# Thursday 24th September 2026. UN assembly speeches. Ethiopia Tigray attack. Haitian-Canadian author. Venezuela Machado blocked. China Xi...

An episode of [Simple English News Daily](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1505603790), 23 Sep 2026, 7:09.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/op3.dev/e/adbarker.com/stream/K1GF85x83ZWP88Cz18NfA8bx/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75322396/bm_0924_26.mp3

World news in 7 minutes. Thursday 24th September 2026. Today: UN assembly speeches. Ethiopia Tigray attack. Haitian-Canadian author. Venezuela Machado blocked. China Xi trip. Bangladesh aircraft. India pro-women protests. Morocco elections. Spain Madrid housing. And UK gurning championships. With Ben Mallett Become a SEND7 supporter! • Ad-free listening • Bonus quiz episode every Friday • Daily transcripts (written by us, not AI!) • Vocabulary lists • Wednesday worksheets • Ask questions in Ask Me Anything episodes • 10% of our profit goes to Effective Altruism charities. You can become a supporter at send7.supercast.com For more information about SEND7 visit send7.org/contact or send an email to podcast@send7.org

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Good morning, this is Send7, world news in 7 minutes.
[0:06] Speaker 1: I'm Ben Mallett, today is Thursday, the 24th of September, 2026.
[0:12] Speaker 1: Starting in the Americas. In the United States. 37 world
[0:27] Speaker 1: leaders spoke at the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, which
[0:32] Speaker 1: is gathered in New York City. Iran's President Massoud Pazeshkian
[0:38] Speaker 1: said that Iran will not surrender to the US, but
[0:42] Speaker 1: that he believed in a diplomatic solution to their ongoing war.
[0:48] Speaker 1: The US delegation walked out of the room during Pazeshkian's
[0:53] Speaker 1: speech and Argentina's President Javier Mele criticised the UN, saying
[0:59] Speaker 1: it was full of arrogant parasites, and raised Argentina's dispute
[1:04] Speaker 1: with the United Kingdom over ownership of the Falkland Islands.
[1:10] Speaker 1: Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham criticised Russia in his speech.
[1:15] Speaker 2: So we will keep investing in our defence, meeting our
[1:19] Speaker 2: NATO commitments, and strengthening European capabilities. We will be relentless
[1:26] Speaker 2: in building up our hard power and deterrence. But we
[1:30] Speaker 2: will not play Russia's game of trading escalatory rhetoric. Unlike Russia,
[1:37] Speaker 2: we do not seek confrontation. Instead, we will be prepared
[1:42] Speaker 2: but not panicked and unflinching in defending our people and
[1:47] Speaker 2: our allies.
[1:49] Speaker 1: A Haitian-Canadian author is facing claims that he used artificial
[1:55] Speaker 1: intelligence to write his award-winning novel. Taylson Aurelian was accused
[2:01] Speaker 1: by an anonymous account on social media site X, which
[2:06] Speaker 1: says his debut novel is 99% AI-generated based on AI
[2:13] Speaker 1: detection software. Aurelian has denied the accusation, and his Canadian
[2:19] Speaker 1: and French publishers say they have total confidence that Aurelian
[2:24] Speaker 1: did not use AI. Venezuela's opposition leader has been blocked
[2:31] Speaker 1: from returning to Venezuela three times this week, according to
[2:36] Speaker 1: her team. Maria Corina Mercado made three recent attempts by
[2:41] Speaker 1: plane and by sea to reach Venezuela, Mercado has been
[2:46] Speaker 1: living in exile in the United States for nine months.
[2:52] Speaker 1: It is not clear who blocked her attempts to return,
[2:56] Speaker 1: although US officials advised Mercado not to return after earthquakes
[3:02] Speaker 1: hit Venezuela in June. Asia China's President Xi Jinping has
[3:10] Speaker 1: arrived in the US for a three-day visit, his first
[3:15] Speaker 1: visit to the country in almost three years. Xi will
[3:20] Speaker 1: meet with US President Donald Trump to discuss issues including
[3:25] Speaker 1: the development of AI and trade tariffs. Bangladesh will buy
[3:31] Speaker 1: 11 aircraft from US company Boeing. This order follows a
[3:36] Speaker 1: purchase of 14 Boeing aircraft for $ 3. 7 billion earlier in April.
[3:44] Speaker 1: These orders are partly aimed at reducing the trade deficit
[3:49] Speaker 1: the US has with Bangladesh in order to avoid US tariffs.
[3:55] Speaker 1: In India, hundreds of students protested yesterday calling for improved
[4:02] Speaker 1: safety for women. The protest follows a case of a
[4:06] Speaker 1: teenage girl being raped by three men this week. Three
[4:11] Speaker 1: suspects have been captured by police. Sexual violence against women
[4:16] Speaker 1: is a major issue in India, with around 80 rapes
[4:21] Speaker 1: reported to police each day. Africa In Ethiopia, Fighting has
[4:29] Speaker 1: restarted between the government and forces from the Tigray region.
[4:35] Speaker 1: A civil war between the government and the Tigray People's
[4:40] Speaker 1: Liberation Front was last fought from 2020 to 2022, leading
[4:43] Speaker 1: to hundreds of thousands of deaths. Government officials say that
[4:50] Speaker 1: Tigrayan forces broke the peace agreement yesterday after allying with
[4:56] Speaker 1: six other armed groups across Ethiopia. A spokesperson for Prime
[5:01] Speaker 1: Minister Abiy Ahmed says the neighbouring country Eritrea is financing
[5:07] Speaker 1: the Tigrayan forces, although Eritrea denies this. In Morocco, parliamentary
[5:14] Speaker 1: elections were held yesterday. Whoever is elected as Prime Minister
[5:20] Speaker 1: will oversee Morocco's 2030 Football World Cup preparations, which are
[5:25] Speaker 1: expected to cost $ 20 billion as one of three co-hosts.
[5:32] Speaker 1: Morocco's parliament has limited power in many areas, with the
[5:37] Speaker 1: monarchy having the final say over issues such as foreign
[5:41] Speaker 1: affairs and defence. Europe In Spain, hundreds of people gathered
[5:51] Speaker 1: in Madrid yesterday to protest against an 87-year-old woman being
[5:56] Speaker 1: evicted from her home. Maricarmen Abascal had lived in her
[6:01] Speaker 1: apartment for 71 years. Abascal was evicted after an investment
[6:07] Speaker 1: fund bought her apartment and increased her rent to a
[6:11] Speaker 1: level she could no longer afford. The lack of affordable
[6:15] Speaker 1: housing is a major issue currently affecting Spanish cities. And
[6:21] Speaker 1: in the United Kingdom, the World Gurning Championships were held
[6:26] Speaker 1: this week. Gurning means pulling an ugly expression by distorting
[6:31] Speaker 1: your face. Competitors were asked to put their faces through
[6:36] Speaker 1: a horse collar before pulling their best silly faces. Records
[6:41] Speaker 1: for gurning competitions date back to 1852, where it is
[6:45] Speaker 1: called an ancient tradition. That's your world news in seven minutes.
[6:50] Speaker 1: If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a rating and
[6:54] Speaker 1: review in your podcast app. I'm Ben Mallett. Tomorrow, you
[6:58] Speaker 1: will be with Stephen Devenchenzi. Have a great day.

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