Hot off the Press 18th November 2019

Most of Europe’s most-wanted criminals are women

The (1) ____ of the most-wanted fugitives in Europe are women. Europe’s crime agency Europol has (2) ____ a list of 21 criminals who are on the run from the authorities. Eighteen of these are women. The wanted (3) ____ have been accused of a range of charges including murder, human and drug trafficking and robbery. The most-wanted list was released as (4) ____ of Europol’s “Crime has no gender” campaign. A spokeswoman said: “People think that usually these crimes are not being committed by women, but they are, and they are (5) ____ as serious as those committed by men.” However, a crime expert told the BBC that: “Although, some women do commit serious crimes, they do (6) ____ far less frequently than men.”

The Europol campaign hopes to (7) ____ awareness, “that women are just as likely to commit violent crimes as men.” A spokeswoman said: “Even though the discourse is often (8) ____ male fugitives, women can be just as bad.” The campaign’s website asks visitors the question: “Are women equally as (9) ____ of committing serious crimes as men?” It then answers that (10) ____ question by stating: “The female fugitives featured on Europe’s Most Wanted website prove that they are [capable]. The criminals – (11) ____ both genders – in this new campaign by EU law enforcement are all wanted for grave offenses like murder, drug trafficking, (12) ____, theft and trafficking in human beings.”

Which of these words go in the above text?

1. (a)     derivative     (b)     pejorative     (c)     priority     (d)     majority    
2. (a)     relied     (b)     resealed     (c)     repealed     (d)     revealed    
3. (a)     spies     (b)     suspects     (c)     agents     (d)     provocateurs    
4. (a)     section     (b)     sector     (c)     part     (d)     partner    
5. (a)     equally     (b)     equitably     (c)     equate     (d)     equality    
6. (a)     so     (b)     therefore     (c)     much     (d)     among    
7. (a)     rise     (b)     rising     (c)     arise     (d)     raise    
8. (a)     around     (b)     over     (c)     among     (d)     in    
9. (a)     ability     (b)     capable     (c)     enable     (d)     culpable    
10. (a)     ready     (b)     why     (c)     very     (d)     try    
11. (a)     in     (b)     on     (c)     of     (d)     at    
12. (a)     applaud     (b)     fraud     (c)     laud     (d)     maraud

Modern humans came from Botswana

A new study claims that the origin of modern humans is in Botswana. The study is published in the journal ‘Nature’. Researchers in the study said they used DNA to find out where modern humans came from. The researchers believe we all have roots in a region of northern Botswana, south of the Zambezi River. Humans were there 200,000 years ago. They lived there for at least 70,000 years before they moved around the African continent. They then started migrating to what is now Europe and Asia. Researcher Professor Vanessa Hayes, from the University of Sydney in Australia, said: “We’ve known for a long time that modern humans originated in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago.
The researchers pinpointed an area called Okavango as being the place we come from. There used to be a huge lake there but it is now salt flats. The people had access to water, hunting and farmland. Scientists analyzed DNA samples from 200 people who live near the area today. They are from the Khoisan people. The Khoisan now live in modern-day South Africa and Namibia. They had a lot of DNA called L0, which is the oldest form of DNA known to be inside humans. Professor Hayes explained why L0 is important. She said: “Every time a new migration occurs, that migration event is recorded in our [L0 and] DNA as a time-stamp…. Everyone walking around today…comes from this region.”

TRUE / FALSE:

1. The research was published in a journal called ‘Origins’.     T / F
2. Modern humans originated in an area north of the Zambezi River. T / F
3. Humans lived in the area in Botswana for 200,000 years.     T / F
4. The professor in the article is from the University of Botswana.     T / F
5. The area that is our origins are salt flats today.     T / F
6. Scientists looked at the DNA of 200 people local to the area for our origins.  T / F
7. A form of DNA called L0 acts as a time stamp in our body.     T / F
8. A professor said most people today come from that region.     T / F

The climbing of Australia’s Uluru is banned

People are now banned from climbing one of the most sacred sites in indigenous Australian culture. The world’s largest monolith, the giant Uluru in the desert of Australia’s Northern Territory, is now officially off-limits to tourists and climbers. It will be closed from October 25 in recognition of the site’s cultural significance to the local Anangu traditional owners. The giant site was once known as Ayers Rock, before it reverted to its historic name of Uluru. It has been a major attraction for decades. Tourists from around the world have flocked there in droves to climb the rock. However, it is a sacred site in Anangu culture. The Anangu custodians of the rock have long campaigned for the ban.
The ban was initially announced in 2017 and most visitors complied with it. Australia’s tourist association said that only 16 per cent of visitors have actually climbed the rock since 2017. Local Anangu man Rameth Thomas, who grew up in a tiny community near Uluru, explained to the BBC how important the rock is to his people. He said: “That place is a very sacred place. That’s like our church. I’ve been telling them since I was a little boy: ‘We don’t want you to climb the rock.'” He added: “All of our stories are on the rock. People right around the world come just to climb it. They’ve got no respect.” Another resident said: “If I tried to climb on top of that parliament house at Canberra, they wouldn’t let me in.”

SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

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