the paintings in the

flat in Munich several years ago. The

flat, they said, was very untidy. The

pictures had been hidden behind tins

of old food. Most are thought to have

come from German art galleries. Yet

its known that some were looted from

other countries. They include paint-

ings by Matisse, Munch, Toulouse-

Lautrec, Picasso, and Canaletto.

The total value of the paintingsis thought to be about 1 billion(840 million). Many art expertswere surprised by the discovery.They thought that these paint-

ings had been destroyed duringthe war.A man called Cornelius Gurlitt

owns the flat. He is 80 years old. Hisfather, Hildebrand Gurlitt, was anart collector, who died in 1956. Hewas a member of the group that tookthe modern works of art from Ger-man galleries. So, rather than sell-ing all these paintings in other coun-tries, Mr Gurlitts father decided to

keep some of them.The German police became

suspicious of Mr Gurlitt when hewas searched on a train. He wastravelling to Germany from Swit-zerland. Mr Gurlitt was carrying a

large amount of money, yet recordsshowed that he had never worked.It seems that Mr Gurlitt was livingin the flat as a recluse. He occasion-ally sold one of the paintings if heneeded money.

German officials are now tryingto find out who owned the paintingsand if any of their relatives are stillalive. However, Mr Gurlitt might beable to keep some of the pictures tak-en from German art galleries. This is

because, at that time, they may nothave been taken unlawfully.

Newsademic.comEditor:Rebecca Watson

Acknowledgements:

News story photographs by gettyimages

For further details about Newsademic

and subscription prices visit

www.newsademic.com

Newsademic 2013


18/19


ISSUE210

GLOSSARYPUZZLE

INSTRUCTIONS:Complete the crossword. The answers are

highlighted in orange in the news stories. There are 25

words highlighted and you need 20 of them to complete the

crossword.Once you have solved the crossword go to

the word search on the next page

1 2 3

4 5 6

7

8 9

10

11

12

13 14

15

16

17

18 19

ACROSS

2Verb To remember or celebrate a past event or person

4Noun Competition with others 8Noun A person who studies ideas about the meaning

of things such as life, knowledge, logic and beliefs11Noun (Plural) The parts of a building below ground

that support it14Verb Connected with someone or something16Noun A general rise in prices and fall in the value of

money17Adjective Describes something that is connected to

the central government18Noun A person who rarely goes out or speaks to

anybody else19Adjective Describes something that has degraded or

got worse and is unlike normal peoples behaviour oranything they create

DOWN

1Noun An event or disaster that causes great harm and misery

3Verb Deliberately killed an important person, especially forpolitical reasons

5Noun The removal of harmful substances from something 6Adjective Describing a persons own country 7Noun (Plural) Things that are dangerous or can cause

accidents 8Noun A plan, product or system used to test if something will

work 9Noun (Plural) People travelling on foot10Verb To make impure or dirty12Verb To intentionally become involved in a difficult situation to

stop it from getting worse13Noun (Plural) Screens that receive information from

computers in a different place15Verb Refused to obey orders from someone in command


19/19


ISSUE210

GLOSSARYPUZZLECONTINUED

INSTRUCTIONS:Find 19 of the 20

crossword 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.

D A P H I L O S O P H E R C T C R F

E E Q W T Y S G B X O B F M K U U O

T H T G E T A R O M E M M O C H C U

A K O A I M J Y P L P W P F C E S N

I Z D R N Z U D E G E N E R A T E D

C I E D X I R Y Y R L A V I R J A A

O Q I C D B S X H T T L O G C B N T

S D N X C I T S E M O D A F S C Q I

S W I Q W I G R A H K K E R N O T O

A P T N I D M Y C S X I B I E N Q N

H B U E T I Z Q T W S S Q J Y D I S

A R M H N E T A N I M A T N O C E A

L S H A Z A R D S S M B O S R R U F

R T L G Q D H V S Q E A K L A G B P

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

F A Q F N P G H I N D R M A I F H L

J P C I A E S U L C E R O L C S K O

N O I T A C I F I R U P W K B G L T

MISSING WORD ANSWER =

ISS

UE209ANSWERS

S E I T R E P O R P F G V C Y W T A

U E G Z L Z C H F O R B I D D E N I

R S T R I K S T U O P L Y C D B A L

V T N A M S T I S O P E D O E E J I

E R J N L K N I L T S D W N T M V B

I A R W Y U D I B S I X X V A X V A

L T Z Z L E C M E R D E F I N E D R

L E I G P R Z R B T R L U N G E K O

A G X F D U H Y I K O B C C I T O M

N I O V Y T H A Z C W R E I S D U E

C C D L O A J L Z Z G N P N E Y D M

E Z F S P V D L F F R K N G D U E P

Q V B P E R S E C U T E D R P Y G C

F M Q B A U E J H U I I T R B T E N

J D W Y M C S X Q F E Q F I D H L W

C T F I H S E K A M Q D I X R F L O

A S S Q R C A G F I G U R E H E A D

I N T E L L I G E N C E Z T H L J H

If you wish to earn additional Demics log

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

missing word. Puzzle entries must be

submitted by 10 pm on 27th November

2013 (GMT/UTC).*

D O M I N A N T

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DEMICS*

M1

E M O R A B I2

L I A D3

P4

N O R

O5

U T S K I R T S M O

E I T

S6

U R V E I L L A N C7

E N D8

E

L O M9

A K E S H I F T

F10

O R B I D D E N N S N

I G V T I S

G D11

E P O S I T S G P12

C13

U N N N E

U R C C A R

P14

R O P E R T I E S C15

I R C U L A T E S

V H N E E H16

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L L E G E D G D C Y

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