**北京又审新公民运动案 国际观察人士被禁旁听**
中国正在继续对与基层的新公民运动有关的活动人士进行高调的政治审判。政府对新公民运动实施了镇压，作为打击国内批评者的努力的一部分。
赵常青和侯欣周四将在北京一家法院受审。他们组织了要求教育平等和官员公示财产的小团体，因此被指控“聚众扰乱公共场所秩序”。
包括几位外国外交人员在内的国际观察人士被禁止参加旁听。记者们也被警察和便衣人员挡开。警察和便衣还骚扰那些试图在接近庭审的地方播音的媒体人员。
赵常青的律师张雪忠称这一审判“根本是非法的”。不过他说，他的当事人并不后悔他所做的倡导工作。
星期三，新公民运动的创始人许志永在法庭上拒绝为自己辩护，以保持沉默来抗议他所认为的不公平审判。
这些活动人士几乎肯定会被判有罪，因为由国家控制的中国法庭几乎从未做过有利于被告的判决，尤其是对于有政治动机的案件。如果罪名成立，他们面临最多5年监禁。
Trials Continue for Chinese Anti-Corruption Activists
China is continuing the high-profile political trials of activists associated with the grassroots New Citizens Movement, which the government has cracked down on as part of its effort to crush its domestic critics.
Zhao Changqing and Hou Xin are set to stand trial Thursday in a Beijing court. They are charged with "disturbing public order" by organizing small groups that called for education equality and for officials to disclose their assets.
International observers, including several foreign diplomats, were barred from attending the hearings. Journalists were also kept away by police and plain-clothed officers, who have harassed those trying to broadcast near the proceedings.
Zhao's lawyer, Zhang Xuezhong, called the trial "fundamentally illegal." But he says his client does not regret his advocacy work.
On Wednesday, New Citizens Movement founder Xu Zhiyong refused to defend himself in court, staying silent in protest of what he considers an unfair trial.
The activists will almost certainly be found guilty, since China's state-controlled courts almost never rule in favor of the defendant, especially in politically-motivated cases. If convicted, they face up to five years in jail.
**国际和会调停叙利亚冲突 阿萨德前途未卜**
联合国-阿拉伯联盟和平特使卜拉希米周四将在日内瓦会见叙利亚政府和反对派的双方代表。他正在试图进行调解，以结束将近三年的造成严重死伤的暴力。
卜拉希米将分别会见各方，并讨论如何进行下一步的直接谈判。这些会谈原定周五开始，但卜拉希米周三在期待已久的和平会议开幕后表示，分别举行的会谈可能会继续。
他还表示，有“相当清楚的迹象”显示，政府和反对派准备讨论提供人道主义便利、释放囚犯和实行地方性的停火。
展开和平努力的第一天，有40多个代表团聚集在瑞士城市蒙特勒，同时在关于阿萨德总统在叙利亚的前途问题上出现了尖锐的分歧。
Mediator Brahimi to Meet Separately with Warring Syrian Sides
U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is due to meet Thursday in Geneva with representatives of the Syrian government and opposition, as he tries to mediate an end to nearly three years of deadly violence.
Brahimi will meet separately with each side and discuss how to proceed to the next step of direct negotiations. Those talks were scheduled to begin Friday, but Brahimi said Wednesday after the opening of a long-awaited peace conference that the separate meetings may continue.
He also said there are "fairly clear indications" that the government and opposition are prepared to talk about humanitarian access, freeing prisoners and establishing local cease-fires.
The first day of the peace effort brought together more than 40 delegations to the Swiss city of Montreux, and was marked by a sharp divide over President Bashar al-Assad's future in Syria.
中国正在继续对与基层的新公民运动有关的活动人士进行高调的政治审判。政府对新公民运动实施了镇压，作为打击国内批评者的努力的一部分。
赵常青和侯欣周四将在北京一家法院受审。他们组织了要求教育平等和官员公示财产的小团体，因此被指控“聚众扰乱公共场所秩序”。
包括几位外国外交人员在内的国际观察人士被禁止参加旁听。记者们也被警察和便衣人员挡开。警察和便衣还骚扰那些试图在接近庭审的地方播音的媒体人员。
赵常青的律师张雪忠称这一审判“根本是非法的”。不过他说，他的当事人并不后悔他所做的倡导工作。
星期三，新公民运动的创始人许志永在法庭上拒绝为自己辩护，以保持沉默来抗议他所认为的不公平审判。
这些活动人士几乎肯定会被判有罪，因为由国家控制的中国法庭几乎从未做过有利于被告的判决，尤其是对于有政治动机的案件。如果罪名成立，他们面临最多5年监禁。
Trials Continue for Chinese Anti-Corruption Activists
China is continuing the high-profile political trials of activists associated with the grassroots New Citizens Movement, which the government has cracked down on as part of its effort to crush its domestic critics.
Zhao Changqing and Hou Xin are set to stand trial Thursday in a Beijing court. They are charged with "disturbing public order" by organizing small groups that called for education equality and for officials to disclose their assets.
International observers, including several foreign diplomats, were barred from attending the hearings. Journalists were also kept away by police and plain-clothed officers, who have harassed those trying to broadcast near the proceedings.
Zhao's lawyer, Zhang Xuezhong, called the trial "fundamentally illegal." But he says his client does not regret his advocacy work.
On Wednesday, New Citizens Movement founder Xu Zhiyong refused to defend himself in court, staying silent in protest of what he considers an unfair trial.
The activists will almost certainly be found guilty, since China's state-controlled courts almost never rule in favor of the defendant, especially in politically-motivated cases. If convicted, they face up to five years in jail.
**国际和会调停叙利亚冲突 阿萨德前途未卜**
联合国-阿拉伯联盟和平特使卜拉希米周四将在日内瓦会见叙利亚政府和反对派的双方代表。他正在试图进行调解，以结束将近三年的造成严重死伤的暴力。
卜拉希米将分别会见各方，并讨论如何进行下一步的直接谈判。这些会谈原定周五开始，但卜拉希米周三在期待已久的和平会议开幕后表示，分别举行的会谈可能会继续。
他还表示，有“相当清楚的迹象”显示，政府和反对派准备讨论提供人道主义便利、释放囚犯和实行地方性的停火。
展开和平努力的第一天，有40多个代表团聚集在瑞士城市蒙特勒，同时在关于阿萨德总统在叙利亚的前途问题上出现了尖锐的分歧。
Mediator Brahimi to Meet Separately with Warring Syrian Sides
U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is due to meet Thursday in Geneva with representatives of the Syrian government and opposition, as he tries to mediate an end to nearly three years of deadly violence.
Brahimi will meet separately with each side and discuss how to proceed to the next step of direct negotiations. Those talks were scheduled to begin Friday, but Brahimi said Wednesday after the opening of a long-awaited peace conference that the separate meetings may continue.
He also said there are "fairly clear indications" that the government and opposition are prepared to talk about humanitarian access, freeing prisoners and establishing local cease-fires.
The first day of the peace effort brought together more than 40 delegations to the Swiss city of Montreux, and was marked by a sharp divide over President Bashar al-Assad's future in Syria.
