English Listening Practice — September 26, 2026

🏛️ Trump reportedly rejects Iran’s seven-day peace deal to reopen strait of Hormuz

Donald Trump has reportedly rebuffed an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days.

Tehran offered to unblock the vital maritime corridor and resume nuclear negotiations in exchange for the US lifting its naval blockade.

While Tehran awaits a formal response, Trump remains privately skeptical that Iran will dismantle its nuclear program.

According to US officials, the president expects to resume military strikes against Iran following the November midterm elections.

📰 Hundreds of thousands turn out for Pope's popemobile parade along Champs-Élysées

Hundreds of thousands of spectators converged on the iconic Champs-Élysées.

They gathered to witness the Pope travel along the grand avenue in his popemobile.

The massive turnout framed a dynamic procession along the route.

Enormous crowds lined the famed thoroughfare for a direct glimpse of the pontiff.

This public appearance drew an immense, highly visible assembly of onlookers.

The celebratory papal parade transformed the boulevard into a dense corridor of observers.

In total, the high-profile motorcade commanded an extraordinary public turnout.

📰 Middle East: Palestinians plan first local elections in 20 years

Palestinian authorities are advancing plans to organize their first local elections in two decades.

This upcoming vote brings an end to a twenty-year hiatus in municipal polling.

Preparations are now underway to stage these community-level ballots across the Middle East.

The initiative marks a notable resumption of grassroots electoral procedures after a protracted pause.

Setting these elections in motion represents a rare administrative milestone for the region.

It will be the first municipal contest held there in twenty years.

🇨🇳 China, U.S. agree to $30 billion tariff cut, AI dialogue during Xi visit, Beijing says

Washington and Beijing have brokered an eight-point consensus during President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States.

Under the accord, both nations agreed to a reciprocal 30 billion dollar tariff reduction.

They will also inaugurate a formal bilateral dialogue on artificial intelligence.

This AI initiative includes a dedicated communication channel to manage technology-related incidents.

The next round of high-level AI discussions is slated for November.

Additionally, the two superpowers plan to establish a joint trade council to build on previous negotiations.

📰 TikTok reaches first state settlement over teen safety claims, agrees to user limits

Alabama has secured a landmark settlement with TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance.

The pact resolves legal claims that the platform compromised child safety and misled consumers.

Under the terms, TikTok will enforce stricter age-verification protocols for Alabama teens.

The platform will also impose a two-hour daily limit alongside mandatory pauses every 15 minutes.

Financially, TikTok will pay the state at least $100 million.

That figure could climb to $300 million if 40 other attorneys general execute similar agreements.

📈 Dow jumps more than 470 points Friday; stocks notch winning week despite Treasury yield surge

U.S. equities rallied on Friday to cap a turbulent trading week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 478.64 points, or 0.93%, to finish at 51,828.62.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 climbed 0.51% to 7,743.41, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.5% to 27,068.72.

Despite a sharp spike in Treasury yields, major indices logged weekly advances.

Technology shares spearheaded the momentum, rising 3.1%.

Meta Platforms jumped nearly 13% across the week amid strong market excitement surrounding its Muse artificial intelligence agent.

📰 CERN has begun disconnecting the Large Hadron Collider

CERN has begun dismantling the Large Hadron Collider’s magnet system for the High-Luminosity upgrade.

Engineers recently severed the first magnet interconnection during the facility’s third long shutdown.

This milestone formally kicked off the replacement of the machine's critical inner triplets.

These specialized quadrupole magnets focus particle beams to maximize collision rates across the 27-kilometer ring.

Replacing them with a vastly more powerful generation is essential to boost luminosity and generate richer data.

CERN Director-General Mark Thomson visited the ATLAS experiment at Point 1 to commemorate the operational milestone.

⚖️ Court rules Pentagon can blacklist Anthropic for refusing to enable Claude features

A court has affirmed that the Pentagon retains the legal authority to blacklist AI developer Anthropic.

The ruling comes after the company refused to enable specific requested features within its flagship Claude model.

In their written assessment, the presiding judges warned that overly constrained AI models could ultimately cause military operations to fail.

As a result, defense leaders are legally permitted to exclude the vendor over concerns regarding its rigid system safeguards.

🤖 Oxford lets OpenAI train its AI models on Bodleian Library

The University of Oxford has granted OpenAI access to historical texts from the Bodleian Library to train its artificial intelligence models.

Internal documents reveal that the digitised archival material directly populates OpenAI's proprietary training set.

Oxford initially unveiled the collaboration in March 2025 as a straightforward digitisation initiative.

However, the original announcement omitted any mention of training algorithms on the historic texts.

University personnel have since voiced apprehension regarding potential reputational fallout.

Meanwhile, an OpenAI spokesperson maintained that the partnership helps preserve historical knowledge for posterity.

🏎️ Russell wins despite late Verstappen challenge

Mercedes driver George Russell clinched victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, narrowly fending off a late charge from Max Verstappen.

Two successive safety car periods erased Russell’s commanding lead, triggering a tense eleven-lap sprint to the finish.

Despite battling a late energy deployment glitch, Russell kept the four-time world champion at bay.

Verstappen applied relentless pressure but could not engineer an overtake.

Russell held his nerve on the final straight, securing the win by under 0.2 seconds.

📰 U2 celebrate 50th anniversary at the school where they formed

U2 marked their milestone 50th anniversary with a concert at Mount Temple Comprehensive in Dublin.

The Irish quartet returned to the very playground where they first crossed paths half a century ago.

Bono and his bandmates played a career-spanning set for an enthusiastic student body.

The performance featured timeless hits like Vertigo and With Or Without You alongside their latest single, Silencio.

Students welcomed the rock veterans with handmade signs, while teachers and pupils alike danced throughout the energetic set.

⚽ Saturday Sports: MLB playoff race; college football; NFL kickoff; Pope Leo on baseball

NPR’s sports broadcast spans the MLB playoff race, college football, the NFL kickoff, and perspective from Pope Leo on baseball.

In tandem with this reporting, the outlet affirmed its strict editorial standards.

NPR explicitly does not provide or accept monetary compensation for news coverage or interviews.

Furthermore, anyone making such financial offers or requests is not an NPR employee.

Such individuals do not represent the organization in any capacity.