英国新闻听力 美国足球战胜西班牙队（在线收听）

A bomb blasted at a market in the Iraqi capital Baghdad has killed at least 60 people and injured more than a hundred. It comes shortly before American troops are due to withdraw from Iraqi towns and cities. Jim Muir reports.

The bomb apparently hidden under a pile of vegetables on a motorized cart went off in the early evening just as people were crowding the streets after the heat of the day. It exploded in the Mraidi Market. It sells vegetables and birds inside a city, the densely populated Shiite suburb that’s been attacked so often and so provocatively in the past. As the number of those killed continued to mount, it became clear that this was one of the most deadly single bomb attacks so far this year. It comes just days before American forces are to complete their withdrawal from all Iraqi towns and cities by the end of the month. There has been a surge of violence in recent days clearly linked to that deadline.

There’ve been reports of fresh clashes between riot police and demonstrators in Iran. Eyewitnesses said the security forces use batons and tear gas to break up protests by about 200 people in Teheran, although this can’t be independently confirmed.

Both the government and the opposition insisted that they won’t back down of their dispute over the reelection of President Ahmadinejad. Jeremy Bowen reports from Teheran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is going about his business as if he had shrugged off the challenges of the opposition. He said that neither the system nor the people would give in to pressure to annul the election whatever the price. The opposition has been taken heavy blows from the hard hand of the state. Mir-Hossein Mousavi who believes he is the rightful president needs to get people out onto the streets, but he’s struggling to provide a lead. When he attempted to re-open his newspaper, the premises were raided and 25 members of staff arrested.

The United States and Venezuela are to return their ambassadors to each other’s capitals following tit-for-tat expulsions last year. It follows an easing of tension since President Obama came to office. Charles Scanlon reports.

President Hugo Chavez has made clear that he wants to return to full diplomatic relations with the US, part of a more conciliatory tone he’s adopted since President Obama took office. His government says that both of Venezuela and the US will return their ambassadors in the coming days following an angry dispute last September. The US remains a major market for Venezuelan oil, but despite their common trade interests, there‘s still plenty of friction between the two countries. President Chavez is today welcoming Ecuador into a regional organization that seeks to resist US influence in Latin America.

The American FBI says it’s uncovered a multimillion-dollar scam to defraud country’s health-care system. Officials say 53 people including some doctors have been accused of making false claims to the government medical insurance scheme Medicare. They say elderly people were paid to make claims for illnesses they never had.

America’s Central Bank, or Federal Reserve says the pace of economic decline in the United State is easing and a gradual resumption of growth could be expected. In its latest report, the Fed points to evidence that consumers’ spending is beginning to stabilize. Andrew Walker reports.

The statement issued after a two-day policy-making meeting is consistent with a growing but not universal view that the US economy could now be close to a turning point. Early on Wednesday the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published a new global forecast which was somewhat less gloomy than precious ones. What’s also widely shared is the view that the recovery when it comes will not be very strong in the early stages, so the Fed expects to maintain its exceptionally low interest rate for what it calls an extended period.

The Russian energy giant Gazprom has signed a joint Venture Agreement with Nigeria’s state-run oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. President Dmitri Medvedev who’s in Nigeria says it’s part of Russian plans for investment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector that could amount to billions of dollars. The plans include the development of a pipeline to carry Nigerian gas across the Sahara to Europe.

Scientists have unearthed what they say is the world’s oldest music instrument, a flute made from a vulture-bone found in a cave in Germany. The flute is more than 35,000 years old from the time that humans began settling in Europe. Fragments of two other primitive flutes carved from ivory were also discovered. Archaeologists say it suggests that early modern humans had a complex and creative culture.

In a major upset, the United States football team has beaten the European Champion Spain by 2 goals to 0 in the semifinal of Confederation’s Cup in South Africa. The American victory ended Spain’s 35-game unbeaten run, and prevented the Spaniards from setting a new world record of 36 matches without defeat.

伊拉克首都巴格达一个市场发生炸弹爆炸事件，已造成至少六十人死亡，一百多人受伤。爆炸就发生在美国军队计划开始从伊拉克撤军之前。Jim Muir报道。

很明显，炸弹隐藏在一辆机动货车的蔬菜堆下面，人们经历了一天的炎热之后傍晚涌到街头，随机炸弹爆炸。爆炸发生在莫莱迪市场。该市场位于市内，主要出售蔬菜和鸟类，是目前为止被攻击的最频繁最猛烈的什叶派居住地。随着死亡人数不断上升，这显然成为今年来死亡人数最多的单次爆炸事件。爆炸事件距离美国按计划月底从伊拉克所有城镇撤军还有几天。最近暴力事件急剧上升，显然与美军撤退期限有关。

有报告称，伊朗防暴警察和示威者之间发生新的冲突。目击者称，安全警察使用警棍和催泪瓦斯驱散德黑兰参加抗议活动的200多人。然而，消息还没有得到可靠证实。

政府和反对党双方据称不会放弃他们之间对总统内贾德再次当选的争议。Jeremy Bowen在德黑兰报道。伊朗最高领袖哈梅内伊继续其工作，似乎其并不在意反对派的挑战。他说，无论是政府还是人民都不会向反对派投降，无论付出什么代价，都不会将选举结果作废。反对派由于政府的强硬路线受到重大打击。认为自己才是合法总统的穆萨维需要将人们再次请上街头，但是他正在努力找出领导者。在他试图重开报纸时，报社遭遇突然袭击，25名员工被捕。

在经历了去年的驱逐之后，美国和委内瑞拉将派遣大使重回双方首都。自奥巴马上台之后，双方之间的紧张关系有所缓和。Charles Scanlon报道。

委内瑞拉总统查韦斯表明，他希望与美国恢复全面的外交关系，自奥巴马上台以来，他的语调一直比较温和。政府称，去年11月份双方发生强烈争端，在未来几天，委内瑞拉和美国双方都将派遣大使重回对方首都。美国仍然是委内瑞拉主要的石油市场，但是即使双方之间存在共同的贸易利益，两国之间仍有很多摩擦。查韦斯今天欢迎厄瓜多尔加入一个区域性组织，该组织拒绝美国在拉丁美洲的影响力。

美国FBI称其揭露了一起价值数百万美元的诈骗案，企图欺骗国家的医保系统。官员称，53人，包括一些医生，被指控向国家医保部门虚假报销。他们说，涉案人员付钱给一些老年人，指使他们报销从未患过的疾病。

美国中央银行联邦储蓄称美国经济下滑的速度有所缓解，预期将会逐渐恢复增长。在最新的报告中，美联储指出，有证据表明消费者的支出开始稳定。Andrew Walker报道。

该声明发布在两天的政策制定会议之后，越来越多的人但并不是普遍的看法认为美国经济开始接近转折点。周三早上，经济合作和发展组织发表了对全球经济相对更加乐观的新预测。另一个比较普遍的观点是，当经济复苏开始出现时，在早期阶段不会非常明显，所以美联储将继续保持现在非常低的利率水平，作为扩展期。

俄罗斯能源巨头，该公司已经与乌克兰的Naftogaz与尼日利亚国有石油公司尼日利亚国家石油公司签署联合协议。俄罗斯总统梅德韦杰夫在尼日利亚说，这是俄罗斯在尼日利亚石油和天然气部门数十亿美元投资的一部分。该计划包括发展管道，将尼日利亚天然气通过撒哈拉运输到欧洲。

科学家发掘出据称世界上最古老的乐器，在德国一个山洞中发现的秃鹰骨头制作的长笛。该长笛已有35,000年的历史，从人类开始在欧洲定居的时候就有了。科学家还发现了两个用象牙制作的长笛的碎片。考古学家称，这表明，早期的现代人类拥有复杂和创造性的文化。

在南非的联合会杯足球赛半决赛中，美国队以2：1击败欧洲冠军西班牙队。美国队的胜利结束了西班牙队35场连胜的记录，阻止了西班牙队创造36场不败的世界纪录。