CNN news 2012-03-15 加文本

cnn news 2012-03-15

CARL AZUZ, HOST, cnn STUDENT NEWS: Great stuff. Thanks to all the students at Holy Trinity for the introduction. I`m Carl Azuz, bringing you today`s top headlines. We`re going to be talking about a story that has been all over social media lately.

But first up, we`re looking at Syria. Today is officially being called a day of mourning in parts of the Middle Eastern nation. This is in response to reports that more than 100 Syrians were killed on Sunday. That includes violence in the city of Homs that some opposition officials called a massacre.

AZUZ (voice-over): Meanwhile, the latest attempts at peace talks don`t seem to have gotten anywhere. Kofi Annan, a former secretary-general of the United Nations, spent two days meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Annan suggested a cease-fire and asked for relief agencies to be able to get aid to victims in Syria.

When he left Syria on Sunday, it wasn`t clear whether Annan had gotten any agreement on those requests from al-Assad.

AZUZ: Here at cnn Student News, part of our goal is to inform you about major events going on in the world. That is why you hear so much about the violence in Syria.

AZUZ (voice-over): This is a humanitarian crisis, something that represents a major threat to the health and safety of a large group of people. Dozens are reportedly dying in Syria nearly every day. This violence has been going on for a year.

We say reportedly, because Syria has severely restricted the access that journalists can have in the country. That`s another big part of what`s going on here. In many situations, the world can learn about crises like this from first-hand news reports. But because of that restricted access, cnn can`t confirm the reports from the Syrian government or the opposition.

AZUZ: Another crisis happening in the world, one we reported on last fall, involves Joseph Kony and a violent military group in Uganda. We`ve seen messages on our Facebook page about this. I`ve gotten tweets from some of you about Kony. Ralitsa Vassileva has this report on the viral video that has made Kony a household name on social media.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For 26 years, Kony has been kidnapping children into his rebel group, the LRA.

RALITSA VASSILEVA, ANCHOR, cnn INTERNATIONAL (voice-over): A 30- minute video gone viral online has achieved what policymakers and activists have failed to do: make more people care about the atrocities of a bizarre cult called the Lord`s Resistance Army, or LRA, seeking to overthrow the Ugandan government.

Produced by a non-profit group called Invisible Children to create momentum for the capture of its leader, warlord Joseph Kony, the documentary has gone viral. Tens of millions have seen it, including celebrities like Rihanna and George Clooney. And donations have been pouring in.

BEN KEESEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CEO, INVISIBLE CHILDREN INC.: The beauty of "Kony 2012" is it starts with a movie. The movie is the entry point to a mission, and the mission involves influencing our policymakers, influencing our culture makers, so they can take the steps on the ground from disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of all of the LRA fighters.

VASSILEVA (voice-over): But "Kony 2012" has also generated controversy for its simplistic presentation.

ISHMAEL BEAH, FORMER CHILD SOLDIER: If you`re not interested in the geographies and the complexity of it, to know that it`s not black and white, to delve into that, the fact that you can`t glamorize this stuff, then I think you have no business in me being a changemaker.

VASSILEVA (voice-over): The war is over in northern Uganda. Kony soldiers, now a depleted force, have fled to Sudan and Central African Republic, but they still hold children captive.

AZUZ (voice-over): All right. So many Americans didn`t know Kony`s name a month ago. Now it seems like it`s everywhere on social media. And that`s what we`re asking about today on our blog. Why has this taken off to such an extent on social media? Talk to us at cnnstudentnews.com.