**美联储决定维持刺激经济措施 股市应声而涨**
亚洲股市星期四大幅上涨，此前美国中央银行出人意料地决定维持目前的刺激经济措施。
日本日经指数星期四上升了260.82，以14，766点收盘。这是八个月来的最高点，比上个交易日增长将近两个百分点。亚洲其他主要股市也以高点收盘。
星期三，美国股市以创纪录的高点作收。此前美联储主席伯南克说，美联储每月购买850亿美元债券的计划维持不变。
道琼斯指数上涨1%，标准普尔500指数收盘时上涨1.2%。纳斯达克指数也上涨了1%。
美联储采取刺激经济措施是为了降低长期利率，使企业得以更容易购买新设备，家庭更容易购房。很多经济学家本来预计美联储将缩减数十亿美元的债券购买量。
但伯南克表示，由于失业率仍然过高，美国经济仍需帮助。
Asian Markets Surge in Response to U.S. Fed Decision
Asian stock markets surged Thursday after the U.S. central bank surprised investors by leaving in place current efforts to stimulate the economy.
Japan's Nikkei index hit an 8-month high, closing 260.82 points, or nearly two percent higher Thursday at 14,766. Other major markets around the region also closed higher.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks closed at record highs after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said there will be no change in the Fed's program to buy $85 billion a month in securities..
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1 percent while the Standard & Poors 500 closed 1.2 percent higher. The NASDAQ index also was up 1 percent.
The program is intended to reduce long-term interest rates, which makes it easier for companies to buy new equipment and for families to buy new homes. Many economists expected officials to reduce that by billions of dollars.
But Bernanke said the economy still needs help because unemployment is still too high.
**阿萨德否认使用化武并保证放弃化武**
叙利亚总统阿萨德说，叙利亚政府将遵守放弃化学武器的协议，但他否认叙利亚政府军上月发动毒气攻击。据称发生在大马士革附近的那次攻击导致一千多人死亡。
在接受美国福克斯新闻网采访时，阿萨德保证遵守美国和俄罗斯达成的有关清除叙利亚化武库存的协议。他表示，销毁化武将耗资10亿美元，需要大约一年时间。
对阿萨德的采访报道于星期三播出。福克斯新闻网一名记者和前美国国会议员库齐尼奇与阿萨德进行了交谈。库齐尼奇目前是福克斯新闻网的分析员。
阿萨德还坚持说，叙利亚政府并不是在打内战。他表示，这场已经持续两年多的冲突是“一种新型战争”，政府军在对抗来自80多个国家的伊斯兰主义战斗人员。阿萨德说，“80%到90%的地下恐怖分子属于基地组织及其分支”。
Assad Denies Link to Chemical Attack, Vows to Give Up Arsenal
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says his government will honor an agreement to dispose of its chemical arsenal, but denies his forces launched a gas attack last month said to have killed more than one thousand people near Damascus.
In an interview with ((the U.S. network)) Fox News, Mr. Assad promised to abide by a deal reached by U.S. and Russian envoys aimed at liquidating the chemical stockpiles. He said destruction of the weapons would cost $1 billion and would take about a year.
The interview, aired Wednesday, was conducted in Damascus by a Fox correspondent and former U.S. lawmaker Dennis Kucinich, who is now an analyst for the network.
Mr. Assad also insisted his government is not fighting a civil war. He described the two-year conflict as "a new kind of war" pitting government forces against Islamist fighters from more than 80 countries. He also said "80 to 90 percent of the underground terrorists are al-Qaida and their offshoots."