VOA常速英语:美国零售业失业严重

With the staggering loss of jobs in the retail sector because of virus shutdowns, a trade group is asking that furloughed employees be able to work part-time and still receive full unemployment benefits. AP's Jackie Quinn has details.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association, a group that includes Home Depot, Best Buy, Walmart and the Gap, is asking Congress to allow furloughed and laid off retail workers to accept part-time assignments without facing reduction in their state unemployment benefits.
Meanwhile, Walmart says it plans to hire another 50,000 people to meet the surging demand for essentials on top of 150,000 jobs already added.
With people desperate for work, Walmart says it's received more than one million applications for the new temporary and part-time jobs. I'm Jackie Quinn.
One of the most sacred Easter symbols of the Christian Orthodox faith - the Holy Fire - arrived in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Saturday. But the coronavirus outbreak meant only a top group of Eastern Orthodox clerics were able to receive it.
In normal times, Bethlehem's Manger Square would be packed with thousands of pilgrims and worshippers who would pass the holy fire to each other to light their candles. This year, crowds have been banned in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The Holy Fire ritual marks the belief that a fire appears spontaneously every year from the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem.