【200-202】Connections May Help Ease Stress in Thai Cave

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*【200】AS IT IS

British Officials Say Nerve Agent That Poisoned Two People Same as Earlier Incident

A British police vehicle stands parked next to an area which was extended overnight to include the Lush House car park adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth Gardens park in Salisbury, England, Thursday, July 5, 2018. The area has been linked to what is believed to be another chemical incident involving a nerve agent.

Britain’s interior minister says a poison used to sicken a British man and woman last week is the same one that sickened a former Russian spy and his daughter.

Sajid Javid gave the latest report on the two people found unresponsive in the town of Amesbury. The two have been identified as 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess and 45-year-old Charlie Rowley.

Javid said of the poisonous substance, “This has been identified as the same nerve agent that contaminated both Yulia and Sergei Skripal.”

The attack on the Skripals took place in March in the city of Salisbury. They were poisined with Novichok, a nerve agent developed by the former Soviet Union.

British Security Minister Ben Wallace spoke to the BBC on Thursday. He said investigators believe the new incident resulted from the earlier one that involved the Skripals. But he also said investigators do not believe that Sturgess and Rowley were meant to be targeted in the latest incident.

Javid said it is not clear if the nerve agent found in the latest incident was from the same batch as the one that poisoned the Skripals.

The unexpected poisoning of the couple has raised public concerns in the Salisbury area.

Salisbury is 13 kilometers from Amesbury. Health officials, however, say the risk to the public is low. Sturgess and Rowley have no known links to Russia. Britain blamed Russia for poisoning the Skripals.

Wallace called on Russia to share information about the poisoning.

Russia has denied any involvement in either incident. It has claimed that Britain is at fault and is seeking to create anti-Russian feelings.

Russia said Thursday it had offered assistance to Britain with the Skripal investigation, but that Britain refused the offer.

The incident resulted in the biggest expulsion of Russian diplomats since the Cold War. The United States and European allies took the side of Britain and blamed Russia for the incident.

I’m Mario Ritter.

VOA’s Smita Nordwall and the Associated Press reported this story. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

unresponsive - adj. not able to react to

nerve agent –n. a kind of poison that affects the nervous system

contaminated –adj. something that has had a substance added to it that makes it harmful

batch –n. an amount of something that is made at one time

*【201】AS IT IS

Connections May Help Ease Stress in Thai Cave

Boys from the under-16 soccer team trapped inside Tham Luang cave receive treatment from a medic in Chiang Rai, Thailand, in this still image taken from a July 3, 2018 video by Thai Navy Seal.

In the mountains of northern Thailand, Ekapol Chanthawong developed a skill that may help him as he sits trapped underground in a cave: meditation.

The 25-year-old and 12 members of a boys’ soccer team disappeared after the team played on June 23. They have been inside the cave ever since.

Before Ekapol Chanthawong was asked to supervise the team, he spent 10 years as a Buddhist monk. He still goes to a religious center in the mountains where [he once] lived from time to time.

Tham Chanthawong, a family member, told the Associated Press that he “could meditate up to an hour. It has definitely helped him and probably has helped the boys stay calm.”

About 300 hours have passed since rising floodwaters trapped Ekapol and the boys in the Tham Luang cave.

Rescue crews found them on July 2. By then, the group had spent 10 days cut off from the outside world. Experts say the boys and their soccer coach are mostly physically healthy. But they say the experience has likely been difficult mentally. And it will likely worsen the longer the situation goes on.

Paul Auerbach is chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

“It’s very likely that while the boys were in the cave, but not yet discovered by rescuers, that they experienced various degrees of anxiety, fear...and perhaps hopelessness,” he told the Associated Press.

This Monday, July 2, 2018, photo released by Tham Luang Rescue Operation Center, shows the boys and their soccer coach as they were found in a partially flooded cave.

Videos taken inside the cave show the boys -- aged 11 to 16 -- and Ekapol speaking with Thai navy SEAL divers. The divers were sent in to give the group survival supplies, provide medical care and to keep them from feeling lonely. Although the boys and their coach appear thin and weak, they can be seen smiling and making jokes.

There is no set date for their removal from the cave. The only way out is for the boys to dive through the same flooded, narrow passageways that their rescuers entered.

The way out is considered extremely dangerous even for expert divers. Yet it is being considered as a possibility. Storms expected in the coming days could worsen the flooding.

Rescue workers work next to water pumped out of Tham Luang cave complex, where members of a youth soccer team and their coach have been found alive, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, July 5, 2018.

Cave rescue experts say it may be safer to provide the group with supplies and wait for the water to go down -- either naturally or by pumping it out. But that could take months. Thailand’s rainy season usually continues until the end of October.

Experts say the boys and their coach have skills and qualities that will help them deal with the situation. They include their young age and their group identity, as well as Ekapol’s training in meditation.

David Spiegel is a professor at Stanford’s medical school. He said young people are “especially social creatures, and having friends with them as well as their coach would be a tremendous help.”

The boys and their coach are known to have very close ties as a group. Outside of sports, they often spend time together, swimming in waterfalls, boating down rivers -- and exploring caves.

Aisha Wiboonrungrueng’s 11-year-old son Chanin is among the boys trapped in the cave. She believes that Ekapol has helped the boys stay calm.

“Look at how calm they were sitting there waiting. No one was crying or anything,” she said of the video taken after the boys were discovered. “It was astonishing.”

I’m Dorothy Gundy.

The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

cave - n. a large hole that was formed by natural processes in the side of a cliff or hill or under the ground

meditation - n. the act or process of spending time in quiet thought

soccer - n. a game played between two teams of 11 players in which a round ball is moved toward a goal usually by kicking

Buddhist - adj. relating to Buddhism, a religion of eastern and central Asia that is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha

monk - n. a member of a religious community of men who usually promise to remain poor, unmarried, and separated from the rest of society

coach - n. a person who teaches and trains an athlete or performer

anxiety - n. fear or nervousness about what might happen

tremendous - adj. very large or great

astonishing - adj. causing a feeling of great surprise or wonder

*【202】AS IT IS

Where in the World Do People Feel Safest?

In this Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016 file photo, a man is silhouetted against the rising sun in Singapore during his morning exercise along the eastern coast of Singapore. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

A new study takes a look at people’s ratings of the safest and most dangerous places in the world.

The American research company Gallup asked people to tell about their experiences with crime and law enforcement. Gallup says its researchers carried out the study last year in a total of 142 countries and areas.

The researchers met with the individuals in person or spoke with them by telephone. People were asked these brief questions:

In the city or area where you live, do you have confidence in the local police force?
Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?
Within the past 12 months, have you had money or property stolen from you or another household member?
Within the past 12 months, have you been assaulted or mugged?

The findings were published in Gallup’s 2018 Law and Order Index report.

‘Law and Order’ scores

Singapore received the top rating in the study – 97 out of a possible 100. In this Southeast Asian nation, 94 percent of people questioned in 2017 said they felt safe walking alone in their neighborhood at night.

A pedestrian smokes a cigarette as she walks on a snow covered pathway in Alta, northern Norway, Monday, Feb. 1, 2016. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Three northern European countries – Norway, Iceland and Finland - were in a tie for second place. Each received a rating of 93. Results showed 93 percent of Norwegians reported feeling safe walking around alone at night.

The Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan received the same rating as Hong Kong. They each had a score of 91. Switzerland and Canada tied at 90, while Indonesia received 89.

Seven nations were next on the list with scores of 88. The seven were Denmark, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Austria, China, the Netherlands and Egypt.

Street vendors talk at a market in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016. (AP Photo)

The United States received a rating of 84. That was the same score as the Czech Republic, Sweden, France and Taiwan.

At the bottom of the list was Venezuela, with a score of 44. The study noted that only 17 percent of the Venezuelans questioned said they felt safe walking alone at night. This was up from 12 percent in 2016.

Afghanistan scored next lowest with 45. Just 20 percent of Afghans said they felt safe walking around alone at night. This was a drop from the 36 percent reported in 2016. In addition, the study found that Afghans’ trust in local police fell from 68 percent in 2016, to 31 percent last year.

A policeman stands guard near the site of a deadly suicide attack, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, June 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Among the 10 countries where the least people said they felt safe walking alone at night, five were in Latin America. Four others were in African countries south of the Sahara Desert.

South Sudan came in third from the bottom with a score of 54. Gabon was next (55), followed by Liberia (56), South Africa (58), Mexico (58) and the Dominican Republic (60).

When it comes to where people have the greatest trust in their local police, the United States and Canada topped the list with a score of 82. Western Europe and Southeast Asia followed close behind, followed by South Asia, East Asia and Eastern Europe.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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