Monday 21st September 2026. Russia elections. Saudi Arabia Riyadh strikes. UK Sheeran apology. Italy schools. Indonesia ship. Tanzania lion.
Simple English News Daily

Monday 21st September 2026. Russia elections. Saudi Arabia Riyadh strikes. UK Sheeran apology. Italy schools. Indonesia ship. Tanzania lion.

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 20, 20266 min

World news in 7 minutes. Monday 21st September 2026. Today: Russia elections. Saudi Arabia Riyadh strikes. UK Sheeran apology. Italy schools. Indonesia ship. Tanzania lions. Nigeria alcohol poisoning. Chile Bachelet UN. US media bans. And Mexico historic document. With Ben Mallett Become a SEND7 supporter ! Ad-free listeningBonus quiz episode every FridayDaily transcripts (written by us, not AI!)Vocabulary listsWednesday worksheetsAsk questions in Ask Me Anything episodes10% of our profit goes to Effective Altruism charities.You can become a supporter at send7.supercast.com <b...

Play episode

Opens the player: the full transcript, every word clickable, with translation and flashcards.

Try it: tap any word

Real sentences from the start of this episode. Every word is marked with its level.

Sentence 4 of 11 · 0:53

the invasion of Ukraine started in 2022. Votes for the election will decide the 450 representatives

, . ,

by Vladimir Putin, is expected to win a large majority. Russia does not run free and fair

Hear this sentence

Tap a word to see its meaning in your language.

Do you know these words?

8 harder words from this episode. Tap one to see what it means, then mark it.

  • C10:53
  • B21:08
  • B21:16
  • B22:08
  • C12:48
  • B24:05
  • B25:04
  • B25:39

Mark a few words and we'll tell you how this episode fits your level.

Is this episode right for you?

B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 13%A2 52%B1 31%B2 4%C1 0%
  • 96% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 125 words a minute: slow, clear speech.
  • 30 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

0:00

I'm Ben Mallet, today is Monday, the 21st of September, 2026. Starting in Europe. Russia held parliamentary elections over the weekend, its first since the invasion of Ukraine started in 2022. Votes for the election will decide the 450 representatives for Russia's state parliament, known as the Duma. The ruling United Russia Party, headed

1:00

by Vladimir Putin, is expected to win a large majority. Russia does not run free and fair elections and most anti-war candidates have not been allowed to stand. Over the weekend, Authorities in Moscow reported cyber and drone attacks from Ukraine, which they say was an attempt to disrupt the election. British singer Ed Sheeran has apologized for the handling of a controversy linked to his current music tour.

1:36

Most of the opening acts for Sheeran's tour quit after the rapper Macklemore was removed from the tour for making comments criticising Israel. Sheeran had previously said he wanted his concerts to be free from politics. On Saturday, Sheeran apologized to fans and said that Israel's continued fighting in Gaza was catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.

That was the opening. The rest of the episode (4 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.

Continue in the player

Automatically generated from the audio. May contain errors. Audio belongs to its publisher and is played from their feed. Rights holders can request removal — copyright & takedown policy