Where the bombs fall day and night

By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff

04.16.14

ALEPPO, Syria — A family stood shivering on a balcony in Aleppo’s Anadan suburb as midnight approached. Their sleep had been interrupted by the nightly flight of a government helicopter.

They followed the sound of the helicopter’s whirring blades and listened to scratchy updates from rebels coming over a walkie-talkie.

News came in that the helicopter had dropped two barrel bombs on nearby towns. The bombs are oil drums filled with TNT that can level buildings.

They knew that the helicopters can carry up to four of the bombs. They waited for the last two.

Below them, lights came on in basement bunkers as others sought a small measure of protection. Khansa Laila walked out onto the balcony cloaked in several layers but still shaking in the nighttime chill.

“I woke up from the sound of the alarm, so I’m still cold,” she said, referring to the warning system the town’s residents installed. “Also, fear makes you cold.”

A series of red streaks from a machine gun shot upward against a starry sky. But the streaks rose and fell without striking their target.

Eventually the sound of the helicopter grew faint and was replaced by that of a warplane.

“We don’t take the warplanes seriously anymore,” Laila said. “They launch rockets that are precise, but helicopters drop barrel bombs that can destroy dozens of homes with one barrel.”

The family went to sleep that night to the sound of machine-gun fire and the occasional rocket.

Sad Soundtrack Of War

It is three years into Syria’s conflict. The noise of war has become a familiar companion to daily life here in the country’s largest city. The noise is the sad soundtrack to the gradual destruction of Aleppo and a shrinking civilian population struggling to survive.

For more than three months, Aleppo’s opposition-held neighborhoods and surrounding suburbs have been terrorized nearly daily by the barrel bombs. Activists estimate that more than 2,000 people have been killed in these attacks.

Those still in the city have adjusted to enduring most of President Bashar Assad’s military might with resilience.

In a shoe store, a woman tries on a pair of wedge heels and deems them not comfortable enough “to flee” in. A 1-year-old with curly hair and big brown eyes speaks mostly in mumbles, but one word she knows clearly: "tabit" — it fell.

“A barrel falls and 10 minutes later people return to what they were doing,” said Muhammad. The young man works at a temporary gas station: 12 oil drums resting on their sides serving six varieties of gasoline.

Hours earlier, a barrel bomb had struck a street, hitting three vehicles and killing eight people. With the blood fresh on the pavement, motorists stopped and peered at the deadly damage.

The next day people walked by without a glance; the destroyed vehicles had become one more addition to the city’s scary backdrop.

“Every day we see the names of the dead scrolling across the TV screen; they’ve just become numbers,” one man said. “When I was a kid and someone died we mourned for 40 days, the TV could not be turned on. Now someone dies on one side and you turn around and watch a soap opera.”

On a recent day in an Aleppo vegetable market, a warplane’s low rumble halted all business and conversation.

Unripe almonds and lettuce were momentarily forgotten. Everyone turned their faces upward to track the plane by its sound.

Not until the rumble had faded, leaving only a white trail across the sky, did the people return their attention to the boring particulars of life. The plane was now the concern of another Aleppo neighborhood.

“If it had been a helicopter, they would watch it till it dropped the barrel," Saleh Laila said. Then chaos "would break out and cars would start driving into each other and people would run, trying to get away.”

Deserted Neighborhoods

A couple of charred and stripped vehicles mark the entrance of rebel-held Aleppo.

The helicopters attack day and night. Those attacks, coupled with poundings by warplanes and artillery as well as regular clashes between government and rebel forces, have transformed the once-vibrant commercial hub into one with entire neighborhoods deserted.

More than two-thirds of the city’s population is estimated to have fled north either to Turkey or, for those not allowed passage into the country, along its border in ramshackle refugee tents.

As one Aleppo resident said of the city, “There are fighters, activists and shop owners. No one else is left.”

At A Busy Market

At the scene of twin barrel bombings at a busy market, bodies, or what was left of them, were laid out along a sidewalk.

A man, his shirt bloodied and neck bandaged, smoked a cigarette. Those around him congratulated him on sustaining only a minor injury: “Thank God for your safety.”

“Don’t gather, don’t gather!” yelled one rebel with a rifle. The rebel warned people that a crowd could invite another attack.

Hours later, the broken glass and concrete had been swept and the blood washed away.

Children gathered around an ice cream stand, standing on tippy-toes to peer at the available flavors. Men bought produce from a fruit seller, the color of the oranges bright against the gray of fallen concrete.

Questions:

Questions:

1. Select the sentence that contains a word that is a synonym for "not so clear"?

A.   A family stood shivering on a balcony in Aleppo's Anadan suburb as midnight approached.

B.   They followed the sound of the helicopter's whirring blades and listened to scratchy updates from rebels coming over a walkie-talkie.

C.   Eventually the sound of the helicopter grew faint and was replaced by that of a warplane.

D.   The next day people walked by without a glance; the destroyed vehicles had become one moreaddition to the city's scary backdrop.

2. Which of the following sentences contains a word that is a synonym for "lively"?

A.   They followed the sound of the helicopter's whirring blades and listened to scratchy updates from rebels coming over a walkie-talkie.

B.   With the blood fresh on the pavement, motorists stopped and peered at the deadly damage.

C.   On a recent day in an Aleppo vegetable market, a warplane's low rumble halted all business and conversation.

D.   Regular clashes between government and rebel forces have transformed the once-vibrant commercial hub into one with entire neighborhoods deserted.

3. The reader can learn the following from the illustration EXCEPT:

A. the total number of people killed in Syria

B. the number of children killed in July 2012

C. the number of people killed in Damascus

D. the worst affected city in Syria

4. Which statement BEST describes how the illustration helps increase understanding of the article?

A. The article focuses on the war's effect on adults while the graphic focuses on children.

B. The article gives numbers and details about the war, while the graphic is mainly just for geography.

C. The article is mainly about Aleppo and the graphic is mainly about Damascus.

D. The article gives personal stories and descriptions while the graphic focuses on numbers and facts.

More than 1 million people sought refuge in Europe this year, report says

By Associated Press, adapted by Newsela staff

12.24.15

GENEVA, Switzerland — More than 1 million people entered Europe in this record-breaking year, migration experts said Tuesday. They were driven out of their home countries by war, poverty and persecution. This mass movement of people has challenged the idea of European unity.

With just days left in 2015, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said 1,005,504 people had entered Europe as of Monday. The number was more than four times as many as last year. Almost all of them came by sea, and 3,692 people drowned trying to make the crossing.

European governments must make migration safer, said IOM official William Lacy Swing. He is general director of the organization. 

"We know migration is inevitable. It's necessary and it's desirable," Swing said. He added, "Migration must be legal, safe and secure for all — both for the migrants themselves and the countries that will become their new home."

Getting Accurate Count Is Hard

The IOM gets its the numbers from government records. The figures are from Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, Malta and Cyprus, spokesman Joel Millman said. He noted that the real number of people entering Europe may be even larger. Officials are having trouble getting an accurate number because so many have entered Europe in such a short time.

Most people entered Europe from Greece, which took in 820,000 people this year. Nearly all of them crossed from Turkey by boat across the Aegean Sea. Another 150,000 came into Italy across the Mediterranean Sea from north Africa, while smaller numbers crossed from Turkey by land into neighboring Greece and Bulgaria. Even fewer arrived by boat to other countries around the Mediterranean.

Not all the migrants are included in the IOM count. Others crossed into Europe across other borders. A few thousand people have crossed by bicycle from Russia to Norway.

Many People Drowned During Trek

About half of the people entering Europe were Syrians. Another 20 percent were Afghans, and 7 percent were Iraqis, IOM said.

Many fleeing war and persecution will likely be allowed to stay in Europe. Others who came to find work could be sent back.

Of the deaths, 2,889 were people traveling from North Africa toward Italy, the IOM said. A total of 706 drowned trying to cross the Aegean to Greece, and 72 died trying to reach Spain. No one knows exactly how many have died in shipwrecks or who they were. The bodies of others, including a 3-year-old child, have washed up on Greek beaches. This shocked the world and led European officials to promise to make the migration routes safer.

The war in Syria has been particularly important in the refugee crisis. The war has killed hundreds of thousands and has caused millions to flee. European governments have struggled to agree on how to handle the migrants. They have argued whether to welcome them at all and how best to care for the huge number of people.

Cold Weather Adds To Dangers

Over the summer, some Eastern European countries opened and closed their border, which caused confusion and frustration. Hungary, in particular, angered its neighbors by building a fence to keep people out. Migrants began rushing to find alternate routes through countries, which were unable to handle so many people. A more organized system began in the fall.

Germany and Sweden have welcomed the largest numbers of refugees. About 1 million migrants arrived in Germany this year, including large numbers of people from Eastern Europe who could be sent back.

With cold weather making journeys more dangerous, the number of migrants has slowed, but people are still showing up in Greece. Also, there's no sign that the number of migrants will go down when temperatures start rising again in the spring. IOM said more than 4,100 people arrived on the Greek islands on Monday alone.

Questions:

1. Why did people sought refugee?

2, How many refugee entered Europe in 2015?

3.Where in Europe does the people migrate to?

4.Explain two ways how refugees travel to Europe?

5. Where did the refugees come from?

6. What are the dangers that might be faced by the refugees during their travelling?

7. Do you think our country should welcome refugee? Why?