English Listening Practice — October 1, 2026

📰 Pakistan launches deadly airstrikes on Afghanistan

Pakistan has launched lethal cross-border airstrikes into Afghanistan, hitting locations in the eastern Kunar and southern Helmand provinces.

The strikes have yielded sharply conflicting casualty accounts.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the operation as an act of aggression.

He stated that three residential homes were hit, killing nine women and children while wounding 11 others.

Pakistani authorities, by contrast, asserted that the barrage eliminated 22 militants.

Neither government's casualty toll could be independently verified.

📰 Explosions heard in Ethiopia's capital after drone flights banned

Overnight explosions rattled Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

Blasts were reported in the southern Gotera district around 00:30 local time.

Detonations also struck the western sector near the military headquarters.

The incidents occurred merely hours after authorities instituted a ban on drone flights over the metropolis.

A source affiliated with opposition fighters claimed responsibility to Reuters, characterizing the blasts as targeted drone strikes.

Witnesses described the concussive force as loud enough to trigger car alarms.

Residents near the intelligence agency base corroborated the disruption.

📰 Passengers recount chaos on Tel Aviv flight. And, FBI probes employee-data hack

A Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, following a violent cockpit incident.

One pilot stabbed his co-pilot in a suspected attempt to crash the aircraft.

Roughly 170 passengers were on board, most of them Israeli nationals.

After the wounded pilot unlocked the door, several passengers intervened and subdued the assailant.

A relief flight crew on board then helped land the aircraft safely.

The motive behind the attack remains unknown.

🇨🇳 Oil prices rise as Chinese refiners reportedly ban October fuel exports; Brent crude back above $100

Oil prices mounted a swift recovery on Thursday, reversing earlier losses.

The rebound followed reports that China's state oil major, PetroChina, suspended October fuel exports to safeguard domestic supplies.

The refiner reportedly cancelled a handful of planned gasoline and jet fuel shipments.

This move further squeezed already constrained international energy markets.

Consequently, benchmark Brent crude climbed 2.2% to trade at $100.15 per barrel.

Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures advanced 1.5% to $91.74.

🏛️ UK 30-year borrowing costs hit 6%, highest since 1998, as government bond sell-off intensifies – business live

A global bond sell-off is intensifying.

UK 30-year borrowing costs have hit 6%, their highest level since 1998.

Meanwhile, US 10-year Treasury yields reached peaks not seen since 2002.

Against this backdrop, Catherine Mann, an external member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, is pressing for further interest rate hikes.

Speaking at the Nomura London Macro Forum, Mann warned that monetary policy remains insufficiently tight.

She argued that policymakers cannot rely on market-driven tightening to curb persistent upside risks to inflation.

🏛️ Japan's prime minister says her policies will boost confidence in the yen after U.S. intervention falls short

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced that her economic agenda will shore up market confidence in the yen.

Speaking to Nippon Television, Takaichi noted she had raised the currency’s undervaluation with U.S. President Donald Trump last month.

She dismissed currency manipulation, pledging instead to bolster growth potential through decisive investment in supply capacity and crisis management.

Ultimately, she expects these structural measures to sharpen Japan's global competitiveness and firmly anchor market trust in the currency.

🔍 Google announces Gemini 4 Argon AI model, but you can't use it yet

Google has officially unveiled its next-generation artificial intelligence model, dubbed Gemini 4 Argon.

The announcement effectively sidesteps an intermediate Gemini 3.5 Pro release.

However, the tech giant has not yet opened access to the public or developers.

For engineering leaders tracking frontier systems, this means deployment pipelines remain on hold.

The model is currently unavailable for immediate integration or hands-on testing.

Google’s timeline for a broader rollout has not been detailed.

For now, the new architecture remains strictly an internal milestone.

📰 Dinosaur-killing impact crater might have been teeming with life

The impact crater linked to the extinction of the dinosaurs may have been teeming with life.

The cataclysmic collision generated an environment filled with hot, nutrient-rich water.

These heated, fertile waters likely persisted for more than five million years following the initial impact.

Such a long-lasting hydrothermal system could have sustained thriving organisms across geological epochs.

Consequently, a site defined by catastrophic devastation may have simultaneously served as an enduring habitat for flourishing biological activity.

🏛️ Trump's AI rebrand causes 'unprecedented' demand for Slovenian website names

Demand for Slovenian web domains has surged dramatically.

Registrations for the .si suffix skyrocketed by more than 2,100 percent in September.

According to Register.si spokesperson Klara Herman, monthly registrations jumped from under 2,000 in August to 44,000 in September.

She termed this late-September influx unprecedented.

The buying frenzy followed Donald Trump’s address to the United Nations on September 11.

In his speech, he advocated rebranding artificial intelligence as super intelligence.

This proposed shift inadvertently triggered a rush on Slovenia's matching national country-code domain.

📰 Kanye West's Russia shows officially cancelled after weeks of uncertainty

Organizers have officially scrapped Ye’s upcoming stadium shows in Russia following weeks of widespread uncertainty.

The rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, was slated to play two dates at the Gazprom Arena.

The St. Petersburg concerts were scheduled for October 10 and 11.

Promoter Say Agency confirmed the cancellation via Telegram, expressing "sincere regret."

The Moscow-based agency stated the gigs could not proceed as planned.

They promised to clarify the project’s future in an upcoming announcement.

⚔️ K-pop star convicted of violating military service law

A South Korean court has handed a suspended one-year prison term to K-pop star Song Min-ho.

The 33-year-old Winner member, known as Mino, was convicted of violating military service laws.

Song logged 102 unauthorized absences during his 21-month stint as a social service agent at a Seoul community center.

He will avert incarceration provided he commits no offenses during a two-year probationary period.

The court affirmed that social service personnel must faithfully perform their mandatory duties without exception.

🎵 'The 101 Plays Itself': This computer program treats the interstate into music

Southern California creator Jay Judah has unveiled a project called "The 101 Plays Itself."

The system translates live freeway traffic into soothing music.

A decade ago, Judah worked on the tenth floor overlooking Interstate 405 in Los Angeles.

He noticed that vehicles moving down distinct lanes resembled rhythm games like Guitar Hero.

He envisioned an invisible play bar across the highway to convert passing traffic into sound.

Ten years later, his program generates audio using live footage from traffic cameras along U.S. Route 101.