CNN Student News 全球食品价格持续上涨

 

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: A literary classic is getting a makeover. Is it suitable or is it censorship? We're asking for your thoughts after you hear the story on today's edition of CNN Student News. I'm Carl Azuz. Let's get going!

First Up: New Congress Convenes

AZUZ: First up, the first day for a freshman class of 94 new House members and 13 new Senators. The 112th U.S. Congress was sworn in yesterday. There are some changes, especially in the House of Representatives. After four years as House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi handed over the gavel to John Boehner. He was first elected to Congress 20 years ago. He is now the 61st House Speaker in U.S. history. The House of Representatives has 435 voting members. Speaker Boehner's Republican party took control of that chamber from the Democrats in last year's midterm elections. Over in the 100-seat U.S. Senate, Republicans gained some ground in the midterm, but Democrats still have a majority there.

Global Food Prices

AZUZ: Next up today, food prices. They hit a record high around the world last month. They're expected to go even higher. That's according to a United Nations group that began tracking global food prices back in 1990. The U.N. looks at the price of foods like sugar, wheat, rice and meats. The U.N. blames the high prices on crops that failed because of bad weather. When crops get damaged, supply goes down, prices usually go up. You might have seen higher prices at your local grocery store. Sara Sidner looks at the effect that all of this is having on millions of people in India.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, NEW DELHI: You can hear the prices long before you see the product in Delhi's crowded vegetable markets. Right now, consumers are disgusted with what they're hearing.

NIRMALA DEVI, MOTHER [TRANSLATED]: Who's going to buy vegetables at such a high price? Mother Nirmala Devi says.

SIDNER: Food inflation has risen above 14 percent in India. A hardship for the middle class, but a crushing blow for the hundreds of millions of Indians living hand to mouth.

KHEERA, MOTHER [TRANSLATED]: How are we going to live? Our daily income remains the same.

SIDNER: Kheera says, as she battles the cold temperatures with whatever she can find around her. She lives in a New Delhi slum and managed to set up a tiny business on the pavement outside while her husband works as a laborer. With an extended family of five, they are among the estimated 450,000 Indians living on less than $2 a day. Now, skyrocketing food prices, some of which have nearly doubled in the past few weeks, are eating up every hope she had of being able to actually save some money.

For Kheera here, and thousands of other Indians, it was the price of onions that sent tempers flaring. Because the prices got so high, she's decided to stop cooking with onions, which is unheard of because nearly all Indian dishes use onions for flavor. Onions are a powerful ingredient, not just in dishes, but in politics.

DEVINDER SHARMA, FOOD SUPPLY ANALYST: Past two times we have seen the government being brought down because of rising onion prices.

SIDNER: The current congress party-led government blames unseasonal rains for ruining crops and creating the spike. The government has banned exports and is even importing onions from its arch rival Pakistan to try to stabilize prices. Still, some analysts argue it's hoarding and speculation by traders that is the main culprit, sending prices artificially high, and that the government should come down hard on them.

Beyond onions, prices are up for everything from tomatoes to milk. But India's finance minister said this week he hopes food inflation will fall by more than half by March. Kheera and her neighbors are skeptical, but hope is their only option. As India's poor struggle to keep their families fed, the drop in food prices can't come soon enough. Sara Sidner, CNN, New Delhi.

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Is This Legit?

TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is this legit? Samuel Clemens was the author of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Absolutely! He wrote it under his more famous pen name, Mark Twain.

Changing Twain?

AZUZ: Mr. Mark Twain wrote Huck Finn and another of his famous books -- Tom Sawyer -- more than 125 years ago. The language that he used reflected that time period. But a publisher is making some changes when it puts out a new edition of these classics. The company is taking out every instance of the "n" word. There are more than 200 in Huck Finn. The books have been banned in some schools because of the offensive language. The editor for these updated editions says the changes could help the books reach a bigger audience. Some critics argue that changing the words changes the point of the books, which were supposed to provoke readers.

Blog Promo

AZUZ: What do you think about all this: Would you be more willing to read Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn after the editor's changes? Tell us on our blog. It's where we're also talking about electronic textbooks versus the old school kind you're using right now. Jensen says teenagers today do everything online. "Students would learn better from electronic readers because we all love being on a social network site; e-readers could be the next big thing." Looks like 72 percent of you agree. About a fifth say traditional textbooks are better for education. 9 percent say it doesn't matter. Sara writes, "Whether you're reading a textbook or the same story off an e-reader, it shouldn't affect your education. It's all about personal preference." From Thomas: "Electronic books may be better for the environment, but technology has a way of distracting people from its original purpose. Teens will try to find a way to be distracted because that's what usually happens." Interesting perspective there. And Taliah argues, "If the electronic device breaks, it would take a lot of money to fix it. I think traditional books are better." Remember, it's first names only on our blog!

Shoutout

JIM RIBBLE, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! Bob Burnquist, Shaun White and Andy Macdonald are all pro athletes in what sport? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) Volleyball, B) Skiing, C) Baseball or D) Skateboarding? You've got three seconds -- GO! They're all award-winning skateboarders. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Finding Common Ground

AZUZ: Okay, not many of us can pull off tricks like those guys, though back in the day, I swear I could land a handplant every time. In Cuba, some skaters are hesitant to try any tricks at all. Because if they break their skateboards, there's almost no way to get a replacement. As Patrick Oppmann explains, that is why one Cuban-American skater who lives in Florida made a special delivery to the island nation.

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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN ALL-PLATFORM JOURNALIST: Skateboarders in Cuba take flight and take care. A fall here can hurt for a very long time.

LUIS MIGUEL, CUBAN SKATEBOARDER [IN SPANISH]: Haciendo un truco. [TRANSLATED] "I was doing a trick and I smashed the nose of the board," Luis Miguel says.

OPPMANN: A replacement won't be easy to come by. Living on this island poses a problem for Cuban skateboarders. The U.S. embargo and Cuba's severe shortages mean there's no places to buy a skateboard, no skate shops of any kind. Before these Cuban skaters can hit the pavement, they need help from overseas. Help that arrives by way of Florida skateshop owner Rene Lecour. Lecour first asked skateboard makers to donate boards he'd take to Cuba as part of a cultural exchange. No one was interested. So, he turns to local skaters.

RENE LECOUR, FLORIDA SKATEBOARD SHOP OWNER: I didn't realize how much stuff we had until right now. If your skateboard breaks, sometimes the kids go two, three months without having a skateboard. Where here, kids go two or three hours. To me, the skaters down there are the pure essence of skateboarding; they have no chance of ever being sponsored, of going pro, they skate because they love it.

OPPMANN: A week later, Lecour arrives at the Havana skate park with more donated boards than he can carry. Cuban skaters say the sport transcends nationalities and politics.

CHE ALEJANDRO PANDO NAPOLES, CUBAN SKATEBOARDER: When you see another skater, it doesn't even matter where this guy lives, you know you have a friend over there.

OPPMANN: The Americans and Cubans begin to skate together. And soon, you can't tell who is who. The skaters that gave away their boards didn't know the people they were going to, and it didn't matter.

LECOUR: If a nine year old can understand that there's another kid on an island a couple hundred miles away from us who loves to skate and broke his skateboard and he needs another one, he's willing to give up his own skateboard for that kid.

OPPMANN: Goodwill these days between the United States and Cuba remains in short supply. But at a skate park in Havana, you'll find plenty. Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

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Before We Go

AZUZ: Great story. Before we go today, it's time for a little debut at the Miami Zoo. Well, little might not be the best word. This baby hippopotamus tips the scales at 44 pounds. She eventually could get up to 600! But that's actually small on the hippo scale. That's because Asali is a pygmy hippo. She's the first one born at the Miami Zoo in 20 years. She's getting a lot of attention.

Goodbye

AZUZ: I guess you could say that little Asali is hippo-tyzing. I mean, come on, you can't hate on the little hippo. That would just be hippo-critical. I like that! How often do you get to use hippo puns? For CNN Student News, I'm Carl Azuz. Have a great day.