英国新闻听力 汇丰银行遭法国刑事调查（在线收听）

A number of Palestinian groups have agreed to back a military move by Syrian government forces to try to drive Islamic State fighters out of a Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus. IS launched an assault on the Yarmouk Camp last week, and has since almost completely overrun it. The U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has warned of a massacre in Yarmouk, which he described as the deepest circle of hell. The Palestinian Envoy to Damascus, Ahmad Majdalani, told the BBC the military action would be a joint operation with the Syrians.

“The operation will be conducted in cooperation between the Palestinian groups in Syria and the Syrian government, through a joint operation centre. The operation is to be done to regain control over the area step by step to protect the lives of civilian residents of the Camp and also to avoid the overall destruction of the Camp.”

The U.S. Vice President, Joe Biden, has given an upbeat assessment of Iraq's progress against the Islamic State. In the speech at the National Defence University in Washington, Mr. Biden said the group's momentum in Iraq had been halted, and its ability to massive manoeuvre had been degraded.

“With our assistance, Iraq has made significant progress in the battlefield. 8 months ago, ISIL was on the offensive everywhere in Iraq. No force in Iraq or Syria had proven capable of defeating ISIL head-on. But today in Iraq, ISIL has lost large areas it used to dominate. ISIL's momentum in Iraq has halted, and in many places, had been flat-out reversed.”

Mr. Biden acknowledged there's a still lifelong fight ahead, and urged Iraqi leaders not to lose the sense of political urgency that brought them to this point.

One of the world's biggest banks, the HSBC, has been placed under a formal criminal investigation in France over allegations that its Swiss subsidiary helped wealthy customers evade taxes. The London-based bank has been ordered to pay a one-billion-euro bail bond to cover potential fines. HSBC described the move as being without legal basis.

A statue of the British colonist, Cecil Rhodes, has been removed from the University of Cape Town in South Africa following weeks of protests. Students said the 80-year-old monument was a symbol of institutional racism. Mohammed Allie reports.

“Thousands of students, academics and members of the public cheered, chanted and applauded as the statue of Cecil John Rhodes was removed by a crane and hoisted onto a flat-bed truck from where it was taken to an undisclosed storage place for safekeeping. The removal of the statue is the combination of a month-long protest by students from the Rhodes Must Fall Campaign, which resulted in the University's 30-member Council voting unanimously in favour of its removal. Both the students and University authorities agree the next step is to look at appointing more senior black academic staff and transforming the curriculum to reflect the University's position as an African institution.”

BBC News.

One of the men being tipped as potential candidate to succeed Cuba's current President, Raul Castro, says he's ready to serve his country if the call comes. Speaking to the BBC in his first international interview, Gerardo Hernandez said President Obama had taken a brave decision to open up U.S. relations with Cuba. Mr. Hernandez was released by the U.S. in December after 16 years in prison on espionage charges.

Eurozone officials say Greece has 6 working days to present a revised list of economic reforms in order to secure another rescue bailout. The demand came as Greece said it had met a deadline to repay 450 million euros to the International Monetary Fund, one of the creditors of its international bailout. From Athens, Chris Morris reports.

“Greece's fulfilled its financial commitments today. But the situation is becoming rather desperate. There is precious little cash left in the national coffers. And if the government fails to procure a further funding soon, it will be in trouble. There are salaries and pensions to pay, and more debt repayments looming. E.U. officials say there are 6 working days left, in which to reach an agreement on a new package of reforms to the Greek economy, before Eurozone finance ministers meet later this month. Only if Greece's creditors are satisfied will more money be released.”

Authorities in Haiti say they've located the bodies of more than 20 people who drowned when the boat they were traveling in was shipwrecked. A spokesman for the Civil Protection Directorate say the victims appear to have been migrants attempting to reach the neighbouring Turks and Caicos islands, but were forced to turn back by bad weather.

The United States says China is threatening regional stability by reclaiming land and building artificial islands in a disputed area of the South China Sea. A State Department spokesman said Washington was concerned that China might militarise outposts on the disputed land features.

多个巴勒斯坦组织同意支持叙利亚政府军的一个军事行动，该行动希望将IS武装分子从大马士革郊区一个巴勒斯坦难民营赶走。上周IS对耶尔穆克难民营发动了袭击，几乎彻底占领了那里。联合国秘书长潘基文警告称耶尔穆克可能发生大屠杀，他称之为最可怕的地狱。巴勒斯坦赴大马士革使者马达兰尼告诉BBC，这次军事行动将是和叙利亚进行的联合行动。

“这次行动将是巴勒斯坦驻叙利亚组织和叙利亚政府间的联合行动，通过一个联合行动中心来进行。这次行动的目的是一步步重新夺取对该地区的控制，从而保护难民营平民的生命安全，并避免难民营被彻底摧毁。”

美国副总统乔·拜登对伊拉克对IS的行动作出乐观估计，拜登在华盛顿国防大学发表演讲，他说该组织在伊拉克的势头已经被遏制，其进行大规模行动的能力已被削弱。

“在我们的帮助下，伊拉克在战场上取得重大进展。八个月前，IS组织在伊拉克各地都处于攻势，无论是伊拉克还是叙利亚都没有武装力量能打败IS。但如今在伊拉克，IS已经失掉所占领的大片地区。该组织在伊拉克的势头已经被遏制，而且在很多地方，局势都已被彻底扭转。”

拜登承认仍要进行漫长的战斗，并敦促伊拉克领袖不要失去政治紧迫感。

法国对全世界最大银行汇丰银行进行正式的刑事调查，据悉该行驻瑞士分行帮助富有客户逃税。这个总部在伦敦的银行已被下令支付10亿欧元的保释保证书，以应对可能的罚款。汇丰银行称此举完全没有法律依据。

经过数周的抗议，英国殖民者塞西尔·罗兹的塑像被从南非开普敦大学移走。学生们称这个有80年历史的塑像象征着种族主义制度化。穆罕默德·艾莉报道。

“看着塞西尔·约翰·罗兹的塑像被起重机移走并放入一辆平板卡车，数千名学生、学者和公众在喝彩、欢呼并鼓掌，塑像被运到一个秘密储存地保存。移走塑像这一结果是‘罗兹必须倒下运动’经过数月的抗议才实现的，该运动使得该校30名成员组成的委员会全体一致支持此举。无论是学生们还是大学当局都认为下一步将任命更多的黑人高级学术人员，并修改课程，使之反应该校作为非洲院校的地位。”

BBC新闻。

被认为将是古巴现任总统劳尔·卡斯特罗继任者的杰拉尔多·埃尔南德斯称一旦有需要，自己将准时准备为本国效力。他接受了BBC的采访，这是他首次接受国际采访，他说奥巴马总统做出了恢复与古巴关系的勇敢决定。去年12月埃尔南德斯被美国释放，他因间谍指控被囚禁了16年。

欧元区官员称希腊需要在6天后递交修改后的经济改革方案，才能获得下一笔纾困资金。希腊称已经到了向国际货币基金组织还款4.5亿欧元的最后期限，IMF是希腊的国际借贷者之一。克里斯·莫里斯在雅典报道。

“希腊今天已经兑现了其财政承诺，但局势变得越发紧迫。国库里的资金已经很少了，如果政府无法尽快获得下一步资金，就会遇到麻烦。因为有薪水、养老金要支付，还有更多债务要偿还。欧盟官员称还有6个工作日的事件，需要在这个时间内就希腊经济改革新一揽子方案达成协议，然后本月晚些时候欧元区财政们将举行会议，前提是希腊的债主们愿意提供更多借款。”

海地当局称已经找到乘船发生海难时的20多人的尸体，民防部门发言人称遇难者显然是希望抵达临近特克斯和凯科斯群岛的移民，但因为天气糟糕不得不折回。

美国称中国在有争议的南中国海上填海并建造人工岛屿，威胁了地区安全。国务院发言人称华盛顿担心中国可能会在争议海岛上建造军事前哨。