英语听力精选进阶版 7443（在线收听）

Portugal has asked the European Union for emergency financial aid to help it deal with its debts. In a televised statement, the Prime Minister Jose Socrates said calling in foreign assistance was now essential.

"I always said asking for foreign aid would be the final way to go, but we have reached the moment where the country is at too much risk that it shouldn't be exposed to."

The European Commission said Lisbon's request would be dealt with as quickly as possible. Here's Andrew Walker.

For weeks now, the financial markets have expected Portugal to need rescue loans from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. That view was reinforced last month when the government resigned after parliament refused to back proposals for further austerity measures, and now the caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates said that Portugal will seek help. The details will have to be negotiated, but it's likely that the EU and the IMF will agree to provide loans. The amount is expected to be in the region of $100bn.

The besieged leader of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, has remained in hiding in his residence in Abidjan as supporters of his opponent Alassane Ouattara tried all day to force him out. Mr Ouattara's officials say their troops have been given orders to take him alive. From Abidjan, here's Andrew Harding.

So much for an end to the fighting here, across Abidjan the thud of heavy weapons and another furious battle around the presidential compound of Laurent Gbagbo. Trapped in his bunker, he had seen on the brink of a negotiated surrender, but this morning, the talks collapsed, French mediators accusing Mr Gbagbo of impossible stubbornness. Patrick Achi, spokesman for the elected President Alassane Ouattara, said force was now the only solution. These are critical times for Ivory Coast. A quick negotiated exit for Mr Gbagbo might just have helped stabilise the situation.

A former United States congressman is in Libya for talks about a potential ceasefire. The former Congressman Curt Weldon is visiting in a personal capacity but with the knowledge of President Obama. Reporting from rebel-held Benghazi, here's Jon Leyne.

Former Congressman Curt Weldon has brought with him detailed proposals for ending the crisis in Libya. They involve Colonel Gaddafi stepping down. But other figures from his administration, including his son Saif al-Islam, would have a role in a transition to democracy. There'd be a ceasefire with Colonel Gaddafi's forces pulling back from western cities under siege while opposition fighters do not try to advance any further. But a spokesman reiterated the refusal of the opposition to engage in any negotiations whatsoever with Colonel Gaddafi's government.

Meanwhile, attacks by Colonel Gaddafi's forces have halted production at Libyan oil fields under rebel control.

World News from the BBC

Scientists at the United Nations say they don't expect that the nuclear accident in Japan to cause serious health problems. A UN atomic radiation expert Wolfgang Peters[Weiss] said the Pacific Ocean was absorbing most of the contamination at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. Mr Peters[Weiss] said the accident was less dramatic than the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in Ukraine.

The European naval force patrolling the coast of Somalia says it has captured 18 suspected pirates. A Finnish warship serving with the force fired warning shots at a vessel to the southeast of Oman and detained the men on board. This is the third time suspected pirates have been intercepted by European warships in the past 10 days.

A group of former Israeli defence and security chiefs has put forward proposals to restart peace talks with the Palestinians. The plan envisages the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. Yaakov Peri, the former head of the Israeli security agency, said the upheavals in the Arab world required an Israeli response.

Scientists in Japan say they have used stem cells taken from mice to grow part of an eye. Experts say this is the closest we've come yet to using stem cells to grow replacement organs in the lab. Jon Stewart from our science team has more.

Stem cells are the early stage building blocks for our bodies. They have the potential to become any specialised type of cell from brain to heart to skin. It's hoped this study could one day provide cells for repairing retinas, the light-sensing part of the eye. Growing a full organ is still a huge leap, but scientists are hopeful that this research will lead to further advances in regenerative medicine.

Archaeologists in central London have uncovered a 16th century mass grave containing the remains of patients from the former St Bethlehem's mental hospital, known as Bedlam. The archaeologists were preparing the way for construction of a new underground rail link.