CNN News:委内瑞拉深陷经济危机 美国各界悼念已故参议员麦凯恩
Our coverage starts in the South American country of Venezuela. It's economy is crumbling and thousands of people there are flooding out into neighboring nations like Brazil and Columbia, who are trying to figure out what to do about the refugees. Venezuela's economy is based on oil. The nation has more proven oil reserves than any other country on Earth. And when oil prices were high, the government's main source of income was bringing in billions of dollars.
But the global recession that started in 2007 caused oil prices to freefall. They recovered for a few years after that but oil prices dropped again in 2014 for various reasons. Global production of crude oil has been falling more than two years and Venezuela now produces less than half the oil it did in the late 1990's. Salaries for oil workers there are increasingly worthless. Some of them are taking second jobs to make ends meet. Others are selling the pants, boots and gloves from their work kits to buy food. And because Venezuela's economy as a whole is so heavily dependent on oil, the ripple effects from this are spreading all over the country. The government has tremendous debt and studies suggest that more than 80 percent of all Venezuelans are now living in poverty.
The Vietnam's largest city is Ho Chi Minh City the nation's capitol is Hanoi.
It's where the late U.S. Senator John McCain spent his time as a prisoner of war. He was a decorated Navy pilot when he was shot down there. His political work in the U.S. Congress started in the early 1980's and lasted 35 years. That's part of the reason why politicians, former Presidents, officials, family and friends are remembering the Arizona Republican throughout the week. A memorial service at North Phoenix Baptist Church was held yesterday in the Arizona capitol.
Ceremonies and services in the U.S. Capitol are scheduled for Friday and Saturday and a final memorial, a private one will be held Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.