Monday 15th June 2026. Iran-US no deal? Indonesia daycare arrests. UK Russian ship. Switzerland referendum. Brazil fake child. Argentina...

0:01 Good morning. This is Zen seven World News in seven minutes. I'm Stephen Devin Cenzi. Today is Monday, the fifteenth of June twenty twenty six. Starting in Asia today. A peace deal between Iran and the United States has been left unfinished after an Israeli attack in Lebanon yesterday and Iran saying that it was preparing to respond to that attack last night. On Saturday, Pakistan's President Shibbaz Sharif and US President Donald Trump said that a peace deal would be signed by yesterday. However, Iranian officials said that they expected it to take longer than that. Lebanon's state media said that two people were killed in Israeli strikes on southern Beirut yesterday. Israel said that it hit Hezbola targets after

1:01 Hesbola fired into Israel. President Trump has asked both Israel and Iran to stop attacks. In Indonesia, thirteen female staff of a children's daycare center have been arrested on suspicion of child abuse. There has been public outrage in Indonesia after the police said that they found children from the ages of two to six with their hands and feet tied up. A former employee of the center informed the Police Europe. The United Kingdom's Armed Forces intercepted and seized a sanctioned Russian oil tanker yesterday close to the UK coast.

1:48 Over the last eighteen months, various sanctioned Russian ships have been seized by European militaries, but this is the first time that action has been led by the UK. In the UK, Defense Secretary John Healey and Armed Forces Minister Al Khans have both resigned, saying that the government is not planning to increase military spending fast enough. Speaking to LBC News, Alkans, who was formerly in the military, said that this was the first thing that he has ever quit.

2:23 I'm going to be really honest, I have never quit anything in my life. It's the first thing i've quit. But sometimes you've got to make a principal decision and that's what I've done and hopefully it will result in the right solution as we move forward.

2:37 Also in the UK, artist David Hockney has died, aged eighty eight. Hockney was best known for his brightly colored paintings, often involving swimming pools, and his contributions to the pop art movement of the nineteen sixties. In twenty eighteen, a painting of his was sold for ninety million dollars, which was the highest of a sale for a living artist in Switzerland. In a referendum, people have rejected a proposal to limit the population at ten million people. A preliminary result has shown that fifty five percent of voters rejected the idea. Ukraine said that it hit oil and gas facilities in Russia's Krasnodar and Vulgargrod regions this weekend. Russian officials said that one person was killed by a Ukrainian

3:31 drone attack on a port in Krasnodar region. Africa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ibola, deaths have been confirmed in the Kapangba refugee camp, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. AID workers have warned that there is a high risk of transmission in the camp, which is overcrowded and lacks sanitation. Ebola is transmitted by body fluids.

4:01 In Nigeria, there were protests this weekend demanding the resignation of President Bola Tinubu because of a lack of security, especially kidnappings by armed groups Americas. In Venezuela, the leader of the gang Trenderragua, was killed by a US air strike. The US and Venezuela have said. Venezuela's government said that Ector Flores, commonly known as Nino Guerrero, was killed in a joint operation. In Argentina, a man has been arrested for selling Nazi uniforms and weapons on an online marketplace.

4:45 It's not clear if the articles were originals from Nazi Germany or if they are replicas. During and after World War II, hundreds of Nazi officials and collaborators went to Argentina to avoid retribution in Europe. In Brazil, a thirty eight year old woman is facing charges of fraud after spending years pretending to be a child. Amanda Dear Oliveada, was found to have persuaded a family to take her into their home after pretending to be a victim of child abuse. After she spent sixteen months with the family, another family member became suspicious and found news reports about Olivada in another state, deceiving another family three years ago.

5:37 In the United States, President Donald Trump had his eightieth birthday yesterday. Last night, a mixed martial arts event was held on the south lawn of the White House, where a temporary stage was constructed. A Reuter's opinion poll found that only sixteen percent of people said that it was appropriate to hold the fighting event at the White House, including only one in three Republicans and also in the United States, the space exploration company SpaceX had the world's biggest ever initial private offering on Friday, which valued the company at just over two trillion dollars. The company's founder and CEO, Elon Musk, was already the richest person in the world. However, he has now become the world's first trillionaire,

6:37 with Forbes estimating his wealth at one point one trillion dollars. That is about the same as the gross domestic product of Switzerland, or about the same as the GDP of Norway and Denmark combined. If Elon Musk spent a million dollars every day, it would take him three one thousand years to run out of money. A big thank you to Matero in Italy and Igain in Switzerland for becoming our newest supporters. Our amazing supporters keep this podcast running and they have access to our transcripts, vocabulary lists, worksheets, and world news quizzes. You can become a supporter at senseven dot org. You can also join over a thousand people who receive my free weekly newsletter, which also combines the news with learning English. That's also at senseven dot org.

7:37 Tomorrow you will be with Ben Mallett. Have a great day.