1 . On June 23,2018,twelve young Thai boys and their assistant football coach wandered into a karst cave in northern Thailand, near the border with Myanmar. What happened next would grab the world’s attention and lead to a complex and daring international rescue operation. The 10.3-kilometer-long Tham Luang cave flooded, trapping the boys in total blackness nearly 2.5 kilometers from the cave entrance.

Thousands of people from around the globe participated in the rescue effort, including military personnel, medical experts and the rock stars of the operation — cave divers. The divers, who safely removed all of the Thai children and their coach after 18 days underground, dealt with tight spaces and low visibility in muddy water- conditions that would prove deadly: Saman Gunan, a former Thai Navy Seal, died while transporting air tanks into the cave.

While the sport of cave diving had received attention in the pop culture area prior to the rescue mission in North Thailand, there is little doubt that the brave divers at Tham Luang cave helped push the activity and its varieties of risks into global society’s minds.

The sport-often referred to as among the world’s most dangerous recreational activities-has its roots in pre-WWII England. Since then, the recreational practice of cave diving, described by Australian cave explorer Richard Harris (a participant in the Tham Luang cave rescue) as an “unusual hobby” for “the ordinary,” has spread around the world-China included.

Over 1,000 kilometers northeast of Tham Luang cave, in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, lies karst-peak-covered Du’an county-China’s little-known cave diving Mecca.

Home to thousands of kilometers of underground rivers, Du’an county offers divers spellbinding geological formations, perhaps the world’s largest collection of blind fish species and a rare variety of freshwater jellyfish.

4 . Schools across the US East Coast canceled outdoor activities, commercial airline traffic was slowed and millions of Americans were urged to stay indoors on Wednesday as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted south, blanketing cities in thick and yellow smoke.

“It’s critical that Americans experiencing dangerous air pollution, especially those with health conditions, listen to local authorities to protect themselves and their families,” US President Joe Biden said.

New York’s world-famous skyline, usually visible for miles, disappeared because of the smoke, which some residents said made them feel unwell.

“It makes breathing difficult,” Mohammed Abass said as he walked down Broadway in Manhattan. “I’ve been scheduled for a road test for driving, for my driving license today, and it was canceled.”

“It looks like Mars out there,” said Fox Forecast Center meteorologist Brian Mastro just before 2 p.m.

New York Goveror Kathy Hochul called the situation an “emergency crisis,” noting that the air pollution index for parts of her state were eight times above normal.

In Bethesda, Maryland, a high school moved its graduation ceremony indoors, while a Brooklyn, New York, elementary school deferred its “Spring Fling” dance party. A school in Montelair, New Jersey, called off a fifth-grade trip to an amusement park.

The smoke was wafting (飘荡) over the US northern border from Canada, where hundreds of forest fires have burnt 9. 4 million acres and forced 120,000 people from their homes in an unusually early and intense start to Canada’s wildfire season.

Tyrone Sylvester, 66, playing chess outside in Manhattan’s Union Square us he has on most days for 30 years, but wearing a mask, said he had never seen the city’s air quality so bad. “When the sun looks like that,” he said, pointing at the smoky sky, “we know something’s wrong. This is what global warming looks like.”

Poor air quality is likely to continue into the weekend, with a developing storm system expected to shift the smoke westward across the Great Lakes and deeper south through the Ohio Valley and into the mid-Atlantic region, AccuWeather said.

7 . Norwood, a junior High School student, was driving three friends home in St. Petersburg, when another driver crashed into her from her left and made her car hit the tree. The impact jammed shut the driver’s side door, so Norwood climbed out the front window. Two of her friends managed to get out of the car unharmed, but her 16-year-old friend Zarria didn’t. She run back to the car only to find Zarria was just sitting there reactionless.

A lot of people started to gather around to see what was happening. Norwood started yelling, “Back up, back up, she needs space.” Norwood pulled Zarria out of the back seat, avoiding broken glass from the window. “That’s when I checked her pulse on her neck. I put my head against her chest, and I didn’t really hear nothing. So that’s when I just started doing CPR on her.” Norwood told the reporter. After the 30 compressions and two rescue breaths, Zarria regained consciousness. Ambulance quickly arrived and rushed her to the hospital to receive medical help.

When Miller, Norwood’s high school teacher, learned that Norwood saved a friend just   one day after completing CPR training, she was at a loss of words and so proud. Norwood participates in the school’s Athletic Lifestyle Management Academy (ALMA). The program prepares students for various careers in health science. “We do vital signs and they learn how to take blood pressure and check pulse.” Miller introduced. And another one of the skills learned is CPR. “There are two components, a hands-on skills component where they have to demonstrate that they’re able to do CPR well, and then there’s a written test component, showing that they remember that knowledge.”

Thanks to Norwood’s quick thinking, Zarria is recovering well. She also isn’t surprised by her friend’s actions. “She will always help any way she can, so I wasn’t really shocked about that.”

9 . Joey, who was six at the time, had the day off from school. His father, Joe Welch, a 50-year-old photographer, planned to spend the day boating in the huge river. Joe had never before been into the muddy waters, which were famous for crocodiles (鳄鱼). He had researched what to do if they encountered one-just in case.

Joe turned to scan the boat, less than 20 feet from the water’s edge and then he was busy making some sandwiches at a wildlife refuge. Seconds later, he heard a splash and a scream. Joey had slipped at the edge of the water. When Joe rushed there, he saw his son’s right arm in the jaws of a crocodile which was at least eight feet long and close to 200 pounds. Time seemed to stop as Joe ran toward his son. The river was almost three feet deep. As Joey struggled and screamed, Joe began pulling him back toward the bank. A young man ran over, screaming at Joe to pull his son out of the water. But Joe feared what would happen to Joey’s arm if he pulled too hard. While Joe knocked on the beast’s head, the young man kicked its stomach. After the stranger’s three or four kicks, the crocodile released Joey and escaped back into the water. Joe picked up his son and found that he’d suffered only a few cuts and scrapes. Joe thanked the stranger and sped home. A nearby hospital determined that Joey was OK.

Joe has tried to find out who helped save his son, but he has learned only that the man was a boxer from Spain. He had been in the country visiting his family. “ He’ s like an angel,” Joe says.

10 . Barbara was driving her six-year-old son, Ben, to his piano lesson. They were late, and Barbara was beginning to think she should have called it off. Barbara, a nurse at the local hospital, was very tired at that moment. The coldest season and the terrible weather just brought them more difficulties.

“Mum!” Ben cried suddenly. “Look!” Just ahead, a car had lost control on the icy road and crashed（猛撞）into a telephone pole. Barbara stopped her car quickly and opened the door. She said to Ben, “Dear, promise me you'll stay in the car!” “I will, Mum,” Ben said as his mum ran. She was a nurse-she might be able to help the unlucky people. It was terrible. Two girls aged about 18 were in the car. One was dead and the other was still breathing. Barbara quickly cleaned the wounds in the driver's head. Ben called for help on his mum's phone. Soon an ambulance came. “Good job, Barbara, you've saved her life,” one doctor said as he examined the driver's wounds. Barbara walked back to her car with a feeling of sadness, especially for the family of the girl who had died. Later, Barbara was able to meet the family of the driver. They expressed their thanks to Barbara for the help she had provided.