Monday 19th October 2026. France protests. Ukraine energy strikes. West Bank attacks. India cockroach arrest. Brazil deforestation...

0:00 Good morning. This is Send7 World News in 7 Minutes. I'm Stephen Devincenzi. This podcast does not use AI. Today is Monday the 19th of October, 2026. Starting in Europe today. In France, over 2,000 people have been arrested during protests. that have continued to grow in size over the last few weeks. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has said that over 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters have been injured during the protests, which he blamed on far-left protesters and criminals.

0:50 Politicians on the left and far-right have called for the resignation of Nunez. The protests started a month ago with secondary school students complaining about poor conditions in schools, particularly shortages of teachers, overcrowded classrooms, long hours and bad temperature regulation in classrooms. Protests started in and around schools, however they have now moved to other areas and across all of France. Some media reports described Saturday as the biggest day of protests in France for years. Student protesters were joined by trade unions and other protesters against the cost of living. Estimates have said that between 500,000 and 800,000 people joined around 110 marches across France. Although many protests

1:45 were peaceful, there was also violence in many areas. In Paris, cars were burnt and shops were looted. Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said that the streets of Paris had been devastated. In Lyon, the tourist office was set on fire. In Limoges, the Hôtel de Ville, or City Hall, was largely destroyed by a fire, with its 19th century bell tower and roof collapsing.

2:13 Last night at 8pm, President Emmanuel Macron gave a televised address in which he criticised the violence that took place on Saturday, said that criminals will be found and punished, and said that people whose businesses and properties were damaged will be given compensation. He also said that the government took seriously the demands of protesters and spoke about some measures that were being taken to address problems in schools and the price of fuel. This weekend there were similar protests in Portugal's capital Lisbon, and the second largest city in Italy, Milan. Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Maloney said that the protests in Italy had been overtaken by thugs. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia attacked Ukrainian energy

3:05 infrastructure and its oil and gas sector 76 times during the week after US President Donald Trump announced an energy ceasefire. Yesterday, Ukraine used over a thousand drones to hit targets inside Russia, including oil depots, logistics facilities and data centres. One person was killed, according to Russian officials. The major St. Petersburg oil refinery was set on fire by the Ukrainian strikes.

3:38 In an interview with NBC News, Zelensky also said that the US government had told Elon Musk's company SpaceX to limit the speed at which Ukraine was able to use Starlink terminals. However, yesterday Zelensky also thanked President Trump for restarting intelligence sharing that allows the Ukrainians to know when Russian ballistic missiles have been launched. Spanish skateboarder Diego Poncele has broken the world record for the fastest speed reached On a skateboard, the Guinness World Records recorded that Poncelet reached a speed of 151 km per hour going down a mountain road in Canada. Asia In Palestine's West Bank, there are reports of Israeli settlers disrupting the annual olive harvest by burning trees, burning cars and attacking Palestinians. In

4:42 different attacks over the last few days, Israeli settlers have also been accused of attacking European diplomats, a French mayor and priest, and journalists. Heidi Levine, a journalist for the Washington Post, spoke to other journalists while she was in hospital where she had been treated for injuries. She said that if she weren't wearing protective clothing, then she could have been killed after masked men continuously kicked her. I was brutally attacked by, I would say, at least 50 masked men. They just kept kicking me and kicking me like probably 50 times. In India, the leader of the Cockroach Janta Party movement has been arrested. Abhijit Deepakar was arrested on Friday before a cockroach demonstration, with local media

5:37 saying that he was arrested to prevent a breach of the peace. In Iran, a 23-year-old woman has been sentenced to death for insulting the Prophet Muhammad, according to human rights groups. Najma Amini was arrested during the mass protests in January. Africa. Egypt has said that it will help Saudi Arabia to defend itself from Houthi attacks. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has called for a special parliamentary session to approve defensive help for Saudi Arabia. Tunisia had its biggest anti-government protests in years on Saturday. Protesters accuse President Kays Saeed of undermining democracy and mishandling the economy. America's In Brazil, deforestation is at its lowest level since records began, according

6:40 to government data. Prodes satellite data showed that Amazon forest clearance fell by 42% over the last year to 3,300 square kilometres, the lowest amount since satellite measurements started being taken in 1988. Deforestation rates rose during the presidency. of right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, and have fallen during every year of the presidency of Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro's son, Flavio Bolsonaro, is the front-runner to win next week's presidential election. Flavio Bolsonaro has given mixed messages about deforestation, by saying that he wants to end illegal deforestation, but also being willing to loosen environmental regulations. And a painting once stolen by the Nazis has sold for over 37 million euros. The

7:38 Colourful Life by Russian artist Vasily Kandinsky sold for 31.5 million pounds at auction in London. The painting belonged to a Dutch Jewish family before World War II and was then stolen and sold by the Nazis. The painting eventually moved to a museum in Munich, where it stayed until 2023, when the descendants of the Dutch Jewish family were given the painting, after a German government commission recommended that all stolen art should be returned to descendants. That's your World News in 7 minutes. If you enjoy this podcast, then you should join the free Send7 email newsletter. Every Friday you will get some English practice. mixed with the news delivered straight to your inbox. Just go to send7. org slash newsletter.

8:32 Tomorrow you will be with Juliet Martin. Have a great day.