 Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak. This program is designed for English learners. So we speak a little slower, and we use words and phrases, especially written for people learning English. Coming up on the program, Gregory Stockle reports on hunger in Gaza. Some Gazans have started eating a wild plant to survive. Dan Novak brings us this week's Education Report on Australia's efforts to tighten visa rules for foreign students. Later, John Russell presents the lesson of the day. But first, Gina Bennett and Andrew Smith read one of the winning entries from our Teach Us About Ukraine writing contest. My name is Larissa Dasevska, and I have been teaching English for 25 years in Hirsson, Ukraine. Ukraine has had a complex history and faced many challenges. But nothing could have prepared Ukrainians for the ordeal of the Russian occupation of Hirsson. As a resident of Hirsson, I lived through the occupation and witnessed the effect of war on our city, our people, and our way of life. The arrival of Russian forces in Hirsson marked the beginning of a time of uncertainty and danger. There were daily explosions. The once familiar streets were now unrecognizable with craters and debris marring the landscape. The sounds of shelling and gunfire created a miserable backdrop to our daily lives. Among the residents of Hirsson, there were a lot of people who refused to accept the occupation. In spring 2022, they gathered in groups and took to the streets, waving Ukrainian flags and chanting slogans of freedom. Hirsson is Ukraine. Despite the fear brave people knew they had to stand up for their homeland. At the beginning of the resistance against the enemy army, I remembered a very brave act of a local resident. The man was filmed climbing directly onto a Russian tank and waving the Ukrainian flag. But as the days passed, the situation grew more dangerous. The explosions became more frequent and the fighting intensified. The occupiers started to prohibit demonstrations and used weapons to break them up. As a teacher, I had to help my students deal with the trauma they were experiencing. Our schools, places of learning and personal growth were now places of uncertainty and fear. I was a teacher of 10 to 11 year old students with inclusive education and special needs. They needed my presence in their lives. During that period, we had online lessons every day and I made efforts to help them relax, feel less stress and maintain a positive attitude despite the circumstances. I did this by creating a positive learning environment. In spring 2022, our school year was one month shorter to avoid negative consequences. Also, the occupiers prohibited us from using modern platforms for studying and blocked the internet. Each encounter with Russian soldiers patrolling our streets was filled with tension and anxiety. Their presence reminded us not only of the loss of freedom, but also the stories of brutality throughout the city. It changed our way of life and introduced an element of fear that was impossible to escape. As people saw Russian soldiers standing on every street corner and holding their guns, they tried to avoid such meetings. Soldiers looked at locals coldly and as if they owned the city. Ukrainian banks ceased to function, leaving us with no access to our savings or financial resources. Ukrainian currency became worthless and residents could not obtain basic needs. Once thriving businesses shuttered and people lost jobs. Every visit to the market was a real challenge. Market stalls were filled with Russian goods and the vendors whispered as if afraid to say too much. People tried to quickly buy what they needed and hurried home. Locals knew they were powerless against the invaders, but the occupiers couldn't break their spirit. Lots of citizens had the hope that one day they would be free from the oppression of the Russian invaders. During the occupation, people could not use modern mobile phones because the occupiers could stop a person at any moment and start checking the contents and photos on the phone. If they found a photo of a person with national symbols or a Ukrainian embroidery, there were big problems. People were taken for questioning. I found an old push button telephone from my parents and used it throughout the occupation. It was not so scary because there was no internet and no social networks, photos and other unnecessary material for the invaders. The Russian occupation of Hirsian was, without a doubt, the darkest period in my life. But it was also a time that revealed the strength of the Ukrainian people. I watched neighbors come together to support one another and share whatever resources they had, whether it was food, warmth or words of encouragement. In occupied Hirsian, many residents found themselves hiding in shelters to stay safe from the fighting and explosions. They sat together, shared bread and simple food, surfed the net and read the latest news of the occupied city and explosions. Despite the hardships they faced, locals knew they were not alone. Once there was a knock on the door of our building shelter. About 20 people were inside. Our hearts pounded with fear. Everyone was silent that moment. Soldiers checked shelters and tried to find partisans. Nobody answered and so they left without entering. We breathed with relief. There is one moment I will always remember. It happened just after the de-occupation of the city. When the Russian invaders left our city, they blew up all important public utilities. Local residents were left without electricity and water for more than three weeks. The people lived without all modern conveniences, but they were too happy to be rid of the enemy and their rule. Since no one had electricity in the city, some people had generators at home. My neighbor also had a generator and helped people all over the neighborhood charge their mobile phones and power banks. With charged phones, people could call their relatives and at least say a few words about their lives. We could only charge our phones a little once a day. Such nice people saved our lives. As a teacher, I was determined to keep the story alive, even in the darkest of times, for the sake of my students and my country. I'm Gina Bennett. And I'm Andrew Smith. The United Nations Security Council is demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Some members are concerned that a famine might have begun. The territory's civilians are reportedly eating a wild plant called Kobiza because they lack other food to eat. The plant is an herb known as mallow. The Palestinian area has faced five months of war following the October attack on Israel by its Hamas rulers. Israeli officials say the terrorist group killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages. Israel responded to the attack by launching airstrikes and shelling in Gaza. Hamas health officials in Gaza say 32,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict. It is the worst conflict between Israel and Hamas. All our lives, even through previous wars, we have not eaten Kobiza, said a Palestinian woman named Mariam Al-Atar. She said, my daughters, tell me, we want to eat bread, mother. My heart breaks for them. Al-Atar continued, I can't find a piece of bread for them. I go and gather some Kobiza. We have found Kobiza for now, but in the future, where will we get it from? Kobiza will run out. Where do we turn? The war is continuing during the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan. Millions of Muslims around the world enjoy big meals after sunset with their families and watch special television shows. We have been consumed by hunger. We have nothing to eat. We crave vegetables, fish, and meat. We fast with empty stomachs. We can no longer fast. We are dizzy from hunger, said Um Muhammad. She said there was nothing to help the body deal with fasting during Ramadan. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, is a website that examines food insecurity. It says famine is likely to begin by May in northern Gaza. A severe lack of food could spread across the rest of the area by July. Reports say that Kobiza will only provide temporary help. The aid situation for Gaza is also not clear. Negotiators are working on the terms of a ceasefire and the release of hostages. Recently, an Israeli government spokesperson said Israel will stop working with the UN Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, in the Gaza Strip. It is the largest aid group in Gaza. Israel says the aid agency is causing the conflict to go on longer. Israel in January accused 12 of UNRWA's 13,000 workers in Gaza of taking part in the October 7th attack. That led several donor countries to stop giving financial support to the group. UNRWA dismissed some of its workers. It said it acted in order to protect the agency's ability to provide aid in Gaza. And an independent internal UN investigation was launched. I'm Gregory Stockle. Australia will soon begin enforcing stricter visa rules for foreign students. The move comes as official data showed migration hit another record high. The new rules took effect on March 23. The rules will increase English language requirements for student visas. The new rules will also give the government the power to suspend education providers from recruiting international students if they repeatedly break rules. The actions this weekend will continue to drive migration levels down while delivering on our commitments in the migration strategy to fix the broken system we inherited, Home Affairs Minister Claire O'Neill said in a statement. A new genuine student test will be introduced to block international students who look to come to Australia for work reasons instead of education reasons. The government will also enforce no further stay conditions on visitor visas. The moves follow several actions last year to end COVID-era exceptions introduced by the former government. Those rules included unrestricted working hours for international students. Australia increased its yearly migration numbers in 2022 to help businesses deal with worker shortages caused in part by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic brought strict border controls and kept foreign students and workers out for nearly two years. But the sudden increase of foreign workers and students has worsened pressure on an already tight rental market. Demand for rental housing across Australia was already higher than the supply of available housing. Australia's Department of Education says there were more than 567,000 international students in the country as of January 2024. That is a 26% increase compared to the same period last year. Almost all of the international students in Australia come from Asia. The top five countries are China, India, Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam. That information comes from Australia's Department of Education. Overall, Australia's population rose 2.5%, the fastest increase on record, to 26.8 million people last year. The record migration has expanded the labor supply and reduced pressures to raise wages. O'Neill, the Home Affairs Minister, said the government's actions since September have led to a drop in migration levels. She added that recent international student visa approvals were down by 35% compared to the year before. I'm Dan Novak. Dan Novak joins me now to talk more about his education report. Hi, Dan. Hi, Ashley. Glad to be here. So, Australia is making it harder to get international student visas. Why is that? Well, there's been a surge in international students in Australia. There's over half a million international students in Australia, which is a 26% increase from last year. Migration overall is very high in the country, and the population has increased 2.5% in a year, which is a record high increase. There's a concern that those getting visas are not actually students, but they're to stay in Australia and work. You mentioned in the story that the government has created a genuine student test. Can you explain a little more about that? Yeah, so applicants applying for graduate student visas need to show that studying is their primary reason for coming into the country. In the application they have to explain in English why they are studying what they are studying and how it helps them, and provide details about their background and economic situation. On Australia's Home Affairs website, it says the test is, quote, intended to include students who, after studying in Australia, develop skills Australia needs and who then go on to apply for permanent residence. Okay, well thank you again for that report and thanks for answering my questions today. You're welcome Ashley. In this next report, Dan Novak tells us about a study published recently in the journal Neurology. The study identified another possible side effect of space travel, headaches. Pay careful attention to the word migraine. We will talk more about it after the report. Research in the growing field of space medicine has identified many ways in which zero gravity and other conditions can affect the human body. Now a new study finds that astronauts are more likely to experience headaches in space than previously known. The study involved 24 astronauts from the US, European, and Japanese space agencies. They all traveled aboard the International Space Station for up to 26 weeks. All but two of them reported experiencing headaches in space. Headaches struck a larger number of astronauts than the scientists had expected. The headaches continued even after the crew had been in space long enough for the body to adjust. The process takes place in the first two weeks in space. The headaches during the early period often presented similarly to migraines. Those experienced later in space travel presented more like a tension headache the study found. Neurologist W.P.J. van Oosterhout of Zans Medical Center and the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands was lead author of the study. He said the research suggests difference processes are involved for the early headache episodes, the first one to two weeks in space, versus later headache episodes. In the first week the body has to adapt to the lack of gravity known as space adaptation syndrome. This phenomenon is similar to motion sickness and can cause nausea, vomiting, and dizziness, and headaches, van Oosterhout said. The later headaches could result from more fluid accumulating in the upper parts of the body and head. Migraines experienced on Earth are often throbbing and last four to seven hours along with symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound, van Oosterhout said. Tension headaches on Earth usually are a dull pain felt over the whole head, he said. The astronauts, 23 men and one woman, had an average age of about 47. They visited the International Space Station for missions that took place from November 2011 to June 2018. A total of 378 headaches were reported by 22 of the 24 astronauts during a total of 3,596 days in orbit. None of the 24 reported headaches in the three months after returning to Earth. None had ever had migraines before their time in space and none had a history of usual headache attacks. Documented effects of space travel include bone and muscle weakening or atrophy, changes in the brain, cardiovascular system, and immune system. Astronauts have also experienced effects on the inner ear and a condition involving the eyes. The risk of cancer from high radiation levels in space is another concern. Experts are unsure how much of a barrier these effects might have on human space travel over long periods, like trips to Mars or beyond. The honest answer is that we don't know the effects of long duration space travel, possibly years, on the human body, Van Oosterhout said, adding, this is a clear task for the field of space medicine. I'm Dan Nowak. Headaches struck a larger number of astronauts than the scientists had expected. The headaches continued even after the crew had been in space long enough for the body to adjust. The process takes place in the first two weeks in space. The headaches during the early period often presented similarly to migraines. Migraine is a noun. We spell it like this. M-I-G-R-A-I-N-E A migraine is a very bad or severe kind of headache. Migraines are often limited to one side of the head and can result in visual problems or dizziness. Migraine traces back to the ancient Greek word hemicrania. Hemi is ancient Greek for half, and cranion is ancient Greek for skull or cranium. In American English, we pronounce migraine with two vowel sounds, I and A. The first syllable has the I vowel sound, my. And the second syllable has the A vowel sound, grain. Listen and repeat after me. Migraine, migraine, migraine. And that's the lesson of the day. I'm John Russell. And that's our program for today. Join us again tomorrow to keep learning English through stories from around the world. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak.