Friday 26th June 2026. Venezuela earthquakes. Ukraine Crimea queues. France Russian tanker. Pakistan no period tax. Brazil Ronaldinho...

0:01 Good morning. This is Saient seven World News in seven minutes. I'm Stephen Devin Cenzi. Today is Friday, the twenty sixth of June twenty twenty six starting in the Americas today in Venezuela, at least one hundred and eighty eight people are known to have died in earthquakes which struck on Wednesday evening. However, the final death toll is expected to be much higher than this and is likely to be in the thousands, as over forty thousand people have been reported as missing. Many buildings have collapsed. One of the earthquakes had a magnitude of seven point five, making it the strongest earthquake to hit Venezuela since the year nineteen hundred.

0:57 A state of emergency has been declared by interim President Delci Rodriguez. The United States, which has been improving relations with the government of Rodriguez since they physically removed President Nicolas Maduro earlier this year, has pledged one hundred and fifty million dollars in aid. Many other countries have offered help.

1:20 Brazilian football star Ronaldinho has come out of retirement to join the Italian team Ravina, which plays in the Sidier Chi, the third tier of the Italian League. Ronaldinho is forty six and last played professional football in twenty fifteen. Europe. In Ukraine, there are reports of cues of people attempting to leave the Russian occupied peninsula of Crimea. Over the last few months, and especially over the last few weeks, Ukraine has been targeting air defense system on and near Crimea, bridges between Crimea and the occupied region of Hussun, ferries and oil facilities on and near Crimea. The sale of petrol to civilians was banned by the Russian occupation authorities last week in order to preserve petrol for official use.

2:22 The Russian installed governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksinoff, said yesterday that two people, including a child, were killed by Ukrainian attacks overnight. The UK and Switzerland both recorded their hottest ever June day yesterday, with the UK recording thirty six point four degrees in the southwest and Switzerland recording thirty eight degrees in the city of Basel. Over the last few days, temperatures have reached over forty degrees in France and Spain. However, temperatures are generally expected to fall for the next few days. The heat wave is now moving towards central Europe, with Germany's capital Berlin expected to reach forty degrees this weekend. France has intercepted a Russian sanctioned

3:14 oil tanker close to the Italian island of Sicily Asia. In the Strait of Hormuz. Last night, there were reports of a commercial ship being fired at, and the United States said that Iran had fired at the ship. Some ships have been passing through the strait after months of an Iranian blockade. However, yesterday, Iran rejected a proposed United Nations plan to allow a mass evacuation of all ships that want to pass the strait. United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been visiting Arab Gulf countries this week.

3:55 He said yesterday that they agreed that Iran cannot charge for crossing the Strait of Homus, as it has suggested it may do.

4:05 One thing that came across very clear is there is zero support, zero support among the golf countries for any sort of toll or fees or anything that charges for the use of international waters. The presence made it clear that's not going to happen.

4:19 In Pakistan, police say that they have rescued a French woman who says she has been held captive by her husband for twelve years. Sylvie Yasmina said that she and her five children were confined and treated badly, and that the children had never been to school. Yasminah said that she wanted to go back to France. Also in Pakistan, Finance Minister Mohammad Aurungzeb has said that tax will be removed from female hygiene products. UNICEF has said that commercial period products are only used by a minority of women in Pakistan because of the cost. In Taiwan, there are major floods in parts of the south and east caused by a passing typhoon. Two hundred people on the east of the island have been evacuated after signs that a

5:16 lake is likely to overflow. Typhoon Mikala has not passed over Taiwan, however, it is expected to hit Japan tomorrow, although meteorologists say that it will not be as strong and will be classified as a tropical storm instead of a typhoon by the time it hits Japan. Africa, in Zimbabwe, there are claims that President Emerson Manongagua has conducted a constitutional coup after Zimbabwe's parliament voted in favor of a constitutional amendment that will extend the term of the presidency from five years to seven years, allowing him to stay in office until twenty thirty. Manngagua has been in power since twenty seventeen, when his former ally, Robert Mugabe was removed in a coup. In Sudan, Reuters has reported that

6:14 newly created Sudanese pounds are being circulated in areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group. The RSF controls most of southwestern Sudan and the Sudanese Army controls most of northern and eastern Sudan, and they have been in a civil war since twenty twenty three. There has been confusion around Sudan's currency, the Sudanese pound, as both sides have said not to use certain bank notes, and in Brazil, three sisters have been recognized as the oldest living trio of siblings by Guinness World Records. Zulina is one hundred and three, Zoraida is one hundred and four, and Levied is one hundred and nine. When talking about why they have lived so long, these sisters said that it was

7:07 because when they were young, they always ate homegrown food, which was very fresh because they didn't have a fridge. That's your world news for this week. A massive thank you to our incredible supporters who keep this podcast going and have access to all of our transcripts, vocabulary lists, worksheets, and Friday World News quizzes. We also give ten percent of our profit to the world's most effective charities. You can become a supporter at centseven dot org. I'm Stephen Devinchenzie.

7:42 Have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday.