# Thursday 17th September 2026. Canada’s EU invite. UK Ed Sheeran tour. US space weapon. Netherlands Thaci sentenced. Saudi Arabia airstrikes.

An episode of [Simple English News Daily](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1505603790), 16 Sep 2026, 7:09.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/op3.dev/e/adbarker.com/stream/K1GF85x83ZWP88Cz18NfA8bx/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75174927/bm_0917_26.mp3

World news in 7 minutes. Thursday 17th September 2026. Today: Canada’s EU invite. UK Ed Sheeran tour. US space weapon. Netherlands Thaci sentenced. Saudi Arabia airstrikes. India-Pakistan collision. South Africa visas. Sudan mine. DRC protests. Venezuelan Machado return? And mice with human brains. 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 17th of September, 2026.
[0:09] Speaker 1: Starting in Europe. the European Union has invited Canada to
[0:25] Speaker 1: be its first associate member, according to European Commission President
[0:31] Speaker 1: Ursula von der Leyen.
[0:32] Speaker 2: We want to bring the relationship with Canada to the
[0:36] Speaker 2: highest level possible. And dear Mark, I said we must
[0:41] Speaker 2: urgently reimagine our partnerships. So I would like to work
[0:47] Speaker 2: with you on opening the door for Canada to being
[0:52] Speaker 2: the first associate member of the European Union.
[0:56] Speaker 1: It is currently unclear what associate membership would mean. Canada's
[1:02] Speaker 1: Prime Minister Mark Carney is currently visiting the European Parliament.
[1:08] Speaker 1: Carney has promised to double Canada's trade with countries outside
[1:13] Speaker 1: of the United States following a trade dispute with US
[1:18] Speaker 1: President Donald Trump. A Canada-EU summit will be held to
[1:23] Speaker 1: discuss the details of associate membership in October. British singer
[1:30] Speaker 1: Ed Sheeran is facing pressure to cancel his upcoming tour.
[1:35] Speaker 1: US rapper Macklemore was dropped from the tour after making
[1:39] Speaker 1: comments which criticised Israel's actions in Gaza. Sheeran says that
[1:45] Speaker 1: the decision to drop Macklemore was made by the tour
[1:49] Speaker 1: organisers and venue owners. A number of Sheeran's other opening
[1:55] Speaker 1: acts have now left the tour in protest at the
[1:58] Speaker 1: removal of Macklemore. Sheeran has said that he respects Macklemore's
[2:04] Speaker 1: strength of purpose, but that he wants his concerts to
[2:08] Speaker 1: be free from politics. In the Netherlands, Kosovo's former president,
[2:16] Speaker 1: Hashim Taci, has been found guilty of war crimes and
[2:20] Speaker 1: sentenced to 25 years in prison. Taci was a military
[2:25] Speaker 1: commander when ethnic Kosovo Albanians fought Serbians in the 1990s
[2:32] Speaker 1: before Kosovo became independent in 2008. Tachi was found guilty
[2:38] Speaker 1: of murder and other crimes by the Kosovo War Crimes
[2:43] Speaker 1: Tribunal yesterday. Asia Saudi Arabia has launched airstrikes against the
[2:52] Speaker 1: Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to the Houthis. Saudi Arabia
[2:57] Speaker 1: says that Houthi rebels have continued firing drones and missiles
[3:02] Speaker 1: into Saudi Arabia, including one drone close to the holy
[3:06] Speaker 1: site of Mecca. The Houthis deny firing drones towards Mecca.
[3:13] Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia has been in conflict with the Iran-backed Houthi
[3:17] Speaker 1: rebels since 2015. India has accused Pakistan's navy of causing
[3:25] Speaker 1: a collision with an Indian warship. India's foreign ministry says
[3:30] Speaker 1: that a Pakistani ship showed unacceptable and unprofessional conduct during
[3:37] Speaker 1: the incident. India and Pakistan signed an agreement in 1991
[3:43] Speaker 1: for their military ships and submarines to stay at a
[3:47] Speaker 1: distance of three nautical miles apart, when travelling through international waters. Africa.
[3:57] Speaker 1: South Africa has criticised a decision by the United States
[4:02] Speaker 1: to restrict visas. The US says the new restrictions will
[4:07] Speaker 1: affect foreign nationals who have enabled race-based discrimination. US President
[4:14] Speaker 1: Donald Trump has previously accused the South African government of
[4:19] Speaker 1: discriminating against white South Africans. In Sudan, at least 60
[4:26] Speaker 1: people have died in a collapse at a gold mine.
[4:30] Speaker 1: Sudan is one of Africa's largest gold producers. Much of
[4:35] Speaker 1: this mining is carried out by small mining groups and
[4:39] Speaker 1: sold to smugglers. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, protests
[4:47] Speaker 1: have taken place in a number of cities against a
[4:50] Speaker 1: planned change to the constitution. Critics say that the planned
[4:56] Speaker 1: changes could allow President Félix Chisikidi to seek a third
[5:00] Speaker 1: term in office. The protests have involved violence against the
[5:05] Speaker 1: police in a number of cities. The Americas Venezuelan opposition
[5:14] Speaker 1: leader Maria Karina Mercado says she will return to Venezuela,
[5:19] Speaker 1: although no date has been set for her return. US
[5:23] Speaker 1: officials have reportedly asked Mercado to delay her return date.
[5:29] Speaker 1: Mercado fled Venezuela last year and was given a Nobel
[5:34] Speaker 1: Peace Prize for her opposition to former President Nicolas Maduro.
[5:39] Speaker 1: US President Donald Trump has since worked with Maduro's former deputy,
[5:45] Speaker 1: Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, to secure oil deals with US companies.
[5:52] Speaker 1: The United States has admitted for the first time that
[5:57] Speaker 1: it has put a weapon in space. US Secretary of
[6:01] Speaker 1: the Air Force Troy Mink said the US had a
[6:05] Speaker 1: weapon in orbit. No details have been given about what
[6:10] Speaker 1: the weapon does. China's foreign ministry has since asked the
[6:15] Speaker 1: US to stop putting weapons into orbit due to the
[6:19] Speaker 1: risk of a space arms race. And also in the US,
[6:25] Speaker 1: researchers have created mice with half-human brains. Scientists at Stanford
[6:32] Speaker 1: University put lab-grown human brain cells into specially grown mice.
[6:38] Speaker 1: This research could help to develop new treatments for human
[6:42] Speaker 1: brain disorders such as epilepsy and dementia. That's your World
[6:48] Speaker 1: News in 7 minutes. If you enjoyed this podcast, please
[6:52] Speaker 1: leave a rating and review in your podcast app. I'm
[6:56] Speaker 1: Ben Mallett. Tomorrow you will be with Stephen Devenchenzi. Have
[7:01] Speaker 1: a great day.

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