Egyptians answered calls for a "Day of Rage"-英语听力

[00:00.100]From VOA Learning English, [00:06.570]this is In the News. [00:08.590]Tens of thousands of Egyptians on Friday [00:12.330]answered calls for a "Day of Rage" [00:15.810]with protests across the country. [00:18.800]The marches were the idea [00:21.410]of the Muslim Brotherhood movement [00:23.930]of ousted President Mohamed Morsi. [00:26.840]They took place two days after Egyptian police [00:31.690]destroyed two large pro-Morsi camps in Cairo. [00:37.060]The police operation left hundreds dead [00:41.250]and thousands wounded. [00:43.310]The protesters were demanding [00:45.850]that Egypt's new government release the ousted president [00:50.350]and other leaders of the Brotherhood. [00:53.360]The Egyptian army has held Mr. Morsi [00:57.550]since it removed him from office early last month. [01:01.780]In recent days, violence between civilian groups [01:06.950]has increased. [01:08.400]Christians reported that their religious centers [01:12.270]were attacked on Thursday. [01:14.630]Some Egyptians raided and set fire [01:18.290]to two government offices in Giza, [01:21.250]a city across the Nile River from Cairo. [01:24.720]Government employee Fehmi Hassan says [01:29.080]the attackers were supporters of the ousted president. [01:33.560]"Today, about a thousand supporters [01:35.900]came and broke the exterior fence [01:37.810]and hurled stones at the building, [01:39.280]and they set fire to the governor's office, [01:41.650]the auditing office and all the governor's cars." [01:44.460]The United Nations Security Council [01:46.940]held an emergency meeting [01:49.150]to discuss the violence in Egypt. [01:51.790]The Council expressed sympathy to the victims [01:55.560]and regret for the loss of life. [01:58.840]It also called for an end to violence by all groups in Egypt. [02:05.290]The United States and other countries [02:09.300]have condemned attacks on Mr. Morsi's supporters. [02:14.290]On Thursday, President Obama [02:17.510]criticized the violence. [02:19.630]He also cancelled a major joint military exercise with Egypt. [02:26.210]"While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, [02:29.430]our traditional cooperation cannot continue [02:32.540]as usual when civilians are being killed [02:35.120]in the streets and rights are being rolled back." [02:37.640]Some observers have criticized Mr. Obama's statements on Egypt. [02:42.690]They say the United States is showing support [02:47.080]for the Egyptian military [02:49.160]if it does not take stronger action. [02:52.010]Saba Mahmood is with the University of California at Berkeley. [02:57.600]She says the United States can pressure [03:01.530]the military-supported government in Egypt [03:05.060]to end the violence. [03:06.820]"If the United States is actually [03:09.150]interested in instituting any kind of democratic change, [03:13.120]they hold a very crucial card in this, which is [03:16.910]over $1.8 billion of annual military aid [03:21.290]that the United States gives to Egypt. [03:23.830]They can simply say [03:25.140]that we will suspend that aid [03:27.260]unless there is an immediate dissolution [03:29.880]of this intense violence." [03:31.860]Others see hope for the competing forces in Egypt [03:36.070]to avoid civil war and carry out the reforms [03:40.340]that Egyptians wanted in 2011. [03:43.740]That year, Egypt's military [03:46.680]answered huge protests [03:48.940]by supporting the ouster of long-time President Hosni Mubarak. [03:54.180]Stephen Zunes chairs the Middle Eastern Studies program [03:59.460]at the University of San Francisco. [04:01.660]He says civil society has been growing stronger in Egypt [04:07.390]and across the Arab world. [04:09.630]"More and more people realize [04:11.240]that they are ultimately those [04:12.950]who must decide their own fate. [04:14.830]And so as tragic as the recent events have been, [04:19.980]it is just not the final word." [04:21.840]Professor Zunes says it is not only the Islamists [04:26.340]who are affected by the suppression of dissent. [04:29.410]And he says democracy will come to Egypt [04:33.310]not by suppressing Islamists [04:35.870]but by organizing democratic forces. [04:39.240]"The younger generation of Egyptians [04:41.650]do want a future [04:43.770]that is based on democracy and social justice." [04:47.340]And that's In the News from VOA Learning English, [04:52.030]written by Onka Dekker. I'm Steve Ember.