Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is to address the nation in a television interview today as his forces continued to kill anti-regime protesters. Assad will give an interview on Syrian television about the situation in the country and the continuing process of reforms. State news agency SANA said Assad will also talk about the repercussions of American and Western political and economic pressures and a vision of the future for Syria in the current regional and international context. This will be the first time Assad is to appear on television since June 20, and the fourth since pro-democracy demonstrations erupted in MarchEarlier, activists said tanks rumbled into the central city of Homs, the day after 34 anti-regime protesters were killed. The death toll rose again yesterday when two more people were killed in Rastan, a town between Homs and Hama, as security forces opened fire to disperse a demonstration. Meanwhile, opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad opened two days of talks in Istanbul to launch a national council to coordinate the fight against his regime.