Issue 249

Transcription

Issue 249

Newsademic.com
™
The informative easy to read introduction to world news
14th May 2015
British English edition
Issue Number 249
In this issue
Egyptian animal mummies
El Niño prediction
Submarines for sale
Rebuilding Alexandria’s
lighthouse
Another Nepal earthquake
New art auction records
Mangrove protection in
Sri Lanka
OECD Schools report
Curtain eruptions on
Saturn moon
Berkshire Hathaway
Expo 2015 begins
Modern birds’ ancestor?
David Cameron, the UK’s prime minister, speaks to news reporters outside 10 Downing Street after the election
T H E UK’ S
Lusitania remembered
Fire ant experiments
GENERAL ELECTION
A general election was held in the UK
on 7th May. The outcome was unexpected. After all the votes had been
counted, it was confirmed that the Conservative Party had won the most seats.
Its leader, David Cameron, was therefore re-elected as the UK’s prime minister. Mr Cameron has been the UK’s
leader since 2010. Yet, for the last five
years he and his party have governed
with the Liberal Democrats in coalition. Now, with a majority of seats, the
Conservatives can govern alone.
The United Kingdom (UK) is made
up of England, Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland. The UK is also known
as Britain or Great Britain. The country
is a constitutional monarchy. Its monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth the Second, is the UK’s head of state. However,
the king or queen has few powers. The
country is normally governed by the
party that can ‘command a majority’ in
the House of Commons.
The elected members of parliament
meet at the Palace of Westminster, in
London, the UK’s capital city. The parliament is often just called ‘Westminster’.
It has two ‘houses’, the House of Commons’ (usually called the Commons)
and the House of Lords (usually called
the Lords). The Commons is the lower
house and the Lords the upper. Most people in the House of Lords are appointed
and none is elected. The Lords’ job is to
check all the laws, or legislation, that is
voted on by the Commons.
The UK’s prime minister is usually the
leader of the party with most seats, or MPs
(members of Parliament), in the Commons.
The prime minister and his or her family
live in a house not far from the Palace of
Westminster. The address is 10 Downing Street. It’s known as ‘Number 10’.
Victory Parade in Red Square
Captain Kidd’s treasure?
Autonomous truck
Spinning Venus de Milo
Burundi coup fails
Glossary Crossword and
Wordsearch Puzzle
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14th May 2015
Newsademic.com™ – British English edition
An election for the House of Commons is called a general election.
Nowadays, general elections happen
every five years.
Scotland has its own regional
parliament. Wales and Northern
Ireland have assemblies. The Scottish parliament is in Edinburgh. It
is often called Holyrood. This is
the name of the area where the parliament building is. The Northern
Ireland Assembly is in Belfast. It is
known as Stormont, after the area
where the Assembly buildings are.
The Welsh Assembly is in Cardiff.
Separate elections are held for these
regional parliaments. Their elected
members make local decisions.
The UK is divided into 650 areas
called constituencies. Each elects one
MP to the House of Commons. So,
even the prime minister has his or her
own constituency. One of an MP’s
main jobs is to represent the views
of people in his or her constituency.
Even though Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland have regional parliaments they also have constituencies.
So the Commons is made up of MPs
from England, Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland.
Many countries use a voting system known as proportional representation (or PR). A party’s number
of MPs depends on the total percentage of votes the party gets. With
PR it is unusual for one party to get
a majority, or over half the seats.
Two or more parties then agree to
work together as a coalition. The
UK is different. It uses a voting
system called ‘First Past the Post’.
This means that the person who gets
the most votes in a constituency is
elected to the Commons.
The First Past the Post system
means that coalitions are less likely.
One party usually gets a majority (or over half of the 650 seats in
the Commons). At the last election
in 2010 there were three main parties, the Conservatives, the Labour
Party and the Liberal Democrats.
The Conservatives got 302 seats,
the Labour Party 256 and the Liberal Democrats 56. This was what’s
known as a ‘hung parliament’.
Unusually, no party had a majority.
The Conservatives and the Liberal
Democrats agreed to form a coalition. The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, was given the
job of deputy prime minister.
THE UNITED
KINGDOM
Scotland
Edinburgh
Northern
Ireland Belfast
REPUBLIC
OF IRELAND
England
Wales
London
Cardiff
FRANCE
Before the latest general election
most people thought there would be
another hung parliament. Opinion
polls are a type of survey. Polling
companies frequently ask a group,
or sample, of people how they are
going to vote. From this information
the polling companies try to predict
the election outcome. In the weeks
before the election, the polls put Labour ahead. Yet the prediction was
that Labour would not get a majority. So a Labour – Liberal Democrat
coalition was a possibility.
In Scotland there is another party.
It’s called the Scottish National Party
(SNP). Many SNP supporters want
Scotland to become an independent
country. Traditionally, the Labour
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Party and the Liberal Democrats come
first in most of the constituencies in
Scotland. In recent years two ‘new’
parties have been attracting supporters. One is called the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the other the
Greens. UKIP followers would like
the UK to leave the European Union
(EU). They also want stricter immigration laws. The Greens want more
protection for the environment.
The Labour Party and the Liberal
Democrats lost nearly all their seats
in Scotland. Of the 59 Scottish constituencies the SNP won 56. At the
last election they got six.
The final result was: Conservatives 331 (up 28), the Labour Party
232 (down 23), the Liberal Democrats 8 (down 48), SNP 56 (up 50),
UKIP 1 and Greens 1. Smaller parties in Wales and Northern Ireland
won the remaining seats. The First
Past the Post system made a big difference. A total of 1.5 million people voted for the SNP. It now has 56
seats in the Commons. Nearly four
million people in the country voted
for UKIP. It got one seat.
Many people were surprised by the
result. Few expected the Conservatives to do so well. The polls were
proved wrong. The day after the election Mr Clegg, the Liberal Democrat
leader, and Ed Miliband, the leader of
the Labour Party, resigned.
Traditionally, the morning after
an election, the prime minister goes
to Buckingham Palace to speak
with the monarch. However, many
thought that Mr Cameron and Mr
Miliband would be trying to form
coalitions with other parties at this
time. Queen Elizabeth was not expecting anyone. She had stayed at
Windsor Castle outside London.
Once the result was known, she had
to hurry to Buckingham Palace to
meet with her prime minister. 
14th May 2015
EGYPTIAN ANIMAL MUMMIES
A group of scientists in the UK
have completed an Egyptian animal mummies project. Their results were surprising. In Ancient
Egypt pharaohs and wealthy people were mummified after they
died. This was done to preserve
their bodies. Egyptians believed
that if the body was preserved,
a person would live well in
the afterlife.
Most animals were mummified for a different reason. The
animals were used as an offering
to the gods. Today, some people
will light a candle when they go
into a church or cathedral. One
of the UK scientists says that
people in Ancient Egypt would
use mummified animals for a
similar purpose.
It has been known for over 100
years that Ancient Egyptians mummified small animals. In 1888 a local farmer was digging in the desert.
He discovered a large underground
tunnel, or catacomb. It is about 160
kilometres (100 miles) from Cairo,
the modern-day capital of Egypt.
There were hundreds of thousands
of cat mummies inside the catacomb. The mummies had been carefully stacked one on top of the other
in neat rows.
Since the discovery of the cat
mummies, about 30 other catacombs
have been found. They contain millions of animal mummies. Often, one
catacomb is full of one type of animal. They could be cats, dogs, baby
crocodiles, ibises (a type of bird), or
monkeys. Some Egyptologists, or researchers who study Ancient Egypt,
believe that these catacombs could
contain as many as 70 million
animal mummies.
In Ancient Egypt people would
visit certain sites to make an offering to a god. Near the site they
would buy a mummified animal.
This was then placed in one of the
catacombs. At these sites there must
have been people who bred large
numbers of animals. They were then
killed, mummified and sold to visitors, or worshipers.
The UK scientists used X-ray machines and medical scanners. This
equipment can ‘see’ inside mummies. So it is possible to record what
they contain without damaging the
mummies. The scientists checked
about 300 animal mummies. These
are all kept in different museums in
the UK.
Egyptian mummified cats
About one-third of the mummies
had a complete animal skeleton inside. Another third contained parts
of a skeleton. The final third had no
animal remains inside them. These
ones seemed to have been filled with
eggshells, feathers, mud, and sticks.
The scientists are not sure if the
empty mummies were forgeries, or
fakes. It’s possible that Egyptians
paid for these mummies thinking
that there was an animal inside. If so,
they were conned, or deceived, by
the people who sold the mummies.
However, the scientists think that
it may not have been necessary to
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have complete animals in the mummies. It’s possible that those containing feathers or eggshells were
just as good. Maybe, if the mud and
sticks came from where the animals
were kept or bred, they were equally
important. In the catacombs all the
mummies were carefully handled in
the same way.
Perhaps it is not surprising that
so many of the mummies contain
bits of animals or none at all. Breeding enough animals for the large
crowds of people who wanted to
pay for them would have been very
difficult. 
EL NINO RETURNS
On 12th May climate scientists in
Australia and Japan confirmed that
an El Niño event had begun. In
April, American scientists made a
similar announcement. However,
they predicted a ‘weak’ El Niño.
The scientists in Australia and Japan
say they expect the El Niño to become much stronger by September.
Climate scientists record the sea
temperatures, currents and wind
speeds in certain parts of the Pacific
Ocean. They do this with a network
of buoys. It’s known that the temperature of the Pacific Ocean off the
north east coast of South America
can change dramatically. If this part
of the Pacific starts to get much
warmer, it is usually a sign of an
El Niño. If the same area becomes
colder than normal it can be a sign
of a La Niña.
No one knows what causes these
large temperature changes in this
part of the Pacific. However, the
ways in which El Niños and La
Niñas affect the weather are known.
The scientists from Australia and
Japan say the buoys in the mid
14th May 2015
western Pacific have started to record warmer seawater temperatures.
The effects that El Niños and La
Niñas have on the weather in certain
parts of the world are different. An
El Niño causes very dry weather,
or droughts, in Australia, the north
of New Zealand, Indonesia, and the
Philippines. A La Niña has the opposite effect. It causes wet weather
and flooding in these areas.
El Niño means ‘the boy’ in Spanish. To Spanish speakers the words
are used to describe the Baby Jesus.
The weather pattern was given this
nickname many years ago by people who fished in the Pacific off the
coasts of Peru and Ecuador. They
noticed changes when the seawater
became warmer. There were fewer
fish in the sea and much more rain
on the land. They called it El Niño,
as the phenomenon seemed to start
around December. In the Christian
faith, this is the time when Jesus
was born.
During an El Niño, the warmer
seas in the western Pacific create
more clouds. More seawater evaporates. The air above the sea becomes
warmer. This causes the winds to
change direction. This explains why
northern parts of South America get
much more rain than usual.
El Niños seem to affect the
weather in other areas of the world.
There are usually fewer hurricanes
in the Atlantic during and El Niño
year. The south west of the USA
gets much more rain. Currently,
there is a bad drought in this part of
America. So any extra rain would
be welcomed. However, very heavy
rain on dry ground can cause dangerous flash floods. The winter in
northern Europe can be much colder
and drier during after an El Niño.
The last ‘strong’ El Niños were in
1997-1998 and 2009-2010. In 2009
there were frequent snowstorms in
the USA and flash floods in Mexico. India had its worst drought for
40 years and the dry weather ruined
many crops in Australia. 
SUBMARINE ORDER
Colours representing the different sea surface
temperatures during an El Niño and La Niña
El Niños do not happen in a
regular pattern. The gap between El
Niños can be anything from two to
eight years. On average they occur
every five years. La Niña conditions
happen between El Niños. La Niña
means ‘little girl’.
The government of Australia is
planning to buy some new submarines. It has asked companies from
France and Germany to bid for the
order. These companies will now
work out how much it costs to build
the submarines. To many people’s
surprise, the Australian government
has also asked Japan to bid for its
submarine contract.
The Japanese submarine that
Australia may decide to buy is called
the Sōryū (in Japanese this means
‘blue dragon’). Two large Japanese
companies make these submarines:
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the
Kawasaki Shipbuilding Company.
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4
The Japanese government has agreed
that these companies can bid for the
Australian submarine contract.
Some experts predict that the
Australian government will choose
the Japanese submarine. If so, it
will be the first time that Japan
has sold military equipment to another country for over 75 years.
After the end of the Second World
War (1939 – 1945), all Japanese
overseas military equipment sales
were banned.
Japanese Sōryū submarine
Before the war began, Japan
took over Korea and large parts of
China. During the fighting, Japanese soldiers occupied several other
Asian countries. These included
Malaysia, Burma (now also known
as Myanmar) and the Philippines.
The Japanese treated some local
people in these countries in a cruel
and inhumane way. However, by
1944 Japan was losing the war. It
eventually admitted defeat and surrendered in 1945. This was after the
USA had dropped atomic bombs on
the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
After the war, officials from the
USA wrote a new constitution for Japan. This is the set of rules by which
a country is governed. The new
constitution stated that Japan would
never again attack another country.
It would have no army, navy or air
force. The country’s leaders would
be democratically elected. At the
end of the war, Japan was in ruins.
14th May 2015
Many Japanese people blamed the
country’s military leaders for what
had happened. Most people in Japan
agreed that, in future, their country
should be a pacifist nation.
A few years after the war, Japan was allowed to set up a small
army, navy and air force. Together
these are known as the Self-Defence
Forces (SDF). They could only be
used to defend Japan, if it were attacked. Shinzō Abe, Japan’s current
prime minister, wants to change
the constitution. This would mean
that the SDF could be sent to other
countries. Mr Abe believes that, in
an emergency, the SDF should be
able to help Japanese people living
in other countries. He insists that
Japan would never start a war with
another nation.
Before the war, Japan made some
of the world’s best military equipment. Today, Japanese companies
make all the arms and equipment
that are used by the SDF. Some other countries in Asia, such as South
Korea and China, are unhappy about
the constitutional change. To them
the submarine order is another sign
that Japan will no longer be a pacifist nation. These countries don’t
want Japan to have a big armaments
industry. They argue that if Japan
makes a lot of weapons it could become a military power again.
The Sōryū submarine can
travel underwater for very long
distances. Special batteries power
it. This means the submarine is
very quiet and therefore hard to
detect. The French and German
submarines use diesel engines.
These are much louder. Australia
will make its decision by the end
of this year. If it orders the Sōryū
submarines, other countries may
think about buying Japanese-made
military equipment. 
PHAROS OF ALEXANDRIA
Government officials in Egypt have
announced a new plan to build a
replica, or copy, of the Lighthouse
of Alexandria. This building was
one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. The original lighthouse
no longer exists. It was destroyed
about 700 years ago. This was after
it had been badly damaged by several earthquakes.
Computer generated image of the Lighthouse of
Alexandria (Emad Victor Shenouda)
Alexandria is named after Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BCE).
He founded the city after conquering
Egypt about 2,700 years ago. Alexander was a king of Macedonia. This
was a state in the northern part of Ancient Greece. Many people believe
that Alexander was one of the world’s
greatest military commanders.
After taking Egypt, Alexander
travelled eastwards across the Middle East. He defeated other larger
forces including a far larger Persian
army. Alexander and his soldiers
eventually reached the Himalayan
Mountains. By this time the Macedonian king had created a huge
empire. It stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to where Pakistan is
today. Alexander died, aged 32, in
the ancient city of Babylon. He may
have been poisoned.
After Alexander’s death, his empire was divided. The generals of
Alexander’s army became the leaders of these different areas. Ptolemy
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5
the First was Egypt’s ruler. After
he died (around 283 BCE), his son,
Ptolemy the Second, succeeded. The
Lighthouse of Alexandria was built
at the end of Ptolemy the First’s
reign or soon after his son took over.
It was built at the eastern end of an
island called Pharos. The lighthouse
is also known as the Pharos or the
Pharos of Alexandria.
There are many descriptions of
the lighthouse in old Arab texts.
The building also appears on some
ancient coins. The lighthouse had
three stages, or sections. The lower
one was square. The next was eightsided, or octagonal. The uppermost
section was circular. The lighthouse,
which took 12 years to complete,
was 130 metres (420 feet) high.
There was a mirror at the top. This
reflected sunlight during the day. A
fire was lit at night.
Citadel of Qaitbay (Carsten Whimster)
The Egyptian coastline around
Alexandria is very low and flat.
There are no large hills or mountains that can be seen from far out
at sea. Then, sailors used landmarks on the coast to navigate. The
lighthouse could be seen from far
away. It therefore helped to ‘guide’
sailors to Alexandria’s harbour.
The building was made from heavy
limestone blocks.
The Pharos of Alexandria was
one of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World. The idea of listing
the seven most remarkable manmade structures in the world dates
14th May 2015
back to about 200 BCE. Lists of
these buildings were mentioned in
several Ancient Greek books. Of
the ‘seven’ the Great Pyramid of
Giza, in Egypt, is the only one that
can still be seen. The others have
disappeared or are in ruins. Except
for the Great Pyramid, the Pharos
was the tallest building in the world.
In 956 an earthquake damaged
the lighthouse. Within the next
300 years two more earthquakes
destroyed the building. In the late
1400s an Arab sultan, called Qaitbay, ruled Alexandria and the surrounding area. He built a stone fort
on the site of the lighthouse. Called
the Citadel of Qaitbay, this fort still
exists. Its stone walls were probably
made from the ruined lighthouse.
About 20 years ago divers found
a large number of stone blocks on
the seabed near the fort. Some might
have been part of the old lighthouse.
The new, or replica, lighthouse is to
be built close to where the original
Pharos once stood. 
SECOND NEPAL EARTHQUAKE
Another powerful earthquake struck
Nepal on 12th May. It was magnitude 7.3. This quake followed the
7.8 one of 25th April. Geologists,
or scientists who study rocks, said
that the two earthquakes were on
the same fault line. Their epicentres
were 193 kilometres (120 miles)
apart. It’s possible that the most recent earthquake was an aftershock
of the first.
The epicentre of the most recent
quake was about 80 kilometres (50
miles) from Kathmandu, Nepal’s
capital city. It was close to Mount
Everest, which is on Nepal’s border with China. Mount Everest is
the world’s highest mountain. The
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earthquake struck at a depth of 18.5 42 people and injured over 1,000.
kilometres (11.5 miles). Like the These figures, the officials say, are
earthquake 17 days before, it was likely to go up.
‘shallow’, or not very deep.
Geologists suspect that the fault
line that runs close to the Himalayan
Mountain Range has become ‘disturbed’. This could mean that more
powerful earthquakes are likely in
the coming weeks and months.
India and Asia are on two different tectonic plates. The boundary
between them is the fault line. Very
slowly, or at about two centimetres
(0.8 inches) every 12 months, the
Indian plate is being forced under
These big tremors are usually the Eurasian one. It is this movemore destructive when they are ment that has created the Himalayan
not far from the surface. The shak- Mountains. However, scientists being movement was felt in northern lieve that the height of some mounIndia, China and Bangladesh. New tains, including Mount Everest,
Delhi is the capital of India. There, dropped by about 1.5 metres (five
tall buildings shook. Workers left feet) after the first earthquake.
their offices and stood in the streets.
The earthquake’s epicentre, in Nepal, was more than 1,000 kilometres
(620 miles) from the Indian capital.
Rescue work from the previous
earthquake is still going on. This
quake killed at least 8,000 people. It
destroyed or badly damaged many
buildings in Kathmandu. Hundreds
of people became trapped under
Earthquake damaged house in Nepal (Shrestha)
fallen buildings. Many of those who
The two earthquakes have made
were hurt have to recover from their
injures. Helicopters have been taking some of the mountainsides unstable.
food, tents and medicines to the vil- The annual monsoon season in Nelages in the mountainous countryside. pal normally starts in June. This is a
After the first earthquake, many long period of very heavy rain. With
people in Kathmandu set up shelters the unstable mountainsides, these
on open areas of ground. They were rains are now expected to cause
worried about returning to their many dangerous large landslides. 
houses and apartments. After a few
days, most thought it safe to return.
However, the second quake has NEW ART RECORDS
meant that many have moved out
again. Some buildings, which had On 12th May two records were
been weakened on 25th April, fell broken at an art auction in New
down in the latest earthquake. Of- York City, in the USA. The sale
ficials said this earth tremor killed was organised by Christie’s, a
14th May 2015
well-known international auction
house company. At the auction, record prices were paid for a painting and a sculpture.
The picture is called Women of
Algiers (Version O). Pablo Picasso
painted it in 1955. A mystery buyer agreed to buy the painting for
US$179 million (£114 million). The
previous record price for a painting bought in an auction was set in
2013. Then, someone paid US$142
million (£91.3 million) for a picture called Three Studies of Lucian
Freud. Francis Bacon (1909 – 1992)
painted this picture. He was an Irishborn British artist.
Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973)
was a painter and sculptor. He
was born in Spain but spent most
of his adult life in France. Picasso
didn’t make much money from his
works of art in his younger years.
However, in later life he became
very wealthy. Picasso is probably
the 20th century’s most famous
painter. Today, his paintings are
very valuable.
Women of Algiers (Version O) by Pablo Picasso
Picasso is best known for the
pictures he painted in a style called
Cubism. Some artists began to paint
in this style in the early 1900s. In
Cubist works of art, objects, including people, are painted as if they
have been broken into pieces. Each
piece is painted as if seen from a different angle. The final picture looks
like all the pieces have been roughly
put back together again.
The Women of Algiers painting
was done in a Cubist style. It is one
of 15 paintings that Picasso completed of the same subject. These
were all created between 1954 and
1955. Each is designated with a letter, starting from A and ending in
O. The one sold for the record price
is ‘Version O’. Therefore it was the
last in the series.
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7
previous record. It sold for US$104
million (£67 million) in 2010.
Nowadays, rich people will pay
higher and higher prices for wellknown works of art. Usually, they
do not plan to keep them. Instead,
they buy them as an investment.
This means that the owners hope to
sell the paintings or sculptures for
an even higher price in future. 
SRI LANKA’S MANGROVES
One of Alberto Giacometti’s Man Pointing
sculptures (oneadayphotograph.com)
During his lifetime Picasso painted
thousands of pictures. He sold some,
but kept many of his own works.
The French government now owns
around 5,000 of Picasso’s paintings. A
number of these are displayed in the
Picasso Museum (Musée Picasso) in
Paris, the capital of France.
Alberto Giacometti (1901 –
1966) created the record-breaking
sculpture. Giacometti, who was
from Switzerland, was a painter and
a sculptor. He is best know for his
tall thin figures of men and women
made from bronze.
Giacometti made six copies of
a sculpture called Man Pointing in
1947. The figure is about 1.5 metres
(five feet) tall. Four of these figures
are in museums. Private collectors
own the other two. It was one of
these that was sold at the Christie’s
auction. An unknown buyer agreed
to pay US$141.3 million (£90.7million) for the sculpture. This was the
highest price ever paid for a sculpture at an auction. The other privately owned Man Pointing held the
Officials in Sri Lanka announced a
new initiative on 12th May. It has
been set up to protect the country’s mangrove forests. People will
no longer be allowed to cut down
mangrove trees for firewood. Areas
where the trees have been cleared in
the past will be replanted.
There are about 80 types of
mangrove tree. All are evergreen.
Mangrove forests only grow in
very warm parts of the world. The
trees are not able to withstand very
cold temperatures. About 120 countries have mangrove forests. Over
the last 50 years around half of
the world’s mangroves have been
cleared or cut down.
Mangrove forests grow naturally in tropical climates. The trees
will cover low-lying coasts and the
sides of river estuaries. The trees
are unusual. This is because they
can grow in a mixture of fresh and
salt water. They are a mass of trunks
and branches above the water and
a dense tangle of roots below. The
tangle of roots helps the trees to deal
with the rise and fall of the tides.
When the tide is out it looks as if the
trees are standing on stilts. Yet when
the tide comes in, the mangrove
trees are flooded.
Mangroves have a number of
advantages. They help to store, or
14th May 2015
capture, carbon. There is little oxygen in the top part of the soil in mangrove forests. So, the small organisms that help to break down organic
matter cannot survive. This rotting
down of organic matter releases carbon into the atmosphere. As it is not
so easily broken down, mangrove
forests ‘lock’ the carbon into the soil
for much longer.
favoured habitat for many types of
crab and shrimp.
For over 25 years there was a
civil war in Sri Lanka. It finally
ended in 2009. Many of the women
in the north of the country lost their
husbands in the fighting. As part of
the mangrove project, about 15,000
women will be given some money.
In return they will have to guard the
forests close to their homes. The
women will also be given some
training and loans to help them set
up small businesses.
Sri Lanka is the first country to
try to protect its mangroves. If successful, other countries may copy
the initiative. 
Mangrove forest
Mangrove forests form a barrier
between low-lying land and the sea.
The trees protect the land from tsunamis and storm surges. Tsunamis
are powerful waves caused by earthquakes under the seabed. Storm
surges can be created by cyclones,
or very powerful storms.
As they are so dense, mangrove
forests can reduce the power of
huge waves. For example, the Asian
tsunami in 2004 destroyed many
towns and villages in Sri Lanka.
After the tsunami, officials compared the number of deaths between
two villages. These two settlements
were not far apart. Only two people
were killed in the village that had a
mangrove forest between it and the
sea. In the other, where there was
no mangrove forest, nearly 6,000
people died.
Mangrove forests also stop the
sea eroding, or wearing away, the
coastline. They are also a favourite
breeding place for many types of
fish. The trees’ tangled root systems
help to protect these fish from larger
predators. Mangroves are also the
SCHOOLS REPORT
Every three years and organisation
called the OECD (Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development) releases the results of its
PISA tests. These tests are meant to
measure how well students are doing at school in different countries.
The OECD’s headquarters are
in Paris, the capital of France. Its
members meet to discuss and find
solutions to problems that can occur
in democratic countries. The organisation also carries out many surveys
and studies
On 12th May the OECD released
a new global school ranking report.
It includes more countries than the
PISA tests. The report also links
the quality of education in a country with its economic growth. The
results are based on tests in maths
and science.
The OECD schools report is
called ‘Universal Basic Skills:
What Countries Stand to Gain’.
It claims that a good (or universal) education in basic maths and
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8
science can dramatically improve
a country’s economy. The report
includes 76 countries. It attempts
to show how the countries with
the best education have the best
economic prospects. The rankings
were worked out from the results
of three different tests. One was the
OECD’s own PISA tests. The other
two were similar tests that are used
in the USA and South America.
Asian countries took the top five
places. Singapore came top. It was
followed by Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. The OECD
says that schools in these countries
are able to attract very good teachers. Talented teachers teach every
student in the school. What’s more
all of these countries have successful economies.
Hong Kong classroom
The lowest ranked countries were
Oman, Morocco, Honduras, South
Africa, and Ghana. Ghana was in last
place. However, only a few African
countries were included in the report.
So Ghana could be one of the highestranking countries in this part of the
world. Finland was the highest ranked
non-Asian country. It is in sixth place.
Estonia, Switzerland, the Netherlands,
and Canada, are seventh, eighth, ninth
and, tenth. The UK is in 20th place
and the USA 28th.
The report says that if every
15-year-old student in the world had
the basic maths and science skills
the economic benefit would be
‘enormous’. The OECD uses Ghana
14th May 2015
as an example. It says that if Ghana
was able to teach all its 15-year-olds
the basic maths and science skills
the country’s GDP would go up by
38 times. This increase, the OECD
claims, would take place over the
lifetime of these 15-year-olds. GDP
is the way in which a country’s
economy is measured. It stands for
Gross Domestic Product. GDP is the
value of all services and finished,
or completed, goods produced in a
country within a 12-month period.
Not everyone agrees with the
OECD’s methods and tests. Some
teachers argue that many Asian students spend too much time learning
how to answer test questions from
memory. This, they say, means the
students do not learn more important
skills. One example, is how subjects
the students learn can be used after
they leave school. 
ENCELADUS’ CURTAIN ERUPTIONS
Planetary scientists in the USA have
been studying Enceladus. This is one
of Saturn’s 62 moons. Several years
ago geyser-like jets of water vapour
were spotted coming out of the moon’s
surface. The scientists now think that
these are not jets but something more
unusual: curtain eruptions.
Pictures of Enceladus showing the tiger stripes
(left) and the jets of water vapour and ice (right)
Enceladus is Saturn’s sixth-largest moon. William Herschel (1738
– 1832) was the first person to see
it. He was a German born British
astronomer and composer. When he
was young, Herschel made a large
telescope. He then spent many
years studying the night skies.
Herschel became famous after he
discovered the planet Uranus. This
was the first new planet to be seen
since ancient times.
Enceladus’ ‘tiger stripes’ (NASA)
Enceladus is named after a giant from Greek mythology. The
moon is about 500 kilometres (310
miles) wide. Many years ago, Enceladus was thought to be a ‘geologically dead’ large ball of ice.
Its surface temperature is about
−198°C. Planets and moons are
often described as being geologically active or dead. The Earth’s
outer layer, or crust, is made up of
huge pieces called tectonic plates.
These ‘plates’ move very slowly.
It is these plate movements that
cause earthquakes and volcanoes.
This means the Earth is geologically active. The Moon has no tectonic plates, earthquakes or volcanoes. It is geologically dead.
Cassini is an unmanned spacecraft, or probe. It was launched
in 1997. Cassini is a joint project
between the USA’s space agency
(NASA) and the European Space
Agency (ESA). Cassini reached
Saturn in 2004. It has now been circling the ringed planet for over ten
years. Cassini has also flown past
several of Saturn’s moons such
as Enceladus.
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9
Cassini sent pictures of Enceladus back to NASA and ESA
scientists. They then realised that the
moon was geologically active. Cassini spotted the geyser-like jets. The
scientists worked out that these were
coming from four long fractures in
Enceladus’ outer layer of ice. The
fractures are near Enceladus’ south
pole. The scientists nicknamed them
‘tiger stripes’. The stripes, or fractures, were named after the cities of
Alexandria (in Egypt), Baghdad (in
Iraq), Cairo (in Egypt) and Damascus (in Syria).
From one direction the water
vapour geysers looked like individual jets. Yet now the scientists
think they are looking at one end
of a long curtain. So the jets may
run the length of the tiger stripes.
If so, they would be hundreds of
kilometres long. If you were standing on Enceladus, they would look
like a long wall of water vapour
many kilometres high.
The scientists believe that the water vapour comes from a salty ocean
under Enceladus’ icy surface. The
moon’s hot core is heating this ocean.
Of all the planets and moons in the
Solar System Enceladus might be the
only other one that has life. The scientists think that very tiny microbes
would be able to survive in the moon’s
salty ocean. 
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
The Berkshire Hathaway Company’s annual three-day meeting began on 1st May. Warren Buffett runs
the company. He is one of the richest people in the world. This year’s
meeting was larger than usual. This
was because it marked the 50th anniversary of Mr Buffett taking over
as Berkshire Hathaway’s boss.
14th May 2015
The Hathaway Company was set
up in 1888. It made money from
cotton. In the 1950s Hathaway
merged with, or joined, another
organisation called Berkshire Fine
Spinning Associates. The combined
companies operated 15 factories
and had over 12,000 workers. A
few years later Berkshire Hathaway
began to have difficulties. By this
time cotton was being produced
in other countries for much lower
prices. Within a few years of the
merger, the company had closed
down many of its factories.
Warren Buffett
As a young man Mr Buffett
bought some of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock (or shares). He eventually owned enough stock to take
control of the company. It still made
textiles, yet Mr Buffett used it to invest in other companies. Berkshire
Hathaway bought two insurance
businesses in the state of Nebraska.
Mr Buffett comes from Omaha, the
largest city in Nebraska. He still
lives in the city and it’s where Berkshire Hathaway has its headquarters.
Insurance companies take in a
lot of money. Yet they also have to
make frequent payments. Mr Buffett decided to invest this money
in the stocks and shares of other
companies. Eventually, Mr Buffett
closed down Berkshire Hathaway’s
textile business. It then became an
investment company. Berkshire
Hathaway began to buy other companies’ shares. More recently it has
taken over several large companies.
Mr Buffett has become well-known
for choosing the right companies to
invest in and the best time to do it.
His personal wealth is thought to be
US$70.5 billion (£45 billion).
Mr Buffett is now 84 years old.
He is famous for being frugal, or
thrifty. He lives in the same house
he bought in 1958. His salary, which
is paid by Berkshire Hathaway,
is very low when compared with
the bosses of other large companies. Some people have nicknamed
him ‘The sage of Omaha’ because
he makes such good investments.
Twenty-five years ago the stock (or
one share) of Berkshire Hathaway
cost US$7,000 (£4,470). Today, it is
worth U$215,800 (£137,700).
The people who go to the annual
meetings own Berkshire Hathaway shares. This year about 45,000
shareholders attended. The meeting
was held in a large conference hall
in Omaha. The bosses and senior
managers of many companies that
Berkshire Hathaway owns, or has
large investments in, also go to
these meetings. Shareholders can
then speak with them. These companies include: IBM, Wells Fargo (an
American bank), Coca-Cola, Mars,
Heinz, and Duracell. During the annual meeting shareholders are able
to ask Mr Buffett questions.
As well as being a very successful businessman, Mr Buffett is a
philanthropist. He says he plans to
give nearly all of his fortune away
before he dies. 
EXPO 2015
Expo 2015 opened in Milan, Italy’s
second largest city, on 1st May. Expo is
short for the word exposition. This is a
large public exhibition of manufactured
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10
items or art. Expos are also known as
World Expos or World Fairs.
The idea for holding World Fairs
came from the Great Exhibition. It
was held in the UK in 1851. The
Great Exhibition was organised by
Prince Albert. He was married to
Victoria, the UK’s queen. The exhibition was held in a huge ‘glasshouse’. This was built specially for
the event. It was erected in a park in
London, the UK’s capital city. The
building looked like an enormous
greenhouse. The Great Exhibition
was a big success. It included items
from all over the world as well as
many new industrial inventions.
French Pavilion, Expo 2015
The glasshouse was nicknamed the
Crystal Palace. After the Great Exhibition closed, the glasshouse was taken
down. It was then put up again in a
different part of London. The Crystal
Palace was destroyed in 1936 after
it caught fire. Another well-known
building designed for a World Fair is
the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, the capital
of France. Today, the Eiffel Tower is
one of the world’s most famous buildings. Yet originally it formed the entrance arch for the World Fair that was
held in Paris in 1889.
In the past many famous inventions have been exhibited for the first
time at World Fairs. Examples are the
telephone, the sewing machine, the
combine harvester, and the television.
14th May 2015
Since the 1920s an organisation
called the Bureau of International
Expositions (BIE) has decided
where World Fairs can be held.
There are two types. The bigger ones
are called World Expos. These last
for six months. Nowadays, World
Expos are held every five years. The
last World Expo took place in Beijing, the capital of China, in 2010.
The next will be in Dubai in 2020.
The smaller fairs are usually called
International Expos.
At both types of Expos countries that take part can set up their
own ‘pavilions’. Their design is
meant to connect with the overall theme. The Expo 2015 theme
is ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for
Life’. Over 140 countries have
their own pavilions or shared
spaces at the Milan Expo. Coffee
growing countries, such as Kenya,
Costa Rica and Guatemala are
sharing a space. Another group,
Tanzania, Brunei and Afghanistan,
are part of a spice area.
Many exhibits at the Expo are
connected with food production
and reducing world hunger. New
food technologies and innovations
are on show. Israel’s pavilion has a
70-metre (230 foot) long, 12-metre
(39 foot) high wall. It looks likes
a vertical field. Different types of
plants are growing on the wall.
The UK’s pavilion is shaped like
a giant beehive. The noise of bees
can be heard as you walk inside it.
During the six months, over
1,000 special events will be held
at the Expo and in the city of Milan. These include many music
concerts and a Leonardo da Vinci
art exhibition. For the first time
in history, there will be a performance at La Scala every evening.
La Scala is Milan’s world famous
opera house. 
EARLIEST MODERN BIRD?
Palaeontologists, or researchers
who study fossils, have been working in northern China. They recently
discovered two well-preserved birdlike fossils. Many of these creatures’
feathers can be seen. The researchers believe that the fossils are the
earliest known ancestors of modernday birds.
Artist’s impression of what Archaeornithura
meemannae may have looked like (Z Zhang)
Nowadays, scientists are sure that
birds are related to dinosaurs. Over
70 years ago it was noticed that the
skeletons of some dinosaurs and
birds are similar. It’s now thought
that some dinosaurs were covered
in small down-like, fluffy feathers.
These probably helped keep them
warm. If coloured in a certain way,
the feathers may have been a type
of camouflage. Brighter coloured
feathers could have been used to
attract a mate. So, at first, feathers
were not used for flight. However,
the down-like feathers that covered some smaller dinosaurs slowly
changed, or evolved, into modernday bird-like feathers.
About 150 years ago a bird-like
fossil was found in Germany. It
was given the name Archaeopteryx.
Since then other Archaeopteryx fossils have been discovered in China.
This bird-like creature was about 46
centimetres (18 inches) long. It was
about the same size as a modern-day
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11
magpie or crow. However, it also
looked like a small dinosaur. Archaeopteryx had a bony tail, sharp
reptile-like claws, teeth inside its
bill, or beak, and three claws on the
middle of each wing.
Some scientists think Archaeopteryx could fly. Yet others disagree.
They believe the bird-like dinosaur
was only able to glide. Archaeopteryx lived about 150 million years
ago. This was when birds began to
evolve. Two groups seem to have
developed. One (like Archaeopteryx) had clawed wings, teeth and
long tails. They were probably poor
flyers. This group’s descendants disappeared at the same time as the dinosaurs. A large asteroid is thought
to have killed off the dinosaurs. It
hit the Earth 66 million years ago.
The other ‘ancient bird’ group is
known as Ornithuromorpha. Like
mammals, these bird-like creatures
did not die out with the dinosaurs.
They gradually evolved into modern-day birds. The Ornithuromorpha group includes all living birds
as well as their ancestors.
Artist’s impression of what Archaeopteryx may
have looked like (emilywilloughby.com)
Before the recent discovery,
the oldest known Ornithuromorph
fossil dated back to 125 million
years ago. The latest bird-like fossils were found in a layer of rock
made from soil, sand and mud. This
rock layer is 130 million years old.
The new prehistoric bird fossil has
14th May 2015
been named Archaeornithura meemannae. It lived at the beginning
of the Cretaceous. This period was
between 140 million and 66 million
years ago.
A. meemannae was about 15
centimetres (six inches) tall. So it
was the same size as a modern day
sparrow. Apart from its long legs,
the creature was covered in feathers. Its wing feathers show that it
was a good flyer. A. meemannae
had a feathered head crest and a
fan-shaped tail. The researchers say
the ancient bird’s long, featherless
legs mean it was probably a wader.
These are birds that live near the
shores of lakes or along coastlines.
A. meemannae probably lived on
lake shores and ate plants.
The researchers are surprised
at how well developed these
prehistoric birds were. The fossils suggest that this bird group
had already diversified 130 million years ago. Therefore, it is
likely that even older Ornithuromorph fossils will be found in
the future. 
LUSITANIA ANNIVERSARY
Three special remembrance services took place on 7th May. One was
held on a passenger ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The others took place
in Cobh, a town on the coast of
southern Ireland, and in Liverpool,
a port city in the UK. The services
commemorated the 100th anniversary of the loss of the Lusitania.
This large passenger ship sank on
7th May 1915.
One hundred years ago, the
Lusitania was one of the world’s
biggest and fastest passenger
ships. It often travelled across the
Northern Atlantic Ocean, between
Liverpool and New York City,
in the USA. The Lusitania was
launched in 1906. It had four large
propellers. Each had three blades.
In 1909 these were replaced with
four-bladed propellers. These made
the ship go even faster.
The First World War began in
1914. It ended after four years of
fighting. During the war, the UK
and Germany were enemies. The
UK is an island country, so it relied on ships. Cargo, or merchant,
vessels took supplies to the UK.
Iron ore, steel, oil, and rubber
were needed to make weapons.
Large amounts of food also arrived by sea. Part of the German
navy’s strategy was to sink these
merchant ships. Submarines carried out most of the attacks. In
four years, German submarines
sank over 5,000 cargo ships.
An engraving of the sinking of the Lusitania, by
Norman Wilkinson, published in 1915
By 1915 Germany’s military
leaders had declared that the seas
around the UK were a war-zone.
They warned that any ships sailing
in these waters could be attacked.
Before the war, many countries
had signed several agreements, or
treaties. These are known as the
Hague Conventions. (They were
named after The Hague, a city in
the Netherlands, where the agreements were negotiated.) The Hague
Conventions listed what could and
could not be done in war. One rule
was that passenger ships were not
to be attacked.
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12
The Lusitania left New York City
on 1st May 1915. The German Embassy in the USA had been warning
people not to travel on UK ships.
It even placed announcements in
several newspapers. These said that
travelling on ships, such as the Lusitania, could be dangerous. However, the UK shipping company, which
owned the Lusitania, was sure that
the German navy would not attack
their passenger ships.
One of the Lusitania’s propellers outside the
Merseyside Maritime Museum, in Liverpool
Six days after leaving New
York, a German submarine spotted
the Lusitania. The submarine fired
one torpedo. The Lusitania was 18
kilometres (11 miles) off the coast
of southern Ireland. This was within
the Germans’ declared ‘war-zone’.
After the torpedo hit, there was a big
explosion inside the Lusitania. The
ship sank within 18 minutes. It was
carrying a large cargo of rifle cartridges. These contain an explosive
and a bullet. In 1915 the USA was
yet to join the war. However, some
military equipment was being sent
from the USA to the UK.
Of the 1,959 people travelling
on the Lusitania, 1,195 drowned.
Many of the ship’s passengers
were from the UK, Ireland and
Canada. However, 128 Americans were among the dead. Alfred
Vanderbilt was one of them. He
was the head of one of America’s
richest families. The Vanderbilts
owned several railway companies. The sinking of the Lusitania
14th May 2015
shocked and angered many people
in the UK and the USA. It was one
reason why the USA decided to
declare war on Germany in 1917.
In 1982 divers visited the wreck
of the Lusitania. They recovered
three of the ship’s propellers. The
least damaged one was bought by
Liverpool’s Merseyside Maritime
Museum. It was set up on the quayside outside the building. Each year
a service of commemoration is held
next to the propeller. Those who
take part remember all those who
died when the Lusitania sank.
A centenary remembrance service
was organised in Cobh on 7th May.
(One hundred years ago, Cobh was
called Queenstown.) Many of those
who drowned were buried in mass
graves. These graves are in one of
the town’s cemeteries. On the same
day a large passenger ship sailed to
the site of the wreck. On board were
several people whose ancestors were
on the Lusitania. At the same time
that the ship sank, they cast flower
wreaths into the sea. 
FIRE ANT EXPERIMENT
Scientists in the USA have completed some experiments with fire ants.
The experiments show that the ants
can build nests in different types of
soil. Surprisingly, the ants are able
to change the way they dig, or excavate, their tunnels.
There are over 250 types of fire
ant. The species the scientists used
is called Solenopsis invicta. These
ants normally make their nests underground in grassy areas. They create
mounds of soil about 50 centimetres
(20 inches) high. Worker ants are only
five millimetres (0.2 inches) in length.
They are reddish brown with a darker
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13
abdomen. Larger nests, or colonies,
can contain between 150,000 and two
million ants. Unlike many other species, a fire ant nest can have several
queens. The queens are ten millimetres (0.4 inches) long.
Solenopsis invicta have become
well-known because of the damage
they cause. Some people describe
these ants as one of the world’s most
destructive invasive species. Animals are often introduced in places
where they do not normally live.
Here, they become an alien species.
Yet, if they have no, or only a few,
predators (or animals that feed on
them), their numbers will keep increasing. When this happens they
are called an invasive species.
Fire ants are now an invasive species in a number of places. These include the southern USA, Australia,
Taiwan, the Philippines, and South
China. The ants are native to South
RUSSIA
UK
IRELAND
GERMANY
UKRAINE
ITALY
TURKEY
GREECE
USA
NE
EGYPT
PAL
JAPAN
CHINA
GHANA
ECUADOR
SRI
LANKA
SINGAPORE
BURUNDI
PERU
MADAGASCAR
AUSTRALIA
This map shows countries to which news stories refer in this issue. Visit www.newsademic.com for more detailed world maps.
14th May 2015
America. They were first recorded
in the USA over 80 years ago. It’s
thought that the ants arrived inside
wooden shipping crates.
These fire ants are much more
aggressive than other ant species.
They usually force other ants to
leave the areas that they take over.
They have a very painful sting.
The ants can kill or badly injure
pets, small animals and other
types of wildlife. They damage
plants and food crops. The ants
will get into houses where they
look for food. They even chew
through electric cables. The ants
can survive winter temperatures of
-9°C (16°F). If there are floods,
they hold onto each other to form
floating rafts. In America, fire ant
control and medical treatment for
their bites costs large amounts of
money each year.
The scientists then created ‘fake’
soils with tiny glass beads. These
were put in the containers. Each
bead was like a grain of soil. They
then filmed the ants making their
tunnels. The ants would hold a larger bead and then drag it back along
the tunnel. With smaller beads, the
ants used their forelimbs, jaws and
antennae. They moulded several
beads into a larger size. This was
then carried out of the tunnel. These
‘moulded beads’ were always the
same size. While digging, the ants
never get in each other’s way.
Fire ant nests
The experiments show that the fire
ants can make nests in nearly all types
of soil. This probably helps to explain
why the ants become such a problem
in ‘non native’ countries. 
Fire ants
The scientists divided the fire
ants into groups of 100. These
groups where put in glass containers. Inside each was a different type
of soil. The soils were made up of
different size grains, small, medium
and large. Each soil type had a different level of moisture. The scientists discovered that the ants could
dig tunnels in all the soils. Only a
small amount of moisture was needed. The ants dug faster in soils with
larger grains. Yet their tunnel networks were more complex in soils
with extra moisture.
RED SQUARE VICTORY PARADE
In Russia, 9th May is a national
holiday. It is called Victory Day. For
Russians 9th May is the anniversary
of the end of Second World War in
Europe. Therefore, on Victory Day,
most Russians celebrate the defeat
of Nazi Germany in 1945.
Traditionally, there is a large military parade in Red Square on Victory
Day. Red Square is a big open area, or
plaza, in the centre of Moscow, Russia’s capital city. This year’s parade
was larger than usual. This was because it marked the 70th anniversary
of the end of the war in Europe.
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14
Just before the war began, in
1939, Germany and Russia had
signed a secret agreement, or pact.
The war started on 1st September. Then, German forces crossed
the border into Poland. About two
weeks later, the Russian army invaded Poland from the east. However, the German government broke
the pact when it ordered an invasion
of Russia in 1941.
In Russia, the Second World
War is known as the Great Patriotic War. The line where the German
and Russian armies faced each
other during the fighting became
known as the Eastern Front. This
was where some of the war’s fiercest battles took place. It’s thought
that as many as 26 million Russians were killed in the war. This
figure was much higher than any
other country.
By the end of April 1945,
Russian forces had reached Berlin, Germany’s capital city. British and American armies had
entered Germany from the west.
Adolf Hitler, Germany’s leader,
killed himself on 30th April.
Before committing suicide, Hitler declared that Admiral Donitz
would succeed him. Then, Donitz
was in northern Germany. After
Hitler’s death, Donitz arranged
Germany’s surrender.
Two surrender documents were
signed. One was signed at the
American military headquarters
at Rheims, in France, on 7th May.
It stated that the war would officially end just after midnight. So,
to the British and Americans, the
war ended on 8th May. The other
surrender document was signed
with the Russians, in Berlin, on 8th
May. Therefore, in Russia the war
officially ended on 9th May. This
explains why Russia celebrates VE
14th May 2015
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15
PIRATE TREASURE?
Victory Day parade in Red Square (kremlin.ru)
Day (Victory in Europe) a day later
than most European countries.
After VE Day, the war continued
in the Pacific. Japan announced its
surrender on 15th August. The official end of the war in the Pacific
was on 2nd September 1945. This
was when Japan signed the formal
surrender document.
Around 30 leaders from other
countries attended this year’s Victory Day parade. They included
Xi Jinping, China’s president. Ban
Ki-moon, the secretary-general, or
leader, of the United Nations (UN)
was one of the guests. However, the
leaders of the USA and Western European countries, such as Germany
and France, decided not to go. This
was because they are angry about
the Russian takeover of the Crimea
last year. (The Crimea had been a
part of Ukraine since the 1950s.)
These leaders also accuse Russia
of supporting armed separatists, or
rebel groups, that are fighting in
Eastern Ukraine.
During the parade over 11,000
soldiers marched past a raised platform. Troops from China, India,
Serbia, Tajikistan, Armenia, and
Azerbaijan also took part. Vladimir
Putin, Russia’s president, the leaders from other countries, and Russian military commanders were on
the platform. Hundreds of tanks,
rocket launchers and military vehicles drove past. Fighter jets, larger
military aircraft and helicopters
flew overhead.
Xi Jinping and Valdimir Putin, at the Victory Day
parade in Red Square, Moscow (kremlin.ru)
In many Russian cities there
are what’s known as ‘Immortal
Regiment’ marches on Victory Day.
Anyone who brings medals, photographs or letters of relatives who
fought in the war can take part. After the military parade, an Immortal
Regiment of over 250,000 people
marched through Red Square. Mr
Putin led them. He held a picture of
his father, who was badly wounded
in the war. 
A team of underwater explorers
have found a large bar, or block, of
silver. It was discovered close to the
island of Sainte-Marie (St Mary’s
Island), off the coast of Madagascar.
Barry Clifford, an American marine
archaeologist, is the team’s leader.
He claims that the bar came from the
wreck of a ship that once belonged
to William Kidd.
William Kidd (1645 –1701)
is better known as Captain Kidd.
Some people believe that he was
one of history’s most notorious pirates. Others say he was a privateer
who was treated very badly. In those
days, the English government gave
sea captains permission to attack
pirate ships. They could also capture ships from countries that were
at war with England. These ships
and their captains were known as
privateers. Privateers were allowed
to keep most of the treasure (money,
gold and silver) that they captured.
Kidd became the captain of a
privateer in the Caribbean. After
capturing a French ship, he sailed
to New York City. There, he made
friends with a group of wealthy people. Kidd then travelled back to England. He was introduced to the man
who was to be the next governor of
New York. This man and his friends
wanted to set Kidd up as a privateer.
Yet the English government refused
their request. The group of friends
decided to go ahead with their plan
anyway. They gave Kidd a ship
called the Adventure Galley. Kidd
agreed to give them a share of all the
treasure he captured.
Kidd sailed his new ship to
Madagascar and the Indian Ocean.
At that time, many pirate ships were
thought to be in this part of the
world. England and France were at
14th May 2015
war. So Kidd was also looking for
French ships to attack. However, no
pirate or French ships were sighted.
Many of his crew died from disease.
The others were becoming angry.
They were only paid when a ship
was captured.
Kidd used the island of SainteMarie as a base. This island was
popular with pirates. Ships sailing from India to Europe, around
the southern tip of Africa, passed
close by. Eventually, Kidd captured
a treasure ship called the Queddah
Merchant. Armenians owned its
valuable cargo and the ship’s captain was English. This meant that
Kidd should not have attacked it.
Doing so was against the law. Later,
Kidd claimed that the ship had been
flying a French flag.
decided to disown him. Kidd was
found guilty of piracy and hanged.
Many people have wondered
what happened to Kidd’s treasure.
He buried some on an island near
New York. Yet this was recovered
soon after Kidd was arrested. Stories about Captain Kidd inspired
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 –
1894) to write his famous book
about pirates called Treasure Island. In the past many people have
searched for treasure supposedly
buried by Captain Kidd.
Silver bar found near the island of Sainte-Marie
(Malagasy presidency)
Painting of Captain Kidd (in red) welcoming
visitors to his ship in New York harbour
Kidd gave his crew some of the
treasure. After returning to the island, many of them left. They then
joined a pirate ship. By this time
the Adventure Galley, was leaking
badly. It sank somewhere near the
island. Kidd, with only a small crew,
sailed the Queddah Merchant to the
Caribbean. There, he discovered
that he was wanted for piracy.
Kidd decided to go to New York
to clear his name. He was arrested
soon after he arrived. After spending one year in prison, Kidd was
taken back to England. He was
put on trial. Kidd thought that his
wealthy friends would help. Yet they
The silver bar discovered near
the island of Sainte-Marie weighs
55 kilograms (120 pounds). It has
letters and Roman numbers carved
on it. The silver is believed to
have come from a mine in Bolivia. The bar of silver was presented
to the president of Madagascar on
7th May. Mr Clifford believes that
he has discovered the remains of
the Adventure Galley. He now
plans to try to identify the wreck
and search the seabed for more
treasure. 
DRIVERLESS TRUCK
On 6th May the governor of the
state of Nevada, in the USA, gave
two number plates to the boss of
the Freightliner Trucks Company.
Daimler AG, a well-known German carmaker, owns Freightliner
Trucks. The company has been
page
16
testing a driverless (or autonomous) vehicle called the Inspiration Truck. The number plates
mean that two of the company’s
driverless trucks can now be tested
on Nevada’s roads.
Daimler AG also owns MercedesBenz. It is the first carmaker to be
given permission to test self-drive
trucks on public roads in the USA.
The bosses of Freightliner say their
driverless trucks have already completed many tests. As part of these
tests the trucks have travelled over
16,000 kilometres (10,000 miles).
However, these tests have been
done on private roads or blockedoff public roads. In Nevada it will
be the first time that the trucks have
operated with other vehicles on the
same road.
The Inspiration Truck has 18
wheels. Its many sensors, radar
unit, cameras and computer system control the truck. They make
sure that the vehicle stays in its
lane and obeys the traffic laws.
The sensors stop the vehicle from
getting too near other trucks and
cars driving on the road. The
computer controls the speed, navigation and braking.
The Inspiration Truck does
not operate without a driver all
the time. A ‘human’ driver always has to be in the cab. When
travelling on narrow roads or in
towns and cities the driver takes
charge. Therefore it is only on
the main highways that the truck
‘becomes driverless’. Even then,
the driver can always take control in an emergency.
When on a highway, the computer will tell the driver when
the truck can operate in selfdrive mode. However, driving in
bad weather, through road works
or passing another vehicle has
14th May 2015
to be done by the driver. The
sensors need to ‘see’ the white
lane markings, or stripes, on the
road. They will not work on a
road with no markings, or if it is
covered with snow.
If two Inspiration Trucks are
travelling along the same road
they can work together. One will
stay at a set distance behind the
other. This distance helps to lower
the amount of fuel the truck uses.
This is because it stays in the first
truck’s slipstream. This is an area
of less air resistance just behind
a moving vehicle. Also, if the
first truck slows, a radio signal is
sent to the second one. This signal makes the second truck brake.
This braking is done in a fraction
of a second. It is faster than a
driver deciding to use the brake to
slow down.
Freightliner Inspiration Trucks (Daimler AG)
It is possible to see if the truck
is driverless or being controlled by
the driver. There are LED (lightemitting diode) bulbs on the front
and sides. When a driver is in
charge, these lights are white and
yellow. When the truck is operating without a driver, the LEDs turn
blue. Bosses of Daimler AG say
the driver will be able to do other
tasks when the truck is driverless. These could include planning
routes and arranging delivery and
pick up times.
Nevada is an ideal place to test
these trucks. It is a large area with
a small population. The state has a
number of very long straight highways. Yet not many vehicles use
these roads. 
page
17
to buy the statue. It was then taken back
to France. The statue was offered to the
king, Louis the Eighteenth. He gave it to
the Louvre museum.
The statue is thought to be of Aphrodite. She was the Greek goddess of
VENUS DE MILO
love and beauty. The Romans called
this god Venus. Some people think
The Venus de Milo is one of the it may be a statue of Amphitrite. She
world’s most famous statues.
was a Greek goddess of the sea.
It is displayed in the Louvre,
What the woman was doing
a well-known museum, in
with her hands could help
Paris, the capital of France.
to identify the statue. For
The statue is believed to be
example, if the woman held
of an Ancient Greek goda bow or an amphora she
dess. The figure’s missing
could be Artemis. (An amWoman using a phora was a type of storage jar
arms are a mystery.
distaff and spindle.
Many people have wondered
made from clay.) Artemis (or
what the original statue looked like. Diana to the Romans) was the godSome think the woman was holding dess of many things. These included
a spear and a shield. Now an Ameri- archery and hunting.
can writer thinks she may know the
answer. She worked with a 3D (threedimensional) printing expert. They
recreated the arms by working out
their likely position. They now think
the woman was spinning thread.
The statue was probably carved
about 100 BCE. It was made from
several pieces of marble. This is a
type of hard, white coloured stone.
The pieces were fitted together
with metal pegs. The statue was
discovered on the island of Melos
(Milo in modern Greek) in 1820.
Local farmers dug it up. They
Venus di Milo in the Louvre (Sailko)
were looking for stones to build
Other ideas about the statue’s
and repair their houses.
At that time, Greece, and most of arms include holding a baby or
its islands, were part of the Ottoman a mirror. Some think one hand
Empire. This empire was centred was holding her dress while the
on modern-day Turkey. One of the other rested on a short pillar. The
farmers who found the statue tried stump of the right arm makes it
to hide it in his house. Turkish offi- look as if this arm was pointing
cials heard about the statue and took downwards. The other arm could
have been held up in the air. Afit away from him.
Soon after the statue was discovered ter recreating the arms with a 3D
a navy ship from France visited the is- printer, the American writer says
land. One of the ship’s officers arranged that this was likely.
14th May 2015
Spinning wheels were invented about 1,000 years ago. They
were used to spin threads of wool.
Clothes and other linen were then
made from these threads. Before
spinning wheels, wool was spun by
hand. In the ancient world, spinning
wool was a woman’s job. It was
done with a distaff and spindle. The
distaff was held, above the head, in
the left hand. The right hand held
the spindle below.
If the American writer is correct, the Venus de Milo may not
have been a goddess. Instead it
could be the statue of an ‘ordinary’
woman doing a household task. 
became a republic with a president as
its leader.
There are two main tribal groups
in Burundi, Hutu and Tutsi. Disagreements between these two ethnic
groups are the cause of many problems in the country. Between 1962 and
2004 there were frequent outbreaks of
fighting. At least 300,000 people died
during these conflicts. The United Nations (UN) asked other African countries to help. Several African leaders,
including Nelson Mandela (1919 –
2013), tried to find ways in which the
Hutu and Tutsi could work together.
In 2004 the UN sent a peacekeeping
force to the country.
BURUNDI COUP
An army general in Burundi made
a radio announcement on 13th May.
He explained that the country’s
president and his government had
been dismissed. After the announcement, thousands of people gathered
on the streets of Bujumbura, the
country’s capital city, to celebrate.
When a military force takes over in
this way it is called a coup d’état, or
coup (pronounced coo).
Burundi is one of the smallest
countries in Africa. Even though it
has a small land area it is home to
about ten million people. Of these
around 600,000 live in Bujumbura.
Burundi is one of Africa’s poorest
countries. Most people work on the
land and many grow their own food.
One hundred years ago, Burundi
was a part of German East Africa.
After Germany was defeated in
the First World War (1914 – 1918)
Belgium was asked to take control.
Burundi became an independent
nation in 1962. Then, it was a kingdom. However, after a short time the
king was overthrown: Burundi then
Pierre Nkurunziza, president of Burundi
In 2005 members of Burundi’s
parliament elected Pierre Nkurunziza as their president. Mr Nkurunziza won a public election in
2010. However, opposition groups
refused to take part in the voting.
Burundi’s constitution says that a
president can only serve two terms
of five years. The constitution is
the set of rules by which a country
is governed.
At the beginning of April, Mr
Nkurunziza announced that he
planned to stand in this year’s June
presidential election. His opponents
claimed that he was not allowed to
do this. They argued that he had already done two five-year terms as
president. However, Mr Nkurunziza
page
18
and his supporters insist that his first
five years do not count. This was because members of parliament, and
not the people, elected him.
Mr Nkurunziza’s announcement
led to many street protests. At least
20 people were killed. Many of the
protesters were angry with the police. They say that police officers
used too much force. Frightened of
more ethnic violence, tens of thousands of people have fled to nearby
countries.
On the morning of 13th May, Mr.
Nkurunziza traveled to Tanzania.
There, he attended a meeting with
several other African leaders. The
meeting had been arranged to discuss
the problems in Burundi. General
Niyombare made his radio announcement when Mr. Nkurunziza was out of
the country. The General ordered the
closure of the airport and all the border
crossings. This was so Mr. Nkurunziza would not be able to return.
However, not all the soldiers
agreed with what the general was
ordering them to do. Fighting broke
out in Bujumbura. Eventually,
those who organised the coup surrendered. Mr Nkurunziza returned
to Burundi the following day. He
thanked the army and the police for
protecting the country, its people
and the government. 
Newsademic.com
Editor: Rebecca Watson
Acknowledgements:
News story photographs by gettyimages
For further details about Newsademic
and subscription prices visit
www.newsademic.com
© Newsademic 2015
14th May 2015
ISSUE 249
GLOSSARY PUZZLE
1
2
page
19
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

3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
ACROSS
DOWN
1 Adjective In balance according to size or number
2 Noun A person who is concerned for his or her fellow
5 Noun Method by which a person, ship, car or aircraft is
human beings, especially as shown by kind and generous
directed from one place to another
acts that benefit many people
10 Noun A plan of action
3 Noun The power or will to get something started or to be
11 Adjective Describes someone or something that will not
the first to set something up
die but live forever
4 Noun (Plural) International agreements
13 Verb Created different forms
5 Adjective Having a very bad reputation
14 Verb Gave someone an idea for something, especially a
6 Verb Discussed with others in order to reach an
film, book or piece of music
agreement
15 Noun (Plural) Rotating devices with blades, that cause
7 Adjective Displaying forceful, attacking behaviour
ships to move or aircraft to fly
8 Noun A fortress, usually on high ground
17 Noun (Plural) Illegal copies of things made to deceive
9 Noun A collection of legends, or traditional old stories,
others
about people, gods and the history and culture of a country
18 Adjective Spending very little and being careful with money
or civilisation
19 Noun (Plural) Underground tunnels or cemeteries where
12 Noun An unusual or remarkable event or occurrence
bodies were placed, or buried
16 Noun A wise person, usually someone who is old
14th May 2015
ISSUE 249
GLOSSARY PUZZLE CONTINUED
Z M P
H E
C D
Y K
J
E
P
Z
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R S
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F O L
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N O N H S
M X S W
R O P
L
X S
E
N
B
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W
N
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L
E
R S
I
O Q U N N G J
I
B
R
E
A Q O P
I
V
F D O
I
S
N E
K
V
J
J
I
K
G C S
I
L
E
O S
I
I
O T D Q A S
K
M G R
P
G X
A C B
C E
T B
A
M J
I
V
I
A
T G S
C G H Q U U
T
I
O
I
I
G T
J
D S
O X O A
A D N R O Z
A N S
E
F
I
D
I
A S
N R
A C R
J
R R R P
E
N
L
X
A
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T N N
I
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P
O A
T R
E W F H
I
S
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T
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C G E
Z N D
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S
Z U D G N P
D K
P
V M U
I
L
M E
O N D
T R S
O R R S
I
T E
Y M V
E
T S
Y
E
E
A R R K
T O L
A G U R
F E
T
S
V
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G O
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T
T
F N
T H
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C E
Z
L
V
P
O
T O Y
F D N
O X
G H W
Y S
GET EXTRA
DEMICS*
T R N
O E
L
Demics are tokens that Individual
and Family Subscribers can earn.
They are awarded for answering this
Glossary Puzzle and/or the Daily
News question – accessible by logged
in users – correctly. Demics earned
can be used by Family and Individual
Subscribers in the Newsademic
online store.
V
A O F G D O C
T
20
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.
N O M E
Y H
P
F S
P
page
R N
X G
O A H
Y C
* Only applies to those who have purchased a
Newsademic Individual or Family Subscription
If you wish to earn additional Demics
please email the missing word answer
to: [email protected]
Puzzle entries need to be submitted by
10 pm on 27th May 2015 (GMT/UTC).*
MISSING WORD ANSWER =
2
4
5
7
6
8
9
10
12
11
13
14
15
16
17
18
ISSUE 248 ANSWERS
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M
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E

Issue 249

Transcription

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