VOASE0705 Print Edition[Big Bug][sxljldh-repack]Thanks to Big Bug and sxljldh.
6.18.2007
Lesotho Facing Food Crisis
| Geneva 17 June 2007 |
Download
The World Food Program says the tiny South African country of Lesotho needs urgent international assistance to prevent a major food crisis this year. A report by WFP and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization finds cereal prices in Lesotho have skyrocketed after this year's main cereal harvest was ravaged by one of the worst droughts in 30 years. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva. 
Lesotho women draped in blankets walk to a voting station set in a school in the village of Machache (File Photo - 17 Feb 2007)
The U.N. agencies say they expect the height of the food crisis to hit in the first three months of 2008. They say 400,000 people across Lesotho, or one fifth of the population, will face food shortages and need help.
The agencies say serious food shortages will begin in the next three months. This will affect about 140,000 of the most impoverished people.
A World Food Program Spokeswoman, Christiane Berthiaume, says drought is the biggest problem facing Lesotho. It is responsible for this year's extremely poor harvest, but she says the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country is making a bad situation even worse.
"Thirty-one percent is very, very high and it is obviously undermining the economic resources of the country, resulting in a lack of labor in rural areas," said Berthiaume. "A lot of people are either too weak to work because they are sick or many have died. Those are people that are young people that should be able to work."
Berthiaume notes Lesotho needs about 360,000 tons of food annually. But, because of this year's bad harvest, she says farmers only produced 72,000 tons of cereal. This has resulted in soaring cereal prices that are unaffordable for many people.
She says the World Food Program is preparing an appeal for Lesotho. She says it is crucial that money is available so farmers can buy enough seeds and fertilizer in time for the next crop season. She says another bad harvest next year could be catastrophic.
VOASE0617_This Is America
17 June 2007| What Is Your Favorite Song About Summer? | |
Download (The mp3 file is too big...)
DownloadVOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Shirley Griffith. Summer begins this week in the northern part of the world. To celebrate, we play some of our favorite songs about summer.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
If you ask most Americans, they would say their favorite season of the year is summer. The weather is warm. They do not have to wear heavy clothes to keep warm. Young people do not have to go to school. They can do many activities outside, like playing sports and swimming at the beach or the pool. They like the sunshine during the day and the warm summer nights. People have written and recorded hundreds of songs about summer. These are some of our favorites.
VOICE TWO:
One of the most famous songs about summer is from George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess." He wrote the music in nineteen thirty-five. The opera takes place in the southern United States. It opens with these words: "Summertime and the livin' is easy. Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high." Leontyne Price sings the song.
(MUSIC)
Here is Billy Stewart's version of the same song.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The nineteen fifties and sixties produced many songs about teenagers enjoying their summer vacation from school. The songs are about having fun, swimming in the ocean, driving in cars. This one is "Summertime, Summertime" by the Jamies.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
It is summer almost all year long in California. And it was summer all the time for the Beach Boys. They sang about their favorite activities, like riding the ocean waves on surfboards. Here is one Beach Boy song, "All Summer Long."
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
However, for some teenagers, summer vacation was not all fun and games. Some of them had to work to earn money. Eddie Cochran sang about this in "Summertime Blues." Many other bands and artists later recorded this song, including the British rock band, the Who.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
The Lovin' Spoonful was a band that did not love summers in the city because of the heat. They sang: "Hot town, summer in the city. Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty." And: "All around, people looking half-dead, walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head." They liked the nighttime better when they could dance and have more fun. "Summer in the City" was released in the summer of nineteen sixty-six and was one of the Lovin' Spoonful's greatest hits.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Even though it was hot, Sly and the Family Stone still found ways to have fun in the summertime. This song is about the happiness that the season promises, including going to a "county fair in the country sun."
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
In the nineteen nineties, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince produced this hip-hop song called "Summertime." It is about being with friends and having a good time.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
We leave you with a song from the movie version of the musical "Grease." It is about two teenagers who meet during their summer vacation and fall in love. Back at school in the autumn, they tell their friends all about it. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John sing "Summer Nights."
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Our program was written by Shelley Gollust and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Shirley Griffith.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Steve Ember. You can see pictures of Special English listeners on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find transcripts and audio archives of our programs. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.
VOASE0617_Development Report
17 June 2007| US Lists More Nations as Worst for Modern-Day Slavery | |
Download
DownloadThis is the VOA Special English Development Report.
The United States has accused several of its Arab allies of being among the worst offenders of human trafficking. The State Department last week released its "Trafficking in Persons Report" for two thousand seven. The report rates efforts by one hundred sixty-four countries and territories to end modern-day slavery.
It lists Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar among sixteen countries with the worst records, up from twelve last year. It also names Algeria, Equatorial Guinea and Malaysia. And listed again this year are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Burma, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.
Zimbabwe, Belize and Laos were listed among the worst offenders in last year's report but are now in the second tier group. Countries in the second tier do not fully meet the requirements but are working to improve.
Countries are divided into three groups, or tiers, based on how well they meet the requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The United States Congress passed this law in two thousand.
Countries in tier three face possible cuts in American assistance. But officials say the goal of the report is not to punish.
The reports are based on information from American diplomats, nongovernmental organizations and other groups. The United States estimates that about eight hundred thousand people are forced across international borders each year. It says up to seventeen thousand are believed to enter this country. The great majority of victims are female and as many as half are children and teenagers.
Thirty-two nations are on a "watch list" in this year's report. The list is supposed to be a warning. Armenia, China and South Africa are on it for the third year in a row. India, Mexico and Russia are listed for the fourth year.
 |
| Mark Lagon listens to reporter's questions |
The report came out last Tuesday, which was World Day Against Child Labor. Estimates are that more than two hundred million children worldwide are forced to work, mostly on farms. The United Nations is calling for an end to the worst forms of child labor by two thousand sixteen.
And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. I’m Steve Ember.
订阅：
博文 (Atom)
