English Listening Practice — August 25, 2026

📰 US removes Syria from list of state sponsors of terrorism

The United States has officially struck Syria from its state sponsors of terrorism list after 47 years.

This landmark move dismantles the final major barrier to private investment and global economic reintegration.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited Syria's positive actions to sever ties with international terrorism.

Washington also removed the ruling group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham from its terrorist blacklist.

The Trump administration has openly embraced Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, as he leads the transitional administration.

⚔️ UK to back Ukraine with missile blueprints amid Russia-Ukraine strikes

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has traveled to Kyiv on his maiden foreign trip as head of government.

During the high-level visit, Britain formally pledged to share cruise missile blueprints directly with Ukraine.

This strategic commitment materializes as both Russia and Ukraine steadily intensify their reciprocal, long-range strikes.

The bilateral agreement marks a significant technical transfer amid these escalating cross-border engagements.

It signals sustained British backing for Kyiv as the aerial conflict between the two nations continues to widen.

📰 Rwanda accuses DR Congo of supporting an armed group on its soil

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has leveled pointed accusations against the Democratic Republic of the Congo regarding persistent cross-border tensions.

Speaking at a press conference in Kigali, he tied Rwanda's involvement directly to the FDLR armed group.

Kagame alleged that Congolese authorities are actively arming the militia and absorbing its combatants into their state military.

He stressed that the group's presence poses a grave security threat.

Consequently, Kagame affirmed that Rwanda will take all requisite measures to protect its borders.

🏛️ Trump announces new 50% tariff on Canadian cars, trucks and steel

Donald Trump has announced a sweeping 50 percent tariff on Canadian imports.

Slated to take effect on January 1, 2027, the punitive levy targets all cars, trucks, automotive parts, and steel.

The aggressive move signals a marked deterioration in trade relations between two historically integrated economies.

In a social media post, Trump criticized Canada's domestic tariffs on American farmers.

He also asserted that the neighboring country relies far more heavily on bilateral trade than the United States.

⚡ Indonesia's Prabowo launches 100 GW solar power program

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has unveiled an aggressive initiative to develop 100 gigawatts of solar power.

The government plans to execute this massive expansion over the next three years.

That target represents a dramatic leap from the nation's current installed capacity of just 1.5 gigawatts.

By ramping up solar infrastructure, Southeast Asia’s largest economy aims to curb its reliance on fossil fuels.

This strategic shift will also help the country rein in soaring import bills.

⚡ Japan to support oil pipelines that bypass Strait of Hormuz

The Japanese government will assist Middle Eastern countries in constructing oil pipelines that circumvent the Strait of Hormuz.

Nikkei reported on Tuesday that Tokyo intends to back the development of these alternative routes.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is slated to unveil the strategic plan this Wednesday.

She will formally present the blueprint during a meeting of the Green Transformation Implementation Council.

The initiative focuses on establishing viable conduit routes to bypass the blocked maritime channel.

🤖 OpenAI bans Russian ChatGPT accounts used in covert misinformation campaign

OpenAI has dismantled a cluster of Russian ChatGPT accounts leveraged in a covert online influence campaign to spread disinformation.

The company uncovered the network after tracing suspect, AI-generated social media posts to a much broader influence operation.

This campaign revolved around a deceptive website hosting misattributed academic research and a biased index favoring Russia.

Although OpenAI prohibits access in Russia, the operators deployed virtual private networks to mask their digital footprints and geographic origins.

📰 A ghostly ribbon of stars reveals hidden dark matter

An international research team has detected the first extragalactic stellar stream ever observed.

The faint, narrow ribbon formed as an ancient star cluster slowly disintegrated over billions of years.

Northwestern University astrophysicist Tjitske Starkenburg coauthored the study.

Her team analyzed the stream’s trajectory to reconstruct the host galaxy’s gravitational field.

Because dark matter shapes these stellar orbits, the discovery provides a novel method to measure unseen cosmic mass.

Astronomers can now probe how dark matter is distributed across distant galaxies.

🔍 Tell us: do you think AI has made Google search better or worse?

Google has placed AI-generated summaries, dubbed "AI Overviews," at the forefront of its search engine.

Liz Reid, Google's vice president of search, hailed the move as the platform's most significant upgrade ever.

Billions of users are now shifting their browsing habits by consuming synthesized answers directly on Google.com.

Consequently, users increasingly bypass external links, even when the bot cites its sources.

This behavioral shift diminishes referral traffic, jeopardizing the crucial advertising revenue that independent websites depend on.

🏀 At least 25% of former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE, study finds

A new study from Mass General Brigham has established a critical baseline for CTE prevalence among retired professional football players.

Published in The BMJ, the research analyzed deceased athletes who appeared in at least one NFL game.

Among those who died between 2016 and 2021, at least 25 percent suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

CTE is a degenerative brain disorder linked to repetitive head trauma.

Currently, it can only be diagnosed post-mortem through brain dissection.

Lead author Dr. Daniel Daneshvar noted that the findings finally clarify how widespread the condition actually is.

🎵 Songs created by AI banned from Australia's music charts

The Australian Recording Industry Association has barred songs predominantly or entirely generated by artificial intelligence from its official charts.

Effective this week, all eligible submissions must be substantially human-made.

This policy shift follows controversy surrounding Australian DJ Josh Fawaz’s cover of Madonna’s “Like A Prayer.”

The track reached number two on the national chart and amassed over 48 million Spotify streams.

However, Fawaz only added generative AI credits after facing a public backlash.

📺 Kit Harington replaces Nicholas Hoult in HBO's Harry Potter series

Kit Harington has officially joined HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter television adaptation as the vainglorious wizard Gilderoy Lockhart.

The Game of Thrones alumnus steps in for Nicholas Hoult, who abruptly vacated the role due to scheduling conflicts.

Harington will portray the celebrity instructor in the drama's second season, which adapts J.K. Rowling’s The Chamber of Secrets.

The flagship franchise is slated to make its debut this Christmas on HBO Max.

That inaugural season will chronicle the events of The Philosopher’s Stone.