10-K families hit by flooding in Maguindanao del Sur receive aid;
Sec. of State Blinken warns visiting Israel Defense chief against escalating war with Hezbollah;
Renowned U.S. chef Rachael Ray visits Ukraine to feed locals, spread the Lovea
Sec. of State Blinken warns visiting Israel Defense chief against escalating war with Hezbollah;
Renowned U.S. chef Rachael Ray visits Ukraine to feed locals, spread the Lovea
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, I am William Theo and this is PTV News Now.
00:04A little over 10,000 families in two adjoining towns in Maguindanao del Sur have been hit
00:10hard and seeking shelter and comfort after being displaced by heavy rains and flooding
00:15in the provinces over the weekend.
00:18Initial figures from the Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Council show torrential rains
00:23over the past few days triggered floods that left the 12 villages in the town of Pagalungan
00:29and the communities in the adjacent municipality of Datu, Montawal, both going underwater.
00:36As a result, thousands have fled their homes or submitted to forced evacuation in the aforementioned
00:42towns.
00:43Governor Bay Mangunadatu, for his part, traveled to the flooded towns to distribute much-needed
00:49relief and aid.
00:50The torrential rains that has hit Maguindanao and the provinces of the Barm is a direct
00:56offshoot of the enhanced southwest monsoon or habagat prevailing over the region.
01:01Only the towns of Pagalungan and Datu, Montawal have submitted status reports on flooding
01:08thus far, so the number of adversely affected flood victims in the province could be way
01:13understated.
01:16Meanwhile America's top diplomat Anthony Blinken made it crystal clear to Israeli Defense
01:22Yoav Galant, who is leading an Israeli group in a visit to Washington, D.C., not to allow
01:28the war in Gaza to spread to the north in Lebanon and engage in war against Iranian-blocked
01:33Hezbollah.
01:35In a statement released by the State Department, Blinken underscored the importance of keeping
01:40the war confined to Gaza and not getting dragged to yet another war with the more prepared
01:45and formidable Hezbollah army that could also end up dragging Syria and Iraq to the fray.
01:52Yesterday, EU Foreign Policy Chief Joseph Borrell said the likelihood of war spilling
01:58over to other parts of the region grows bigger every day.
02:01The Israeli Defense Chief will meet with other Pentagon and security officials to include
02:06his counterpart, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, during the week.
02:13In other news, Oprah Winfrey, Protege and Food Network star Rachel Ray is well-known
02:19for her 10-30 minute quick fix meals.
02:22She also has a kind and compassionate heart, as evidenced by her trips to Ukraine to help
02:27feed those in need.
02:29VOA's Omelyan Oshchudyak has this report.
02:37Rachel Ray has millions of followers on social media, a handful of Emmy Awards, as well
02:43as appearances in top U.S. TV shows and went to get another rescue from a shelter.
02:48Just in the process, learned about Ukraine.
02:51I rescued another animal and the lady who was training my dog was the sister of a gentleman
03:04that worked with Andriy.
03:08Andriy Futei is president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, an organization
03:13that has been representing the Ukrainian community in the United States since 1940.
03:18In the summer of 2022, he brought Ray to Ukraine for the first time.
03:23She's been back five more times.
03:26She herself purchased over 10,000 individual first aid kits that went to the front lines
03:31to our boys and girls there.
03:33She's now an ambassador of the Unbroken National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv.
03:38Ray remembers when she met the Stepanenko family, who suffered from a Russian missile
03:42strike at the Kramatorsk railway station.
03:46It overwhelmed me that a little girl could say, hey, do you like my earrings?
03:52And she has no limbs.
03:55She's sitting on the bed and her mom has one leg and her grandmother was destroyed, blown
04:01up in front of her.
04:03Her grandmother's dead.
04:05And her little brother's sitting on the bed next to her.
04:07Her mom's over here.
04:09All of them in one room and they're just so grateful and happy to be alive.
04:15Since then, Ray has brought culinary equipment and medical supplies to Ukraine, as well as
04:20held workshops in orphanages and hospitals during her every visit.
04:25I read a bunch of Ukrainian recipes and I kind of made my own concoctions.
04:32We always do demonstrations and chats and fun things when we're here.
04:38But the reason we're at the facility is we're building out a kitchen there that will serve
04:424,000 beds three times a day.
04:48During her latest visit to Ukraine, Ray was accompanied by Noah Sims, a U.S. culinary
04:54show master chef participant.
04:56I tell people all the time, if you can't go yourself to Ukraine, or you can't give a lot
05:02of money to Ukraine, you can, and it's free.
05:07You can keep them in your mind and on your lips and in your heart.
05:12And that's what everyone in the world should be doing that believes in democracy.
05:16Ray hopes to return to Ukraine in the fall of 2024.
05:20This will be her seventh visit.
05:22Amaliano Shudlyak for VOA News, Lviv, Ukraine.
05:29And we have come to the show's end.
05:31Please remember to stay informed, get ahead, and catch the news right here.
05:35This is William Theo for PTV News Now.