World News for Students of English

08-04-2026 07:00

Cambodia has revealed the world’s first statue of a rat named Magawa. This special rat was famous for finding landmines in the ground.

Magawa was born in Tanzania and trained by a group from Belgium. During his career, he found over 100 landmines and other dangerous items. This helped make more than 141,000 square metres of land safe for people. Magawa was a very brave animal and even won a gold medal for his work. He died in 2022 when he was eight years old.

The new statue in the city of Siem Reap shows Magawa wearing his medal and his work harness. Cambodia is still one of the most dangerous countries because of old mines from past wars. These mines can still hurt or kill people today. The government wants the country to be mine-free by the year 2030. This monument reminds the world that there is still a lot of work to do to keep people safe.

Difficult words: landmine (a bomb hidden under the ground that explodes when someone steps on it or drives over it), harness (a set of straps that fits around an animal’s body so it can be held or controlled while working).

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