英语听力精选进阶版 8041（在线收听）

The UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi has apologized to the people of Syria after the second roundof peace talks in Geneva ended without progress. Mr. Brahimi said the sticking point was theSyrian government's refusal to discuss a transitional governing body. He said a limitedagreement on evacuating civilians from the war-torn city of Homs had raised full expectations offurther progress. Lyse Doucet is there.

It's a cold, rainy and miserable night here in the Syrian city of Homs, and the news comingfrom faraway Geneva will do nothing to lift spirits. The second round of peace talks has endedwith the UN envoy Lakadar Brahimi admitting no progress was made. Not even the date hasbeen set for a third round of negotiations involving the government and the opposition. Butwhat people here want most of all is tangible signs that both these war and deepeninghumanitarian crisis are going to end soon.

Supporters and opponents of the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro are taking to thestreets of Caracas in rival marches. The demonstrations come at a time of growing politicaltension in Venezuela. Three people were killed during anti-government protests onWednesday.Irene Caselli reports from Caracas.

President Nicolas Maduro kissed his wife for several seconds during the public rally to celebratewhat he has called the day for peace and against fascism. Thousands of people accompaniedhim in downtown Caracas during a march that was broadcast on live television. The Presidenthas accused Venezuela's right wing of attempting to stage a coup with the support ofColombia's former president Alvro Uribe. On the other side of Caracas, protests against thegovernment continued.

French and African peacekeepers have seized weapons from militia in Bangui, the capital of theCentral African Republic. Troops conducted house-to-house searches in a neighborhoodbelieved to be a base for Christians to carry out attacks on Muslims. Richard Hamilton reports.

More than 250 military personnel were deployed to disarm the Christian militia. Thepeacekeepers hope to secure the district of Boy Rabe, the centre of operations for theanti-balaka formed in response to killings by Muslim rebels. The operation wasn't entirelysuccessful, some of the militia refused to disarm and one of its top leaders escaped capture.The French Defence Minister Jean-Yves le Drian admitted that Paris had underestimated thelevel of violence and hatred in the Central African Republic.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she will consult France about the creation of anEuropean communications network to avoid e-mails and other data automatically passingthrough the Untied States. Mrs. Merkel said she would raise the issue with President FrancoisHollande during her visit to Paris next week.

World News from the BBC

Police in Montenegro have fired teargas and stun grenades to break up the crowd of hundredsof protesters who were demanding the resignation of the government. Some demonstratorsthrew stones as they complained about high unemployment and the state of the economy inthe former Yugoslavia Republic.

A North Korean cargo ship seized in Panama last July with undeclared weapons on board hasleft for Cuba after Pyongyang agreed to pay a fine of nearly $700,000. Most of the NorthKorean crew have left with the ship. But the captain and 2 others will remain in Panama to facearm smuggling charges.

In one of the highlights so far of the Sochi Winter Olympics, the United States have beatenRussia in an exiting men's ice hockey match. The group stage game ended 2:2 before beingdecided in penalties. Alex Capstick is in Sochi.

Intense and feisty, the two heavyweight of group A went totally to turn one of a fast andexciting game. It's just watched by a ruckus crowd the volume amplified each time a Russianplayer approached his opponents' goal. The thrilling spectacle justified the pre-match hype,Russia's narrow defeats followed a prolonged penalty shoot-out. It was finally settled when TJOshie scoreed for the Americans as President Vladimir Putin looked on.

Elsewhere, the French athlete Renaud Lavillenie has broken the 21-year-old world record forthe indoor pole vault. He cleared the bar comfortably at 6.16 meters in a competition in theUkrainian city of Donetsk. That's a centimeter higher than the previous record set in the samevenue in 1993 by the Ukrainian Sergey Bubka.

The Chinese film Black Coal, Thin Ice has won the Golden Bear for best picture the Berlininternational film festival. The work for the Chinese director Diao Yinan also on the best actoraward. Liao Fan got the prize for his role as a former policeman turned to detectiveinvestigating a mysterious series of killings.