This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。
Tens of thousands of Syrians demonstrated against the government on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Late in the day, witnesses and activists said at least fifteen people were killed when government forces fired on demonstrators. They said most of the deaths happened around Damascus. Protests also took place in other Syrian cities.
穆斯林斋月的第一个星期五（即上周五），数万名叙利亚人举行了反政府示威活动。当天晚些时候，目击者和活动人士表示，政府军对示威者开枪，造成至少15人死亡。他们说，其中大部分遇难者是在大马士革。叙利亚其它城市也举行了示威活动。
Demonstrators called for President Bashar al-Assad to resign.
示威者要求总统巴沙尔·阿萨德（Bashar al-Assad）下台。
The city of Hama has been under military attack since Sunday. A political activist in Hama told VOA that government forces have been raiding the homes of activists and carrying out arrests and killings. Still, he said, there were protests in Hama on Friday.
自上周日以上，哈马市一直被政府军进攻。哈马市的一位政治活动家告诉VOA记者，政府军已经攻入活动人士大本营哈马市，进行逮捕和屠杀。他说，然而上周五哈马市还是举行了示威活动。
注：哈马市之前被反叛人士占领，上周叙利亚政府军攻入哈马市并控制局面。
The Syrian government launched a violent campaign against pro-democracy protesters in March. American officials estimate that more than two thousand people have been killed in the attacks on protesters. On Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on other countries to join the United States in taking action.
叙利亚政府三月份对亲民主示威者展开暴力行动。美国官员预计，超过2千人在政府针对示威者的行动中丧生。上周四，美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿（Hillary Clinton）呼吁其他国家加入美国的行列对叙利亚采取行动。
HILLARY CLINTON: "But not just US sanctions because, frankly, we do not have lot of business with Syria. We need to get Europeans and others. We need to get the Arab states. We need to get a much louder, more effective chorus of voices that are putting pressure on the Assad regime, and we're working to obtain that."
希拉里：“但这一行动并不仅仅是美国的制裁，因为坦率地说，叙利亚和美国之间没有太多的商业来往。我们必须取得欧洲和其它国家，以及阿拉伯国家的支持。我们需要取得一个更为响亮和有效的集体表态以向阿萨德政权施压。而我们正为之努力。”
Secretary Clinton said a statement Wednesday by the United Nations Security Council was a first step. The statement condemned the "widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities." It urged restraint on both sides in Syria.
克林顿表示，联合国安理会周三发表的一份声明是迈出的第一步。该声明谴责叙利亚当局“广泛侵犯人权并对平民使用武力”，督促当事双方保持克制。
The government has blamed much of the violence on what it calls terrorists and militants. The official news agency SANA reported Friday that unidentified gunmen had killed two security officers.
叙利亚政府将大部分暴力事件归咎于其所谓的恐怖分子和激进分子。官方新闻机构叙利亚阿拉伯通讯社（SANA）周五报道，身份不明的枪手杀害了两名安保人员。
The United States and European countries had pressed the Security Council for a resolution. A resolution is stronger than the presidential statement it approved. But Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa blocked those efforts. They feared that a resolution could lead to a situation similar to the international military action in Libya.
美国和欧洲国家督促安理会作出决议。安理会决议的效力大于其通过的主席声明。但这遭到了俄罗斯、中国、印度、巴西和南非的阻挠。他们担心这一决议会导致叙利亚出现类似利比亚国际军事行动的局面。
The United States dismissed a promise this week by the Syrian president to permit reforms. These include letting opposition parties operate for the first time.
美国本周驳斥了叙利亚总统做出的允许改革的承诺。这一承诺包括首次允许反对党运作。
Syria has long had a single-party system led by the Ba'ath party of the Assad family.
叙利亚长期以来一直是由阿萨德家族的复兴党领导的一党制。
In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak appeared in a hospital bed in a cage in a courtroom on Wednesday. The former president denied the charges against him. These include ordering the killing of protesters during the eighteen days of political unrest that forced him out. More than eight hundred people were killed.
在埃及，胡斯尼·穆巴拉克（Hosni Mubarak）周三躺在铁笼中的病床上出现在法庭上。这位埃及前总统否认所有对他的指控，包括否认在埃及18天的政治动荡期间，下令杀害示威者。当时超过800人被杀害。
Raina el Malky is a newspaper editor. She says that if anyone had predicted this trial last year, she would have thought they were crazy.
雷纳·EL·麦基（Raina el Malky）是一家报纸编辑。她表示，任何人如果在去年预言这次审判，她都会认为他们是疯了。
RAINA El-MALKY: "I would have said they were are living in Mars or Neptune or somewhere outside Earth because this was unthinkable. I think what happened is a miracle and the way everything has happened since the first day, since January twenty-fifth, has been a miracle."
麦基：“我当时肯定会说他们来自火星、海王星或其它地球以外的地方，因为这太不可想象了。我认为已经发生的这一切是一个奇迹。从第一天起，从1月25日起，那些已经发生的一切都已经成为个奇迹。”
What became known as the Arab Spring uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East ousted the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia. Yemen's president was wounded by an explosion in June and remains in Saudi Arabia, recovering.
后来被称之为阿拉伯之春的北非和中东的暴动推翻了埃及和突尼斯总统。也门总统在六月的爆炸中受伤，仍在沙特阿拉伯疗养恢复中。
(51VOA.COM对本文翻译享有全部权利，未经许可请勿转载，违者必究！)