【207-209】8 Out of 13 Rescued from Flooded Cave in Thailand

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*【207】AS IT IS

8 Out of 13 Rescued from Flooded Cave in Thailand

Last Updated: July 09, 2018

A board showing "Welcome home, boys", is seen after rescue effort has begun for the 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach trapped in Tham Luang cave, in Chiang Rai, Thailand, July 9, 2018. (REUTERS/Tyrone Si)

Thai officials say four boys were brought out of a flooded cave in northern Thailand on Monday.

A witness near the cave told the Reuters news agency that medical workers carried four people to emergency rescue vehicles.

They will join four other boys who were rescued on Sunday. They had been trapped inside the Tham Luang cave for more than two weeks.

Four other youngsters and their soccer coach are still inside. Rescue operations have halted for the night and will restart on Tuesday.

Rescued schoolboys are moved from a military helicopter to an awaiting ambulance at a military airport in Chiang Rai, Thailand, July 9, 2018. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

Sunday night, teams of divers brought out four of the trapped boys to waiting ambulances. But officials waited several hours before confirming their rescue.

Thai officials started the rescue operation on Sunday as weather experts predicted more rain in the coming weeks. Divers escorted the children, who wore equipment to help them breathe. Other divers were on guard along the dangerous first kilometer of the passageway. In some places, the boys had to be carried under flooded areas, some as narrow as 0.6 meters wide.

Narongsak Osottanakorn, head of the rescue operation, said a team of divers went back into the cave Monday morning, local time.

He added that the divers were the “same multinational team” that rescued the four boys on Sunday. Thirteen foreign divers and five members of Thailand’s navy SEAL unit are taking part in the rescue operation. Last week, a former Thai navy diver died while preparing for the operation.

Narongsak would not identify the rescued boys. He said it was out of respect for the families whose sons were still trapped in the cave. He added, “They still need to be kept away from their parents and others due to fear about infection.”

Boys from the soccer team trapped inside Tham Luang cave covered in hypothermia blankets react to the camera in Chiang Rai, Thailand, in this still image taken from a July 3, 2018 video by Thai Navy Seal. Thai Navy Seal/Handout via REUTERS

Somboon Sompiangjai is the father of one of the 12 boys. He said rescuers told the parents that the “strongest children” would be brought out first.

He told Reuters, “We have not been told which child has been brought out ... We can’t visit our boys in hospital because they need to be monitored for 48 hours. I’m hoping for good news.”

People around the world are following the developments in Thailand.

United States President Donald Trump wrote Sunday on Twitter: “The U.S. is working very closely with the Government of Thailand to help get all of the children out of the cave and to safety. Very brave and talented people!”

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Gianna Infantino, the president of FIFA, soccer’s governing body, has invited the boys to the World Cup final in Moscow on Sunday.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Hai Do adapted this story based on AP and Reuters news reports. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

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

ambulance - n. a vehicle used for taking hurt or sick people to hospital in emergencies

escort - v. to go with someone to give protection or guidance

unit - n. a group

monitor - v. watch, observe

talented - adj. having special ability to do something well

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Call-to-Listen Radio Helps Immigrants Stay Connected with Home

July 09, 2018

Boubacar Ba records a weekly call-to-listen politics show for the Malian diaspora in New York's Zeno Media studios.

Every Wednesday night, Boubacar Ba goes to a radio production studio in New York City and prepares for his show.

The program, called Radio Mali USA, is a show by Malians for Malians around the world.

With a tall glass of water and a few news stories in hand, Ba readies for whatever may happen in his open-ended conversations with listeners. It is a few minutes after the normal start time, and he has yet to say a word. But there are already a hundred or more listeners waiting to speak with him.

“My show, sometimes it goes to three hours, because the cab drivers, they don’t want it to end.”

His radio station broadcasts in Fulani and Bambara, two languages of Mali.

In the United States, many immigrants speak in languages that are rarely spoken across the country. So, staying connected to local news and culture can be hard. In many immigrant communities, call-to-listen radio programs are designed to fill this need. You call a local telephone number or use a mobile phone app to hear the programs.

Such programs offer a brief escape from day-to-day struggles facing immigrants, including the ones without legal documents.

Ba is one 7,000 world broadcasters allied with Zeno Media. The company offers diaspora populations the chance to connect to news from their home countries in their home languages. The company says it has listeners in over 150 countries.

‘I would be lonely’

Baruch Herzfeld is the founder and president of Zeno Media. He says its programs are designed for immigrants whose jobs require them to spend a lot of time alone.

“If I was a security guard in a building, and I didn’t have that much human interaction, I was thinking, ‘What can I provide to this person to entertain them or to make their day better?’ I thought to myself, ‘If I was doing this, I would be very, very lonely.’”

Without the issue of limited phone data plans, Herzfeld says the company provides listeners with more hometown news. And, he says, the program format leads to honest conversation.

Zeno Media says an average program lasts about 90 minutes. It claims that all the shows produced in 2017 added up to 10.5 billion minutes of programming.

“Their world exists in a geography that’s 3,000 miles from where they’re from,” Herzfeld said about listeners. “We try and build technology that decreases the limits that geography previously put on staying connected.”

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A form of relief

Boubacar Ba became a political news broadcaster in 2009. He says news of Mali is most important for his listeners. Second are U.S. immigration issues.

After President Donald Trump ordered immigration policies like the travel ban, Ba says, there has been a sharp increase in interest in the subject. He says the interest has grown the most among undocumented listeners. Sometimes, he brings in lawyers or other specialists, and also offers his own advice.

“Mainly, try to stay underground. That’s the main advice we tell those who don’t have papers. Don’t expose yourself too much.”

Ba also tells them to avoid illegal activities.

His work as a community leader and broadcaster are often connected. Without a station like his, he says, many immigrants might not have a place to express their opinions.

The discussions that Zeno Media’s programs make possible, he says, are helpful, a way to “pull back from all the noise.”

On Monday, his show deals with civics. On Tuesdays, he offers a language class on how to say English terms in Bambara. On Thursdays, the subject is religion and on Fridays, culture. The weekend is for music and sports.

Joseph Kwesi Kwentsir is a broadcaster from Kumasi, Ghana. His program, which has about 1,600 listeners, also can be heard through Zeno Media. He says his listeners like hearing news about Ghana.

Although he and Ba have different listeners, Kwentsir says their programs let people take part meaningfully from any part of the world.

Herzfeld said that, when listeners in one country get involved in the programs, people in their home country can hear them and “That’s really, really exciting.”

I’m Alice Bryant.

Ramon Taylor wrote this story for VOA News. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

studio – n. a place where radio or television programs are broadcast

conversation – n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people

app – n. a computer program that performs a special function

diaspora – n. a group of people who live outside the area in which they had lived for a long time or in which their ancestors lived

interaction – n. the act of talking or doing things with other people

entertain – v. to provide or be entertainment for someone

data – n. information that is produced or stored by a computer

format – n. the form, design, or arrangement of something, such as a book or television or radio program

geography – n. (informally) place or location

underground – adv. in or into a place that is hidden or secret

*【209】AS IT IS

Deadly Floods, Landslides Hit Japan

July 09, 2018

Emergency teams rest outside of structural damage caused by heavy rains, Monday, July 9, 2018, in Hiroshima, Japan. (AP Photo/Haruka Nuga)

Severe flooding and landslides have killed at least 100 people in southwestern Japan.

Rescuers searched for survivors in flooded areas and landslides after several days of heavy rain. Officials said dozens of people were missing.

The severe rain caused rivers to overflow, in some cases covering whole towns. Some people escaped the water by climbing onto the top of their homes while waiting to be rescued by helicopter.

Parts of southwestern Japan had up to 10 centimeters of rain per hour, the highest level in decades. In some areas, hills collapsed under the weight of water, causing deadly landslides that crushed homes and took out roads.

Debris fills a small village following heavy rains Sunday, July 8, 2018, in Kuchita-Minami, Asakita-ku, Hiroshima, Japan. (AP Photo Haruka Nuga)

Japanese officials said more than 73,000 emergency workers and troops were involved in search and rescue efforts. Thousands of homes were without clean water and electricity in the city of Hiroshima and other hard-hit areas.

The rain finally lifted on Monday. It was replaced by sunny, hot conditions. Many people lined up to receive water in temperatures reaching 34 degrees Celsius.

One of those lining up was Yumeko Matsui, whose home in Hiroshima had been without water since Saturday.

“We cannot take baths, the toilet doesn’t work and our food stockpile is running low,” the 23-year-old school worker said. She added that bottled water and tea were sold out in local stores.

Emergency rescue teams recover the body of a victim in the heavy rains, Monday, July 9, 2018, in Hiroshima, Japan. (AP Photo/Haruka Nuga)

Seiji Toda told Japan’s TBS television he was shocked and felt helpless when he saw that his restaurant in Hiroshima had been destroyed by a landslide. “I have never seen anything like this,” Toda said, standing outside the eatery he opened 40 years ago.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe canceled a planned trip to Europe and the Middle East to oversee disaster activities.

Even with the break in rain, officials warned of the possibility of sudden showers, as well as new landslides in the wettest areas.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Hai Do was the editor.

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