[00:00.00]如果您也喜欢 恒星英语学习网 www.hxen.com 请与您的朋友分享This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. [00:09.26]A ceasefire proposed by the United Nations [00:13.06]is supposed to take effect in Syria [00:16.39]in the coming days. [00:17.98]But Syrian government forces continued [00:21.55]to attack opposition targets [00:24.40]across the country on Friday. [00:27.19]The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says [00:33.03]more than twenty people were killed [00:35.82]-- most of them civilians. [00:38.37]Opposition activities say tens of thousands of Syrians [00:43.64]took part in anti-government protests. [00:46.89]The Syrian government says [00:50.02]it has begun withdrawing its troops from major cities. [00:54.86]But on Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General [00:59.35]Ban Ki-moon warned that Syria's conflict was growing. [01:04.03]He said attacks by government forces on civilian areas [01:09.80]showed no signs of slowing. [01:12.83]He urged President Bashar al-Assad [01:17.01]"to show leadership and vision" and keep his promise [01:21.94]to end the violence by this Tuesday. [01:25.29]The opposition is supposed to do the same [01:28.87]within forty-eight hours after that. [01:31.81]Hilal Khashan teaches political science [01:36.24]at the American University of Beirut. [01:39.63]He thinks President Assad is unlikely [01:43.42]to follow the peace plan [01:45.66]because that would give the opposition new strength. [01:49.23]HILAL KHASHAN: "This means that Syrians will feel free [01:53.32]to demonstrate against the regime with impunity. [01:56.66]This is unthinkable. [01:58.15]Assad will never allow such developments to occur. [02:02.08]Therefore, he will find reasons [02:04.22]to defeat the mission of Kofi Annan." [02:07.16]Professor Khashan says [02:09.00]he think Mr. Annan's diplomatic efforts [02:12.15]represent the "last chance" that Mr. Assad [02:15.69]will receive from the international community. [02:19.12]The Syrian leader agreed to the U.N. peace plan [02:23.52]on March twenty-fifth. [02:25.35]Growing numbers of Syrians fleeing the violence [02:29.99]have poured into neighboring Turkey. [02:32.88]Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu [02:36.61]called the U.N. secretary-general on Friday [02:40.09]to express concern about the growing number of refugees. [02:45.32]The United Nations says more than nine thousand people [02:50.59]have been killed since the uprising [02:53.49]against Mr. Assad began thirteen months ago. [02:57.43]Anti-government opposition groups held protests [03:01.86]in a number of towns and cities after Friday prayers. [03:06.74](SOUND) [03:14.00]Opposition videos showed hundreds of protesters [03:18.24]demonstrating on Friday in the northern city of Aleppo. [03:23.12]Videos also showed large protests [03:26.85]in several other areas and in Damascus. [03:32.03]Witnesses reported heavy government shelling [03:35.86]in the city of Homs Friday. [03:38.60]Parts of Homs have come under government shelling for weeks. [03:43.17]Al Arabiya television reported that government troops [03:48.50]stormed Douma outside Damascus [03:51.75]and made large numbers of arrests. [03:54.88]Government forces have temporarily [03:58.02]retaken parts of Douma several times, [04:02.30]only to lose control later. [04:05.23]Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed the peace plan. [04:11.60]He said Thursday that there was little progress [04:15.73]on ending the conflict. [04:18.27]Russia and China, both allies of the Syrian government, [04:23.20]have increased pressure on Syrian officials to follow the plan. [04:28.42]Syria blames much of the violence on what it calls [04:33.00]"terrorists" supported by "Arab and Western countries." [04:37.83]It says terrorist acts increased after the government [04:43.16]reached an agreement on Mr. Annan's peace plan. [04:47.64]And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. [04:53.01]I'm Steve Ember.如果您也喜欢 恒星英语学习网 www.hxen.com 请与您的朋友分享