04-15-08

布什令增加两亿美元食品援助 (Bush Orders $200 Million Increase in Food Aid)

美国总统布什下令为全世界贫穷国家增加2亿美元紧急粮食援助。白宫星期一发表声明说，增加的援助是为了应对粮食涨价带来的影响。价格上涨导致了食品短缺和社会动荡。

联合国秘书长潘基文星期一说，全球各地迅速加剧的粮食危机已经达到紧急的程度。他敦促采取紧急和长期措施处理全球食品危机。

白宫发言人佩里诺早些时候说，布什总统“非常关注”，并已经下令美国政府有关部门研究如何能进一步提供帮助。

President Bush has ordered a 200-million dollar increase in U.S. emergency food aid for needy countries worldwide. The White House issued a statement Monday saying the additional aid will address the impact of rising food prices. Rising prices have been blamed for food shortages and social unrest.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that the rapidly escalating crisis of food availability around the world has reached emergency proportions. He urged both immediate and long-term measures to tackle the global food crisis.

Earlier, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said President Bush is "very concerned" and that he has ordered U.S. government agencies see what more can be done to help.

北韩纪念已故领袖冥辰，晋升三十五名将军 (North Korea Marks Birthday of Late Leader, Promotes 35 Generals)

北韩领导人金正日星期二晋升35名将军，纪念这个共产党国家的主要节日之一、他已故父亲的生日。北韩官方媒体报导说，金正日为庆祝这个节日，提拔了两名中将和33名少将。金正日经常利用诸如生日之类的重大节日提拔军事将领，这些人是他领导层的中坚力量。

金正日的父亲金日成死于1994年，终年82岁，但仍然保留着“不朽的主席”的称呼。

金正日在父亲死后接管了北韩。尽管北韩濒于崩溃的经济以及1990年代中期爆发造成数十万人死亡的饥荒，金正日依然维持着强烈个人崇拜。

North Korean leader Kim Jung Il marked one of the communist country's biggest national holidays Tuesday, the birthday of his late father, by promoting 35 generals. North Korea's state media reported that Kim promoted two officers to lieutenant general and 33 others to major general to mark the holiday. Kim often uses major holidays such as birthdays to promote military generals, the backbone of his leadership.

Kim's father, Kim Il Sung died in 1994 at the age of 82, but still holds the title of "eternal president."

The younger Kim took over the country after his father's death and has maintained a strong personality cult, despite North Korea's collapsing economy and a famine in the mid-1990s that left hundreds of thousands dead.